Paired-associate learning by normal children and retardates with relevant redundant compound stimuli

During daily sessions four first-grade boys each played a two-choice marble dropping game. When one colored light was presented a plain token was dispensed as soon as S dropped a marble, and when another light was on a token with a hole in its center was delivered. During choice trials that were interspersed among single-color trials S had to choose one of the two different colored holes. At the end of each session S traded tokens with holes for pennies and then turned in the remaining plain tokens which were not exchanged for money. After S had developed a preference for the response that earned the tokens with holes (tokens that were backed up with pennies) E instructed S to try to get as many plain tokens (unexchangeable tokens) as he could. All Ss immediately switched to the response that earned unexchangeable tokens but as soon as E left they returned to choosing the backed up response. When the adult reentered, Ss again chose to work for unexchangeable tokens. Two different Es (male and female) served and the instructions of each were effective in controlling responding as long as the adult was present, except for one S who did not respond to one E, but did respond as described for the other.     

Person-Placement Congruence: A Framework for Vocational Counselors

A common guideline for vocational counseling is the rule requiring congruence between a man and his job. The issue of person-placement congruence was studied utilizing 159 patients referred for vocational rehabilitation to the Mental Health and Manpower Project from the Fort Logan Mental Health Center. A 13-item scale devised by project research staff and completed by vocational counselors was shown to predict later job success. By separating the scale into two categories, those items dealing with abilities and those related to needs, it was possible to predict the nature of job termination, i.e., quit or was fired. There was demonstrated considerable validity for the man-job fit approach to counseling, and this research served as an initial step toward detailing this rather simple rule.     

Effects of text structure on the impact of heard news

In two experiments, audio re-recordings of texts transcribed from television newscasts were presented to independent groups, one group in each case hearing a ‘bulletin’ with original text structures (as broadcast), the other with key stories revised in accord with story-grammar notions and restoring chronological sequence in the narrative. In Experiment 1 the middle item in a three-story bulletin was subjected to text structure manipulation. After hearing the bulletin, subjects were questioned on information in the texts. In Experiment 2, subjects heard two stories with original or restructured text. In addition to being tested for retention they also rated for bias and quality of writing. Text restructuring improved learning in both studies, especially of information central to the main points of stories. In Experiment 2, such text revision also affected judgements of bias without altering assessment of writing quality. It is suggested that attention to assuring more coherent story structures in newscast texts could counter the problems of poor comprehension and perceived bias on the part of audiences which result from current production priorities and practices.     

Accuracy in Face Perception: A View from Ecological Psychology

ABSTRACT It is well documented that people form reliable and robust impressions of a stranger's personality traits on the basis of facial appearance. The propensity to judge character from the face is typically thought to reflect cultural beliefs about mythical relations between aspects of facial appearance and personality. However, recent cross-cultural and developmental research does not support the mythical, cultural stereotype hypothesis. An alternative explanation of the data is that consensus in face-based impressions exists because those judgments are partially accurate. In this article, we explore the theoretical rationale for this “kernel-of-truth” hypothesis, review research that indicates that first impressions based on facial appearance are partially accurate, and discuss the potential mechanisms that may yield links between aspects of facial appearance and personality.     

Multiple effects of visual format on TV news learning

Two experiments were conducted on edited TV newscast sequences to clarify effects of film accompaniment on learning from heard news text. In Experiment 1,150 British subjects viewed a sequence with either film format throughout or alternating film and ‘talking head’ format between items. Those items that were presented by ‘talking heads’ in the mixed sequence were learned better with film format, in which the heard text was accompanied by appropriate moving pictures. However, no effect of uniform context was found on the remaining items. In Experiment 2, 91 German subjects viewed one of four versions of a bulletin, one with ‘talking head’, one with film throughout, the other two having complementary mixed-format patterns. Besides confirming a beneficial effect of film presentation over ‘talking head’ which accords with the findings of all studies of learning from material in the form of national network newscasts, the results showed an impairing effect of uniform visual format. This can explain ‘contradictory’ findings, notably with atypical test material.     

MEMORY AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES IN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS:

Abstract— Professors from the University of California at Berkeley were administered a 90-min test battery of cognitive performance that included measures of reaction time, paired-associate learning, working memory, and prose recall. Age effects among the professors were observed on tests of reaction time, paired-associate memory, and some aspects of working memory. Age effects were not observed on measures of proactive interference and prose recall, though age-related declines are generally observed in standard groups of elderly individuals. The findings suggest that age-related decrements in certain cognitive functions may be mitigated in intelligent, cognitively active individuals     

Teaching the History of Counseling: Training the Next Generation

The authors describe a teaching activity using a poster-session format to teach first-year counseling psychology doctoral students the history of counseling. Evaluative data suggest that the format was an effective and powerful tool to teach beginning counseling psychology students the history of the profession. The implications of the evaluative feedback are discussed in terms of teaching and preparing the next generation of counselors.