Individual differences in speed of phonemic analysis, visual analysis, and reading.

College student subjects (Ss) classified phrases as making sense or not according to sound in one condition, according to visual appearance in another, and in abasic task in which either strategy would yield right answers. Ss who were relatively fast in the visual condition were faster at the basic task than Ss who were relatively fast in the sound condition. Other results suggested that the former Ss used a visual strategy in the basic task while the latter used a phonemic strategy.     

Critical procedural variables related to the physiological effects of progressive relaxation: a review.

Twenty-five investigations of the physiological effects of progressive relaxation training were classified according to whether relaxation was found to be superior or equivalent to control conditions. The two sets of studies differed significantly on number of training sessions and in the use of taped vs live administration of training, and they tended to differ in the use of normal vs patient samples. The likelihood of producing significant physiological reductions via progressive relaxation appears to be greater when multi-session, subject-controlled training is conducted with subjects for whom physiological activity contributes to a presenting. clinical problem.     

Probabilistic contingency theories of animal conditioning: A critical analysis

Seven contingency theories of classical and instrumental conditioning were defined in relation to the contingency matrix and to six separate probabilities which can be derived from this matrix. These theories were compared on the basis of formal similarities and differences, and were judged against three separate empirical variables which have been discussed in the contingency literature: the duration of the intertrial interval, partial reinforcement, and negative contingencies between the two events of conditioning. All previous theories had some difficulty predicting the effects of one or more of these variables upon animal conditioning. Also, some formulas make the unusual prediction that there will be less conditioning when there is more than one conditioning trial. The paper concluded with an extensive discussion of the problems that are created by conditioning events with temporal extension; events which are then categorized by a contingency matrix which has no temporal character. Some possible solutions to the problems were discussed.     

Learned helplessness,depression and the perception of reinforcement

Depressed and nondepressed subjects were given escapable, inescapable, or no noise. Then, their perceptions of reinforcement contingencies in skill and chance tasks were assessed. Depressed-no noise and nondepressed-inescapable noise subjects exhibited smaller decreases in expectancy following failure in skill, but not in chance, than nondepressed-no noise subjects. So, depression and inescapable noise both produced perception of failure in skill as response-independent. Contrary to predictions, neither depression nor inescapable noise had a significant effect on increases in expectancy after success. These results partially support the learned helplessness model of depression which claims that a belief in independence between responding and reinforcement is central to the etiology and symptoms of depression in man.     

The eating behavior of obese and nonobese women

Sixty-one obese, normal weight and thin women were observed for 30 minutes as they consumed a free-choice lunch in a quasi-naturalistic setting. Their behavior was unobtrusively quantified in terms of microbehavior (mouthfulls, chews, drinks and pauses) and of the macrobehavior (type and amount of food consumed and total active eating or drinking time). Information on subject and environmental variables are also reported. Observed behavior was analyzed as comparative group totals and as patterns of behavior over time. Comparison of group totals showed that: (a) there were no differences in types of food or number of calories consumed between the three groups, (b) no differences were found between the eating behavior of the normal weight and the obese and (c) the obese women spent less time actively eating, less time chewing and more time drinking than did the thinnest group. Pattern analysis revealed a decrease in all responses over time but showed no significant pattern difference between groups.     

Memories of Morocco: The influence of age,schooling, and environment on memory

To what extent are models of memory general, in that they may be applied to children or to other cultural groups? In an attempt to answer this question, two experiments were undertaken in Morocco to investigate various cultural and experiential antecedents to memory development. A total of 384 children and young adults, ranging in age from 6 to 22 years, were tested in a design that contrasted schooled and nonschooled children in urban and rural environments. Three additional groups of subjects—Koranic students, Moroccan rug sellers, and University of Michigan students—were also studied because it was hypothesized that each might have particular “culture-specific” memory skills as a function of previous experience.A serial short-term recall task was used in Experiment I. Results showed that the recency effect or short-term store was generally invariant with age or experience. Control processes appeared to be a function of age, but only when coupled with schooling, and, to a lesser extent, urban environment. In Experiment II, a continuous recognition memory task was given with black and white photographs of Oriental rugs as stimuli. Forgetting rates were generally invariant with age and experience, while the acquisition parameter seemed to vary as a function of specific cultural experiences. Data from the three additional groups were useful in supporting the hypothesis of culture-specific memory skills.From Experiments I and II, and previous research, it was hypothesized that structural features of memory (e.g., short-term store and invariant forgetting rates) may be universal, while control processes or mnemonics in memory are probably culture-specific, or a function of a variety of experiential and cultural factors that surround the growing child.     

Quasireinforcement: Control of behavior by second-order interval schedules

Pigeons were trained on a variable-interval 66-sec schedule of reinforcement that was segmented into either fixed- or variable-interval 10-sec components. Three-second access to food followed some components according to the overall VI 66-sec schedule, but 3-sec periods of nonreinforcement followed the other components. With both FI 10-sec and VI 10-sec segments, overall response rates were generally higher when the completion of unreinforced segments was signaled by a red key (never paired with food) than when it was unsignaled. Response rates during the red-key periods dropped to zero. Brief presentations of the red key engendered the distinctive (FI or VI) patterns of responding which would be expected if each segment were followed by food. These data demonstrate behavioral control by brief stimuli which are not paired with primary reinforcement and show that such control may develop even when the sequences of behavior required to produce food or brief stimuli are variable in duration.     

On the formation of personal space and self-boundary structures in early human development: The case of infant stranger reactivity

Personal space and self-boundary are, respectively, sociological and intra-psychological concepts that refer to a complex of behavioral and subjective events between and within individuals. While there are large bodies of literature concerned with each of these concepts, literature that cuts across many disciplines of study, there has never been an integration of these concepts around specific human developmental issues. The present article focuses upon human infancy as a period in which both personal space and self-boundary phenomena can be observed. Developmental links between personal space and self-boundary phenomena in infancy and adulthood are outlined and discussed.     

Reinforced practice and reduction of different kinds of fears in adults and children

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not fears with different origins, course and chronicity could be reduced by a common treatment program. A number of therapeutic procedures that had been experimentally demonstrated to be individually important in prior behavior modification studies with neurotic disorders were combined into a single therapeutic program called ‘reinforced practice.’ The combined elements were: graduated and repeated practice in approaching actual phobic stimuli: reinforcement for gains in performance; feedback of measurable progress; and instructions designed to arouse expectations of gradual success. In each of four experiments involving four different fears, namely fear of heights, snakes and electric shock in adults, and fear of darkness in young children, Ss who expeienced the ‘reinforced practice’ procedure improved their performance by a significant and substantial margin as compared to untreated control Ss. These results suggest that regardless of different etiologies, regardless of whether or not the fears are ‘rational’ or ‘irrational,’ and regardless of whether or not the fears are transitory or long lasting, the same treatment procedure can be equally effective in reducing escape-avoidance behavior.     

Teaching autistic children to use extra-stimulus prompts

Autistic children often do not transfer from extra-stimulus prompts, and thus do not utilize a frequent learning aid. It has been hypothesized that this is due to stimulus overselectivity; a failure to respond to simultaneous multiple cues. This study was designed to determine if autistic children who initially respond only to single cues can be taught a set to respond to two cues and subsequently utilize an extra-stimulus (pointing) prompt. Four autistic children were pretested to determine if they could learn a complex visual discrimination by either trial and error or an extra-stimulus prompt fading procedure. Since they did not, the children were then taught to respond to two cues through a multiple-cue training procedure and subsequently tested to determine if they could now utilize a pointing prompt. Results indicated that while all four children initially did not transfer from an extra-stimulus (pointing) prompt, they did so subsequent to multiple-cue training. The results are discussed in terms of implications for treatment (remediating overselectivity) and in relation to normal child development.     

Cardiac deceleration in newborns: habituation, dishabituation, and offset responses.

Twenty healthy, 1–4 day-old infants were selected from a sample of 135 neonates on the basis of alertness during testing. The infants were presented mild intensity colored light with gradual onset and offset while heart rate was monitored. Half the infants received six exposures to blue light followed by two exposures to blue-green light, whereas remaining subjects received colors in reverse order. Stimulus duration was 20 sec and variable periods between stimuli averaged 30 sec. Results of trend analysis of variance of the second-by-second cardiac data indicated that for infants older than the median age, the decelerative responses to both stimulus onset and offset were significant. Further, these subjects' onset decelerations significantly habituated within the six stimulus repetitions and significantly dishabituated with change in the stimulus color. Offset decelerations incremented over habituation trials and decremented with change in stimulus color. Responses of younger subjects were more variable which probably reflects their less complete recovery from the effects of maternal medication and the birth process.     

Stimulus control of free-operant avoidance: The contribution of response rate and incentive relations between multiple-schedule components

The associations formed in the components of a multiple schedule can be classified as (1) stimulus-response (S-R) associations and (2) stimulus-reinforcer (S-S^R) associations. The present experiments sought to determine the individual contribution of these S-R and S-S^R associations to stimulus control by manipulating them independently. Responses postponed shocks by 25 sec in the presence of a tone alone and a light alone in all experiments. The contingencies programmed in the absence of both tone and light established a reference for the S-R and S-S^R associations in tone and in light. All four possible combinations of signalling response increase or decrease together with incentive increase or decrease were studied. Although the influence of the contingencies operating in the absence of tone and light was difficult to detect from response rates in tone or light, presenting tone and light together revealed clear effects. Response rates in tone and light together relative to those in either alone depended upon the contingency operating in the absence of tone and light. Stimulus-response and stimulus-reinforcer associations appeared to counteract each other when in opposition and combine together to enhance each other when in agreement. This suggested that the associations of a stimulus to response and to incentive combine algebraically in determining stimulus control. An algebraic analysis in terms of the S-R and S-S^R associations conditioned to the stimulus elements comprising the training and test stimuli accounted for the observed patterns of data.