A Behavior-Analytic Approach to Behavioral Reflexivity

The Psychological Record - The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of behavioral reflexivity from a behavior-analytic perspective. Two quotations from behavioral researchers are first...     

Data acquisition system for precision eye-fixation studies

A system has been developed to sense and record eye point-of-gaze for on-line computer processing, using a Mackworth camera in conjunction with a closed-circuit television system. System optics and electronics are described, together with computer software for system calibration and automatic artifact removal.     

A COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO PLACEMENT PROGRAMS FOR HARD-CORE UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

An exploratory placement class was conducted to teach vocational rehabilitation clients techniques of securing jobs. The results of this attempt were compared to a similar program conducted through another agency. The differences between the two programs suggest techniques that could increase the employment potential of vocational rehabilitation clients.     

A beautiful day in the neighborhood: What factors determine the generation effect for simple multiplication problems?

In four experiments, we examined the generation effect for the free recall of simple multiplication answers. Large-product-size problems showed a consistent generation-effect advantage over small-product-size problems, except when each answer was generated twice, via two different sets of operands (Experiment 2). Also, measures of problem-solution time and strategy use accounted for the large-product-size advantage. Across experiments, however, small-product-size problems (but not large-product-size problems) showed considerable variation in the size of their generation effect. We discovered that solving small-product-size problems via direct memory retrieval increased the episodic recall probability of other problems that were near neighbors to the generated answer, and we attribute this result to a spreading activation mechanism in semantic memory. A measure of neighbor activations, combined with RT to solve each problem, accounted for 51% of the observed generation-effect variance.     

Psychological consultation under Oregon's 1994 Death With Dignity Act: ethics and procedures

The Oregon 1994 Death With Dignity Act prescribes an evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist when the patient is suspected to be suffering from impaired judgment. Several attempts have been made to propose procedures for assessing end-of-life mental conditions and competence. The psychologist's role may include ethical considerations, protecting patients' rights to autonomy, ensuring competent judgment, preventing unnecessary suffering and appropriate diagnoses of mental disorders, and supporting family members and the health care team.     

Adaptation to difficult designs: Facilitating use of new technology

The interface between technology and people has long been the focus of human factors engineering. The past decade has been a growth period for cognitive psychologists and computer scientists to collaborate on research and design for human-computer interaction. Psychologists in general and organizational psychologists in particular can also contribute to this work with models that capture the dynamics of technology implementation and the impact of technology on people, their work and working relationships. Strategies to support and adapt technology can affect users' evaluation of new technology. Facilitation may take the form of job aids, training, access to technical support staff, or the design of a comprehensive service, of which new technology is only one component.The work described in this article was conducted while the author was employed at AT&T Bell Laboratories.Portions of this article were presented at the 1991 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, and at a 1992 meeting of the New York Metropolitan Human Factors Society. The author wishes to acknowledge Pamela Kidder, Karen Patten and Larry Penwell for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Adolescent Males' Knowledge and Attitudes About AIDS in The Context of Their Social World1

This study sought to find out how much total knowledge adolescents had concerning AIDS, what particular areas of knowledge were deficient, and how those areas might be related to attitudes and experiences in their social world. Seventy-eight adolescent males from one suburban and three urban high schools were interviewed. A 101-item questionnaire was used to assess: a) overall knowledge about AIDS; b) attitudes about sexuality, drugs, death, and AIDS and; c) related aspects of their social world, i.e., number of IV drug users known, and sources of information about AIDS. Analyses of variance were performed on overall knowledge of AIDS and on five content areas of knowledge. Race was shown to relate to significant differences in the knowledge scores. The social world associated with the urban samples were discussed as risk factors for minority youth. Different attitudes related to strengths and weaknesses in different areas of knowledge. Attitudes associated with deficiencies in different subareas of knowledge were discussed as additional risk factors and as presenting target areas for AIDS education efforts.