An individual differences model for multiple regression

A model for multiple regression was developed which allows individual differences to emerge empirically. The model encompasses as special cases several of the previous attempts to improve psychological prediction by deviating from the usual linear multiple regression model. The model is tested with both artificial and real data. The results indicate that the model effectively reduces the variance of the error of prediction, and that the weights obtained are stable over different samples, and, to some extent, over different sets of predictors.This article is based upon a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree at the University of Illinois. The author thanks Professor Ledyard R Tucker who served as committee chairman and offered considerable support and assistance.     

The role of autonomic arousal in feelings of familiarity

Subjective feelings of familiarity associated with a stimulus tend to be strongest when specific information about the previous encounter with the stimulus is difficult to retrieve (e.g., the butcher-on-the-bus phenomenon; [Mandler, G. (1980). Recognizing: The judgment of previous occurrence. Psychological Review, 87, 252-271.]). When a stimulus has been encountered previously and the circumstances of the encounter cannot be recollected, additional cognitive resources may be directed toward recollection processes; this resource allocation is accompanied by autonomic arousal [Dawson, M. E., Filion, D. L., & Schell, A. M. (1989). Is elicitation of the autonomic orienting response associated with allocation of processing resources?. Psychophysiology, 26, 560-572]. One easily measurable index of autonomic arousal is the skin conductance response (SCR). In the present study, participants studied lists of words and then gave recognition ratings to briefly displayed and masked studied and nonstudied test words while their SCRs were monitored. Results revealed a relationship between recognition ratings and the temporal characteristics of the SCR, supporting the idea that feelings of familiarity are indeed "feelings" in that they stem from autonomic arousal associated with cognitive resource allocation.     

Gender differences in the relationships of cardiovascular symptoms and somatosensory amplification to mortality

Symptoms of angina and dyspnea predict coronary artery disease and death less well in women than in men. Greater somatosensory amplification - a psychosocial propensity to report symptoms of physical discomfort - may lead women to report relatively high levels of angina and dyspnea for reasons unrelated to coronary disease, reducing their associations with mortality. We assessed this hypothesis in a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults. When stratified by gender, angina and dyspnea significantly predicted mortality among men, but predicted it less well among women. After adjusting for amplification, cardiovascular symptoms did not predict mortality among women, but amplification was positively associated with mortality among older women.     

Auditory recognition without identification

When visual recognition test items are unidentifiable--through fragmentation, for example--participants can discriminate between unidentifiable items that were presented recently and those that were not. The present study extends this recognition without identification phenomenon to the auditory modality. In several experiments, participants listened to words and were then presented with spoken recognition test items that were embedded in white noise. Participants attempted to identify each spoken word through the white noise, then rated the likelihood that the word was studied. Auditory recognition without identification was found: Participants discriminated between studied and unstudied words in the absence of an ability to identify them through white noise, even when the voice changed from male to female and when the study list was presented visually. The effect was also found when identification was hindered through the isolation of particular phonemes, suggesting that phoneme information may be present in memory traces for recently spoken words.     

Recognition without identification

The ability of people to recognize words that they could not identify was examined. After studying a list of 15 words, participants completed a word fragment test consisting of 4-letter fragments of both studied and nonstudied words. Whether they were able to solve a particular fragment or not, participants then made an episodic recognition judgment. Even when participants were unable to solve a fragment, their recognition accuracy was significantly higher than chance. This effect was significant when list length was increased, when 2-letter fragments were used, when first letters were excluded from fragments, and when the letter casing and the presentation modality were changed from study to test. It also occurred when participants attempted to identify fragments at study and rated words at test. Recognition without identification is attributed to the use of orthographic information when determining the familiarity of a test item.     

Long-term sensitization training primes Aplysia for further learning

Repetitive, unilateral stimulation of Aplysia induces long-term sensitization (LTS) of ipsilaterally elicited siphon-withdrawal responses. Whereas some morphological effects of training appear only on ipsilateral sensory neurons, others appear bilaterally. We tested the possibility that contralateral morphological modifications may have functional significance. Therefore, we examined whether LTS training primes subsequent sensitization. Twenty-four hours after LTS training the effects of brief shock treatment (BST) were examined. BST failed to sensitize animals that had previously received either 4-d control treatment or 4-d ipsilateral LTS training. In contrast, BST did sensitize animals that had previously received 4-d contralateral LTS training, suggesting the presence of a latent trace that primes the animal for further learning.     

MULTICOMPONENT INTERVENTION FOR AGITATED BEHAVIOR IN A PERSON WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

We evaluated a multicomponent intervention for agitated behavior in a man with probable Alzheimer's disease. Hypotheses about variables controlling his agitated behavior guided intervention design. Based on staff interviews, direct observations, and brief experimental probes, intervention components were chosen to increase rate of reinforcement and decrease aversive aspects of his job. Intervention reduced agitated behavior without disrupting his work rate.     

Strong Vocational Interest Blank basic interest clusters and occupational satisfaction

A Q-factor analytic technique applied to the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB) basic interest scales of 156 males yielded three bipolar factors described as conceptual (applied vs theoretical thinking); interpersonal (people vs things); and volitional (autonomy vs structure). From these results the investigators constructed a model for categorizing occupations into corresponding vocational areas: managerial vs academic, social vs physical sciences, and professional vs technical. Each individual's primary interest area and occupational status relative to the six corresponding areas was then determined. The degree of fit between interests and job categorization related significantly to ratings of job satisfaction (p < .001). Those findings are complementary to Holland's notion that interests are expressions of psychological needs and to Lofquist and Dawis' perception of interests and jobs as needs and need reinforcers.     

Memory for detail in item versus associative recognition

Some studies have shown that, although repetition increases the familiarity of a stimulus, it does not improve memory for its details. Because memory for associative information is thought to require memory for the details of study presentation, the effects of repetition on associative recognition were examined in the present study. The pattern of results was similar to that found for the recognition of item details: Repetition increased the familiarity of the individual items within each pair to a greater extent than it improved memory for their specific pairings.     

Familiarity from the configuration of objects in 3-dimensional space and its relation to déjà vu: a virtual reality investigation

Déjà vu is the striking sense that the present situation feels familiar, alongside the realization that it has to be new. According to the Gestalt familiarity hypothesis, déjà vu results when the configuration of elements within a scene maps onto a configuration previously seen, but the previous scene fails to come to mind. We examined this using virtual reality (VR) technology. When a new immersive VR scene resembled a previously-viewed scene in its configuration but people failed to recall the previously-viewed scene, familiarity ratings and reports of déjà vu were indeed higher than for completely novel scenes. People also exhibited the contrasting sense of newness and of familiarity that is characteristic of déjà vu. Familiarity ratings and déjà vu reports among scenes recognized as new increased with increasing feature-match of a scene to one stored in memory, suggesting that feature-matching can produce familiarity and déjà vu when recall fails.