The lexical decision list task: A research note

The lexical decision list task, a paper-and-pencil version of the standard lexical decision task, is introduced and described. Data are reported demonstrating that subjects' responses to manipulations of phonological confusability, stimulus difficulty, and case presentation are analogous to those obtained with the use of the standard task.     

Apparent equivalence between perception and imagery in the production of various visual illusions

The ability of high and low imagers (as assessed by the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire) to utilize imagery in the production of a visual illusion was examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects were to imagine noninducing elements oi the Ponzo figure. In Experiment 2, subjects were asked to imagine the inducing angle of the Ponzo figure. Subjects were requested to imagine the inducing diagonals of the Hering and Wundt figures in Experiment 3. Regardless of which figure was presented, high imagers consistently reported an illusion whether it was produced by real or imagined lines. Also, the imagery-produced illusion was equivalent in magnitude to the actual illusion (when all lines are physically present). Low imagers reported an illusion only when lines were physically present. These results were interpreted in terms of Finke’s (1980) equivalence theory.     

The critical distance of interaction in the Zöllner illusion

Two experiments attempted to de termine the distance (as visual angle) over which the Zöllner distortion of a straight line could be produced by a background field. Experiment 1 showed that the background lines did not need to intersect the test line in order to distort it but could exert this effect up to a distance of 1 deg visual angle from it. Experiment 2 indicated that when the background lines do intersect the test line portions of these formed beyond an angle of 1 deg do not contribute to the distortion. These values may indicate the size of the cortical receptive fields interacting to produce the illusion.     

Outflow theory and autokinetic movement: color, viewing angle, and dark adaptation.

The number of reported changes in direction of autokinetic movement was assessed as a function of color of the light that served as stimulus, viewing angle (0, 30, or 60 deg of displacement from straight ahead), and dark adaptation. Color and dark adaptation had no significant main effect on the number of reported changes in direction for the red and yellow lights, but viewing angle was inversely related to the number of reported changes. For the blue-green light, atypical effects of viewing angle and dark adaptation were found.     

Memory storage and retrieval within and across modalities in children

Twenty-four kindergarten and fourth grade children were asked to locate a display card which had been visually or verbally presented. A probe, which identified the card to be located, was presented verbally and visually equally often. The children's ability to recall the location of an item did not differ as a function of the modality to which the material was presented. Nor was recall significantly affected when the presentation modality differed from the probe modality, suggesting that children as young as 5 can cross these sensory modalities to retrieve material with no loss in accuracy. Serial position curves suggest that the verbal and visual material is not stored in a common intersensory store. The primacy effect is found to be stronger with visually presented material and the recency effect strongest with auditorily presented material. Probe modality did not influence the serial position curves.     

SENSORY EXTINCTION AND SENSORY REINFORCEMENT PRINCIPLES FOR PROGRAMMING MULTIPLE ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR CHANGE

The role of sensory reinforcement was examined in programming multiple treatment gains in self-stimulation and spontaneous play for developmentally disabled children. Two phases were planned. First, we attempted to identify reinforcers maintaining self-stimulation. Sensory Extinction procedures were implemented in which auditory, proprioceptive, or visual sensory consequences of self-stimulatory behavior were systematically removed and reintroduced in a reversal design. When self-stimulation was decreased or eliminated as a result of removing one of these sensory consequences, the functional sensory consequence was designated as a child's preferred sensory reinforcer. In Phase 2, we assessed whether children would play selectively with toys producing the preferred kind of sensory stimulation. The results showed the following. (1) Self-stimulatory behavior was found to be maintained by sensory reinforcement. When the sensory reinforcer was removed, self-stimulation extinguished. (2) The sensory reinforcers identified for self-stimulatory behavior also served as reinforcers for new, appropriate toy play. (3) The multiple treatment gains observed appeared to be relatively durable in the absence of external reinforcers for play or restraints on self-stimulation. These results illustrate one instance in which multiple behavior change may be programmed in a predictable, lawful fashion by using “natural communities of sensory reinforcement.”     

The role of quantification operators in the development of conservation of quantity

An analysis of the quantitative processes underlying conservation of quantity is presented. Models of quantitative operators (subitizing, counting, estimation) are derived from adult performance in quantification tasks, and some features of the operators are described. The emergence of conservation is described in terms of the development of the operators and a set of rules which evoke them and coordinate their results. Empirical data related to the developmental argument is discussed.     

Preexposure pointing frequency effects on adaptation to prismatic viewing

The effect of frequency of preexposure pointing was studied to delermine its effect on subsequent adaptation to a prismatic exposure. Results showed that when Ss pointed equally to each target in a preexposure pointing task, adaptation was found to be greatest for the target on S’s prismatically shifted visual field periphery. However, when Ss pointed more frequently in the preexposure condition to a more central targe:, adaptation was geatest for this target.     

An investigation of two measures of career indecision

The present study compared two recent scales developed to measure career indecision, the Career Decision Scale and the Vocational Decision-Making Difficulty Scale. The subjects were 857 male and female undergraduates. The scales were factor analyzed, the total scores were correlated, and the factor structures were examined for similarities and differences. Test-retest correlations were performed on the items, the total scores, and the factor scores of both measures. Subjects who were satisfied with their career choices were compared with subjects who were unsure, dissatisfied, or undecided about their career choices using the items, total scores, and factor scores. The results are discussed along with the implications for the future development of the scales.