Using tutoring systems to study learning: An application of HyperCard

HyperCard was used to develop a simplified tutoring system whose principles were based on a learning theory, and a genetics tutoring system was evaluated experimentally. Learning was studied by examining immediate versus delayed feedback after an error was made. Such tutoring systems aid in psychological studies of learning, because experimental variables can be easily manipulated. HyperCard provides a good vehicle for tutoring system development, since it requires no extensive programming skills.     

ACQUISITION,GENERALIZATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF QUESTION-ANSWERING SKILLS IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN

We conducted an investigation to evaluate the effects of a training strategy for teaching autistic students generalized responses to three forms of wh— questions (what, how, and why). Students were taught, using modeling and reinforcement procedures, to answer questions with magazine pictures as the referents. Each question form was divided into two or more subcomponents reflective of common social usage and was taught within the context of a modified multiple probe design across subcomponents. Following acquisition of each subcomponent, generalization to natural context and storybook questions was assessed; additional probes were conducted to assess responding over time and whether acquisition of responses to questions promoted question-asking skills. Results showed that the picture training procedure was effective in teaching a generalized response to questions for which the relevant cue was visible, whereas specific generalization programming was required for situations in which the relevant cue was not visible. All acquired responses were durable over time.     

Computer Communication and Organizational Commitment: Tracing the Relationship in a City Government

Various theories and management policies suggest that there should be a positive relationship between communication and commitment to the organization. However, support for that relationship remains equivocal. We report the results of a questionnaire on communication and commitment filled out by 376 employees of a mid-sized city government. They were asked about the mode and frequency of their communications within the organization and about their commitment to the city government. Consistent with our hypotheses about the nature of computer-mediated communication, use of computer mail and bulletin boards predicted organizational commitment, but use of the telephone and paper modes of communication did not. In addition, those most likely to benefit from the immediacy and memory of computer communication—shift workers—evidenced a stronger relationship between computer mail use and commitment than did regular employees. Two mechanisms for mediating the relationship between communication and commitment were evaluated. Evidence supports active participation in communication as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between communication and commitment. The informational value of communication does not appear to be important in this regard.     

Parent-infant resemblance for general and specific cognitive abilities in the Colorado adoption project

Previous publications emanating from the Colorado Adoption Project have reported significant relationships between parental general cognitive ability (g) and infant Bayley MDI scores. The present study compared infant Bayley factor scores representing separable dimensions of infant cognition with parental general and specific cognitive abilities for 182 adoptive families and 164 nonadoptive families. Parent/offspring correlations between 12-month Bayley factors and parental cognitive abilities suggest only minimal relationships for both parental g and specific abilities. At 24 months, more parent/offspring resemblance was present; moreover, Bayley factors that were related to parental cognition tended to be related to parental g, not to specific abilities. The finding of significant parent/offspring relationships at 24 months between biological parents and their adopted-away infants, as well as between nonadoptive parents and their infants, suggests some genetic continuity from infancy to adulthood.     

Moral judgment and attitudes toward authority of political resisters

In an exploration of the personal basis of resistance to authority, moral judgment and attitudes toward authority were examined in 183 men and women political resisters, including antinuclear, draft registration, and tax resisters, and anarchists, and compared to 34 liberal and 29 conservative activists. The measures used were the Defining Issues Test and a specially designed attitude survey. As predicted, the differences between resisters and nonresisters were in the realm of cognitive beliefs and values. Strong rejection of political and social authority, a belief that individual conscience is a better guide to conduct than the law, a professed unwillingness to be in positions of authority over others, and a lack of conventional religious affiliation significantly differentiated the resisters from the nonresisters. The resisters also measured high in level of moral judgment but were significantly different only from the conservatives.     

The Effects of Flavor-Aversion Learning on Instrumental Performance

Two experiments investigated the role of lithium-mediated environmental conditioning on instrumental performance. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a novel taste consumed in one arm of a T maze prior to lithium-induced toxicosis reduced performance in this environment whereas similar aversions conditioned in the home cage failed to alter maze performance. Experiment 2 showed that maze performance in a straight alleyway was decremented during extinction only in a group that actually traversed the alley prior to drinking saccharin and receiving lithium injections. This demonstrated that the instrumental decrement observed in Experiment 1 was due not only to the presence of an unpalatable flavor in the goalbox during the test.