Deduction without awareness

We investigated whether two basic forms of deductive inference, Modus Ponens and Disjunctive Syllogism, occur automatically and without awareness. In Experiment 1, we used a priming paradigm with a set of conditional and disjunctive problems. For each trial, two premises were shown. The second premise was presented at a rate designed to be undetectable. After each problem, participants had to evaluate whether a newly-presented target number was odd or even. The target number matched or did not match a conclusion endorsed by the two previous premises. We found that when the target matched the conclusion of a Modus Ponens inference, the evaluation of the target number was reliably faster than baseline even when participants reported that they were not aware of the second premise. This priming effect did not occur for any other valid or invalid inference that we tested, including the Disjunctive Syllogism. In Experiment 2, we used a forced-choice paradigm in which we found that some participants were able to access some information on the second premise when their attention was explicitly directed to it. In Experiment 3, we showed that the priming effect for Modus Ponens was present also in subjects who could not access any information about P(2). In Experiment 4 we explored whether spatial relations (e.g., "a before b") or sentences with quantifiers (e.g., "all a with b") could generate a priming effect similar to the one observed for Modus Ponens. A priming effect could be found for Modus Ponens only, but not for the other relations tested. These findings show that the Modus Ponens inference, in contrast to other deductive inferences, can be carried out automatically and unconsciously. Furthermore, our findings suggest that critical deductive inference schemata can be included in the range of high-level cognitive activities that are carried out unconsciously.     

Stimulus/response learning in masked congruency priming of faces: evidence for covert mental classifications?

Reaction times for categorization of a probe face according to its sex or fame were contrasted as a function of whether the category of a preceding, sandwich-masked prime face was congruent or incongruent. Prime awareness was measured by the ability to later categorize the primes, and this was close to chance and typically uncorrelated with priming. When prime faces were never presented as visible probes within a test, priming was not reliable; when prime faces were also seen as probes, priming was only reliable if visible and masked presentation of faces were interleaved (not simply if primes had been visible in a previous session). In the latter case, priming was independent of experimentally induced face-response or face-category contingencies, ruling out any simple form of stimulus-response learning. We conclude that the reliable masked congruency priming reflects bindings between stimuli and multiple, abstract classifications that can be generated both overtly and covertly.     

Stress and the Control Beliefs of Prisoners: A Test of Three Models of Control-Limited Environments1

Three models are proposed to explain the relationship between individual differences in beliefs and stress responses in control-limited environments: (1) the Environmental Incongruency, (2) Differential Stress Responses, and (3) Undifferentiated Responses. The present research examined the support for each model using inmates differing in control beliefs and prison as the control-limited environment. The results did not support either the Incongruency or the Differential models. In contrast with previous studies of control-limited environments, there was no evidence of change in passive stress responses over time in prison, but there was an increase in active responses (e.g., conflicts with other inmates) early during incarceration. As predicted by the Undifferentiated Response M odel, inmates who were more external in Locus of Control experienced significantly more active and passive stress reactions. No differences were found in stress as a function of their internal beliefs.     

Contributions of Seymour Sarason to the field of mental retardation

The contributions of Seymour Sarason to the field of mental retardation are presented against the background of the pivotal changes in society's perception of the retardate that occurred following World War II. Sarason's key contributions to that change in terms of broadening the scientific approach to the issues in the field and advocating reform in the treatment and education of the retarded are briefly sketched.     

Computer methods and ecological validity in reading research

Computer-based procedures for obtaining word-by-word reading times are evaluated in terms of criteria for basic research and for ecologically valid research. Ecological validity can sometimes compromise experimental designs that should control extraneous variables or separate confounded factors. Two reading paradigms that were developed for basic research on linguistic coding mechanisms are also shown to meet many of the criteria for ecological validity.     

SUBCULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN CHILDREn'S LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT1

Différences subculturelles dans le développement du langage. — Les associations verbales des enfants, une fois classées selon la fréquence des réponses paradigmatiques, fournissent un indice du développement linguistique. Divers groupes d'enfants, qui se trouvent, respectivement, au jardin d'enfants, en 1^re, 3^eet 5^e année d'école primaire, qui ont été appareillés du point de vue du QI, mais qui diffèrent par la classe sociale, le lieu d'habitation, l'appartenance subculturelle et la race, ont donné des associations à la même série de mots stimuli. A l'aide de l'indice fourni par les réponses paradigmatiques et en contrôlant le niveau intellectuel, on a pu ordonner grossièrement les différents groupes de i^re année, comme suit : — I. enfants blancs habitant la zone des taudis (slum); — 2. enfants noirs des taudis, enfants blancs d'ouvriers et enfants blancs de la classe moyenne; — 3. enfants blancs des régions agricoles du Maryland; — 4. enfants “Amish” vivant dans les régions agricoles de Pennsylvanie. En 3^e année, les enfants blancs et noirs, qui vivent dans la zone des taudis, se classent derrière les enfants banlieusards et sont proches des enfants campagnards. En 5^e année, tous les groupes, à l'exception des enfants “Amish”, semblent proches de l'asymptote. Les différences entre groupes sont plus marquées au cours de la 1^re année de scolarité, quand le niveau scolaire n'est pas encore très élevé; ce qui donne à penser que ce sont les conditions familiales, plus que la scolarisation, qui entraînent les différences. II est surprenant qu'en i^re année, les enfants des taudis dont le QI est de 100 en moyenne donnent des réponses qui sont très proches de celles des enfants de la classe qui habitent la banlieue et qui ont un haut QI (130) : une analyse sémantique, ainsi que la fréquence d'usage de la “forme” ou de la “classe”, confirme cette observation. On a généralement admis que l'enfant des zones de taudis vivait dans un milieu linguistiquement pauvre et de mauvais résultats scolaires vont souvent de pair avec ce déficit: la présente recherche, au contraire, laisse supposer que le developpement du langage jusqu'a la première année de scolarité est, en quelque sorte, accéléré. l'explication la plus plausible de ce phénomène tiendrait à la forte fréquence d'écoute de la télévision : l'auteur montre pourquoi l'enfant des taudis regarde probablement beaucoup plus souvent la télévision que I'enfant banlieusard. On observe que le développement du langage chez les enfants modernes semble accéléré par rapport à celui des enfants qui vivaient il y a une cinquantaine d'années : cette observation est compatible avec l'idée que la télévision accélère le développement. Les différences entre les blancs et les noirs des taudis semblent le mieux s'expliquer par les taux différentiels d'immigration du Sud agricole vers Baltimore. Les différences entre campagne et ville dans le développement des associations verbales rappellent les différences entre campagne et ville dans le développement cognitif, si largement observées par Bruner et ses collaborateurs. Cette différence est sans doute la plus utile à considérer en matiére d'explication causale.     

Cardiac-somatic changes during a simple reaction time task: A developmental study

The relationship during a simple reaction time task between heart rate and four measures of task irrelevant somatic activity was evaluated in four age groups of children, i.e., 4-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year-olds and young adults, in order to evaluate further a hypothesized coupling of cardiac and somatic activity. At all age levels, phasic decreases in both heart rate and somatic activity coincident with performance were found with the magnitude of the effect increasing with age only on three somatic measures. However, tonic levels of both heart rate and somatic activity decreased with age. Performance on the reaction task was found to be inversely related to the age-related phasic somatic effects as well as age-related tonic heart rate and somatic activity.