Implicit psychologists' estimates of attitude-behaviour consistencies

To investigate the relationship between implicit psychological hypotheses and explicit empirical findings, summaries of twenty published studies on attitude-behaviour consistency were presented to a sample of forty-eight psychology undergraduates. Subjects were asked to estimate the percentage of agreement between attitudes and behaviour obtained by each study. Correlations between subjects' covariation judgements and empirically obtained attitude-behaviour consistencies were minimal and nonsignificant. Results are discussed in the light of more recent research on attitude-behaviour relationship.     

A basic information psychological parameter (BIP) for the reconstruction of concepts of intelligence

Adherents of the Galton paradigm favour the concept that the simple parameter ‘speed of information processing’ has a physiological basis and determines complex achievements assessed in intelligence tests as well as social success. These assumptions are supported by inter-individual correlations. Further supporting evidence comes from total measurement where not only the information content of the stimuli is measured, but also the time to process them. This reveals an individually constant period during which 1 bit of information is processed. It is called the ‘basic period of information processing’ (BIP), which lasts 1/15 s (= 67 ms) in average adults (IQ 100) and is constant over the ranges from which target stimuli can be drawn and over varying modes of the signs (letters, numbers, musical notes, etc.). In representative samples of adults duration of BIP correlates with global IQ (r ? ?0.60): We conclude that the BIP of an adult with an IQ of 122 is 50 ms and with an IQ of 78 twice as long (100 ms). We consider BIP to be a physiological and general determinant of intelligence, being measurable at a ratio or even an absolute scale level. Thus, it appears to be suitable as a building unit for reconstructing the rather fuzzy traditional concept of general intelligence.     

Grading the ‘cultural literacy’ project

The essay examines the argument advanced by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., for instituting ‘cultural literacy’ as a fundamental priority of schools. A number of confusions and equivocations in Hirsch's reasoning are identified, and the propensity of his project to indoctrinate is exposed. Among the features of Hirsch's argument shown to be troubling are his shifting construal of ‘language’, his inconsistency about the requirements of cultural literacy, and his uncritical relation to traditional images of the American past and present. The upshot is to raise the question why Hirsch's project has elicited wide support and praise.     

Referenzsemantik in der Partnermodellierung

How can we explain that an assertion on something perceived can be understood in the same manner by somebody who cannot perceive that scene? This problem bases the interest in computational linguistics in how listener modeling could possibly be harmonized with reference semantics. Mental images substituting real perception appear as a way out. The architecture of the listener model has to be adapted to the creation and use of such pictorial data structures. Furthermore, the relation between the latter and a verbal (i. e., propositional) representation must be understood. The resulting architecture of a listener model with reference semantics can be employed to solve communicational problems from three general classes in a better way, as is demonstrated by an example implementation.     

Scaling occupational prestige by magnitude estimation and category rating methods: A comparison with the sensory domain

In a field study, models for magnitude estimation and for category ratings are applied to the scaling of occupational prestige. The two respective models provide sufficient conditions for magnitude estimates to yield logarithmic interval scales and for category ratings to lead to interval scales. Both models are found to hold reasonably well for the majority of respondents. As implied by a third model, the relation between magnitude estimation and category rating scales can well be described by a generalized power function. Although overall results do not favour one method over the other individual data analyses reveal substantial interindividual differences with respect to the capability of performing magnitude estimates and category ratings, respectively. The findings are compared to results recently found in psychophysical laboratory experiments, and it is concluded that the individual scale properties the two methods provide do not differ across the attitudinal and the sensory domains.