A note on the relation between area and intensity in taste

Taste thresholds as a function of area previously published [Hara, 1955) are reanalyzed and found to be described better by the hyperbolic relation C×Aⁿ=k than an exponential equation. The exponent. n, and the constant, k, were found to differ among taste compounds.     

Phenomenological note on belief-feeling and the relation between affect and belief

It is asserted that there are two kinds of belief-feeling, i.e., feeling (confident) that something is true or real. The difference between α-feeling and β-feeling of belief is analogous to the difference between having a sensory impression and merely imagining the impression. An α-belief is a concomitant correlate of affect and it tends to be stronger than the corresponding β-belief.     

When being included is being excluded: A note on complement set focus and the inclusion relation

Some negative quantifiers lead to pronominal reference patterns that are different from those obtained with positive quantifiers (Moxey & Sanford, 1993). This has been interpreted as meaning that the negatives give rise to a focus on the complement set (Moxey & Sanford, 1987); so, given few of the children enjoyed the trip, focus is on those who did not enjoy the trip. To date, this interpretation has depended on subjective judgments as to which set an anaphoric plural pronoun is referring to, allowing other interpretations of the data to be given by discourse semanticists. In two studies, we use the attachment patterns associated with the expression including, thereby circumventing the judgment problem. We show that a case like not many people enjoyed the race, including John leads to a representation in which John maps into the set of individuals who did not enjoy the race. We test and support the earlier claim that complement set focus is driven by denials associated with some negative quantifiers.     

A note on the Neyman-Johnson technique

A statistical problem which frequently arises in educational and psychological experimentation is that of testing the significance of the difference of the mean scores of two groups on some criterion variable, where the differential effects of one or more variables which are correlated with the criterion must be statistically eliminated. The usual analytical technique for this type of problem is the analysis of covariance (9). The Neyman-Johnson technique (7) provides another, and substantially different, approach. A computational procedure is suggested here which utilizes the advantages of both techniques without an undue increase in computational labor. In addition, the Neyman-Johnson technique is generalized to the case ofn predictor variables. Its application has heretofore been limited to a maximum of three predictor variables.This paper was written while the author was a Psychometric Fellow of the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey.     

A note on the Chinese Room

Searle's Chinese Room was supposed to prove that computers can't understand: the man in the room, following, like a computer, syntactical rules alone, though indistinguishable from a genuine Chinese speaker, doesn't understand a word. But such a room is impossible: the man won't be able to respond correctly to questions like ‘What is the time?’, even though such an ability is indispensable for a genuine Chinese speaker. Several ways to provide the room with the required ability are considered, and it is concluded that for each of these the room will have understanding. Hence, Searle's argument is invalid.     

A note on the up-and-down method

Objections to the use of the original version of the up-and-down method in psychology, as exaggerating individual differences and yielding discrepant results, overlook statistical, psychometric, and logical factors. When the method is applied incorrectly, the standard error of SD is largeand apparent differences in estimates of SD are not statistically significant. Psychometrically, a singletrial procedure should give less reliable, hence more variable. PSEs than one using multiple trials. But this effect increases standard error of the mean. thus significant mean differences found with the method are not attributable to greater variability in PSEs. Explanations of discrepancies in results from up-and-down and traditional methods in the study of perceptual development fail to account for numerous similarities. Finally, a novel method ought to produce some novelty, if it is to make a contribution to psychology,     

A note on the minres method

This paper discusses the advantages and problems related to factor analysis by minimizing residuals (minres). It is shown that this method fails if the starting point of iterations is not well chosen. A suitable starting point is suggested.