Effects of goodness and other properties of patterns on discriminative performance of monkeys

Subsequent to prism adaptation, subjects may be readaptedto their original visual-motor coordination using procedures similar to those occurring during adaptation. It has been argued that such procedures will be moreeffective than allowing for a decay of the aftereffect if normal visual-motor behavior is itself a state of adaptation. In the present study, two readaptation procedures were compared for their effectiveness to four decay and/or controf conditions. Although all groups, except for one decay condition, showed significant reductions in prism aftereffects, only the two readaptation groups showed final aftereffects that were not significantly different from zero.It is argued that readaptation is distinguishable from decay and, further, that the necessary conditions for readaptation can be elucidated with reference to the information discordance hypothesis of prism adaptation. These arguments are primarily based on an extensive analysis inwhich discrepant informationabout the adapted arm’s position is supplied by a nonvisual search task using the two arms.     

A solid state CFF apparatus

In past critical fusion frequency (CFF) experiments, one of two methods for generating the flashing light has typically been used: a strobe light or a motor-driven sectored disk that chops the light from a lamp. Both of these methods generate noise that can cue a subject. A solid state apparatus has been designed to avoid this and other deficiencies of currently used methods. In use, the apparatus has been found to be simple, flexible, and reliable, and it does not give the subject acoustic cues to flicker rate.     

Information on the Internet: How selective should we be?

Vast amounts of information are available on the Internet, and programs such as Mosaic provide users with easy access to text and multimedia files. Once a user has set up a host system, consideration must be given to what information will be made available. In addition to legal restrictions, the interests of potential users (those accessing the host system) should be considered when determining the kinds of information to be made available. If those maintaining these host systems are somewhat selective when making information availability decisions, the potential information “glut” may be attenuated.     

The matching game: Testing for the generality of the matching law

The matching law suggests that animals will allocate responses as a function of reinforcer availability; that is, if one choice produces more reinforcement, a greater proportion of total responding will be allocated to that choice. Indeed, there tends to be a match between response allocation and proportions of reinforcers delivered, given each of those choices. A computer game that delivers simulated coins of experimenter-selected denominations for responding on either of two keys was developed to test the generality of the matching law. The data suggest that even within a single 10-min session, matching functions may be obtained (although undermatching was the rule in the present results). This program may also be used to test various accounts of the matching law.     

Evaluating an innovative counselling service for children of divorce

An evaluation of the first counselling service in Britain for children of divorce is reported. In a previous article, the quantitative outcomes of counselling were outlined, which included such data as the children's self-esteem and perceptions of divorce. Here the focus is on the qualitative outcomes of the counselling evaluation: namely, the children's and mother's satisfaction with the counselling, and the counsellor's opinion of its success. The conclusions of the study and their implications for practice are discussed.     

A Spirit in Need of Rest: Luther's Melancholia,Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,and Religiosity

Male melancholia, rooted in early childhood experiences of perceived mother-loss, is intrinsically linked to religiosity. The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther suffered from melancholia that was related to, and exacerbated by, a corresponding obsessive-compulsive disorder. This essay makes a case for Luther's melancholia being grounded in both childhood beatings (at least one of which was carried out by his mother) and his subsequent search for an identity. Luther's melancholia also gave rise to life-long struggles with obsessive-compulsive anxieties. His religion, in which he believed he had discovered both an identity and a means for relief from his inner struggles, actually exacerbated his melancholia. He realized as an older man that religion had indeed become his substitute obsession and that a major part of his self had died. An argument for how Luther's melancholia and obsessive-compulsive disorder could have been alleviated is offered.     

Allan Paivio’s response to Delprato’s review of Mind and its evolution: A dual-coding theoretical approach

The Psychological Record -     

Anatomy of an error: A bidirectional state model of task engagement/disengagement and attention-related errors

We present arguments and evidence for a three-state attentional model of task engagement/disengagement. The model postulates three states of mind-wandering: occurrent task inattention, generic task inattention, and response disengagement. We hypothesize that all three states are both causes and consequences of task performance outcomes and apply across a variety of experimental and real-world tasks. We apply this model to the analysis of a widely used GO/NOGO task, the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). We identify three performance characteristics of the SART that map onto the three states of the model: RT variability, anticipations, and omissions. Predictions based on the model are tested, and largely corroborated, via regression and lag-sequential analyses of both successful and unsuccessful withholding on NOGO trials as well as self-reported mind-wandering and everyday cognitive errors. The results revealed theoretically consistent temporal associations among the state indicators and between these and SART errors as well as with self-report measures. Lag analysis was consistent with the hypotheses that temporal transitions among states are often extremely abrupt and that the association between mind-wandering and performance is bidirectional. The bidirectional effects suggest that errors constitute important occasions for reactive mind-wandering. The model also enables concrete phenomenological, behavioral, and physiological predictions for future research.