Deep agraphia

A case of agraphia is documented which resembles in every respect the pattern of results obtained in deep dyslexia. Pronounceable pseudowords could not be written to dictation while concrete nouns were more accurately transcribed than abstract nouns. Verbs and functions words were written very poorly and oral spelling was impaired. In addition, semantic paragraphias were present. In contrast to the deficit observed in writing, no such impairment was found for reading. It is concluded that writing can occur without phoneme-grapheme conversion and that codes generated for reading are functionally distinct from codes generated for writing.     

An analysis of the role and trait components of sex-biased occupational beliefs

This study investigated the role and trait components of sex-biased occupational beliefs. A repeated-measures analysis of variance design was used to assess the agreement patterns of 198 female and male undergraduates to three types of sentences: (1) traits necessary for a variety of occupations (job requisites); (2) the relative possession of these traits by men and women (traits); and (3) the relative suitability of women or men for these occupations (roles). A significant sex of subject by sentence type interaction was found, indicating that the sex of the subjects as well as the type of sentence (job, role, or trait) contributed to overall occupational beliefs. Moreover, tests of the simple main effects revealed that sentence type was significant for both females and males, and that sex was significant within two of the three levels of sentence type: job requisites and role statements. The results indicated that greater understanding of occupational stereotyping may be attained through research aimed at distinguishing between role and trait components of job stereotypes.This research was completed as part of the first author's doctoral dissertation research while supported by an NIMH Traineeship at Michigan State University. Use of the Michigan State University computer facilities was made possible in part through support from the National Science Foundation.     

The predictive efficiency of Holland's SDS summary codes in terms of career choice: A four-year follow-up

This study was designed to investigate the predictive efficiency of the primary and secondary summary codes of Holland's Self-Directed Search for Educational and Vocational Planning (SDS) in terms of expressed career choice 4 years later. In 1974, 126 voiationally undecided high school seniors were given the SDS, followed by a revision of Trow's Vocational Choice Inventory (VCI) in which they were asked to express a career choice or a state of indecision. In 1978, this same group was mailed a posttest VCI; the responses of 84 subjects were then analyzed. The subjects' expressed career choices on both the 1974 and 1978 VCI were compared to the primary and secondary summary codes on the SDS which they had taken in 1974. Inspection of the responses indicated that 21.4% of the subjects had made career choices predicted by their primary summary codes and 51.2% had made vocational choices found among their secondary summary codes. Only 27.4% chose a career area not predicted by their 1974 SDS results. The results of this study appear to lend support to the validity of using the SDS summary codes to predict eventual career decisions.     

Acknowledgement

Four experiments examined the effects of noise on semantic memory. The first was a replication of a study by Eysenck, in which subjects had to retrieve words beginning with particular letters which were also instances of specified categories (e.g. Fruit-A). Whereas Eysenck had found that both noise and activation level of the individual interacted with the dominance of the category instance possible, the present study failed to repeat the findings.The remaining experiments used a paper-and-pencil modification of Eysenck's technique; the second and third were successful in showing interactions of dominance and noise, but in opposite directions. The two experiments differed only in the previous experience of the subjects. In a fourth experiment, the same materials were presented in a different sequence, mixing dominant and non-dominant instances. The interaction then disappeared again.These experiments therefore suggest that the effect of noise on memory is not a uniform and mechanical exaggeration of dominance, but depends on the retrieval strategies being employed by the particular subject.     

Compensatory Response to Anticipated Densities1

The coping processes associated with crowding stress were conceptualized as dynamic sequences of personal or situational adjustments and readjustments directed toward maintaining desired frequencies of social contact. By studying ongoing coping processes as subjects prepared for anticipated crowding, evidence of social withdrawal as a response to crowding was obtained. In addition, findings suggested that these processes were sensitive to change in the situation, seeking or avoiding interaction as anticipated group size changed. Subjects who were subsequently told that they would be interacting in small groups rather than in larger groups reported less crowding and discomfort than subjects whose anticipation of large group interaction was maintained. Furthermore, subjects whose expectations of large group interaction were disconfirmed increased facial regard for others following disconfirmation, indicating a greater willingness to interact. These findings were discussed as evidence of optimization processes governing desired levels of social contact, intimacy, and personal space.     

Perception of numerical stimuli felt by fingers of the left and right hands

Three experiments are reported in which blindfolded right-handed adults felt numerical stimuli with the middle fingers of their left or right hands. These stimuli consisted of collections of raised dots in random arrangement to be enumerated (Experiment I), collections of evenly spaced raised dots in a straight line to be enumerated (Experiment II), and raised digits to be identified (Experiment III). Differences between hands were only found in Experiment I. The left hand was faster, apparently reflecting specialisation of the right cerebral hemisphere for the analysis of complex spatial stimuli. A fourth experiment, in which collections of raised dots in random arrangement to be enumerated were felt through a piece of cloth by subjects who were not blindfolded, confirmed the left hand superiority and demonstrated that it had not arisen from loss of sight of the movements of the dominant hand.     

Vocational maturity and anxiety among vocationally undecided and indecisive students : The effectiveness of Holland's Self-Directed Search

This study was designed with two purposes in mind: (1) to measure the effectiveness of Holland's Self-Directed Search for Educational and Vocational Planning (SDS); and (2) to test the validity of Goodstein's (Theories of Counseling. B. Stefflure, Ed., 1965) hypothesis that career indecision and indecisiveness are differentially related to anxiety and vocational maturity. A total of 66 high school males and 60 high school females were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and tested for anxiety and vocational maturity levels; the experimental subjects were given the SDS. Statistical analysis indicated that the SDS was an effective instrument in reducing career indecision; Goodstein's hypothesis was not supported by the results of the study.     

A simple technique for correlating film and EMG in locomotion studies

Two recurring problems hampering investigations of muscular activity patterns during locomotion are electrical “noise” and movement artifact in the electromyographic (EMG) signal and proper synchronization of behavioral events to the EMG. A relatively simple technique for achieving these ends is presented. Vigorous locomotor movements of unrestrained animals are recorded on 16-mm film and synchronized with one or more EMGs from selected muscles with little electrical noise or movement artifact interference. The system employs telemetry which is compared to hardwire techniques.