Discrimination of auditory temporal patterns

Two same-different discrimination experiments were performed for click patterns having a total duration of about 4 sec and interclick intervals ofn × 250 msec, withn a random integer. In Experiment 1, the influence of the physical click group structure on discrimination performance was investigated. In Experiment 2, the effect of the strength of an induced internal clock on discrimination performance was measured. Performance was poor if the group structure of clicks was maintained during a change in click pattern and also if the induced infernal clack strength was low. The performance of about 70% of the subjects improved significantly if either a change in click grouping structure occurred or a strong internal clock could be induced. These results cannot be accounted for with simple models based an single-interval duration discrimination or between-pattern correlation statistics.     

Rules in relevant logic — II: Formula representation

This paper surveys the various forms of Deduction Theorem for a broad range of relevant logics. The logics range from the basic system B of Routley-Meyer through to the system R of relevant implication, and the forms of Deduction Theorem are characterized by the various formula representations of rules that are either unrestricted or restricted in certain ways. The formula representations cover the iterated form,A ₁ .A ₂ . ... .A _n B, the conjunctive form,A ₁&A ₂ & ...A _n B, the combined conjunctive and iterated form, enthymematic version of these three forms, and the classical implicational form,A ₁&A ₂& ...A _n B. The concept of general enthymeme is introduced and the Deduction Theorem is shown to apply for rules essentially derived using Modus Ponens and Adjunction only, with logics containing either (A B)&(B C) .A C orA B .B C .A C.I acknowledge help from anonymous referees for guidance in preparing Part II, and especially for the suggestion that Theorem 9 could be expanded to fully contraction-less logics.     

Faking Good: An Investigation of Social Desirability and Defensiveness in an Inpatient Sample With Personality Disorder Traits

Accurate interpretations of psychological assessments rely heavily on forthright reporting. However, researchers and practitioners recognize that examinees can easily invalidate their test results by underreporting symptoms or overstating positive attributes. Rogers (2008) delineated two distinct but related forms of positive impression management (PIM): defensiveness (denying symptoms and psychological impairment) and social desirability (putting forth an exaggeratedly positive image). Although these two have often been combined in past research, this study sought to investigate each separately via a mixed within- and between-subjects simulation design. Simulation scenarios included a special rehabilitation program for the defensiveness (DF) condition and a competitive job for social desirability (SD). The study used the Personality Inventory for DSM–5 (PID–5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012) and recruited 106 inpatients from a psychiatric hospital. As expected, inpatients with prominent personality traits substantially suppressed them under both PIM conditions. Having shown the susceptibility of the PID–5 to intentional distortion, two empirically derived and conceptually based validity scales were next developed to address this important concern. Pending further validation, they might contribute to screening PIM presentations, thus promoting the PID–5's clinical utility. Continued research is needed across multiscale inventories for differentiating PIM presentations.     

Perceptual Learning of Tooling Affordances of a Jointed Object via Dynamic Touch

We investigated whether perceptual learning via dynamic touch can facilitate the discovery of tooling affordances. Twelve blindfolded participants manipulated two structurally identical aluminum objects consisting of a blade and a shaft; one object was seven and a half times heavier than and twice as large as the other object. Flexions/extensions at two joints in the shaft changed the configuration and functionality of each object. A rigid shaft (one of four possible configurations) rendered each object a functional hoe. The number of changes in the configuration produced prior to determining that the grasped object had been rendered a functional hoe greatly exceeded the number of possible configurations and declined with experience, whereas the rate of change in configuration increased with experience. Inertial properties specifically support perception via dynamic touch and explained the observed differences in actions with the two objects. These findings demonstrate that perceptual learning via dynamic touch can facilitate the discovery of tooling affordances.     

Developmental trajectories to heroin dependence: Theoretical and clinical issues

We have built up a great deal of insight into the early developmental trajectories that lead to heroin use. These cluster under five domains: social disadvantage, parental drug use/psychopathology, childhood abuse and neglect, early onset psychopathology and antisocial behaviors, and a developmental sequence of drug onsets. While not all heroin users have these risk factors, the broad clinical picture shows these early correlates to be the predominant presentation. We discuss each of the early psychosocial correlates of heroin dependence, as well as possible early interventions. Given the chronicity of heroin dependence, interventions to prevent heroin use emerging would reduce the considerable burden of disease associated with the disorder.     

A generalization of the interpoint distance model

Coombs and Kao have conjectured that, given the distances between a set of points representing persons and another representing objects, factor analytic methods can be used to recover the locations of the persons and objects. In the present paper it is proved that the conjecture applies, with some qualifications, to squared distances rather than distances themselves. Possible applications to scaling and to inventory responses are discussed.Most of the work that resulted in this paper was done while the authors were affiliated with Educational Testing Service. Portions of this paper were presented at the APA convention, St. Louis, 1962.