Counting eliminates the repetition effect in judgments of temporal duration.

College student subjects estimated the duration of time intervals (8–54 sec) by counting or not (N=35 per group). Counting eliminated the repetition effect (a decline in the magnitude of estimations across trials), and resulted in a truncation of the psychophysical function. The former result was interpreted as contrary to Treisman's (1963) model. The latter result was attributed to the effortfulness of counting, which was established in a subsequent experiment.     

Lexical discrimination and letter-string identification in the two visual fields.

Right-handed subjects were tachistoscopically presented three-letter words and nonword permutations in a single visual field for 20 msec. Although the subjects were unable to identify the stimuli at this exposure duration, their lexical decisions were better than chance, and were superior in the left visual field. When the exposure duration was increased, subjects demonstrated superior identification of the words in the right visual field. Results are discussed within an information processing framework.     

Intratrial proactive interference in pigeon short-term memory: Manipulation of stimulus dimension and dimensional similarity

Proactive interference was studied using an intratrial preparation in two delayed matching-to-sample experiments employing pigeons. On interference trials, an interfering sample and a target sample were presented successively and were followed by a test consisting of a choice between two stimuli, one associated with each sample. Control trials were identical to interference trials except that the interfering sample was not presented. On both types of trials, choice of the comparison corresponding to the target sample was defined as correct. Colored fields and line orientations were employed as sample stimuli in Experiment 1, and samples of food and no food and of number of pecks were employed in Experiment 2. Interference was found to be equally robust regardless of whether the interfering and target samples were each selected from any of the four dimensions (color, line orientation, food/no food, or number of pecks). Amount of interference was found to be independent of whether the interfering and target samples employed on a trial were selected from the same dimension or from different dimensions. Evidence was also obtained suggesting that line orientation comparison stimuli are more likely to elicit a response not based on memory than are color comparison stimuli.     

Effect of sample presentation time on long-delay matching in the pigeon

The effect of sample stimulus presentation time on long-delay matching in highly practiced pigeons was investigated. The birds were found capable of above chance matching performance at a delay of 60 sec provided the sample stimulus was presented for 4 sec or longer. Matching accuracy increased as a negatively accelerated function of sample stimulus presentation time and decreased as a negatively accelerated function of time since the termination of the sample. The rate of forgetting was found to be independent of sample stimulus presentation time. The data were inconsistent with a temporal discrimination interpretation of the effect of presentation time on delayed matching. The data were interpreted as supporting a simple trace strength and decay model of pigeon delayed matching.     

The recall and use of belief statements as bases for judgments: Some determinants and implications

When people are asked to report their beliefs in a (target) statement, they may search memory for other, “informational” propositions that bear on its validity, and may use their beliefs in these propositions as bases for their judgments. Several factors were hypothesized to affect the particular propositions that subjects are likely to recall under such conditions. Subjects first familiarized themselves with a list of informational and target propositions. Then, they reported either their beliefs in these propositions or their attitudes toward them. In a second session 1 week later, they recalled as many of the propositions as they could. Both informational and target statements were better recalled when the informational propositions were unlikely to be true. In addition, the target statements were better recalled when the informational propositions associated with them had unclear implications for their validity. Recall of one proposition was more likely to cue the recall of the other when subjects had previously reported belief in the target proposition (rather than attitudes toward it). However, it was more likely to occur when subjects had reported attitudes toward the informational proposition (rather than beliefs in it). The effects of these variables were interpreted in terms of their mediating influence on the strength of association between the informational proposition and both (a) the target proposition and (b) contextual and environmental cues in the situation where target beliefs are reported.     

Generality of persistence: The role of stimulus and response factors in persistence to punishment

Previous research has shown that intermittent punishment of a response increases its persistence to continuous punishment and that intermittent punishment training in one situation produces persistence to continuous punishment in other situations. Experiment 1 showed that as long as the instrumental response and punishing stimulus were held constant from intermittent to continuous punishment marked differences between these situations had no decremental effect on persistence. Experiment 2 showed that intermittent punishment training of one response resulted in substantial persistence to continuous punishment of a different and apparently incompatible response and that such response change had no more than a marginal effect on persistence. The results were seen as requiring some revision to the traditional conditioning-model interpretation of persistence to punishment.     

The influence of attention upon anticipatory arousal,habituation, and reactivity to a noxious stimulus

Forty subjects were assigned to four groups, an External-attending Group, an Internal-attending Group, a Control Group, and a Distracted Group. All groups were presented with six trials of a 0.5-sec 110-db white noise. A measure of heart rate deceleration verified the experimental manipulation of attention. During the anticipatory period, the Internal-attending Group exhibited the greatest and the Distracted Group exhibited the least reactivity among the four groups. The two specially attending groups exhibited greater galvanic skin-response conditioning during the anticipatory period than the other groups. There was no support for the hypothesis that heightened attention facilitates habituation. Two measures were differentially sensitive to direction of attention during the anticipatory period. The External-attending Group exhibited reliably greater anticipatory deceleration of heart rate than the Internal-attending Group, while the Internal-attending Group exhibited reliably more nonspecific electrodermal responses than the External-attending Group. This latter finding, along with other evidence, suggests that an inward direction of attention tends to exacerbate anticipatory anxiety as well as reactivity to the impact of a noxious stimulus.     

Asymmetric attributions for compliance: Reward vs punishment

It was proposed that people attribute an individual's behavior more to internal factors when that individual's actions are influenced by reward than when those actions are influenced by punishment. Previous research has failed to control for the power of reward versus punishment which, in effect, creates a confounding of behavioral base rates (consensus) with the reward-punishment manipulation. The current research created reward and punishment contingencies that were equal in their base rates for producing a compliant response. In Experiment 1, subjects (n = 63) who produced the base-rate data also made attributions regarding a compliant target person. The results supported the reward-punishment attributional asymmetry hypothesis in that the target person was held more responsible for his actions in the reward than in the punishment conditions. A second experiment (n = 72) provided some attributors with information regarding base rates for compliance and measured perceived base rates for compliance. Knowledge of the base rates for compliance eliminated the reward-punishment attributional asymmetry phenomenon. Subjects not provided with such knowledge erroneously assumed different base rates for reward and punishment and maintained the perception of reward-punishment attributional asymmetry. Using subjects' estimates of base rate for compliance as a covariate eliminated the attributional asymmetry effect. It is suggested that erroneous base-rate assumptions mediate the attributional asymmetry phenomenon.     

The relationship of vocational decidedness and satisfaction with dogmatism and self-esteem

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of levels of vocational decidedness and the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of one's level of vocational decidedness with dogmatism and self-esteem. The results indicated that vocationally decided and undecided subjects represent uniquely different populations on measures of dogmatism and self-esteem.     

The partial punishment effect following minimal acquisition training: Sodium amobarbital and the stimulus properties of early punished trials

In a runway investigation, six groups of rats received limited runway training such that partial punishment, partial reinforcement, or continuous reinforcement was accompanied by sodium amobarbital or saline. Following an interpolated phase of continuous reinforcement without injections, all groups were given punished extinction. The entire experiment was conducted under widely spaced conditions (ITI = 24 hr). It was found that partial punishment increased resistance to punished extinction relative to partially and continuously reinforced controls when acquisition was given under saline. When partial punishment training was accompanied by amobarbital this effect was eliminated. The drug was observed to have no effect on the punished extinction performance of the partial reinforcement and continuous groups, respectively. Moreover, the partial reinforcement effect (PRE) did not generalize to punished extinction. These data provide information concerning the difference between the stimuli associated with the early trials of punishment and nonreward and indicate that the former but not the latter contain emotional elements.     

Observation and discrimination learning in the rat: Effects of stimulus substitution

Effects of prior observation of modeling performances upon learning simultaneous visual discriminations were studied in nine groups of rats. Stimulus patterns which had been positive (“Cued”) or negative (“Uncued”) for the model animal and novel stimuli were presented. Observers learned faster if discriminations required approach to, rather than avoidance of, the previously positive stimulus. Approach to the negative stimulus was acquired more rapidly only if the second stimulus was novel. Approaches to a substituted new stimulus combined with either of the previously viewed stimulus patterns required nearly twice the training needed for a similar response attachment when both stimuli were novel. Attentional changes appear to underlie the stimulus control exerted over the observer rat in instrumental learning situations.     

Transfer of a response controlling stimulus duration across discrimination problems

In the acquisition phase, pigeons learned to peck at a changeover key to shorten the duration of S? but not of S+ presented on the food key in a discrimination problem. In the transfer phase, the significance of S+ and S? was changed through extinction of both, equal reinforcement, or discrimination reversal, while the changeover key was not available. Transfer tests then showed appropriate modification of the changeover response. Similar transfer was demonstrated across orthogonal stimulus dimensions. Further analytic studies showed that this transfer of the changeover response did not depend upon mediation due to differential response rates to the food key. This research strategy enriches the study of the “second learning process” by providing an indicator of stimulus control in all phases of the procedure. Direct transfer between different problems also indicates that discriminative stimuli, although physically dissimilar, have the same “psychological value” for the subject.     

Current issues in theory construction: A commentary on Waters and Sroufe

The view of competence proposed by Waters and Sroufe remains faithful to a kind of theorizing about human personality which emphasizes its unitary and universal properties. Developments in other areas of inquiry, however, are redirecting theoretical efforts toward a more pluralistic and contextualistic view of human nature and development. Implications for future theories of development are discussed.     

A developmental study of choice reaction time: the effect of two forms of stimulus degradation on encoding.

To assess the effects of environmental enrichment, 156 normal, full-term institutionalized infants were randomly assigned to Group I (30 min per day of supplementary vestibular stimulation), Group II (30 min per day of supplementary vestibular-plus-verbal stimulation), or Group III (untreated controls). Stimulation began at about the age of 12 days and continued until the children were adopted, approximately 6 weeks later. Children were assessed at regular intervals on the Gesell Developmental Schedules, until the age of 27 months. Group comparisons revealed no significant treatment effects.     

The effects of base rates and individuating information on judgments about another person

Past research suggests that in judging a person's category membership, people largely ignore the population frequency of membership in the category (base rates) in favor of individuating information about the particular person. This study tested the hypothesis that base rates will be utilized to the extent that the usefulness of the individuating information for diagnosing category membership is diminished. Subjects were given problems in which both base rates of membership in each of two categories and individuating information about a target person were presented. Then, in each case, they were asked to assess the probability that the target person belonged to each category. In three sets of problems, the diagnostic usefulness of the individuating information (personality characteristics) was diminished by including individuating information that was either inconsistent or irrelevant, or by increasing the similarity of the two alternative membership categories. In a fourth set of problems, the individualistic information included consistent, relevant personal characteristics and the membership categories were dissimilar. As expected, base rates were used in each of the first three sets of problems but were ignored in the fourth set. The results were interpreted in terms of informational factors that induce a shift away from a habitual, spontaneous reliance on a source of information (e.g., personality traits) for which one has well-developed rules (e.g., intuitive personality theories), and toward a more controlled, deliberate mode of thinking wherein other sources of information (e.g., base rates) are attended to and incorporated into judgment through less frequently used rules (e.g., sampling rules).     

Delayed alternation in the rat: Effect of contextual stimuli on proactive interference

The effect of contextual stimuli on proactive interference in the rat was investigated in three experiments. The task was a modified delayed alternation procedure in which the rat was initially forced to one side of a T maze (the interfering forcing) followed by a forcing to the opposite side (the target forcing). A free choice run followed the target forcing in which a turn in either direction could be made. In order to obtain reinforcement on the free choice run, the rat was required to turn in the direction opposite that of the target forcing (i.e., in the same direction as the interfering forcing). Manipulation of the context prevailing during the interfering forcing, target forcing, and free choice runs revealed that free choice accuracy was (a) greater when the interfering and target forcings were conducted in different contexts than when they were conducted in the same context and (b) influenced only slightly, if at all, by whether the free choice context coincided with that prevailing during the interfering forcing or with that prevailing during the target forcing.     

Increasing and decreasing intrinsic interest with contingent rewards: A test of cognitive evaluation theory

The study examined Deci's (Deci, E. L. Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum Press, 1975) hypotheses regarding the effects of contingent rewards on intrinsic task interest. Seventy-two male university students worked on a series of puzzles and were given either a high value reward ($1.50) or a low value reward ($.45). The money was given either contingent upon the simple execution of the task (task-contingent), contingent upon the ostensible attainment of a performance criterion level (criterion-contingent), or noncontingent and unexpected (control). Compared to the high payment control subjects, subjects who received the task-contingent high reward rated the task as less interesting, while subjects who received the criterion-contingent high reward rated it as more interesting. Also, subjects expressed less interest in the task after receiving the high task-contingent reward than the low task-contingent reward, but indicated greater interest after receiving the high criterion-contingent reward than the low criterion-contingent reward. It was concluded that substantial support was obtained for Deci's (1975) cognitive evaluation theory.     

Inducing ordinal and cardinal representations of the first five natural numbers

The prediction that the ordinal property of natural number symbols (using these symbols to represent the terms in an ordered progression) is more easily learned than the cardinal property of natural number symbols (using these symbols to represent the manyness of collections) was examined in this experiment. Preschoolers who evidenced no proficiency with either the ordinal or cardinal properties of natural number symbols were trained to acquire these properties via simple feedback. Both properties proved to be trainable. The most important findings were that the ordinal property was much easier to train than the cardinal property, ordinal training effects were more durable across a 1-week interval than cardinal training effects, and ordinal training appeared to transfer better than cardinal training.     

Where is the facilitation of media violence: The effects of nonexposure and placement of anger arousal

The present study examined the conditions under which media violence would “facilitate” aggression in angered individuals. It was noted that previous research has lacked support for facilitation due to improper control groups. It was predicted, based upon evidence that aggressive and neutral films are capable of both arousing a subject and shifting his attention away from previous anger instigation (attentional shift), that only under a condition where an aggressive film is viewed prior to anger arousal will increased aggression occur if compared to a no-film control. It was found that when subjects were angered prior to film exposure, netural films reduced aggression, with aggressive films not differing from a no-film control. Under subsequent anger arousal, however, there was a facilitation for aggressive film exposure. The implication of this, and other recent media violence studies, for past and future research in the area of media violence and aggression is discussed.