Towards a model of stress and human performance

An outline is presented of a model that aims to relate energetical and structural mechanisms of human information processing and to incorporate an interactionally defined stress notion in performance research. The first section summarizes objections to unidimensional notions of arousal and stress. It is concluded that further progress requires the analysis of joint cognitive-energetical processing structures. In the second section two current performance models - in terms of linear stages and resources - are briefly reviewed. Despite a number of problems and objections, it is decided to base the model upon linear stage notions of information processing. This is further elaborated in the third section. In accord with Pribram and McGuinness (1975) three energetical supply systems are proposed which are selectively related to specific cognitive processing mechanisms. Stress is defined as a state of imbalance in the energetical supply which is difficult to restore or to compensate. The final section is devoted to the discussion of some lines of evidence and to suggestions for future research.     

Focus shift and individual differences in the Sternberg memory-search task

One consistent finding in research using the memory search task developed by Sternberg (1966) is that negative set size has no effect on search reaction time, even when the negative set contains fewer items than the positive set. Such inefficient behavior appears to result from an intense positive focus generated by standard memory search task instructions. The present research was designed to explore the conditions under which a subject will switch focus to a smaller negative set. Two experiments were carried out using standard Sternberg instructions. The first experiment examined the effects of making the contents of the negative set explicit. The result was a shift to negative focus when the negative set was much smaller than the positive set. In the second experiment the size of the positive set was increased systematically to induce a shift to negative focus. The second experiment also examined the relationship between focus shift and measures of intelligence (Raven Progressive Matrices) and information storage capacity (digit span). The results are evidence that negative set size can affect reaction time in the memory search task, and that individual differences in ability to shift focus are related to intelligence.     

Halos vs. stigmas: long-term effects of parent's death or divorce on college students' concepts of the family

College students from families of divorce, of death of a parent, and of intact families rated the meaning of six concepts of the family: mother, father, I myself, marriage, family, and divorce. The Semantic Differential was used to assess four dimensions of meaning of family concepts: evaluation, potency, activity, and general cultural favorability. Children of divorce rated father less favorably than did children of death of a parent or of intact families; however, children of divorce rated divorce more favorably than the remaining two groups. Also, children of divorce evaluated the family concepts that were rated here more negatively than, but equally as potent and active as, children of death of a parent and of intact families. Thus, several long-term stigmas attach to family among children of divorce, but no evidence was found of a halo effect for children of death of a parent.     

Reliability and validity of the revised fear survey schedule for children (FSSC-R)

In this study, the validation of a Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC-R) is detailed. Psychometric properties of the scale are reported for two normal samples and one clinical sample of school-phobic children. Initial analyses indicate that the FSSC-R possesses high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability and acceptable stability over time. Further, it adequately discriminates between normal and clinical samples, has acceptable convergent and discriminant validity and possesses a meaningful factor structure. The potential clinical utility of the scale is discussed, and important social and developmental issues affecting the development and expression of fear in children are addressed.     

A preliminary report on the nature of interactions in a mental-handicap institution

A preliminary analysis of the reactions by staff and other residents to the behaviour of mentally-handicapped people living in a medium-sized institution is presented. The subjects' behaviour was categorized as appropriate, inappropriate or neutral according to culturally-normative criteria. It was found that, for the majority of time there was no reaction to the subjects' behaviour by staff or by other residents. The implications of utilizing culturally-normative criteria for categorizing behaviour are discussed. It is proposed that this type of analysis is potentially useful for understanding the nature of interactions in institutions.     

Two factors of restraint: concern for dieting and weight fluctuation

Factor analysis of the Restraint Scale produced two replicated factors: Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuation. Concern for Dieting reflects heightened attention to and emotional association with eating. Weight Fluctuation reflects extent of previously-experienced weight gain and loss. Weight Fluctuation was more highly positively correlated with indices of overweight status than was Concern for Dieting. Concern for Dieting was positively correlated with Public Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety while Weight Fluctuation was not. Both versions of Restraint were weakly and inversely correlated with Body Image, although this relationship was mediated by degree of overweight status. The findings indicate that the two factors are sufficiently distinct to preclude combination into a single scale. Furthermore. Weight Fluctuation appears to be the more promising subscale for future research.     

The role of marking when reward is delayed

Two-choice spatial discrimination by rats is enhanced if a salient stimulus marker occurs immediately after every choice response and again after a delay interval (Lieberman, McIntosh & Thomas, 1979). Three experiments further explore this effect. Experiment 1 found that the second marker is unnecessary. Experiment 2 found that a marker presented before a response is as effective as one presented after. Both effects could be explained in terms of markers focusing attention on subsequent cues. Experiment 3, however, found that markers after choice enhance learning even when no discriminative cues are present following the marker. Markers thus appear to initiate both a backward search through memory and attention to subsequent events; both processes help to identify events that might be related to the unexpected marking stimulus.