Contingent Reinforcement Effects on Movement Responses of Prison Inmates to the Holtzman Inkblot Technique

Prison inmates were administered the Holtzman Inkblot Technique (HIT) under conditions of either verbal or nonverbal reinforcement of movement responses. Overall, there were no differences among the verbal, nonverbal, and control groups. Inmates charged with violent crimes were found to give the fewest movement responses. With crime category controlled, more movement responses were given under nonverbal conditions. There were no sex differences for movement responses but testing time increased significantly when administered by the female examiner.     

How does processing affect storage in working memory tasks? Evidence for both domain-general and domain-specific effects

Two studies that examine whether the forgetting caused by the processing demands of working memory tasks is domain-general or domain-specific are presented. In each, separate groups of adult participants were asked to carry out either verbal or nonverbal operations on exactly the same processing materials while maintaining verbal storage items. The imposition of verbal processing tended to produce greater forgetting even though verbal processing operations took no longer to complete than did nonverbal processing operations. However, nonverbal processing did cause forgetting relative to baseline control conditions, and evidence from the timing of individuals' processing responses suggests that individuals in both processing groups slowed their responses in order to "refresh" the memoranda. Taken together the data suggest that processing has a domain-general effect on working memory performance by impeding refreshment of memoranda but can also cause effects that appear domain-specific and that result from either blocking of rehearsal or interference.     

The generation of conscious awareness in an incidental learning situation

The purpose of the present experiments was to investigate the generation of conscious awareness (i.e., of verbal report) in an incidental learning situation. While the single-system account assumes that all markers of learning, verbal or nonverbal, index the same underlying knowledge representation, multiple-systems accounts grant verbal report a special status as a marker of learning because they assume that the nonverbal and verbal effects of learning rely on different memory representations. We tested these two accounts in two experiments in which we held the amount of learning in the nonverbal memory system constant while manipulating independent variables aimed at affecting learning in the declarative system. The results of both experiments revealed significant differences in verbal report between experimental conditions, but no significant differences in response times. Overall, these results provide clear evidence in favor of the multiple-systems account.     

Action specificity increases anticipatory performance and the expert advantage in natural interceptive tasks

The relationship between perception-action coupling and anticipatory skill in an interceptive task was examined using an in-situ temporal occlusion paradigm. Skilled and novice cricket batsmen were required to predict the direction of balls bowled towards them under four counterbalanced response conditions of increasing perception-action coupling: (i) verbal, (ii) lower-body movement only, (iii) full-body movement (no bat), and (iv) full-body movement with bat (i.e., the usual batting response). Skilled but not novice anticipation was found to improve as a function of coupling when responses were based on either no ball-flight, or early ball-flight information, with a response requiring even the lowest degree of body movement found to enhance anticipation when compared to a verbal prediction. Most importantly, a full-body movement using a bat elicited greater anticipation than an equivalent movement with no bat. This result highlights the important role that the requirement and/or opportunity to make bat-ball interception may play in eliciting skill differences for anticipation. Results verify the importance of using experimental conditions and task demands that closely reflect the natural performance environment in order to reveal the full nature of the expert advantage.     

Does spatial information impact immediate verbatim recall of verbal navigation instructions?

The present study addresses the issue of whether spatial information impacts immediate verbatim recall of verbal navigation instructions. Subjects heard messages instructing them to move within a two-dimensional depiction of a three-dimensional space consisting of four stacked grids displayed on a computer screen. They repeated the instructions orally and then followed them manually by clicking with a mouse on the grids. Two groups with identical instructions were compared; they differed only in whether the starting position was indicated before or after the instructions were given and repeated, with no differences in the manual movements to be made. Accuracy on both the oral repetition and manual movement responses was significantly higher when the starting position was indicated before the instructions. The results are consistent with the proposal that there is only a single amodal mental representation, rather than distinct verbal and nonverbal representations, of navigation instructions. The advantage for the before condition was found even for the oral repetition responses, implying that the creation of the amodal representation occurred immediately, while the instructions were being held in working memory. In practical terms, the findings imply that being able to form a mental representation of the movement path while being given verbal navigation instructions should substantially facilitate memory for the instructions and execution of them.     

Effects of emotional illness and age upon the resolution of discrepant messages

To determine their ability to interpret messages, normal and disturbed children, adolescents, and adults (ns = 10) were shown videotaped statements containing discrepant verbal and nonverbal components and statements containing consistent verbal and nonverbal components. No significant differences were observed between subjects in response to the consistent messages regardless of age or mental status; however, pronounced differences occurred under the condition with discrepant messages. Among normal subjects a developmental shift was observed, i.e., an inverse relation was found between age and reliance upon verbal content. Younger normal subjects relied upon the verbal content of a message in interpretation, while adults relied upon the nonverbal elements. Disturbed subjects regardless of age relied primarily upon the verbal content of the discrepant message.     

Auditory evoked potentials and sex-related differences in brain development

Auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) were obtained to probe tones which were delivered during the presentation of complex verbal and nonverbal auditory stimulation to 3-month-old infants. Significant sex-dependent AEP amplitude asymmetries were found. Females produced higher-amplitude responses from the left hemisphere and males produced higher-amplitude responses from the right hemisphere during both the verbal and nonverbal presentations. No significant AEP asymmetries were obtained in an independent group of infants that received only the probe tones. These findings are consistent with theories and behavioral data suggesting differences between males and females in the development of language and spatial functions.     

Infants’ behaviours elicit different verbal,nonverbal, and multimodal responses from caregivers during early play

Caregivers use a range of verbal and nonverbal behaviours when responding to their infants. Previous studies have typically focused on the role of the caregiver in providing verbal responses, while communication is inherently multimodal (involving audio and visual information) and bidirectional (exchange of information between infant and caregiver). In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of caregivers’ verbal, nonverbal, and multimodal responses to 10-month-old infants’ vocalisations and gestures during free play. A new coding scheme was used to annotate 2036 infant vocalisations and gestures of which 87.1 % received a caregiver response. Most caregiver responses were verbal, but 39.7 % of all responses were multimodal. We also examined whether different infant behaviours elicited different responses from caregivers. Infant bimodal (i.e., vocal-gestural combination) behaviours elicited high rates of verbal responses and high rates of multimodal responses, while infant gestures elicited high rates of nonverbal responses. We also found that the types of verbal and nonverbal responses differed as a function of infant behaviour. The results indicate that infants influence the rates and types of responses they receive from caregivers. When examining caregiver-child interactions, analysing caregivers’ verbal responses alone undermines the multimodal richness and bidirectionality of early communication.     

Development of lateral asymmetry in the perception of sequentially touched fingers

In order to investigate lateral asymmetry in tactile perception, two or four fingers of normal primary school children were touched sequentially. Stimulation was either unimanual or bimanual and either verbal or nonverbal responses were required. Right hand advantage was demonstrated subsequent to uni- and bimanual stimulation in both the verbal and nonverbal response conditions. Neither an age nor a sex effect on laterality was found. Right hand advantage was affected by direction of stimulation in the bimanual condition. Left hemispheric dominance was argued to be related to the temporal nature of the tasks.     

TOWARD A FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PRIVATE VERBAL SELF-REGULATION

We developed a methodology, derived from the theoretical literatures on rule-governed behavior and private events, to experimentally investigate the relationship between covert verbal self-regulation and nonverbal behavior. The methodology was designed to assess whether (a) nonverbal behavior was under the control of covert rules and (b) verbal reports of these rules were functionally equivalent to the covert rules that control nonverbal behavior. The research was conducted in the context of teaching shopping skills to persons with mild intellectual disabilities using a self-instruction training format. In Phase 1, 4 participants were successfully taught to perform shopping skills using overt and covert self-instructions. The self-instructions were then blocked under overt and covert self-instruction conditions, which resulted in a reversal of shopping skills to baseline levels. This indicated that the overt and covert self-instructions might be controlling responding. In Phase 2, we demonstrated that the self-instructions, when used as external directives, produced successful shopping with 3 other participants. By demonstrating that self-rules can produce correct responding when used as external directives, we were more confident that it was the self-instructions and not other verbal or nonverbal behavior that controlled responding under overt, covert, and blocking conditions in Phase 1.     

Examination of gaze behaviors under in situ and video simulation task constraints reveals differences in information pickup for perception and action

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Gaze and movement behaviors of association football goalkeepers were compared under two video simulation conditions (i.e., verbal and joystick movement responses) and three in situ conditions (i.e., verbal, simplified body movement, and interceptive response). The results showed that the goalkeepers spent more time fixating on information from the penalty kick taker’s movements than ball location for all perceptual judgment conditions involving limited movement (i.e., verbal responses, joystick movement, and simplified body movement). In contrast, an equivalent amount of time was spent fixating on the penalty taker’s relative motions and the ball location for the in situ interception condition, which required the goalkeepers to attempt to make penalty saves. The data suggest that gaze and movement behaviors function differently, depending on the experimental task constraints selected for empirical investigations. These findings highlight the need for research on perceptual— motor behaviors to be conducted in representative experimental conditions to allow appropriate generalization of conclusions to performance environments.     

Executive processing in learning-disabled readers

Three experiments determine whether memory difficulties experienced by learning-disabled readers may be attributable, in part, to executive processing. In Experiment 1, learning-disabled readers, matched to skilled readers on chronological age and reading-comprehension ability, were compared on the Concurrent Digit Span measure presented under high (6-digit) and low (3-digit) memory-load conditions as they concurrently sorted cards into verbal or nonverbal categories. Experiment 2 utilized the same task as Experiment 1, except that learning-disabled (LD) readers of low and average working-memory capacity were compared with skilled readers of average and high working-memory capacity. Both experiments clearly showed that LD readers' performance is depressed under high memory-load conditions. Experiment 2 also indicated that overall performance of non-learning-disabled (NLD) readers was predictable from LD readers, suggesting that ability-group differences are related to global processing efficiency rather than to isolated verbal and nonverbal systems. In Experiment 3, LD and NLD readers were compared on their ability to recall central and secondary information from base and elaborative sentences tasks under high- and low-effort encoding conditions. LD readers had significantly poorer secondary recall during high-effort encoding conditions when compared to skilled readers. Taken together, the results are discussed within a framework that views individual differences in reading comprehension as reflecting, in part, executive processing (i.e., resource monitoring) activities.     

Rates of forgetting in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The present study evaluated rates of forgetting on verbal and nonverbal memory tests in children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although children with ADHD are known to have poor organizational and attentional problems that may impair memory performance, we hypothesized that savings scores would remain intact, because poor recall reflects difficulty with initial learning versus memory per se. Fifty-seven children diagnosed with ADHD were administered tests of nonverbal memory (Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure) and verbal memory (Story Memory, Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning) as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. Subjects showed no evidence of rapid forgetting of information across the delay on either nonverbal memory (mean savings score=93%) or verbal memory (mean savings score=88%) tests. Cognitive remediation for children with ADHD should address ways to initiate and execute organizational strategies so that more information is learned upon immediate presentation.     

Prepositional phrases spoken and heard

The relation between verbal and nonverbal behavior with common syntactic properties was investigated, using retarded and nonretarded children. Reinforcement was contingent on either verbal or nonverbal responses whereas responses of the other repertoire had no experimental consequences. Changes sometimes occurred in the unreinforced (collateral) repertoire, but they were always changes in the stimulus control of pre-existing topographies. A contingency involving responses of one repertoire never instated new topographies in the collateral repertoire. This suggested that the problem of “cross-modality generalization” should be reformulated to distinguish explicitly between instating new topographies and changing the stimulus control of pre-existing topographies. The result confirmed Skinner's hypothesis about “the same response spoken and heard” and clarified some anomalies in previous studies.     

Interference control in children with reading difficulties

Two studies investigated whether the greater Stroop interference reported in children with reading difficulties compared to typical readers of the same age represents a generalized deficit in interference control or a consequence of their reading problems. In Study 1, a color-word Stroop task and a nonverbal task involving responses to locations associated with pictures were administered to 23 children with single word reading difficulties and 22 typically developing children matched for age and nonverbal ability. Children with reading difficulties showed disproportionate interference effects in the color-word Stroop but not the nonverbal task. In Study 2, groups of poor and typical readers completed a spatial Stroop task with printed input that did not require a verbal response and a nonverbal analogue. Both groups showed comparable interference in these two tasks. Thus, the reported problems in the color-word Stroop task in children with reading difficulties do not appear to entail general impairments in interference control.     

Effects of Environmental Stimulation on the M,FM, and m Responses in the Rorschach

The Rorschach was administered twice to 20 young male subjects in its usual clinical form with an interval of about a year between tests. The second administration was carried out on board ship under conditions of a severe storm, which is assumed to have provided marked movement stimulation. The difference between the tests was analyzed for variation in the total number of responses, and number of human movement, animal movement, and inanimate movement responses. It was hypothesised that since M and FM responses reflect basic personality characteristics or attitudes, no change in their appearance should occur even under severe environmental stimulation. The m response, however, was expected to reflect the individual's response to stress and therefore to change under the experimental conditions. The results showed no change in the M and FM responses, but a large and significant increase in the m responses. All three hypotheses were thus confirmed.     

Developmental recall lag in learning-disabled children: Perceptual deficit or verbal mediation deficiency?

To investigate the development of mediational deficiencies in verbal and non-verbal visual short-term memory of learning disabled children, the recall task of Atkinson, Hansen, and Bernback was administered to learning disabled children in two experimental conditions. In Experiment 1 no significant diferences on nonverbal short-term memory recall between normal and learning-disabled children were found. Similar recall responses (e.g., middle response bias, primacy effects, and recency effects) were found for both groups. Non-verbal recall was comparable for disabled and normal children as suggested by stimulus content and association scores/. Experiment 2 found that while the effects of overt rehearsal on pretrained labels on learning disabled children's recall was negligible, labels provided superior recall for normal children. Results suggested that learning disabled children suffer from a verbal mediational deficiency consistent with Flavell's (1970) mediation deficiency hypothesis.The research herein was supported by a faculty research grant at the University of Northern Colorado. Appreciation is due to the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public School System and the Richland 1 School District, Columbia, South Carolina.     

Verbal, perceptual and intellectual factors associated with reading achievement in adolescents with cerebral palsy

31 adolescents with cerebral palsy were administered measures of verbal production, speech perception, nonverbal auditory perception, visuospatial perception and verbal intelligence as well as measures of reading recognition and reading comprehension. Nonverbal auditory perception and verbal intelligence were most highly correlated with both reading measures despite the fact that most subjects were most severely impaired in visuospatial perception.     

Hemisphere size asymmetry predicts relative verbal and nonverbal intelligence differently in the sexes: An MRI study of structure—Function relations

Hemispheric size asymmetry differences as assessed from MRIs of 39 healthy college students were correlated with prorated WAIS-R Verbal IQ minus Performance IQ and Vocabulary minus Block Design scores within subjects. In men, a relatively larger left hemisphere predicted better verbal than nonverbal ability, whereas in women a larger left hemisphere predicted relatively better nonverbal than verbal ability. The results were interpreted as providing evidence for sex differences in brain organization.