Group Learning Curves: The Effects of Turnover and Task Complexity on Group Performance1

This study examined the effects of turnover and task complexity on group performance. Two hundred and forty subjects arranged into three-person groups performed a production-type task for six experimental periods. The design was a 2 (Turnover vs. No Turnover) × 2 (Simple vs. Complex Task) × 2 (Male vs. Female) × 6 (Periods) factorial with repeated measures on the last factor. The analysis revealed that group performance improved markedly as groups gained experience with the task. Groups which did not experience turnover (closed groups) produced significantly more products than did groups which experienced turnover (open groups). The superior performance of closed over open groups was amplified over periods. Groups produced more of the simple than of the complex product, and this difference was also amplified over periods. The gap in the performance of closed versus open groups increased over periods, and the increase in the gap was greater for the simple than for the complex task. The lesser impact of turnover on the complex task is consistent with an innovation hypothesis, according to which increases in the production of complex tasks are due more to innovation than to repetition. Supportive analyses of innovation data are reported.     

任务复杂程度对内隐-外显学习关系的影响

本研究在糖生产任务实验中考察了任务复杂程度对内隐和外显学习关系的影响.实验发现:在简单任务中.内隐与外显学习共同存在并协同作用;任务复杂程度的增加对内隐和外显学习都有损害作用;任务复杂程度影响着内隐与外显学习的贡献率,随着任务难度的增加,内隐学习的贡献率上升.     

Complexity Effects on Temporal Characteristics of Speech

In light of evidence that multiple-goal messages tend to be characterized by longer speech-onset latencies and higher pause-phonation ratios, Greene, McDaniel, Buksa, and Ravizza have suggested that it is not the pursuit of multiple goals, per se, that results in less fluent speech. Rather, these authors suggest that the slower speech production characteristic of such messages is the result of difficulties in assembling, or integrating, incompatible message features. Recent evidence, however, indicates that this account is incomplete and in need of revision. Toward this end, we advance a complexity account that suggests that there are increased processing-capacity and temporal demands associated with formulating and maintaining more complex message representations. The article then reports four experimental studies of this complexity account. Experiments 1 and 2 operationalize complexity as the amount of information to be communicated in a message. These studies indicate that complexity does affect pause-phonation ratio and average pause duration. Experiments 3 and 4 operationalize complexity as the coherence of the information to be conveyed in a message. The results of Experiment 4, but not Experiment 3, again indicated that complexity influences speech fluency. The results of these studies, then, are taken to provide considerable support for the complexity hypothesis.     

Effects of the Acquisition of Prerequisite Behavior on the Learning of Nonvocal Verbal Behavior and Vocal Imitation in Children With Severe Retardation

The effects of acquisition and maintenance of prerequisite interactions, such as attending behavior, nonverbal imitative behavior, and disruptive behavior, on the learning of nonvocal verbal behavior and vocal imitation were evaluated. Four severely retarded children were selected on the basis of low level or absence of the target behaviors (nonvocal verbal behavior and vocal imitation) and failure to reach the acquisition criterion on prerequisite behavior. The results were evaluated visually and by time series analysis. Findings indicated that the acquisition of prerequisite interactions led to superior performance and fewer trials to reach criteria in this language intervention.

     

Behavioral Complexity Is in the Eye of the Beholder Effects of Cognitive Complexity and Message Complexity on Impressions of the Source of Comforting Messages

Recent theorizing suggests that exposure to sophisticated or behaviorally complex messages (i.e., messages that reflect a concern with multiple goals) may enhance the cognitiue development of message recipients. Reasoning that persons attempt to accommodate their cognitive structuring of an environment to the level of complexity in that environment, it was hypothesized that persons exposed to behaviorally complex messages would form more differentiated impressions of the message source than would persons exposed to less complex messages. It was also hypothesized that persons with complex systems of interpersonal constructs would form more differentiated impressions of the message source. Further, because persons with complex systems of interpersonal constructs should better appreciate the richness of behaviorally complex messages, it was hypothesized that message complexity would exert the strongest effect on impression differentiation for those with high levels of cognitive complexity. Participants in the study (410 college students) read a conversation containing comforting messages representing one of three levels of behavioral complexity; they subsequently wrote impressions of the source of these messages and these impressions were scored for the number of attributes they contained. Interpersonal cognitive complexity was assessed with Crockett's (1965) Role Category Questionnaire. Consistent with hypotheses, main effects for behavioral complexity and cognitive complexity were observed on impression differentiation; in addition, the anticipated interaction between message complexity and cognitive complexity was observed.     

序列学习中的内隐学习效应

该研究采用较为复杂的包含图形出现的位置规则和顺序规则的实验材料,通过对比被试直接测验和间接测验、内隐学习和外显学习成绩的异同,考察了序列学习中的内隐学习效应,并探讨了规则特点对内隐学习效应的影响。结果表明,在图形位置的序列学习中存在内隐学习效应,内隐学习效应的大小受规则特点的影响。     

The Effects of Syntactic Complexity on Processing Sentences in Noise

This paper discusses the influence of stationary (non-fluctuating) noise on processing and understanding of sentences, which vary in their syntactic complexity (with the factors canonicity, embedding, ambiguity). It presents data from two RT-studies with 44 participants testing processing of German sentences in silence and in noise. Results show a stronger impact of noise on the processing of structurally difficult than on syntactically simpler parts of the sentence. This may be explained by a combination of decreased acoustical information and an increased strain on cognitive resources, such as working memory or attention, which is caused by noise. The noise effect for embedded sentences is less than for non-embedded sentences, which may be explained by a benefit from prosodic information.     

Effects of Instructor Attractiveness on Learning

Although a considerable body of research has examined the impact of student attractiveness on instructors, little attention has been given to the influence of instructor attractiveness on students. This study tested the hypothesis that persons would perform significantly better on a learning task when they perceived their instructor to be high in physical attractiveness. To test the hypothesis, participants listened to an audio lecture while viewing a photograph of instructor. The photograph depicted either a physically attractive instructor or a less attractive instructor. Following the lecture, participants completed a forced choice recognition task covering material from the lecture. Consistent with the predictions; attractive instructors were associated with more learning. Finally, we replicated previous findings demonstrating the role attractiveness plays in person perception.     

Comparing the Effects of Unknown-Known Ratios on Word Reading Learning Versus Learning Rates

An extension of G. L. Cates et al. (2003) investigation was conducted to determine if students’ cumulative learning rates would be superior for words read under a traditional drill and practice condition (as they were for spelling in the previous study) than under interspersal conditions of varying ratios of unknown to known words. Participants consisted of three intermediate grade students who were delayed readers. They received a less challenging ratio of unknown to known word (High-P sequencing) interspersal procedure, a more challenging ratio of unknown to known word interspersal training procedure, and a traditional drill and practice procedure in an alternating fashion across several tutoring sessions. Cumulative words read with mastery and cumulative rates of words read with mastery were measured across sessions for each participant under each instructional condition. Findings were consistent with the Cates et al., study revealing that children learn more words per minute of instructional time under the traditional drill and practice condition. These results further support examining instructional efficiency as well as effectiveness when making decisions about selecting and implementing interventions.     

Developmental Changes in the Effects of the Physical and Vocal Attractiveness Stereotypes

Age changes in the effects of the physical and vocal attractiveness stereotypes on perceivers′ interpersonal impressions were examined. Perceivers were students attending elementary school (grade 2 and up), high school, and college. The effect of physical attractiveness declined with age, particularly for female targets. The effect of vocal attractiveness increased with age, particularly for male targets. A physical attractiveness by vocal attractiveness interaction was also obtained, indicating that the effect of one stereotype was more pronounced for higher levels of the other stereotype. The interaction was more pronounced for higher ages, particularly for female targets. Implications of the age changes in attractiveness effects and the moderator effects of target sex were discussed.     

Group Effects on Individual Learning Achievement

This study focuses on the impact of the social context of a class on student behaviour, in particular, the effects of pupil-pupil interaction on learning achievement. Two major functions of reference groups are distinguished: a normative and a comparative function. The normative function deals with norm setting and enforcing norms. The comparative function is merely a standard of comparison for the individual. This study deals with the question as to what extent contextual effects at classroom level can be accounted for by these two types of reference processes. The development of mathematical achievement of some 3,600 students in Year 8 (11 or 12 years of age) in about 200 primary schools in the Netherlands was followed. Students were asked to rate their classmates on two/three-point scales: a comparative scale and a normative scale. It appears that both the comparative and the normative reference structure of classes have substantial effects on individual achievement. The effect of the normative reference group, however, is by far the strongest.     

外在暗示线索对学习者在多媒体学习中自我调节学习过程的影响

考察139名五、七年级学生在逐次阅读10组图文材料的过程中对阅读测试与媒体信息的关系的自我监察并据此对阅读时间分配模式的自我调节过程,结果发现：（1）二年级被试能够监察阅读测试和图文之间的相倚关系,并据此对图文阅读时间分配模式进行自我调节,分配更多时间在与测试相关的材料上;（2）五、七年级被试的图文时间分配均呈现逐步调节的模式。（3）七年级被试比五年级被试对阅读测试与图文的关系的监察更为准确、时间分配模式调节出现的时机更早,时间分配调节策略的使用更合理,测试成绩更高。     

The Effects of Emotional Involvement and Psychological Distance on Integrative Complexity1

Integrative complexity is a measure of information processing that is scored either from archival documents or from written material generated for experimental purposes. Low complexity is associated with a lack of attention to diverse dimensions of, or perspectives on, a topic. Moderate complexity is characterized by the differentiation of such dimensions or perspectives. Finally, high complexity is shown by conceptual integration of the differentiated components. A large number of situational variables have been identified as affecting the level of complexity at which decision makers operate; however, emotional factors have been studied only indirectly (e.g., inferred from the individual's being in an apparently stressful situation). The current study presented university students with fictional scenarios describing interpersonal conflict that were designed to vary the psychological distance between the writer and the people involved in the problem. The complexity level of essays in which the students analyzed and described solutions for the conflict was positively related to both increasing psychological distance and to self-rated emotional involvement, regardless of distance. The distance results may have been due to an unconsidered variable, social perspective. Complexity was significantly and positively correlated with the self-rated effort expended in writing the essay. The findings partially confirm the cognitive manager model of complexity: The complexity of decision strategies is affected by the balance between the importance of the problem and the resources (cognitive and other) that must be invested to operate at different levels of complexity. The data have implications for understanding the impact of emotional involvement on cognitive complexity.     

工作记忆和句法复杂性对汉语判断单句的影响

采用自控步速移动窗口技术,研究了言语工作记忆与句法复杂性对汉语判断单句加工的影响.实验结果表明:汉语判断单句语义提取和命题表征受句法复杂性和言语工作记忆容量的影响;加工模式上,结构相同但句法难度不同的判断单句存在相同的语义焦点;句子-图片验证过程中,高容量者受句法难度、语义失配影响较小,验证时间显著短于低容量者.     

关系复杂性和分类方式对个人关系类别间接性学习的影响

以144名大学生为被试,使用关系复杂性变化的三种虚拟外星生物实验材料,创设功能预测任务和自由分类、限定分类任务,探查关系复杂性和分类方式对个人关系类别间接性学习的影响.结果发现：（1）随着关系复杂性的增高,各学习阶段下,三种学习材料功能预测成绩彼此间均无显著差异;（2）关系复杂性和分类方式对个人关系类别间接性学习的分类结果存在交互影响作用,具体表现为,关系复杂性较低时自由分类和限定分类结果的杰卡德相似性无显著差异,关系复杂性较高和高时限定分类极其显著高于自由分类,自由分类方式下,关系复杂性不同的三种学习材料间差异不显著,限定分类方式下,关系复杂性较高和高两种学习材料分类结果的杰卡德相似性间无显著差异,但均极其显著高于关系复杂性较低的学习材料.     

Effects of Labelled Gender on Vocal Communication of Young Women with 4-month-old Infants

Most of the previous studies analyzing the effect of gender label on adults' interactive behaviours with infants concluded that gender stereotypes affect adults' behaviours more than the actual behaviours or characteristics of the infants. These stereotypes and their ensuing behaviours would contribute to the differential socialization experiences of infants according to their gender. The objective of the present study was to investigate further the effect of gender label on adults' vocal communication with infants. Therefore, the prosodic and content features of the language addressed by young women to infants presented as girls and as boys were examined. Sixteen women were observed during two 5-minute sessions of face-to-face interaction with 3-to-4-month-old infants, one introduced as a girl, the other as a boy, in a counterbalanced order. Six girls and four boys served as stimuli. The number of utterances addressed to the infants, their duration and fundamental frequency, as well as the prosodic contour and the content of each vocalization were measured. Results indicated only one significant gender label effect: Women referred more frequently to infant's global motor activity when the infant was presented as a boy. This observation is congruent with other data. However, our results do not demonstrate a consistent pattern of gender label effect when women are talking to unfamiliar infants in such a context.     

关于"复杂性研究"和"复杂性科学"

我赞成“复杂性研究”却不赞成“复杂性科学”。道理很简单 :“复杂性研究”是可能的 ,“复杂性科学”是不可能的。在系统科学中 ,如果我们把“复杂性”定义为“复杂系统的动力学特征” ,那么我们当然并且也应当设法对这种特征加以界定、描述、分析。例如 ,我手边有一本武汉大学哲学系赵凯荣的博士论文《复杂性 :人类认识之迷》。作者指出“复杂性是通过系统而且是复杂系统定义的。它是一个系统概念且是一个复杂系统概念 ,它具有结构 ,也具有层次” ,[1] 但尽管这样 ,作者仍然把复杂性划分为系统复杂性、非线性复杂性、自组织复杂性、内时空…     

Anticipatory Coarticulation in Aphasia: Effects of Utterance Complexity

The magnitude and extent of anticipatory coarticulation were examined in groups of fluent and nonfluent aphasic patients and normal control subjects. One- and two-syllable target utterances were elicited at slow and fast rates of speech with or without a consonant intervening between the target consonant and vowel, and with or without a preceding schwa, to manipulate utterance complexity. Acoustic analyses (F2 and centroid frequencies) revealed that both groups of aphasic patients exhibited relatively normal patterns of anticipatory coarticulation. However, small but significant differences among the groups emerged in certain conditions. Surprisingly, increased utterance complexity was not found to reduce coarticulatory effects to a greater degree in the nonfluent relative to the fluent aphasic group. Perceptual tests largely confirmed the acoustic analyses.     

反馈干预对学习判断的影响

将反馈干预作为外部线索引入元记忆研究,采用重复学习任务,在第一轮次学习-测验之后插入反馈干预,用两个实验分别考查任务反馈和能力反馈两种形式下的反馈效价对第二轮次即时学习判断的影响.结果表明：①在学习过程中,学习者会进行自我监测;②在任务反馈形式下,反馈信息与自我监测信息冲突,导致反馈干预对元认知监测和认知过程没有影响;③在能力反馈形式下,反馈信息与自我监测信息的冲突消失,结果消极反馈影响了元认知监测.由此得出结论：只有在不与自我监测信息冲突的情况下,反馈干预才对学习判断产生影响.此外,在有反馈干预的情况下,两个实验中都出现了显著的练习伴随低估效应.