The duration and perceived intensity of sucrose taste

Thirty-two subjects judged the perceived intensity of each of four concentrations of sucrose over 2 min. Stimuli were either sipped and expectorated or flowed over the subject’s extended tongue. Ratio judgments on a line scale and category ratings were made. Sixteen of the subjects had had extensive training in judging the sensory attributes of food products, and another group of 16 subjects were untrained. The perceived intensity of sucrose rose to a peak within 5 or 10 sec, and then declined over 2 min. In both the sip and the flow conditions, the taste disappeared completely for 26 of 32 subjects. Stronger concentrations were perceived as having greater peak intensities and longer lasting taste. The differences between concentrations were enhanced when sipped rather than flowed over the tongue. Judgments of intensity and duration were largely unaffected by the training level of subjects and the use of different rating scales.     

Visual search in multicharacter arrays with and without gaps

Subjects searched through briefly presented arrays of letters in a controlled order, indicating quickly which of two possible targets had occurred. Some arrays contained gaps—three missing letters. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy were both improved by a gap after the target; improvement was less when the gap preceded the target. To account for these results, a new model is proposed, one which calls for overlapping processing of successive array items. This is not a “hybrid” model, but a third alternative between the two extremes of serial (zero overlap) and parallel (complete overlap). Quantified, the overlapping model generates U-shaped serial-position curves and produces RT predictions in good accord with our data from arrays with and without gaps. The predicted functions for RT vs. array size are concave upward; however, for arrays of five or less they are virtually linear and not very different in slope for positive and negative trials. Although this model is primarily designed for RT, with some additional assumptions it can be extended to accuracy results.     

The effect of organismic disadvantage on allocation behavior in children

Equity theory (Adams, 1965) suggests that when persons are asked to divide a given amount of reward between two other persons, one relatively more disadvantaged than the other at performing a task, they will make allocations that are disproportionate to the two persons' performance levels, giving the disadvantaged person a disproportionately larger share and the advantaged person a disproportionately smaller share of the reward. The theory attributes this effect to the allocator's perception that the disadvantaged individual expended a disproportionately greater amount of effort. A group of third- and fourth-graders and a group of seventh-graders were asked to divide rewards between pairs of children that were described to vary in age (“younger” vs. older) or ability (“unskilled” vs. skilled) or that were the “same” in age and ability and that were described to vary (5 vs. 15, or 0 vs. 20 baskets) or to be equal (10 vs. 10 baskets) in performance on a basketball-shooting task. Unlike the group of third- and fourth-graders, the seventh-graders generally made significantly larger allocations to the disadvantaged individuals (“younger” and “unskilled”) than to the “same” individuals, making the largest allocations under the most discrepant performance condition (0 vs. 20). Overall, the results suggested that the equity principle becomes more salient in children as age increases.     

Face-saving and entrapment

Entrapping conflicts are those in which individuals: (1) have made substantial, unrealized investments in pursuit of some goal, and (2) feel compelled to justify these expenditures with continued investments, even if the likelihood of goal attainment is low. It was hypothesized that entrapment (i.e., amount invested) would be influenced by the relative importance individuals attach to the costs and rewards associated with continued investments. Two experiments tested the notion that entrapment would be more pronounced when costs were rendered less important (and/or rewards were made more important). In Experiment 1, half of the subjects were instructed beforehand of the virtues of investing conservatively (Cautious condition), whereas half were informed of the advantages of investing a considerable amount (Risky condition). Investments were more than twice as great in the Risky condition. Moreover, consistent with a face-saving analysis, (1) the instructions had a greater effect on subjects with high rather than low social anxiety, and (2) individuals with high social anxiety who participated in front of a large audience were more influenced by the instructions than were individuals with low social anxiety who participated in front of a small audience. In the second experiment, the importance of costs and rewards were varied in a 2 × 2 design. As predicted, subjects invested significantly more when cost importance was low rather than high. Contrary to expectation, reward importance had no effect. Questionnaire data from this study also suggested that entrapment was at least partially mediated by the participants' concern over the way they thought they would be evaluated. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Planning Disaster Response Services: The Role of a Multi-Agency Steering Group

The tradition in UK emergency planning has been for responses to be taken at a local level. Local authorities prepare plans for dealing with any eventualities arising from a major incident. Many local-authority disaster plans have, however, lacked adequate provision for psychological services. Previous disaster responses are examined, and planning deficits identified. One of the factors considered important is active involvement of those concerned rather than the imposition of a plan designed by others. The stages necessary to develop an effective community mental health intervention are elaborated. Psychological input to future plans at both national and local levels is examined. The central requirement identified is for a Multi-Agency Steering Group, whose members have specified roles, to co-ordinate all aspects of the disaster response and support services.     

A clinical interview for parents of high-risk infants: Concept and applications

The birth and hospitalization of a preterm infant are stressful and emotionally demanding experiences for parents. The Clinical Interview for Parents of High-Risk Infants (CLIP) is a semistruc tured clinical interview that may be used as a one-time assessment or as a cornerstone for ongoing psychosocial work with parents. The interview assesses early parental adaptation and alerts the clinician to areas of concern as identified by the parents. The interview enables parents to consolidate emotionally their experiences relative to the infant's high-risk status. The CLIP has utility both for planning psychosocial care in the intensive care nursery, and for discharge preparation. The rationale underlying the design of the CLIP is presented, the interview is described, and clinical applications are discussed.     

Life Stories: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches

Motivation and Emotion -     

Hans-Martin Sass,Robert M. Veatch,Rihito Kimura (eds.). Advance Directives and Surrogate Decision Making in Health Care

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

Reminiscing and recounting in the preschool years

Talk about past events can be classified as either reminiscing (discussing shared experiences) or recounting (discussing unshared experiences). Reminiscing may have more of a social memory function whereas recounting may also be informational. This research focused on the form of mother–child reminiscing and recounting during the preschool years. Twenty 40‐month‐old and 20 58‐month‐old children reminisced and recounted past events with their mothers. Results showed that mothers who provided more memory information during reminiscing and requested more memory information during recounting had children who reported more unique information about the events. Regardless of maternal conversational style, however, children reported more unique memory information during recounting than reminiscing. We discuss these results in terms of the importance of both forms of remembering for autobiographical memory development. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.