Nonballistic coincident timing

A nonballistic coincident timing task was used to assess to what extent retarded subjects could use spatial and temporal information to plan their movements. Subjects did not just respond to events but appeared able to modify/plan their responses, given sufficient time.     

Processing level and recognition: A search method for inducing alternative encodings of unrelated words

Twenty-four subjects viewed cards containing four words. In synonym orienting, half of the cards contained a synonym pair and half did not; in homophone orienting, half of the displays contained a homophone pair. The remaining two words in each display were used to index retention. During presentation of displays, subjects responded “yes” or “no” to indicate the presence or absence of a matching pair. Following presentation, a recognition test was administered. Half the items were tested early and half were tested late; within each test order, half the items appeared with context cues during testing and half appeared without. Results showed superior recognition (1) following semantic orienting, (2) for items tested early, (3) for items tested with context, and (4) for nonmatch displays requiring exhaustive item comparison. An Orienting by Test Cuing interaction showed that the presence of test cues improved recognition for homophone orienting items only. The interaction may have resulted from the lack of cuetarget associations and the reinstatement of the phonemic orienting set during the test.     

Short-term memory models for choice behavior

In this paper we consider the effect of imposing memory restrictions on the accumulator and random-walk models of choice behavior outlined by Audley (Psychological Review, 1960, 67, 1–15). Specifically, it is assumed that subjects apply criteria to the numbers of impulses received, and that if the criteria are not satisfied by the time w impulses have been received, then thereafter the criteria are only applied to w impulses, which could, for example, be the last w impulses received. Exact and approximate mathematical approaches and simulation techniques are presented in detail. The results obtained demonstrate that both the restricted accumulator and the restricted random-walk models can make qualitative predictions in line with much recent data.     

When unexpected behavior is attributed to the environment

Two experiments were conducted to investigate a modification of the Jones and Davis (1965) analysis of attribution. Subjects were confronted with a situation in which there were two possible causes for an event, and differential information about these causes was provided such that subjects were much more informed about the nature of one potential cause than the other. This information also imparted to the subjects a definite expectancy about the forthcoming event. When the event disconfirmed subjects' expectancies, responsibility was attributed to the cause about which least was known. This result was found in both experiments. In addition, Experiment II offered some suggestive evidence that a disconfirmed expectancy will lead the person to direct his attention toward potential causes about which he is uninformed.     

Peripheral visual acuity and refractive error: Evidence for “two visual systems”?

Experiments conducted in two independent laboratories indicate that the correction of refractive errors does not improve peripheral visual acuity. This finding contrasts with previous results for motion detection and other visual functions in the periphery. The “two visual systems” hypothesis provides a heuristic means of interpreting this apparent discrepancy.     

REPLICATION OF THE ACHIEVEMENT PLACE MODEL IN CALIFORNIA1

Attempting to replicate procedures from Achievement Place, token reinforcement procedures were used to modify savings, conversational interruptions, and table-setting of delinquent boys residing in a home-style, community based, treatment setting. The tokens (points) were redeemable for various privileges and could be earned for specified appropriate behaviors and lost for specified inappropriate behaviors. Contingent point fines reduced the frequency of interruptions. Point rewards improved table-setting, but even large point rewards did not substantially increase savings. Baseline data indicated that lateness to dinner was not a problem, as it was in Achievement Place. Withdrawal of contingent points and back-up rewards did not disrupt the clean-up behavior of two boys.     

The helping process in couples

This study examined couples' informal helping interactions, that is, how partners helped each other with their psychological problems. Fifty-three couples participated in a communication sampling task in which they took each of two roles, discloser and helper (analogous to client and therapist). Audiotapes of the interactions were subsequently categorized according to helper response modes and rated on global measures of problem solving, understanding, and supportiveness. The most frequent helper response modes were question, advisement, and interpretation; reflection was infrequently used. There were no differences in helping communication associated with gender or sex-role self-concept. The important characteristic of the helpers' communication was not the type of response used, but the evaluative quality of the response. Helpers who were more satisfied with their relationships tended to be more understanding and supportive. Also, interactions rated as more understanding and supportive tended to be experienced as more helpful by the disclosers.     

Precocious conservation in context: The solution of quantity tasks by nonquantitative strategies

C. Sinha and B. Carabine's (1981, Journal of Child Language, 8, 109–129) claim of a U-shaped course to the development of quantitative knowledge with an early stage of conservation based on functional significance was tested in two experiments. Children at three age groups from 3 to 6 years were presented with the original procedure or control versions in which the display was slightly altered. Results showed that although Sinha and Carabine's result was replicable, their interpretation is unwarranted. Performance in the younger groups was best interpreted as the use of nonquantitative possession or position strategies.     

Aristotle's thesis in consistent and inconsistent logics

A typical theorem of conaexive logics is Aristotle's Thesis(A), (AA).A cannot be added to classical logic without producing a trivial (Post-inconsistent) logic, so connexive logics typically give up one or more of the classical properties of conjunction, e.g.(A & B)A, and are thereby able to achieve not only nontriviality, but also (negation) consistency. To date, semantical modellings forA have been unintuitive. One task of this paper is to give a more intuitive modelling forA in consistent logics. In addition, while inconsistent but nontrivial theories, and inconsistent nontrivial logics employing prepositional constants (for which the rule of uniform substitution US fails), have both been studied extensively within the paraconsistent programme, inconsistent nontrivial logics (closed under US) do not seem to have been. This paper gives sufficient conditions for a logic containingA to be inconsistent, and then shows that there is a class of inconsistent nontrivial logics all containingA. A second semantical modelling forA in such logics is given. Finally, some informal remarks about the kind of modellingA seems to require are made.