Context, categorization, and recall: The “change-of-standard” effect

A psycholinguistically based conception of the relation among context, categorization, and memory is tested by examining what happens to people's memory of an object when the object is initially categorized in terms of the context in which it appears, but, when the object is later recalled, this context is no longer salient. Subjects read about the sentencing decisions of a target trial judge in the context of other trial judges who consistently gave either higher sentences or lower sentences than the target judge. As predicted, subjects tended to categorize the target judge as “lenient” in the former, harsh context condition, and as “harsh” in the latter, lenient context condition. A week later, subjects read about the sentencing decisions of some additional judges, and then recalled the sentencing decisions of the target judge they had read about the week before. Across the two sessions, either a harsh, moderate, or lenient category norm for judges' sentencing decisions was established by having subjects read about decisions that involved either high, medium, or low sentences, respectively. The results indicated that subjects recalled the target judge's decisions by interpreting their prior categorization of his behavior in terms of the category norm established across the two sessions rather than the original context. Thus, subjects who were exposed to the same target in the same circumstances, and initially categorized the target in the same way, nevertheless remembered his behavior differently if their category norm was different at the moment of recall. Other types of “change of standard” and their implications for human judgment and memory are discussed.     

Discrimination of “W” and “V” shapes by goldfish

Goldfish were trained to discriminate between “W” and “V” shapes; different groups were trained with the shapes in different orientations. Transfer tests were given after training and the following conclusions were drawn. Animals learned to discriminate between the training shapes by detecting the difference in the number of points present in each; they learned the difference in the relative number of points rather than the absolute number present in each shape; the subjects transferred well to pairs of shapes bearing points facing in different directions from those on the training shapes; knobs were treated as practically equivalent to points; animals relied more heavily on differences at the tops of the shapes than on differences in the bottom halves.     

Effects of visual familiarity on “same” and “different” decision processes

An experiment was conducted in which subjects matched upper and lower case versions of well-known abbreviations, such as BBC and etc, and meaningless controls. “Same” RT showed a familiarity effect for upper case versions of abbreviations such as BBC and GPO, but not for the lower case versions bbc and gpo. The converse did not occur for abbreviations such as etc, which were thought to occur most frequently in lower case. The “different” RT was inhibited by familiarity, with pairs such as IBM GPO being classified less rapidly than their lower case versions or controls. These effects occurred for subjects instructed to report “No” for “same” displays and “Yes” for “different” displays as well as for subjects given a conventional decision-report assignment. Some implications of these results for an account of the manner in which familiarity affects graphemic comparison processes are considered.     

Motivation and learning: Neurophysiological mechanisms in a “model” system

The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying behavioral motivation and associative learning are described in an invertebrate “model” system, the carnivorous marine mollusc Pleurobranchaea. Feeding motivation can be controlled via nutritional history and is represented centrally in the feeding motor network as a change in the balance of synaptic excitation and inhibition at the level of interneurons that initiate feeding behavior, i.e., feeding “command” interneurons. Associative learning, induced by avoidance conditioning of feeding behavior, manifests identically at the level of the command interneurons, but is distinguished from non-associative motivational changes by processes that occur in identified neurons and pathways presynaptic to the command interneurons. Motivation and learning are therefore linked mechanistically by convergent neurophysiological mechanisms at the level of central neurons that initiate behavior.     

“Consistency” and “contradiction” in the development of gender role characteristics

There is currently an increasing amount of theoretical and empirical work arguing that stereotyped sex role behavior is maladaptive in our culture and that “androgyny” or “sex role transcendence” is a preferred mode of being. The latter, however, seems to require individual inconsistency and self-contradiction in behaviors and attitudes (since the individual is both active and passive, both independent and dependent, etc.). Theories of cognitive consistency maintain that individuals avoid self-contradiction and inconsistency, and therefore that androgyny runs counter to important motivational principles. This article examines this issue in some detail, and concludes that theories of cognitive dissonance and consistency reflect particular socio-cultural conditions rather than universal motivation principles. There is nothing inherently uncomfortable or “inconsistent” about androgyny and sex role transcendence.     

Identifying components of type-A behaviour: “toxic” and “non-toxic” achieving

Measures of the Type-A behaviour pattern (TABP) have generally failed to distinguish between different components of the construct, some of which may not constitute risk factors at all. Based on the responses of a total of 632 subjects, the present paper reports on the development of student and working adult questionnaires which comprise discrete and unambiguous indices of “toxic” and “non-toxic” behaviour. Both components reflect high achievement motivation, but in the toxic scale this is compounded by hostile competitiveness and impatience. The scales were related in predictable ways to other relevant indices of personality, and while the toxic factor was significantly associated with deterioration in health status during adaptation, the non-toxic factor conferred a protective effect.     

“Handedness” and skill

The variability of handedness with different tasks is discussed. Experiments are described which show under what conditions handedness becomes evident. Tasks involving three different levels of complexity were used. The simplest task measured the accuracy with which a particular pressure could be reproduced in isometric contraction of the flexors of the index finger on each side in 21 female subjects. In the second situation, the maximum speed of making an attempted tapping movement under the same conditions, was measured in ten of the same subjects using the same muscle group alternating with its antagonists. The same ten subjects were also tested on an aiming task which provided the third level of complexity. The results suggest that differences in performance between the two sides only occur where “timing” or the serial organization of muscle activity is required and that such differences may be due to training.

Whether handedness is inherited or acquired is briefly discussed, and a second series of experiments using the same tasks as before were carried out on one female and nine male subjects. In this instance, the first two tests were used on the big toe of each side as well as the index finger. The results confirm that differences in performance between the two sides on these tasks can be adequately explained in terms of usage or training.

The hypothesis that “timing” is therefore important in the learning of any movement where serial muscle contractions arc involved was tested and confirmed in a third experimental series. The consistency of timing of the application of force in turning a crank handle at maximum speed was measured in five male subjects before and after training. The implications of the results are discussed in relation to other researches on skills.     

A comparison between “aware” and “naive” conditions in the suppression of GSR activity

“Aware” (A) and “naive” (N) groups received different instructional sets, the former being informed both of the nature of their task and the response-reinforcement contingency. Negative reinforcement was given to these groups whenever a spontaneous GSR was emitted during four 4-min trial periods. Two corresponding yoked-control groups, CA and CN, received non-contingent reinforcement over the same periods. The contingent reinforcement groups both showed learned suppression of spontaneous GSR activity, but comparison between the A and N groups revealed a significant interaction between Time and Instructional Set. It is suggested that the “aware” instructional set had an inhibitory effect upon learning.     

“I think it, therefore it’s true”: Effects of self-perceived objectivity on hiring discrimination

A sense of personal objectivity may prompt an “I think it, therefore it’s true” mindset, in which people assume that their own beliefs and introspections are, by definition, valid and therefore worthy of being acted on. In the present studies, priming a sense of personal objectivity increased gender discrimination, particularly among decision-makers who endorsed stereotypic beliefs or who had stereotypic thoughts made cognitively accessible through implicit priming. Implications for discrimination in organizational contexts, and for theories of attitude–behavior consistency, are discussed.     

Fast mapping of multiple words: Insights into when “the information provided” does and does not equal “the information perceived”

A candidate process for explaining the rapid vocabulary acquisition during the preschool years is “fast mapping,” children's ability to sketch partial maps of a word's meaning after brief exposure. The present study examines this process for learning multiple words, testing the hypothesis that children's attention to the information critical for quickly mapping multiple words onto their referents depends on the alternatives available when the words are introduced. Fifty-eight 40-month-old children participated in one of two conditions. In both conditions, each trial for novel Word #1 presented a novel object and three familiar ones. The conditions differed in the object choices presented when novel Word #2 was introduced. Although the same information was available to children in both conditions, younger children showed significantly better learning of the new words in the successive condition than in the concurrent condition. Implications of this for age-related differences and for teaching strategies are discussed.     

A study of position habits induced by reward and “frustration”

Predictions from Maier's theory of “frustration”-instigated behaviour have been tested in an experimental situation differing significantly from that in which the theory was propounded yet containing the central element of “frustration”—the insoluble problem.

A water discrimination unit was employed in which the performance of rats would be observed during attacks on insoluble problems, position problems or symbol problems.

Two groups, each containing ten Wistar albino rats, served as subjects. The research design consisted of the following phases: preliminary training, development of position responses, exposure to a symbol-reward problem with 50 per cent, punishment and exposure to a symbol-reward problem with 100 per cent, punishment. The design differed for the two groups only at the phase in which the position responses were established. During this phase one group was exposed to a position-reward problem and the other to an insoluble problem.

Position responses were established as frequently under position-“frustration” (position stereotypes) as under position-reward (position habits) conditions. Position stereotypes were more rigid—more resistant to extinction—than position habits under conditions of 50 per cent, punishment. Position stereotypes were as readily extinguished under 100 per cent, punishment as were position habits under 30 per cent, punishment.

The first two observations conform to predictions made from Maier's theory. The third does not. That is to say, not all situations containing the basic elements of “frustration” give rise to stereotyped behaviour patterns which are as rigid or “fixated” as Maier's theory would predict. It is a reasonable hypothesis that the characteristics of stereotyped responses established in certain “frustration” situations may be described adequately in terms of conventional learning principles without the necessity of resorting to a distinction between “goal-motivated” and “frustration-instigated” behaviour.     

“Cyber” Barth

This article describes a study of the theology of Karl Barth carried out by four students at Memphis Theological Seminary who used the Internet and e-mail in addition to other means for learning. Dr. Donald K. McKim taught the class and here describes the way in which the class was structured, how students used the World Wide Web, a Newsgroup in which students participated, and their use of e-mail to amplify discussion. McKim indicates the advantage of using these resources which introduced students to a “new world” of media and unique resources, linked them with others throughout the world who also had an interest in Barth, and provided an enhanced means of communication for the students with each other and with the professor. He also provides further reflections about the experience in relation to seminary teaching.     

An assessment of the potential utility of “scientific jury selection”: A “thought experiment” approach

The efficacy of “scientific jury selection” (the use of social science methodology to aid the jury selection process) has been a subject of considerable contention. Unfortunately, such issues are difficult to address empirically, especially at the level of jury rather than juror decisions. One means of addressing some of these questions is through the use of “thought experiments” or computer simulations that are based not on intuition or conventional wisdom alone but guided by relevant empirical data. This paper reports the outcomes of simulations that explore jury verdict consequences from the use of scientific jury selection to (a) obtain changes in venue, (b) select jurors, and (c) accomplish both of the preceding. The results indicated that the potential effects of scientific jury selection are strongest when the techniques are successful in bringing about changes of venue or more representative jury panels. Somewhat weaker, albeit still consequential, effects were observed in those instances where scientific jury selection techniques are used to select particular jurors. The psychological and legal implications of these results, and the thought experiment approach in general, are discussed.     

“Alkie,”“Frat Brother,” and “Jock”: Perceived Types of College Students and Stereotypes About Drinking1

Two studies assessed perceived types of college students and associated stereotypes about drinking. In the first study, 64 university students responded to an open‐ended probe asking them to list types of college students and then rated the amount of drinking done by each of a set of preselected types. In the second study, 236 students responded to the same open‐ended item and directly rated a set of types that had been revised based on Study 1 in terms of drinking and involvement in the academic and sociosexual collegiate subcultures. As hypothesized, consensual responses to the open‐ended probe reflected the college student culture. Also as hypothesized, types of students socially defined in terms of the sociosexual aspects of college (e.g., “fraternity boy”) were rated as likely to drink heavily, whereas types that were seen as being pulled away from college social life, through assumed involvement in academics (e.g., “brain/straight As”), were rated as drinking relatively little. Finally, rated sociosexual involvement was positively correlated, and academic involvement was negatively correlated, with perceived drinking, which supports a central assumption of the framework guiding the research.     

Allocentric spatial learning by hippocampectomised rats: A further test of the “spatial mapping” and “working memory” theories of hippocampal function

This paper reports a series of three experiments that tested the “spatial-mapping” and “working-memory” theories of hippocampal function. The experimental designs incorporate separate reference- and working-memory procedures of a water-escape task, using both spatial and non-spatial learning. In Experiment 1 (Reference memory), rats with hippocampal (HC) or cortical (CC) lesions and unoperated (UNOP) rats learned to swim to a rigid visible escape platform while avoiding contact with a floating one. In the nonspatial task, the platforms each occupied any of 8 possible positions in the pool over successive trials but differed in appearance. In the spatial task, the platforms were of identical appearance but the safe one always occupied a single fixed location. The HC rats showed a highly specific spatial learning impairment but did learn to perform consistently above chance towards the end of training. In Experiment 2 (working memory), new groups of rats were trained on similar spatial and nonspatial tasks, but the platform designated correct-in terms of its visual appearance or its spatial location-was randomly changed each day. No animal learned the nonspatial task despite extensive training. Performance on the spatial version unexpectedly revealed an impairment in the CC as well as the HC group relative to the UNOP rats. However, the HCs again performed at above chance levels and demonstrated rapid (I-trial) spatial learning towards the end training. Experiment 3 used a place navigation matching-to-sample task examine spatial working memory further. Each day, an underwater platform was hidden at any of 4 possible locations, and the rats were given 2 trials to search for it. Both UNOP and CC rats located the platform faster on Trial 2 than on Trial 1, even when the inter-trial interval was long as 30min. HC rats were no faster on Trial 2 than on Trial 1. We conclude that hippocampal lesions (1) severely but partially impair spatial but not visual reference memory and (2) give rise to different patterns impairment in different working-mermory tasks. The results are a chal lenge to both the spatial-mapping and working-memory theories.     

Contesting the “territorial aggression thesis” in environmental psychology,ca. 1965–1980

In the latter part of the 1960s, the ethologically derived idea of territoriality as an explanation for human aggression became widely debated among social scientists. The instinctual basis of human territorial aggression was promoted by so‐called popular ethologists and consequently embraced by lay audiences. The article examines how the emerging field of environmental psychology adopted the notion of human territoriality from ethology and made it into a part of their own research agenda. It shows how environmental psychologists were inspired by the fashion around the claimed relevance of human territoriality for the large‐scale social problems, such as aggression, war and population growth. Despite of the obvious influences and comparisons between animal and human behavior, many environmental psychologists wanted to contest not only the ‘territorial aggression thesis’ but also the relevance of animal studies for the analysis of human behavior.     

Generativity and Erikson's “belief in the species”

Generativity is the concern for guiding and promoting the next generation through such creative behavior as parenting, teaching, mentoring, leading, and generating products and outcomes that benefit others. Erikson (1963) has argued that in order to be generative in adulthood, people must have a fundamental “belief in the species” or a faith that human progress is possible and worth working toward. The present study focuses on hope and trust concerning the self and others (Erikson's “belief in the species”). In addition, however, the study examines the relation between generativity and personality traits, in this case, dominance, leadership, self-absorption, and nurturance. A sample of 70 adults was administered (1) a series of self-report questionnaires converging on Erikson's idea of belief in the species, (2) a self-report scale assessing generativity, (3) measures of personality traits, and (4) two open-ended measures of generativity requiring subjects to describe life commitments and creative endeavors. The results provide modest support for Erikson's claim of a link between belief in the species and generativity, with significant positive correlations obtained (1) between self-report generativity and two measures of belief in species and (2) between generativity assessed through life commitments and one measure of belief in the species. In addition, the personality trait of nurturance was positively related to all three generativity measures. Problems and issues in the assessment of generativity are discussed.     

The contribution of “cool” and “hot” components of decision-making in adolescence: Implications for developmental psychopathology

Impairments in either “cool” or “hot” processes may represent two pathways to deficient decision-making. Whereas cool processes are associated with cognitive and rational decisions, hot processes are associated with emotional, affective, and visceral processes. In this study, 168 boys were administered a card-playing task at ages 13 and 14 years to assess response perseveration. This task was designed to initially reward playing and gradually associate playing with punishment. Measures of subjective ordering (cool processes) and neuroticism (hot processes) at age 13 years were used to examine how these individual characteristics relate to perseveration over time. A decrease in perseveration from age 13 to 14 was associated with cool processes whereas hot processes were associated with response perseveration only over time. A complementary but simultaneous assessment of cool and hot processes, such as neuropsychological and personality tests, could facilitate treatment planning of children with behavioral problems.     

Personal constructs, performance schemata, and “folk theories” of subordinate effectiveness: Explorations in an army officer sample

This research employs personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955)to explore the content of categories or schemata that may be used in making work performance judgments. Twenty-five experienced U.S. Army officers, focusing on the job of noncommissioned officer (NCO; first-line supervisor), generated independently a total of 189 personal work constructs that they believe differentiate between effective and ineffective NCOs. The officer subjects numerically defined each of their own 6–10 constructs by rating the similarity between each of these constructs and each of 49 reference performance, ability, and personal characteristics concepts. Correlations were computed between the subject-provided similarity ratings for the constructs, and the 189 × 189 matrix was factor analyzed. Six interpretable content factors were identified (e.g., Technical Proficiency, Organization), with 123 of the 189 constructs from 23 of the 25 subjects loading substantially on these factors. Findings here suggest that a core set of concepts is widely employed by these officers as personal work constructs, but that different officers emphasize different combinations of this core set. The personal constructs elicited from officer subjects are likened to performance schemata and “folk theories” of job performance.     

EVALUATION OF THE “CONTROL OVER REINFORCEMENT” COMPONENT IN FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

The effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) as a treatment for behavior disorders has been attributed to a number of variables, one of which is the individual's ability to exert control over the delivery of reinforcement. We evaluated this component of FCT by exposing individuals to conditions in which their behavior either did or did not affect the delivery of reinforcement. Three adults with mental retardation who engaged in self-injurious behavior (SIB) participated. Following a functional analysis of their SIB, the effects of FCT were compared to those of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) in a multielement design. The amount of reinforcement during both conditions was equated by yoking the schedule of reinforcement during NCR sessions to that in effect during FCT sessions. Results indicated that FCT and NCR were equally effective in reducing the SIB of all participants and suggest that control over reinforcement delivery may not affect the degree to which FCT produces behavioral suppression. However, a different benefit of FCT was evident in the results: More consistent increases in the alternative response were observed during the FCT condition than during the NCR condition.