Effects of causal belief for prior success or failure on preferences to delay gratification in task contingent versus task noncontingent conditions1

This study investigated how causal belief for prior success or failure affected preferences to delay gratifications in task contingent versus task noncontingent conditions. Success or failure on the Treatment Task and belief about the outcome were experimentally induced to lead fourth-and fifth-grade pupils to perceive task performance as resulting from one of four factors (Ability, Task Difficulty, Effort, or Luck). Thereafter, each subject chose between smaller, noncontingent rewards and delayed, larger rewards that were contingent on waiting only or on successful performance on tasks which varied in similarity to the initial task. As predicted, preferences to delay were not differentially affected by success or failure when subjects believed unstable factors of effort or luck caused the outcome. However, delay was affected by prior success or failure when the belief was that the outcome resulted from stable factors of ability or task difficulty, with subjects delaying more after success than following failure. Furthermore, the outcome predicted delay on tasks identical or similar to the Treatment Task whereas belief about causality predicted delay on the Different Task. Delay was greater by subjects with ability or effort inductions than by subjects with a luck induction.     

The effect of additional variables on factor indeterminacy in models with a single common factor

Determinate solutions for the indeterminate common factor ofp variables satisfying the single common factor model are not unique. Therefore an infinite sequence of additional variables that conform jointly with the originalp variables to the original single common factor model does not determine a unique solution for the indeterminate factor of thep variables (although the solution is unique for the factor of the infinite sequence). Other infinite sequences may be found to determine different solutions for the factor of the originalp variables. The paper discusses a number of theorems about the effects of additional variables on factor indeterminacy in a model with a single common factor and draws conclusions from them for factor theory in general.     

Tests of symmetry in three-way contingency tables

Three-dimensional contingency tables are analyzed, with one variable (e.g., sex) as a factor, and with a natural relation between the other variables (e.g. left and right eye vision). Models of special interest, like symmetry and proportional symmetry between the related variables, and homogeneity across the factor levels, are investigated. Maximum likelihood estimators of parameters and partitions of chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics are explicitly presented; the independence of certain models is noted, and an example is discussed.     

A prospective study of the distribution of illness within the menstrual cycle

The cyclic physiological variations during the menstrual cycle are thought to be associated with change in emotional state, in susceptibility to illness, and in frequency of illness-related behavior. Variations in frequency of illness with the phases of the menstrual cycle were examined using data from a 3-year prospective study of social and psychological antecedents of viral illness in 94 student nurses. Reported illnesses, accidents, medical consultations, and hospital admissions were randomly distributed throughout the menstrual cycle. Subjects took more medication on the 1st day of menses than on any other day of the cycle; howeverreported menstrual symptoms were infrequent, with only 4% of the population reporting two or more such episodes. It was concluded that there was an increase in discomfort on the data of onset of menses which was self-medicated but not defined as illness. There was no discernible relationship of illness or disability to any phase of the cycle.This work was supported in part by Center for Oral Health Research (COHR) grant DEO 2116, and Oral Medicine Training Grant ST01-DE-77. The authors wish to recognize the contribution of Carol Ram, R. N., who was the administrator of this study and responsible for the collection and organization of the large bank of information from which the material for this paper was abstracted. Without her care, diligence, and intelligent management, this study could not have been completed. We also wish to acknowledge the consultive advice of Dr. Larry Laster, Director, Division of Biometrics, School of Dental Medicine, in choice of analytic techniques, and the help of Dr. Arthur Segal in the early stages of data analysis.     

Affect and retrieval of personal memories

The relationship of pleasantness and intensity of affect to retrieval of reallife experiences was investigated in three experiments. Subjects reported the first specific personal experience that came to mind for a series of prompt words. Latency of report was regarded as a measure of memory accessibility. The first study compared retrieval time for prompts that sampled affects varying in pleasantness and intensity. Experiments II and III assessed the possible contributions of demand characteristics and implicit inferential processes to retrospective judgments of feelings. Judgments of the intensity of feeling engendered when the events occurred were inversely related to report latency. Results support the conclusion that intensity ratings were reliable indices of memory information rather than inferences or reconstructions mediated by report latency. Other characteristics of recollections such as pleasantness, recency, or relative frequency of the specific affects were not correlated with report latency. Two explanations of the findings are considered: an arousal hypothesis and an extent-of-processing hypothesis. The latter provides the most adequate account and relates the present findings to a more general theory of memory processes. The results are also relevant to investigations of mood-dependent retrieval.This is an expanded version of a paper presented in the Symposium on Naturally Occurring Memories, at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, August 1978.     

Degree of ear asymmetries for perception of dichotic chords and for illusory chord localization in musicians of different levels of competence

Left-ear superiority for perception of dichotically presented musical chords was seen in musicians at all levels of competence. However, a hypothesis that dominance would be greater in the more professional musicians was not confirmed. Whereas many of the professionals did have the largest left-ear preferences, about half had strong right-ear superiorities instead. On the average, therefore, there was no ear dominance for the two most professional groups, although the other groups had the expected left-ear dominance. Furthermore, ear differences for the professional groups were distributed only in the categories of weak to strong left- and weak to strong right-ear preferences, whereas ear differences for the other groups included also the central categories of no or little ear preference. The better musician groups were also more strongly affected by an auditory illusion in which right-ear dominance occurred when subjects reported the ear receiving the high chord, whereas left-ear dominance was seen when they reported the ear receiving the low chord (for the same dichotic pair). That is, ear dominance was dependent on instructions, switching in the same subject from left to right ear when the task changed from reporting the location of the low to reporting the location of the high chord, respectively. However, ear dominance and switching were only partially present in nonmusicians and were weak in amateurs. It may be that ear dominance for chord recognition is influenced by specialized cognitive development in musicians, on the one hand, and by noncognitive neurophysiological factors on the other.     

The new experimental aesthetics—The beginning or the end?

In reference to recent work in aesthetics from a scientific perspective, Berlyne coined the phrase the new experimental aesthetics. Berlyne's contributions to this research area are discussed in terms of the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological issues central to the current literature. The paper concludes with a consideration of the future prospects for experimental aesthetics.This paper was presented at a symposium in honor of Daniel E. Berlyne at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 27, 1977. The presentation of this paper was supported by a grant from York University.