Response mode and choice consistency: A test of unfolding theory

Coombs, Donnell, and Kirk (1978. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 4, 497–512), in a study of risk preferences, collected data using both pick $\text{1}\text{3}$ and reject $\text{1}\text{3}$ response modes. Although the preference orders derived from the two response modes were identical, the pick data contained a greater number of inconsistencies than the reject data. In the present study, predictions were derived from unfolding theory (Coombs, 1964. A theory of data. New York: Wiley) regarding the relative consistency of pick and reject response modes. An experiment performed as a test of these predictions supported the unfolding model suggesting that differences in inconsistency between response modes could be attributed to the fineness of the grid of working midpoints imposed upon the choice process by the response mode.     

The effects of dynamic assessment procedures on Raven Matrices performance,visual search behavior,test anxiety and test orientation

The effects of dynamic testing procedures on Raven Coloured Matrices performance, visual scanning procedures, test anxiety, and orientation to the test situation were assessed. The subjects were 72 third-grade children. The results supported the hypotheses of the study showing that (1) dynamic assessment procedures involving either verbalization or elaborated feedback lead to higher levels of Raven Matrices performance; that (2) dynamic assessment modifies visual search behaviors; and that (3) dynamic assessment reduces test anxiety and negative orientation to the testing situation. The results are interpreted as offering construct validation to the assessment approaches used.     

Reaction time,movement time,and intelligence: A replication and extension

The purpose of the investigation was to replicate and extend a study by Jensen and Munro which found reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) parameters to correlate negatively and moderately with Raven matrices performance. A sample of 20 ninth-grade girls was used. Relationships between RT and MT and Raven scores were found to be negative and moderate to high, thus replicating the Jensen and Munro study. In addition, moderate to strong negative correlations were found between RT and MT parameters and reading comprehension and performance on the California Test of Basic Skills. Weaker relationships were found for mathematics and English grades although the direction was consistently negative.     

Mediators of the effects of magnitude of reinforcement

The characteristics of mediational mechanisms based upon magnitude of reinforcement were investigated using rats. In two experiments, two-choice discriminations were trained in which selections of one lever in one external stimulus and a second lever in another external stimulus were reinforced with food. In the first experiment, it was found that the discrimination was acquired more rapidly when one choice was reinforced with a large number of food pellets and the other with a smaller number of pellets than when other configurations of reinforcement magnitude were provided. In the second experiment, reversal of a two-choice discrimination was found to be facilitated by prior exposure of the animals to the reversed relationships between the external stimuli and magnitudes of reinforcement. These results were consistent with predictions from a stimulus or associative view of anticipatory processes based upon magnitude of reinforcement.     

Reaction time, intelligence, and attention

The roles of attention in reaction time and in the relationships among reaction time, intelligence, and achievement were analyzed. The subjects were 105 seventh-grade children. The results were generally consistent with most studies involving the Hick paradigm: both mean reaction time and the standard deviation of reaction time correlated with the intelligence and achievement measures used. Reaction time measures were correlated with attention and perceptual speed as well as with general intelligence, or g. Implications of these results for current theories linking reaction time and intelligence are discussed.