Modeling,tuition, and sanction effects on self-control at different ages

The effects of age, modeling, tuition, and sanctions on self-control of motor behavior were examined. Children 6, 7, 9, and 11 years of age individually participated. A male model either: (a) instructed and performed “Simon Says” in the traditional manner, (b) introduced the sanction “Don't” on the inhibition trials, (c) performed an action that differed from the instruction, or (d) gave instructions only. Activation latency and inhibition error were influenced most greatly by the actions of the model and the introduction of a negative sanction, whereas tuition was less effective. Age differences were present for inhibition errors as well as activation latency and error. The discussion focused on the differential effects of modeling and tuition on deviant responding.     

Estimating major sources of measurement error in individual intelligences scales: Taking our heads out of the sand

Four ubiquitous major sources of measurement error for individual intelligence scales were identified and discussed. It was argued that where these sources cannot be directly investigated, they should be estimated rather than ignored. The typical magnitude of error arising from each of content sampling, time sampling, scoring, and administration was estimated; their composite was found to produce a far larger standard error of measurement than manuals of individual intelligence tests typically report. Implications for practitioners are discussed.     

THE MODIFICATION OF LEISURE BEHAVIOR IN A HALF-WAY HOUSE FOR RETARDED WOMEN1

A multi-element baseline design combined with a multiple-baseline design, was used to investigate the effect of availability of materials, prizes for participation, and instruction on the leisure behavior of 14 mentally retarded women in a half-way house. A leisure program was conducted on weekday evenings, during which residents could choose to participate in any of six activities offered: puzzles, card games, clay, painting, weaving, and rug making. It was found that instruction in weaving and rug making significantly increased the percentage of residents participating in these activities, and that following instruction, prizes were not necessary to maintain high levels of participation. In contrast, prizes were more effective than mere availability of materials in maintaining participation in the other activities.     

Critical period effects on universal properties of language: the status of subjacency in the acquisition of a second language.

Recent studies have shown clear evidence for critical period effects for both first and second language acquisition on a broad range of learned, language-specific grammatical properties. The present studies ask whether and to what degree critical period effects can also be found for universal properties of language considered to be innate. To address this issue, native Chinese speakers who learned English as a second language were tested on the universal principle subjacency as it applies to wh-question formation in English. Subjects arrived in the U.S.A. between the ages of 4 and 38 years. They were immersed in English for a number of years (a minimum of 5) and were adults at the time of testing. Non-native performance on subjacency was found for subjects of all ages of arrival. Performance declined continuously over age of arrival until adulthood, (r = -.63). When immersion occurred as late as adulthood, performance dropped to levels slightly above chance. In all of the analyses performed, subjacency did not differ from language-specific structures in the degree or manner in which it was affected by maturation. These results suggest that whatever the nature of the endowment that allows humans to learn language, it undergoes a very broad deterioration as learners become increasingly mature.     

Developmental changes in memory source monitoring.

Previous research suggests that children are more likely than adults to confuse memories of actions they imagined themselves performing with memories of actions they actually performed (Realization Judgments), but are not more likely to confuse memories of actions they had imagined performing with memories of actions they saw another person perform (Reality Monitoring). We approach these findings in terms of a theory about the processes by which people identify the sources of their recollections (Source Monitoring). This approach suggests that children may be more likely than adults to confuse memories from different sources whenever the sources are highly similar to one another. Experiments 1 and 2 tested this hypothesis by manipulating the perceptual and semantic similarity of two sources of information and testing 4- and 6-year-old and adult subjects' recollection of the sources of particular pieces of information. Experiment 3 tested the hypothesis that children are more likely than adults to mistakenly identify memories of things they imagined another person doing as memories of things they witnessed that person doing. The findings indicate that (a) people are more likely to confuse memories from similar than dissimilar sources, (b) source monitoring improves during the preschool and childhood years, and (c) children may be especially vulnerable to the effects of source similarity.     

Efficacy of caffeine versus expectancy in altering caffeine-related symptoms

The study investigated the independent and interactive effects of caffeine and expectancy on caffeine-related symptoms. High- and low-caffeine consumers were randomly assigned to either an expectancy or nonexpectancy instructional set and one of four caffeine doses. Subjects were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, (Spielberger & Gorsuch, 1970) and a Symptom Questionnaire (Christensen, White, Krietsch, & Steele, 1990) prior to and 45 min following consumption of one of the four caffeine doses. An analysis of covariance identified a significant main effect for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores and significant main and interaction effects for four Symptom Questionnaire items. However, when the alpha levels were corrected for the increased probability of Type I error, using the Bonferroni procedure, these effects failed to achieve significance. These results suggest that previous reports of subjective caffeine effects are also suspect because of their failure to control for the increased probability of Type I error.     

The relationship between feeding rate and patch choice.

Rats in a laboratory foraging simulation searched for sequential opportunities to feed in two patches that differed in the rate at which food pellets were delivered (controlled by fixed-interval schedules) and in the size of the pellets. The profitability of feeding in each patch was calculated in terms of time (grams per minute) and in terms of effort (grams per bar press). These values were the result of the imposed fixed interval, the size of the pellets, and the rate at which the rats pressed the bar in each condition. The rats ate more food and larger meals, but not more frequent meals, at the patch offering the higher rate of food consumption, calculated as grams per minute. The relative intake at any patch was a function of the relative rate of intake during meals at that patch compared to the other patch. Rats respond to explicit manipulations of feeding time in the same manner as they respond to manipulations of feeding effort.     

The effects of schedule history and the opportunity for adjunctive responding on behavior during a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.

The effects of schedule history and the availability of an adjunctive response (polydipsia) on fixed-interval schedule performance were investigated. Two rats first pressed levers under a schedule of food reinforcement with an interresponse time greater than 11 s, and 2 others responded under a fixed-ratio 40 schedule. All 4 were then exposed to a fixed-interval 15-s schedule. Water was continuously available under these conditions, but after responding became stable on the fixed-interval schedule, access was experimentally manipulated. With water freely available, subjects did not display characteristic fixed-interval response rates and patterns (i.e., scalloping or break-and-run). Instead, they exhibited predictable, stable patterns of behavior as a function of their schedule histories: Subjects with the interresponse-time history exhibited low response rates, and those with the fixed-ratio history exhibited high rates. Manipulating the amount of water available resulted in marked changes in response rates for rats with the interresponse-time history but not for those with the fixed-ratio history. The results illustrate the multiple causation of behavior by its previous and current schedules of reinforcement and other concurrent factors.     

CONSPEC and CONLERN: a two-process theory of infant face recognition

Evidence from newborns leads to the conclusion that infants are born with some information about the structure of faces. This structural information, termed CONSPEC, guides the preference for facelike patterns found in newborn infants. CONSPEC is contrasted with a device termed CONLERN, which is responsible for learning about the visual characteristics of conspecifics. In the human infant, CONLERN does not influence looking behavior until 2 months of age. The distinction between these 2 independent mechanisms allows a reconciliation of the conflicting data on the development of face recognition in human infants. Finally, evidence from another species, the domestic chick, for which a similar 2-process theory has already been put forward, is discussed. The new nomenclature is applied to the chick and used as a basis for comparison with the infant.