Need associations of male prisoners: a multi-dimensional assessment of Murray needs

Previous studies have revealed quantitative differences between delinquents and nondelinquents in the strength of Murray needs. To provide clarification and elaboration of such past findings, need associations derived from the Picture identification Test were analyzed by t test and discriminant analysis for a group of 112 male prisoners and 112 male nonincracerated normals matched with the prisoners for age and education. Greater than chance (.05 level) numbers of association score differences were obtained between the two groups. Differences in need association scores were interpreted in light of past findings. Need association differences were revealed for the Achievement, Affiliation, Sex, and Order needs among others.     

Evidence for lexical access in a simultaneous matching task

Memory & Cognition - Reaction times in a simultaneous visual matching task were obtained for four types of letter strings: high-frequency words, low-frequency words, orthographically legal...     

Need associations and psychopathology.

The 1960 Picture Identification Test (PIT) provides association scores for 210 need dyads derived from 21 Murray needs. Association scores for 16 clinical-control group pairs were analyzed for differences by t test. The clinical groups represented schizophrenic, neurotic, sex disturbance, and behavior disorder categories. Assertive needs produced the largest number od dyads which discriminated (p less than .05) clinical and control groups. Schizophrenic groups had the largest number of differences from normal controls. Schizophrenics tended to under-associate pairs of Assertive needs, as compared to normals, whereas other groups tended to over-associate these needs. Clinical groups in general over-associated 379 need dyads and under-associated 99 dyads (p less than .05). These results suggest that the frustations of maladjusted people, with regard to need association, are most generally related to insuficient conceptual differentiation of needs.     

Achieving incremental semantic interpretation through contextual representation.

While much work has been done investigating the role of context in the incremental processing of syntactic indeterminacies, relatively little is known about online semantic interpretation. The experiments in this article made use of the eye-tracking paradigm with spoken language and visual contexts in order to examine how, and when listeners make use of contextually-defined contrast in interpreting simple prenominal adjectives. Experiment 1 focused on intersective adjectives. Experiment 1A provided further evidence that intersective adjectives are processed incrementally. Experiment 1B compared response times to follow instructions such as 'Pick up the blue comb' under conditions where there were two blue objects (e.g. a blue pen and a blue comb), but only one of these objects had a contrasting member in the display. Responses were faster to objects with a contrasting member, establishing that the listeners initially assume a contrastive interpretation for intersective adjectives. Experiments 2 and 3 focused on vague scalar adjectives examining the time course with which listeners establish contrast for scalar adjectives such as tall using information provided by the head noun (e.g. glass) and information provided by the visual context. Use of head-based information was examined by manipulating the typicality of the target object (e.g. whether it was a good or poor example of a tall glass. Use of context-dependent contrast was examined by either having only a single glass in the display (the no contrast condition) or a contrasting object (e.g. a smaller glass). The pattern of results indicated that listeners interpreted the scalar adjective incrementally taking into account context-specific contrast prior to encountering the head. Moreover, the presence of a contrasting object, sharply reduced, and in some conditions completely eliminated, typicality effects. The results suggest a language processing system in which semantic interpretation, as well as syntactic processing, is conducted incrementally, with early integration of contextual information.     

Using the PET microcomputer for collecting and analyzing observational data in the classroom

This report concerns the use of the PET 2001–8 microcomputer (Commodore) for taking observational data on human interactions in a classroom setting. The program enables the observer to record several different types of behavior as they occur in time and provides for calculations of frequency, duration, and latency data for the behaviors observed, using the real-time clock built into the PET. During field testing in a classroom, an observer can accurately record sequential teacher-student interactions. Because of the integration of processor, TV monitor, keyboard, and cassette deck, the PET is very portable, which increases it flexibility for observing behaviors in naturalistic settings.     

Neurodisruption of selective attention: insights and implications

Mechanisms of selective attention are vital for coherent perception and action. Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have yielded key insights into the relationship between neural mechanisms of attention and eye movements, and the role of frontal and parietal brain regions as sources of attentional control. Here we explore the growing contribution of reversible neurodisruption techniques, including transcranial magnetic stimulation and microelectrode stimulation, to the cognitive neuroscience of spatial attention. These approaches permit unique causal inferences concerning the relationship between neural processes and behaviour, and have revealed fundamental mechanisms of attention in the human and animal brain. We conclude by suggesting that further advances in the neuroscience of attention will be facilitated by the combination of neurodisruption techniques with established neuroimaging methods.     

What an image depicts depends on what an image means.

Previous research has shown that subjects visually imaging the classical ambiguous figures have great difficulty in reconstruing these images. To explain this finding, we propose that subjects' construal of their image strongly influences what is depicted in the image, leading to the inclusion of some aspects of an imaged figure and the exclusion of others. Thus, images of (supposedly) ambiguous figures may literally omit information necessary for the reconstrual. To test this claim, we asked subjects to form an image of the duck/rabbit figure, and then to compare their image to drawings that departed slightly from the original figure. We hypothesized that subjects would have a clear image of the side of the figure they understood as the "face" (the left side if the image is understood as a duck, the right side for the rabbit). Conversely, subjects would have only a vague image of the "back" of the head. Consequently, in comparing their image to test stimuli, subjects should be able to detect variations in the contour of the "face," but not in the contour of the "back" of the animal's head. These predictions were confirmed, strongly suggesting that the construal of an image does dictate what is depicted within the image.