Prediction outcome probabilities as determinants of choice reaction time

In a two-stimulus two-response choice reaction time (RT) task in which Ss made stimulus predictions, the probability of a correct prediction was manipulated between Ss. The magnitude of the difference in RT to correctly and incorrectly predicted stimuli (i.e., the prediction outcome effect) was an increasing function of the probability of a correct prediction This finding was primarily due to a reliable decrease in RT to correctly predicted stimuli as the probability of a correct prediction increased, since RT to incorrectly predicted stimuli was not affected by prediction outcome probability. These results were interpreted as partially supporting a continuous expectancy notion which involves facilitory and inhibitory mechanisms winch are differentially influenced by the probability of a correct prediction.     

The role of the clergy in serving the mentally retarded

Conclusion The clergyman, by at times being reflective, supportive, sometimes confrontational, and educative, is uniquely equipped to bring solace and hope to the retarded and their families (to quote Mostrom), recognizing that by providing a ray of hope, a way out, a meaningful answer, he can realistically show both the darkness and light—the truth that this child is also a child of God. In an age in which there is a crisis in moral, ethical, and spiritual values, are not the retarded a magnificent example of ways in which compassion, understanding, and helpfulness can enrich all of our lives? In a letter to me, Mr. Mostrom writes that others can give technical answers, but the clergy can give support essential to the family by walking along side of the retarded and their families, listening, understanding, showing that they care, and so giving strength and encouragement.Charlos C. Borgman, who had been a member of the Board of Trustees, Executive Vice-President, and Treasurer of the Academy of Religion and Mental Health before 1972, became a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice-President of the Institutes of Religion and Health after the merging of the Academy into the newly-formed Institutes. His many administrative and advisory services to national and international organizations serving people now include the folowing: American Field Service Scholarships, Inc., Chairman of its International Council; Public Corporation for Mental Health, Special Advisor; Silver Hill Foundation, member of the Board of Managers; the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, Special Advisor.This article is an expansion of an address Mr. Bergman delivered at the Second Pan-American Congress on Mental Retardation held in Panama City, Aust 2 24–29, 1975.     

When a Cultural Prohibition is Effective: A Field Investigation1

Three conditions have been hypothesized by Allport (1934) to be necessary for normative compliance to occur: (a) the required behavior must seem to serve a purpose; (b) the required behavior must be described in a rule or law; (c) a fairly large proportion of the population must perform the required behavior. Evidence supporting each of the three hypotheses is reviewed. The presence or strength of three variables related to each of the three conditions was varied factorially in an experimental field study of conformity to a prohibition against pedestrian traffic. The three hypotheses were strongly supported: Significantly more pedestrians corriplied the greater the strength of the factors related to the conditions. No interactions were found between variables. In addition, no differences between males and females and between a campus and a suburban sample were obtained. The results are discussed in terms of the normative elements of cultural conformity and a distinction is made between true conformity and cultural conformity.     

Effects of self-reinforcement on the demanding behaviors of a paranoid personality: A case report

Describes the extinction of the demanding behaviors of a nine-year-old boy by placing the responsibility for behavioral reinforcement directly under his own control. The therapist assumed that the behavioral pattern of the paranoid personality is characterized by an overdependence upon environmental reinforcers and therefore used the self-management technique, allowing the student the opportunity to gain independence from his classroom environment while meeting his need for positive feedback.     

Tuomela on deductive explanation

Almost every formal model of explanation thus far proposed has been demonstrated to be faulty. In this paper, a new model, proposed by Raimo Tuomela, is also demonstrated to be faulty. In particular, one condition of the model is shown to be too restrictive, and another condition of the model is shown to be too permissive.This research was supported by a grant from the Killam Foundation, administered by the Canada Council.     

The actor's behavioral history,his current role,and the divergence between actor and observer responsibility attributions

The actor's behavioral (High or Low) and role (High, Medium, or Low) respectability were varied in an actor-observer attribution study. A scenario described the actor's background combination of behavioral and role respectability and an event in which the actor participated. Subjects assigned actor and situational responsibilities to the event from their own viewpoint and from their perceptions of the actor's viewpoint. Subjects' awareness of the attributional divergence between actors and observers (Jones, E. E. & Nisbett, R. E. In Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior. New York: General Learning Press, 1971) and the information (public versus private) utilized by each were reflected in the results.     

Generative processes in character classification: Evidence for a probe encoding set

The role of rehearsal in a varied set memory scanning task was investigated by asking the subjects to rehearse subvocally the one to four target characters cyclically at a self-paced rate until the probe was presented. After making a manual positive or negative response to the probe, the subjects reported the last item rehearsed before the probe was presented. The results indicate that, when the last rehearsed item matched the probe, RTs were significantly faster than when it differed. Mean RTs over target set size were generally well fit by linearly increasing RT functions, with comparable slope values for negative responses and positive responses when the last rehearsal was the same as or different from the probe. The data suggest that rehearsal may reduce the duration of the probe encoding stage through some mechanism of pathway activation by providing the subject with a generated representation of what may appear next as a probe.     

Are numbers properties of objects?

Conclusion Part of Frege's concern about whether number words are properties of objects was that if they could be construed as such it would lend support to the view that truths of arithmetic were empirical truths. Such concern is ill-founded. Even if number words do apply to objects as predicates, this does not entail that numerical truths would be empirical, any more than the fact that bachelor and unmarried are predicates of objects entails that their relationship is an empirical one. The account of number words as predicates given here, consequently, should not be taken as supportive of any one particular theory concerning arithmetic truth rather than another.The view of number words that emerges above from the criticism of Frege's arguments is that sentences containing number words can and do say something about objects in a collective and syncategorematic way. That is, they say something about classes of objects, when it is clear what is to count as an object. Whether this view commits us to accepting certain ontological entities, classes of individuals, above and beyond individuals themselves, I am not prepared to say, and at any rate this question falls beyond the intended scope of this essay. To those who would eschew abstract entities, however, it may be noted that the ontological problems that arise are not peculiar to this view; they seem no more or less severe than those that arise in connection with other collective predicate statements, as, for example, Blue whales are becoming extinct.The view presented here also does not pretend to be a fatal criticism of the logicist program. Taking our cue from the above noted fact that syncategorematic predicates share in a common partial abstract sense, it seems reasonable to say that it is just the set of such partial senses of number words, and the relationships that hold between such senses, that the logicist and the pure number theorist investigate.