Classes,collections, and distinctive features: Alternative strategies for solving inclusion problems

This study analyzed the strategies that children ages 5 through 8 years used on two modified versions of Inhelder and Piaget's (The early growth of logic in the child. New York: Norton, 1964) class inclusion task. In two experiments, children were tested on Wilkinson's (Cognitive Psychology, 1976, 8, 64–85) “percept” inclusion task in which distinctive features marked both supraordinate and subclasses. It was hypothesized that children who fail standard Piagetian inclusion tasks succeed on the “percept” task by counting and comparing mutually exclusive features rather than using features as markers for classes and subclasses. The hypothesis was supported by children's performances on “percept” tasks in which solutions based on feature counting conflicted with solutions based on consideration of class inclusion relations. In two other experiments, children answered part-whole and part-part comparison questions in which both terms were described as classes and/or subclasses, or in which one of the two terms was described as a collection (e.g., a bunch of grapes). These experiments contrasted Markman and Seibert's (Cognitive Psychology, 1976, 8, 561–577) “organization” hypothesis that the greater psychological integrity of collections facilitates reasoning on part-whole comparison problems with the hypothesis that the faciltative effect results from the “large number” connotation of collective nouns. Results on collection problems in which parts were described as collections supported the “large number” hypothesis. Results were discussed in terms of their implications for Piaget's theory.     

Unequal Power Relationships Within a Cooperative or Corn petit ive Context

Sixty undergraduates negotiated an exchange of resources in dyads. They had either high or low power relative to the other and were within a competitive or cooperative context. Results support the hypothesis that these contexts affect unequal power persons' interaction and relationship. Compared to those in the cooperative context, high and lower power participants in the competitive context suspected each other, refused to exchange resources, developed negative attitudes toward each other, and associated power with control. In addition, low power participants in the competitive context indicated considerable insecurity about the interaction. These results highlight that previous literature has tended, often implicitly, to consider power and unequal power relationships within a competitive context. The dynamics proposed by this literature that inequality of power undermines negotiations and that power refers to the control of another were found to be much stronger within a competitive context than a cooperative one. Whereas the emphasis of the literature has been on power equalization, findings suggest that placing power differences in a cooperative con text can contribute to effective working relationships.     

The inferiority game: Perceptions and behavior

Other-sex perceptions and actual reported behavior of 318 college males and 287 college females were compared for four dating situations. The average degree of inaccuracy (disregarding direction) for males was 29.0%, while for women it was 12.5%. Conclusions support other research indicating superior role-taking ability on the part of females. The issues of cultural transmission and pluralistic ignorance are discussed as they affect male and female interaction. Important research implications for human relations and the family in particular are noted.     

Determinants of satisfaction with specific job facets: A test of Locke's model

Survey results supported Locke's (1969, 1976) contention that facet job satisfaction is a function of three basic determinants: 1) facet amount; 2) wanted amount; and 3) facet importance. We found several three-way interactions that were generally consistent with Locke's model. Specifically, facet satisfaction was highest when employees wanted a large amount of the facet in question, were currently receiving a large amount, and felt that the facet was personally important. Conversely, satisfaction was lowest when employees wanted a large amount of the facet, were currently receiving only a small amount, and felt that the facet was personally important. When job facets were viewed as unimportant to employees, however, the amount of facet desired and currently possessed had little impact on satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and directions for research are discussed.Bob Rice passed away recently. He will be sorely missed.     

Cerebral laterality and verbal-performance discrepancies in intelligence

The cerebral laterality of children with various configurations of verbal-performance discrepancies was inferred with an objective measure of lateral preference. Specifically, Verbal and Performance IQ scores of the WISC-R were used to divide 90 learning-disabled children into three equal groups: (a) Verbal significantly higher than Performance, (b) Performance significantly higher than Verbal, and (c) Verbal not significantly different from Performance. Analysis of the scores on the Laterality Preference Schedule showed children in the Verbal > Performance group were significantly more bilateral in their preference patterns than either of the other groups. Data on familial laterality showed this Verbal > Performance group to also have parents who were significantly more mixed in their preference patterns than either the VSIQ < PSIQ or VSIQ = PSIQ groups. The results were interpreted as lending support to the notion of competition antagonism between cortical hemispheres and a possible genetic relationship.     

Vicious-circle behavior in the Y maze

Laboratory rats were given escape training in both arms of a Y maze followed by extinction in one of four conditions: regular (no shock), punished (both arms containing a shock mid-segment), choice, or forced (one arm containing a shock mid-segment, one arm shock free). Subjects in the punished and forced conditions required more extinction trials than those in the regular extinction condition. The choice condition was intermediate and not significantly different from the others. Choice subjects avoided the shock by choosing the safe alley early and consistently during extinction, but some continued to run for many trials without further punishment. It was suggested that the number of punished trials early in extinction is related to persistence of running, and the results were discussed in relation to the Mowrer-Brown and the discrimination hypotheses.     

TEACHING CONVERSATION-RELATED SKILLS TO PREDELINQUENT GIRLS1

The use of conversation-related skills by youthful offenders can influence social interactions with adults. These behaviors are also likely to be useful to adolescents after their release from a treatment program (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1972, 5 , 343–372). Four girls, aged 13 to 15 yr, residing at Achievement Place for Girls in Lawrence, Kansas, received training on conversation-related behaviors. A multiple-baseline design across youths and across behaviors was used. Youth answer-volunteering in response to questions and three youth nonverbal components (“hand on face”, “hand at rest”, and “facial orientation”) were measured during daily 10-min sessions with a simulated guest in the group home's living room. Answer-volunteering was scored each session as the per cent of 13 “secondary” questions that the simulated guest did not have to ask following 10 “primary” questions. The three nonverbal components were scored according to their occurrence during 10-sec intervals and the resultant scores were averaged per session for an overall appropriate nonverbal score. The girls individually earned points within the home's token economy for participating in each session and additional points were awarded after training if preselected behavioral criteria were achieved for each of the two behavior categories per girl. Some of the training sessions were led by a “teaching-parent” (specially trained houseparent) while others were led by individual girls. Point consequences were administered by both the teaching-parent and by the “peer-trainers”. The average observed rate of answer-volunteering by the girls during pretraining sessions was 30% for S₁, 30% for S₂, 23% for S₃, and 68% for S₄. The average rate of answer-volunteering during posttraining sessions was: S₁ = 92%, S₂ = 89%, S₃ = 90%, and S₄ = 98%. The average nonverbal score during pretraining sessions was 82% for S₁, 53% for S₂, 60% for S₃, and 82% for S₄. The average nonverbal score during posttraining sessions was: S₁ = 98%, S₂ = 98%, S₃ = 98%, and S₄ = 100%. Videotapes of the sessions were shown in a random sequence to four adults (probation officer, social worker, etc who represented “significant others” for the youths' future success in the community. The adults judged posttraining tapes on the average as more appropriate 100% of the time for S₁, 100% of the time for S₂, 90% of the time for S₃, and 70% of the time for S₄. The study demonstrated that training of conversation-related skills is feasible with predelinquent girls, that the girls can help train each other, and that social validation of the training results is possible.