The effect of frustrative nonreward on the attractiveness of the omitted reward

Two experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that omission of a previously received reward is followed by greater motivation to obtain that specific reward, as compared with the case where the reward had been present. In Experiment 1, experimental rats regularly received food rewards (R_a) at one goal, followed by a choice between food and milk (R_b). Control animals received the same choice without food preceding it. Reward magnitudes were manipulated so as to produce a preference for R_b, and additional forced trials were given each day to equalise experience of the two rewards. In the test phase both groups received trials with R_a present (R) or absent (N) at the first goal. The experimental Ss shifted their choice towards R_a on N trials; the controls did not behave differently after R and N. Experiment 2 was similar, except that R_a was milk and R_b food. The same effect of N on experimental animals was obtained. It is argued that the results are relevant to the double-runway ‘frustration effect’, and cannot be explained by existing theories of frustration.     

Relation between verbal recall and visual recognition of the same stimuli in young children

Five-year-old children (N = 112) were shown drawings of common objects three times either as a naming-and-learning task or as a preference task (incidental learning). A verbal recall test followed by a class- and item-recognition test, scaled to reflect the accuracy of item recognition, were given either 2 min or two weeks after presentation. Intentional learning with naming led to better immediate recall than incidental learning, but the recognition and delayed recall scores were equal for the two learning conditions. The probability of verbal recall of object names was in each case uncorrelated with the accuracy of visual recognition of the same objects by the same Ss. The results are closely similar to those obtained with adult Ss by Bahrick and Boucher (1968).     

Systematic Monitoring of the Implementation of a Case Management Model

A systematic approach for monitoring case management service provision and the results obtained when this approach was applied to a program for community-dwelling elders with severe mental illness are presented. A detailed, closed-ended, daily service log was used to collect data on 713 client-contact days. Participants (N = 24) were predominantly female (71%), were White (63%) or African American (37%), and tended to have diagnoses of either schizophrenia (42%) or major depression (21%). Services were delivered most frequently in the client's home (47%), the program office (35%), or by phone (27%); most frequent activities were monitoring psychiatric symptoms/medications (62 %), and monitoring physical symptoms or medications or both (54%). Service characteristics did not differ with regard to demographics but did vary with living situation and psychiatric diagnosis. The findings point to the need for flexible programs capable of meeting diverse service needs as well as the utility of a daily service log in studying case management.     

Long-term memory for pictures and sentences

Two experiments were conducted to examine the fan effect in recognition memory for pictures and sentences. Subjects in the first experiment memorized sets of pictures (N= 13) or sentences (N=13) in which the study items comprised concept combinations (e.g., the clock is on the television) that could be unambiguously depicted in each modality. The fan effect, contrasting study items involving unique- and shared-concepts combinations, was observed in the recognition reaction time data for sentences but not for pictures. Subjects in the second experiment (N= 17) memorized sets of pictures and sentences in which, in addition to the unique and shared intramodality conditions used in Experiment 1, subjects memorized items in each modality that shared concepts with items in the alternative modality. Although the fan effect was reduced for sentences in the second experiment, the intramodality results were qualitatively comparable to those obtained in Experiment 1. The results in the intermodality conditions indicated that, although pictorial study items influenced reaction time to sentences with which they shared a concept, the reverse was not the case. The results were thought to be inconsistent with the view that pictures and sentences enjoy a common representational format in long-term memory.     

Case alternation and length effects in lateralized word recognition: studies of English and Hebrew

Effects of CaSe AlTeRnAtIoN were studied in two lateralized visual lexical decision experiments. We manipulated word length and letter case (UPPER, lower and MiXeD) in both English (Exp. 1, N=60) and Hebrew (Exp. 2, N=60). The previously reported visual field and word length interaction was found for upper and lower case presentation, but not for MiXeD CaSe, where both fields were affected by word length. The effects of case alternation are discussed in light of a new lateralized word recognition theory.     

The effect of familiarity on visual-search performance: evidence for learned basic features.

In this study, the effects of familiarity on visual search were investigated. To avoid any confounding between familiarity and visual-feature differences between item pairs, Ns and mirror-Ns were presented as target and as distractors to a group of German participants and to a group of Slavic participants. For the Germans only N was familiar, whereas for the Slavs both N and mirror-N were familiar. The results show that search was difficult only when the Germans had to find an N among mirror-Ns. In any other case, search was efficient. Therefore, our results demonstrate that, contrary to earlier suggestions, search for a familiar item among familiar distractors can be easy. This supports the hypothesis that familiarity improves distractor grouping. However, the data are also compatible with the idea that letters are standard or basic features, which implies that basic features can be learned.     

潜变量交互效应标准化估计：方法比较与选用策略

标准化估计对模型的解释和效应大小的比较有重要作用。虽然潜变量交互效应的恰当标准化估计公式已经面世超过10年, 国内外都在使用和引用, 但至今未见到关于不同估计方法得到的恰当标准化估计的系统比较。通过模拟实验, 比较了乘积指标法、潜调节结构方程(LMS)、无先验信息和有先验信息的贝叶斯法的潜变量交互效应标准化估计在不同条件下的表现。结果发现, 在正态条件下, LMS和有信息贝叶斯法表现较好; 而在非正态条件下, 乘积指标法比较稳健, 但需要较大的样本(不小于500), 小样本且外生潜变量之间相关很低时可使用无信息贝叶斯法。     

Loving styles: relationships with personality and attachment styles

We investigated the ability of the major personality dimensions, some of their underlying facet scales, and attachment styles to predict primary and secondary loving styles, as conceptualized by Lee. Personality was assessed using the International Personality Item Pool, and attachment styles through an inventory devised by Collins and Read. Respondents were 302 undergraduate students (212 females; 90 males) who participated in the study in exchange for course credit. Results of regression path analysis showed that N was the only personality dimension without direct predictive links to loving styles. Instead, the influence of N was through an anxious attachment style. There were no personality predictors of Agape, and similarities were also observed between these results and those obtained in Hong Kong. The results are discussed with reference to previous studies and some suggestions for further research are also noted. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response facilitation and inhibition in manual, vocal, and oculomotor performance: evidence for a modality-unspecific mechanism

In 2 experiments (N = 10, Experiment 1; N = 16, Experiment 2), the authors investigated whether evidence for response facilitation and subsequent inhibition elicited by masked prime stimuli can be observed for output modalities other than manual responding. Masked primes were followed by target stimuli that required a 2-choice manual, saccadic, or vocal response. Performance was measured for compatible trials in which primes and targets were identical and for incompatible trials in which they were mapped to opposite responses. When primes were presented centrally, performance benefits were obtained for incompatible trials; whereas for peripherally presented primes, performance benefits were found in compatible trials. That pattern of results was obtained for manual responses and for saccadic eye movements (Experiment 1), demonstrating that those effects are not mediated by specialized dorsal pathways involved in visuomanual control. An analogous pattern of effects was found when manual and vocal responses were compared (Experiment 2). Because vocal responding is controlled by the inferotemporal cortex, that result shows that prime-target compatibility effects are not primarily mediated by the dorsal stream, but appear to reflect modality-unspecific visuomotor links that allow rapid activation of motor responses that may later be subject to inhibition.     

Processing relative clauses varying on syntactic and semantic dimensions: An analysis with event-related potentials

Event-related potentials were used to study how parsing of German relative clauses is influenced by semantic information. Subjects read well-formed sentences containing either a subject or an object relative clause and answered questions concerning the thematic roles expressed in those sentences. Half of the sentences contained past participles that on grounds of semantic plausibility biased either a subject or an object relative reading; the other half contained past participles that provided no semantic information favoring either reading. The past participle elicited an N400 component, larger in amplitude for neutral than for semantically biased verbs, but this occurred only in the case of subject relative clauses. More specific effects were obtained only for a subgroup of subjects, when these were grouped into fast and slow comprehenders on the basis of their questionanswering reaction times. Fast comprehenders showed larger N400 amplitudes for neutral than for semantically biased past participles in general and larger N400s for the latter when there was a bias for an object relative reading as opposed to a subject relative reading. Syntactic ambiguity resolution, indicated by an auxiliary in sentence final position, was associated in this subgroup with a positive component (P345), larger in amplitude for auxiliaries indicating an object relative reading than for those indicating a subject relative reading. The latter component was independent of semantically biasing information given by a preceding past participle. Implications of these findings for models of language comprehension are considered.     

Some aspects of Rashevsky's theory of delayed reflexes

A closed solution of the integral equation obtained by N. Rashevsky, with the assumption that the inhibitory influence between centers is a constant, i.e., independent of the distance apart, is obtained. Furthermore, a more general kernel, representing a variable inhibitory influence, which in our case is a monotonic (increasing or decreasing) function of the distance between centers, is introduced. The resulting integral equation is solved and some properties of the solution discussed.     

Self‐Construal Scales Lack Validity

Self‐construal is thought to mediate and explain the effects of culture on a wide variety of outcome variables. A meta‐analysis of published cross‐cultural self‐construal research is reported in this article, and the results across studies suggests that the evidence for the predicted cultural differences is weak, inconsistent, or nonexistent. The results of 3 priming experiments (N = 121, N = 99, and N = 361) suggest that (a) priming does not account for the inconsistent results observed in the meta‐analysis, (b) that scores on a self‐construal scale appear to be measuring trait‐like constructs that are not sensitive to priming, and (c) that measures of self‐construals lack convergent validity. The results of several measurement studies (N = 121, 223, 230, 323, 214, 206, 126, 204, 148, 141, and 150) were inconsistent with the a priori two‐factor measurement model in every case. Self‐construal scales were found to be radically multidimensional and highly unstable within and across cultures. These results lead us to conclude that catastrophic validity problems exist in research involving the use of self‐construal scales in cross‐cultural research.     

Size and distance judgments under reduced conditions of viewing

Magnitude estimations of the size and distance of a variable relative to a standard were obtained in the absence of distance cues. Estimates were provided by different groups under three conditions: (a) physical size and distance variant, visual angle of the variable constant and equal to the standard, (b) physical size constant, physical distance and visual angle of variable changing, and (c) physical distance constant, physical size and visual angle of the variable changing. The results in both experiments were very similar. In each case both size and distance estimates conformed to relative visual angle. The results are applied to an analysis of size-matches that are obtained when distance cues are eliminated.     

The Five-factor Personality Inventory as a measure of the Five-factor Model: Belgian, American, and Hungarian comparisons with the NEO-PI-R

The lexically based Five-Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) was correlated with the factors and facets of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) in Belgian (N = 265), American (N = 116), and Hungarian (N = 320) samples. Results were similar across the three cultures. Analysis of orthogonalized FFPI factors showed that three of them--emotional stability, extraversion, and agreeableness--showed a direct correspondence to their NEO-PI-R counterparts. Autonomy, however, was not clearly related to openness, and facet analysis suggested that it might be interpreted as a dominance factor Better matches to NEO-PI-R conscientiousness and openness could be obtained by using vectors rotated 30 degrees from the FFPI positions. Raw scale scores showed similar results. Researchers should not assume that all measures of the Five-Factor Model are qualitatively similar     

Stimulus complexity, EEG abundance gradients, and detection efficiency in a visual recognition task.

Occipital EEG was monitored while subjects inspected 27 projected patterns. The number (N) and variety (V) of elements in the patterns were varied systematically. There were three levels of N (6, 12 or 24 elements) and three levels of V (circles, squares or hexagons occupying all, one half or one third of the element locations for all levels of N). Subjects were instructed that they would be required in a post-test to recognize the patterns, among patterns which had not appeared; they were also informed that the patterns had been constructed according to a set of simple rules, but the nature of these rules was not made fully explicit. The EEG was quantified by means of low-frequency analysis, yielding measures of abundance (theta, alpha and beta) and mean dominant frequency. For the recognition task, nine stimulus items were embedded among 45 items. Recognition efficiency was measured by means of the signal detection theory discrimination index (d'). The results were as follows: (i) Both N and V were inversely related to alpha abundance (P less than 0-01); (ii) the strongest relationship between stimulus parameters and the EEG held for N and EEG beta activity (13-5-19-5 Hz;P less than 0-001), where again the EEG and N were inversely related; (iii) there was a significant (P less than 0-05) direct relationship between N and theta activity; (iv) contrary to prediction, mean dominant alpha frequency decreased as N increased; (v) d' correlated significantly with a number of effects for N, i.e. subjects who exhibited greatest EEG discriminability of items during exposure of the patterns, subsequently obtained the higher detection scores in the recognition task. The work described therefore demonstrates that only only do stimulus parameters have systematic effects upon brain activity as measured by the EEG, but that such effects have functional value and reflect aspects of efficiency. The results are fully compatible with arousal theory constructs relating physiological reactivity and performance.     

不同加工与记忆编码关系的ERP研究

通过事件相关电位(ERPs)记录,探讨了深、浅2种加工与记忆编码的相互关系。研究结果表明,（1）在深、浅两种加工条件下,首次使用汉字材料,获得了ERP相继记忆效应（Dm),随后再认正确的ERPs比随后再认不正确的ERPs有更大的晚正成分。（2）深加工的Dm效应始于N2波的前支（230－280ms)和N2波之后（395－800ms);而浅加工的Dm效应发生在345－490ms之间。深、浅加工的Dm效 涉及不同的脑区,这一结果支持深、浅两种加工的Dm效应可能是分离的结论。     

The estimation of reliability when several trials are available

In certain types of experiment it frequently happens that we have a block of data consisting of several trials on the same individuals. Using the methods of estimation provided by the analysis of variance, estimates of reliability are derived for this case, and the conditions under which each is valid are discussed. Various relations between these estimates and the product-moment coefficient of correlation are obtained.From the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene, University of Minnesota. This work was supported in part under the terms of a contract between the Regents of the University of Minnesota and the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Important financial assistance was also provided by the Nutrition Foundation, Inc.: The U. S. Sugar Cane Refiners Association, N. Y.; the Corn Industries Research Foundation, N. Y.: Swift and Co., Chicago; the National Confectioners' Association; the National Daily Council, Chicago; and the Graduate Medical Research Fund. University of Minnesota. The author is indebted for assistance and encouragement to all the members of the staff of the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene, and especially to Mr. Harold Guetzkow and Mr. Rich and Seymour.     

Recent criticisms of group ability testing in the schools

In a series of articles in Education, the journal of the N.S.W. Teachers' Federation, from March to July 1983, Poulos, Junor and Andreoni severely criticized the use of group verbal general ability tests by the N.S.W. Department of Education. Their criticisms were manifold. Poulos in particular objects to “streaming” or ability grouping. He and Junor condemn general ability tests because they were so often sponsored in the U.S.A. in the second, third and fourth decades of this century by hereditarians and racists and were thought by such sponsors to measure an innate hereditary trait. They fail to mention contrary views propounded in the same period by other psychologists. They quite often follow Kamin in characterizing their bětes noites. All three authors deny the short-term predictive value in an educational setting of group ability tests and exaggerate the long-term influence in N.S.W. of pssessed IQs established in Year 6. The ACER which produces the tests under attack is subjected to a vicious ideological assault. A not very convincing case is made for parents being asked to give permission for the testing of their children; a better case is made for the giving of the results of the testing to the parents (though this is a task for the counsellor rather than the teacher). Andreoni, though rather cavalier with the evidence she uses, probably has a case in urging that the administration of verbal general ability tests to “migrant” children after only 4 years in the local schools is too soon for a valid assessment of current intellectual functioning without taking many other factors into account.     

Provocation of panic: three elements of the panic reaction in four anxiety disorders

Subjects with agoraphobia (N = 25), panic disorder (N = 25), social phobia (N = 19) or generalized anxiety disorder (N = 10) and controls with no psychiatric history (N = 16) underwent two provocation tests, voluntary hyperventilation and inhalation of 5% CO2 in air, and three experimental control conditions. They were measured on three elements of the panic reaction: somatic symptoms, psychic anxiety and fears of impending doom, and on a standard YES/NO measure of panic attack. The provocation conditions produced increased somatic symptoms and psychic anxiety across all groups relative to the control conditions. The agoraphobic and panic disorder groups showed a significantly greater increase in fears of impending doom from control to provocation conditions than the social phobic and GAD patients. This difference was not observed on measures of somatic symptoms or psychic anxiety. The present results provide some support for the theory that panic attacks result from the catastrophic misinterpretation of anxious symptoms, in this case produced by the two provocation tests.