Effects of physical conditioning on information-processing efficiency

This study investigated changes in information-processing efficiency that occur when physical fitness improves. Information-processing variables were Sternberg's memory-scan rate, Posner's name-access time, the Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test, and numbers of words remembered from word lists. At present and posttest 10 to 12 wk. later, 66 adults between the ages of 18 and 48 yr. took all cognitive tests and rode a bicycle ergometer to estimate physical fitness. A 2 X 2 (improved/stable fitness groups by pretest/posttest trials) analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated that the group who improved 15% or more in physical fitness improved significantly more on the name-access time than the group whose fitness remained stable. There was a trend toward improvement in memory-scan rate and number of words remembered on the first word trial by people who became more fit. The results may have implications for assessment and training of personnel in occupations where speeded perception and responses are required.     

Effects of stereotypes on decision making and information-processing strategies

In two experiments we investigated the effects of stereotyping on (a) reactions to a behavioral transgression and (b) the recall of information bearing on it. Subjects read a case file describing a transgression committed by a target (in Experiment 1, a job-related infraction; in Experiment 2, a criminal act). In some cases, the target's transgression was stereotypic of the target's ethnic group (conveyed through his name), and in other cases it was not. After reading the case file, subjects judged the likelihood that the transgression would recur and recommended punishment for the offense. These judgment data supported the hypothesis that stereotypes function as judgmental heuristics. Specifically, subjects used a stereotype of the target to infer the reasons for his transgression, and then based their punishment decisions on the implications of these inferences, considering other relevant information only when a stereotype-based explanation of the behavior was not available. However, recall data suggested that once a stereotype-based impression of the crime and its determinants was formed, subjects reviewed other available information in an attempt to confirm the implications of this impression. This led to differential recall of presented information, depending on whether its implications were consistent with, inconsistent with, or irrelevant to those of the stereotype.     

Effects of visual and tactual stimulus presentation on learning two-choice patterned and semirandom sequences.

Three experiments compared the effects of visual and tactual stimulus presentation in two-choice sequential learning situations requiring a predictive response. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects received a five- or six-unit repeating pattern; in Experiment 3, they received a semirandom sequence. Tactual as compared to visual stimulus presentation resulted in less trials to criterion in predicting a repearing pattern and in earlier frequency matching in predicting a semirandom sequence. These results suggest an unusual tactual adeptness in binary serial learning. Additionally, a new method of analyzing conditional responding in th brobability learning paradigm is described and applied to the data in Experiment 3.     

Towards a co-ordination of conditioning and information-processing mechanisms within the field of human learning

Abstract.— A delimitation of the fields of application of conditioning and information-processing models was attempted. The delimitation was made in relation to two psychological dimensions, a perception-conception dimension and a selectivity-of-attention dimension. It depicted conditioning models as more applicable the more perceptually-loaded and attentionally non-selective the lzarning attempts, and information-processing models as more applicable the more conceptually-loaded and attentionally selective the learning attempts. Three assumptions were made concerning the intra-individual coordination of conditioning and information-processing mechanisms of learning. Conditioning and hypotheses-testing were, for instance, assumed to be encoding processes functioning in a parallel way and resulting in products, which may fuse when retrieved and used in efferent processes.     

Effects of glide slope, noise intensity, and noise duration on the extrapolation of FM glides through noise.

Listeners are quite adept at maintaining integrated perceptual events in environments that are frequently noisy. Three experiments were conducted to assess the mechanisms by which listeners maintain continuity for upward sinusoidal glides that are interrupted by a period of broadband noise. The first two experiments used stimulus complexes consisting of three parts: prenoise glide, broadband noise interval, and postnoise glide. For a given prenoise glide and noise interval, the subject's task was to adjust the onset frequency of a same-slope postnoise glide so that, together with the prenoise glide and noise, the complex sounded as "smooth and continuous as possible." The slope of the glides (1.67, 3.33, 5, and 6.67 Bark/sec) as well as the duration (50, 200, and 350 msec) and relative level of the interrupting noise (0, -6, and -12 dB S/N) were varied. For all but the shallowest glides, subjects consistently adjusted the offset portion of the glide to frequencies lower than predicted by accurate interpolation of the prenoise portion. Curiously, for the shallowest glides, subjects consistently selected postnoise glide onset-frequency values higher than predicted by accurate extrapolation of the prenoise glide. There was no effect of noise level on subjects' adjustments in the first two experiments. The third experiment used a signal detection task to measure the phenomenal experience of continuity through the noise. Frequency glides were either present or absent during the noise for stimuli like those use in the first two experiments as well as for stimuli that had no prenoise or postnoise glides. Subjects were more likely to report the presence of glides in the noise when none occurred (false positives) when noise was shorter or of greater relative level and when glides were present adjacent to the noise.     

Effect of line orientation on various information-processing tasks

The effects of interstimulus and stimulus-specific factors on central (vs. peripheral) oblique effects were examined using classification, focusing, discrimination, and sequential same-different tasks. Classification results showed that grouping the vertical with the horizontal line and the two diagonal lines with each other facilitated performance. Discrimination results revealed that the two diagonal lines were more confusable with each other than were the members of any other stimulus pair. Focusing results indicated that the vertical and horizontal lines served as better focusing stimuli. A set of sequential same-different tasks, each using only two alternative stimuli, allowed for the examination of stimulus-specific factors in focusing; the effects of similarity relations between all stimuli in the total set were greatly reduced by the constrained context. The two diagonal lines were the most difficult to compare and proved to be the worst foci in these tasks as well. In conclusion, there are two factors operating in the central oblique effect: greater confusability between the two diagonal lines and more favorable stimulus-specific properties of vertical and horizontal lines.     

Effects of attack and uncontrollable noise on aggression

After being either attacked or treated in a more neutral manner by an experimental confederate, male subjects shocked the confederate while being stimulated by loud noise. Among previously attacked subjects, possession of control over offset of the noise led to the delivery of shocks significantly shorter in duration than those given by subjects who did not have control. Mere predictability of noise offset did not have the same effect. Subjects who could control the noise did not differ from those who heard no noise with respect to the duration of shocks given. Noise had no effect on shock duration among nonattacked subjects. In a follow-up study subjects who were given bogus information that they were aroused by noise were less punitive toward an attacking confederate than subjects given no such information. The overall conclusion is that noise facilitates aggression in subjects who have been instigated to aggress to the degree that noise-produced arousal is misattributed to the instigating stimulus.     

Effects on choice of reinforcement delay and conditioned reinforcement

Pigeons chose between fixed-interval schedules of different durations presented in the terminal links of concurrent-chains schedules. The pair of schedules was always in the ratio of 2:1, but the absolute duration of the fixed intervals varied. In one set of conditions, the different terminal-link schedules were associated with different keylight stimuli (cued conditions). In a second set of conditions, the different terminal-link schedules were associated with the same stimulus (uncued conditions). Results from the cued conditions replicated previous findings that preference for the shorter fixed-interval schedule increased with fixed-interval duration. Preferences in the uncued conditions were lower than in the corresponding cued conditions but also increased with fixed-interval length. In addition, the degree of control under the uncued conditions was correlated with the extent to which the schedule during the terminal link was discriminated immediately upon entry into the terminal link. The pattern of results in both conditions was inconsistent with the notion that choice behavior matches relative immediacy of reinforcement. Reanalysis of previous evidence for matching (Chung and Herrnstein, 1967) showed that matching in fact did not occur, as the preferences of their subjects for the shorter of two delays also increased with the absolute size of the delays.     

Effects of some social variables on field dependence.

The effects of socio-economic status, father's absence, family size, and birth order on the field dependence of Grade 6 elementary school children in Jamaica, West Indies, were examined. To 206 boys and 212 girls from 5 urban schools the Hidden Figures Test and a questionnaire were administered. For girls, but not for boys, field independence correlated significantly and positively with socio-economic status, but significantly and negatively with father's absence. No significant relation existed for the boys. Field dependence had no significant relation with family size and birth order.     

Group differences in intelligence and speed of information-processing

Three samples of different levels of mental ability, but each of average or above- average intelligence, were administered a battery of reaction time test which measure the speed with which persons can execute various elementary cognitive processes. Discriminant analyses revealed significant differences between the groups in reaction times and intraindividual standard deviations, and univariate analyses indicated that higher ability groups tended to obtain significantly faster mean reaction times and to show significantly less intraindividual variability than lower ability groups. Groups which differed the most in mental ability differed to the greatest extent on the more complex reaction time tests but this pattern was reversed for groups which were relatively close in mean IQ. Generally, the results support the hypothesis that speed- of-processing is an important factor unferlying intelligence, but a number of puzzling findings indicate the need for continued research in this area.     

Effects of reinforcement rate and delay on the acquisition of lever pressing by rats.

The acquisition of lever pressing by naive rats, in the absence of shaping, was studied as a function of different rates and unsignaled delays of reinforcement. Groups of 3 rats were each exposed to tandem schedules that differed in either the first or the second component. First-component schedules were either continuous reinforcement or random-interval 15, 30, 60 or 120 s; second-component schedules were fixed-time 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, or 24 s. Rate of responding was low under continuous immediate reinforcement and higher under random-interval 15 s. Random interval 30-s and 60-s schedules produced lower rates that were similar to each other. Random-interval 120 s controlled the lowest rate in the immediate-reinforcement condition. Adding a constant 12-s delay to each of the first-component schedule parameters controlled lower response rates that did not vary systematically with reinforcement rate. The continuous and random-interval 60-s schedules of immediate reinforcement controlled higher global and first-component response rates than did the same schedules combined with longer delays, and first-component rates showed some graded effects of delay duration. In addition, the same schedules controlled higher second-component response rates in combination with a 1-s delay than in combination with longer delays. These results were related to those from previous studies on acquisition with delayed reinforcement as well as to those from similar reinforcement procedures used during steady-state responding.     

Effects of glide slope,noise intensity,and noise duration on the extrapolation of FM glides through noise

Listeners are quite adept at maintaining integrated perceptual events in environments that are frequently noisy. Three experiments were conducted to assess the mechanisms by which listeners maintain continuity for upward sinusoidal glides that are interrupted by a period of broadband noise. The first two experiments used stimulus complexes consisting of three parts: prenoise glide, broadband noise interval, and postnoise glide. For a given prenoise glide and noise interval, the subject’s task was to adjust the onset frequency of a same-slope postnoise glide so that, together with the prenoise glide and noise, the complex sounded as “smooth and continuous as possible.” The slope of the glides (1.67, 3.33, 5, and 6.67 Bark/sec) as well as the duration (50, 200, and 350 msec) and relative level of the interrupting noise (0, ?6, and ?12 dB S/N) were varied. For all but the shallowest glides, subjects consistently adjusted the offset portion of the glide to frequencies lower than predicted by accurate interpolation of the prenoise portion. Curiously, for the shallowest glides, subjects consistently selected postnoise glide onset-frequency values higher than predicted by accurate extrapolation of the prenoise glide. There was no effect of noise level on subjects’ adjustments in the first two experiments. The third experiment used a signal detection task to measure the phenomenal experience of continuity through the noise. Frequency glides were either present or absent during the noise for stimuli like those used in the first two experiments as well as for stimuli that had no prenoise or postnoise glides. Subjects were more likely to report the presence of glides in the noise when none occurred (false positives) when noise was shorter or of greater relative level and when glides were present adjacent to the noise.     

The effects of strong belief structures on information-processing evaluations and choice

This study examined the influence of the strength of belief structures on selected aspects of the decision-making process. To examine these issues, a business-acquisition decision scenario was studied in an experiment. Subjects played the role of a CEO of an electronics firm and were asked to evaluate the attractiveness of six potential acquisition candidates and to rate various aspects of the associated decision process. We presented half the subjects with information that the belief structure of their organization was extreme, agreed upon, and clear. The other half was presented with information that there was disagreement about the belief structure and that it was more ambiguous and less extreme. The results clearly showed that the decision process is different for people who were presented with an agreed-upon, extreme, and tightly constructed belief structure when compared to those who received information reflecting a weak and loosely constructed belief structure. A strong belief structure resulted in less positive evaluations, information requested, and money allocated to explore incompatible acquisition candidates (and vice versa for a highly compatible candidate) when compared to subjects using a weak belief structure. In addition, subjects in the strong-belief condition reported that their decision process would be characterized by less doubt, less time, less difficulty, and less conflict compared to subjects in the weak-belief structure condition. Implications for both decision theory and practical decision processes are discussed.     

Effects of noise and attack on aggression and physiological arousal

Sixty male subjects were first given either 10 shocks or 2 shocks by an experimental confederate. Two-thirds were then stimulated with loud and aversive noise while the other one-third were not so stimulated. In one of the noise-stimulated conditions, the subject was free to terminate the noise. In the other condition, the subject had no control over the noise. Subjects in all conditions were then given an opportunity to aggress against the confederate. Measures of skin conductance, pulse rate, and blood pressure were made after the subject had been shocked and again after the noise had been given. Subjects who had been given 10 shocks followed by uncontrollable noise gave shocks of longer duration than subjects in any other condition. Subjects given uncontrollable noise also showed evidence of being more physiologically aroused than those given controllable noise or no noise.This research was supported by Grant GS 40171 from the National Science Foundation to the first author.     

Auditory and phonetic levels of processing in speech perception: neurophysiological and information-processing analyses.

Two new experimental operations were used to distinguish between auditory and phonetic levels of processing in speech perception: the first based on reaction time data in speeded classification tasks with synthetic speech stimuli, and the second based on average evoked potentials recorded concurrently in the same tasks. Each of four experiments compared the processing of two different dimensions of the same synthetic consonant-vowel syllables. When a phonetic dimensions was compared to an auditory dimension, different patterns of results were obtained in both the reaction time and evoked potential data. No such differences were obtained for isolated acoustic components of the phonetic dimension or for two purely auditory dimensions. Together with other recent evidence, the present results constitute additional converging operations on the distinction between auditory and phonetic processes in speech perception and on the idea that phonetic processing involves mechanisms that are lateralized in one cerebral hemisphere.