A simple special-purpose interval-duration timer for acoustic research

A special-purpose interval-duration timer is described. The device is designed to interface with commercially available psychophysical packages, to be used in time interval calibration. The extremely low cost of materials justifies the construction of this essentially single-purpose device.     

Figurai vs. configural effects in the filled duration illusion

Patterns varying in form goodness and size were presented for 15, 30, and 45 msec. The experiment included three independent groups of subjects. Half of the first group were presented size variations with good figures, while the other half were shown size variations with poor figures. Half of the second group were presented goodness variations with small figures, while the other half were shown goodness variations with large figures. A third group experienced variations in both goodness and size. The major findings were: (1) poor figures and large figures were judged “longer” than good or small figures when varied within a session; (2) this effect vanished when the different levels of size or goodness were presented to separate groups of subjects; (3) the magnitude of the difference in temporal estimation was the same for size and goodness when each was varied in isolation; (4) when size and form goodness were varied orthogonally in the same session, both dimensions produced reliable changes in temporal estimation. These data are discussed in light of current theoretical explanations of the filled duration illusion.     

An information processing system for the psychiatric emergency room

An information processing system for a psychiatric emergency room is described. Several studies are presented that show the utility of the system. In the first study, variables involved in diagnosis are explicated. The second study attempts to determine the characteristics that distinguish recidivists from nonrecidivists at an emergency room. The third study attempts to find patient variables related to success in short-term treatment programs. The final study is aimed at discovering whether there are psychopathological effects related to the use of inhalants. Together, these studies show the potential of a mental health information system for learning more about the nature of mental disorders and their treatment.     

Probabilistic contingency theories of animal conditioning: A critical analysis

Seven contingency theories of classical and instrumental conditioning were defined in relation to the contingency matrix and to six separate probabilities which can be derived from this matrix. These theories were compared on the basis of formal similarities and differences, and were judged against three separate empirical variables which have been discussed in the contingency literature: the duration of the intertrial interval, partial reinforcement, and negative contingencies between the two events of conditioning. All previous theories had some difficulty predicting the effects of one or more of these variables upon animal conditioning. Also, some formulas make the unusual prediction that there will be less conditioning when there is more than one conditioning trial. The paper concluded with an extensive discussion of the problems that are created by conditioning events with temporal extension; events which are then categorized by a contingency matrix which has no temporal character. Some possible solutions to the problems were discussed.     

The effects of sex differences and evaluation on task performance and aspiration

An investigation was conducted of how evaluation differentially affects the performance and aspiration for future performance of 118 high school boys and girls. Subjects were selected to fit into either a superior or average intelligence group. In the high evaluation condition, subjects were instructed that their intelligence was being evaluated in anagram and visual-motor tasks they performed, while those in the low evaluation condition were instructed that the two tasks were being correlated. It was hypothesized that on a highly evaluated task, girls, when compared to boys, would show greater performance debilitation and would have lower aspirations for future performance. Although sex differences were found in performance debilitation and aspiration for future performance, they were not all in the predicted directions. Girls were equally debilitated in anagram performance under both evaluation conditions, while boys were debilitated in anagram performance only under high evaluation. When both boys and girls demonstrated a performance debilitation on the anagram task, their performance declined approximately 10%. No sex differences in performance were found on the visual-motor task. On both tasks, girls' aspirations were significantly affected by evaluation condition. The girls averaged 89% choosing the more difficult task in the low evaluation condition. Evaluation condition had no significant effect on aspiration for boys on either task. Intelligence showed no significant relationships.     

Attitudes related to work of adolescents in the United Kingdom and Japan

This study was designed to provide data for notions that differences in achievement motivation in different nations may contribute to differences in national rates of economic growth. The nations investigated were the United Kingdom and Japan as representatives of low and high rates of economic growth in the decades after the end of World War II. Data were collected from college students for motivations and attitudes related to work. British students had higher achievement motivation, while Japanese students had higher competitiveness motivation and strong money beliefs. Differences in career preference between the nations were also presented. The relationship between motivations and attitudes to work with career preference were examined for each nation.     

Gender differences in autonomous and social achievement orientations

This research examined gender differences in orientations toward autonomous and social achievement. Three independent samples of subjects (total N= 359 males and 574 females) completed measures of achievement orientation (including Strumpfer's [1975] Autonomous Achievement Values and Social Achievement Values scales) and relevant cognitive, affective, and behavioral variables. Correlational and factor analyses clearly identified distinct autonomous and social achievement factors for both men and women in each of the samples. Examination of the correlates of achievement orientation indicated that whereas an autonomous achievement orientation is similarly expressed in males and females, there are considerable sex differences in the expression of an orientation toward social achievement. In particular, a social achievement orientation was associated with concerns over social approval and responsiveness to social influence among males, but was generally unrelated to these factors among females. Findings are discussed in terms of several recent hypotheses concerning the effects of sex role norms on the development and expression of achievement needs in men and women.     

Visual comparison processes: Identity and similarity decisions

In the first experiment, in which two successively presented free-form visual patterns varied in their similarity to each other, subjects had to decide, in one condition, if the patterns were “identical” and in two other conditions if the patterns were “similar.” Qualitative individual differences in the effect of similarity on the time required to make a decision were found in the “identity” condition, and these differences interacted with the “similarity” conditions. The individual differences and the experimental effects are interpreted in terms of a two-process model of the visual comparison process—a holistic matching process that is sometimes accompanied by an analytic difference detection process. In the second experiment, the same subjects repeatedly categorized subsets of the free-form visual patterns on the basis of similarity. There appeared to be no individual differences in the subjects’ perceptions of similarity, but subjects’ perceptions did differ from the assumptions made by the experimenters when they established the response criteria for the first experiment.