Learning versus behavioral expression of the learned: The effects of a secondary tone-counting task on implicit learning in the serial reaction task

The replicated finding that implicit learning in the serial reaction task (SRT) is impaired when both the learning and the assessment of learning occur in the presence of a secondary tone-counting task has been interpreted as implying that the mechanism(s) underlying implicit sequence learning require(s) attention in order to operate. However, in almost all studies, learning and the assessment of learning have been confounded. It is therefore unclear whether tone counting affects learning per se, the behavioral expression of the learned, or both. The goal of the present research was to disentangle the effects of tone counting on learning and the expression of the learned. In Exps. 1a and 1b, participants performed the Nissen and Bullemer SRT under different single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) practice schedules. In Exps. 2a and 2b, participants received different amounts of ST and DT practice. In all experiments, degree of implicit learning was then assessed under both ST and DT conditions. Results are consistent with the argument that primarily the expression of what has been learned and, to some extent, implicit learning itself, are affected by tone counting. These findings are easily understood in terms of specific interference mechanisms but are problematic for models that contain the assumption of an attentional learning mechanism. Received: 16 October 1996 / Accepted: 5 February 1997     

GPOWER: A general power analysis program

GPOWER is a completely interactive, menu-driven program for IBM-compatible and Apple Macintosh personal computers. It performs high-precision statistical power analyses for the most common statistical tests in behavioral research, that is,t tests,F tests, andχ ² tests. GPOWER computes (1) power values for given sample sizes, effect sizes andα levels (post hoc power analyses); (2) sample sizes for given effect sizes,α levels, and power values (a priori power analyses); and (3)α andβ values for given sample sizes, effect sizes, andβ/α ratios (compromise power analyses). The program may be used to display graphically the relation between any two of the relevant variables, and it offers the opportunity to compute the effect size measures from basic parameters defining the alternative hypothesis. This article delineates reasons for the development of GPOWER and describes the program’s capabilities and handling.     

Social influence: A discussion and integration of recent models into a general group situation theory

Three models of social influence are presented and their principles discussed in depth: social impact theory, the social influence model and group situation theory. A detailed model of social impact is developed and combined with the group situation theory. The integration of these concepts is utilized to reanalyse several classical studies in social facilitation, social inhibition, crowding, social loafing, and helping in an emergency. Finally, in order to emphasize their differences, the three models are used to explain the Asch studies. The combination of a detailed version of social impact theory with group situation theory results in a middle range theory of group behaviour.     

Psychosocial factors in heart surgery: presurgical vulnerability and postsurgical recovery

OBJECTIVE: Distress and low perceived social support were examined as indicators of psychosocial vulnerability in patients about to undergo heart surgery. Design: A total of 550 study patients underwent heart surgeries, including bypass grafting and valve procedures. Psychosocial interviews were conducted about five days before surgery, and biomedical data were obtained from hospital records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sociodemographic, personality, religious, and biomedical factors were evaluated as predictors of psychosocial vulnerability, and all five sets of variables were evaluated as contributors to hospital length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: Patients scoring higher on one or more indicator of presurgical psychosocial vulnerability were younger, more likely to be female, less likely to be married, less well educated, lower in dispositional optimism, higher in trait anger, and lower in religiousness. Older age, depression, low support, and low trait anger each showed an independent, prospective association with greater LOS, and several other predictors had prospective relationships with LOS that were statistically mediated by depression or perceived support. CONCLUSION: Evidence that multiple psychosocial factors may influence adaptation to heart surgery has implications for understanding and ameliorating presurgical distress and for improving postsurgical recovery.     

Credit use: psychological perspectives on a multifaceted phenomenon

Consumer borrowing is a highly topical and multifaceted phenomenon as well as a popular subject for study. We focus on consumer credit use and review the existing literature. To categorize what is known we identify four main psychological perspectives on the phenomenon: credit use as (1) a reflection of the situation, (2) a reflection of the person, (3) a cognitive process, and (4) a social process. On top of these perspectives we view credit use as a process that entails three distinct phases: (1) processes before credit acquisition, (2) processes at credit acquisition, and (3) processes after credit acquisition. We review the international literature along a two-tier structure that aligns the psychological perspectives with a process view of credit. This structure allows us to identify systematic concentrations as well as gaps in the existing research. We consolidate what is known within each perspective and identify what seems to be most urgently missing. Some of the most important gaps relate to research studying credit acquisition from the perspective of credit use as a reflection of the person or as a social process. In particular, research on credit use as a reflection of the person appears to focus exclusively on the first stage of the credit process. We conclude with a discussion that reaches across perspectives and identifies overarching gaps, trends, and open questions. We highlight a series of implicit linkages between perspectives and the geographical regions in which studies related to the perspectives were conducted. Beyond diagnosing a geographical imbalance of research, we argue for future research that systematically addresses interrelations between perspectives. We conclude with a set of global implications and research recommendations.     

Evidence for habituation of the irrelevant-sound effect on serial recall

Working memory theories make opposing predictions as to whether the disruptive effect of task-irrelevant sound on serial recall should be attenuated after repeated exposure to the auditory distractors. Although evidence of habituation has emerged after a passive listening phase, previous attempts to observe habituation to to-be ignored distractors on a trial-by-trial basis have proven to be fruitless. With the present study, we suggest that habituation to auditory distractors occurs, but has often been overlooked because past attempts to measure habituation in the irrelevant-sound paradigm were not sensitive enough. In a series of four experiments, the disruptive effects of to-be-ignored speech and music relative to a quiet control condition were markedly reduced after eight repetitions, regardless of whether trials were presented in blocks (Exp. 1) or in a random order (Exp. 2). The auditory distractor’s playback direction (forward, backward) had no effect (Exp. 3). The same results were obtained when the auditory distractors were only presented in a retention interval after the presentation of the to-be-remembered items (Exp. 4). This pattern is only consistent with theoretical accounts that allow for attentional processes to interfere with the maintenance of information in working memory.