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.     

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.     

Delay of stimulus presentation after the saccade in visual search

Delay of stimulus onset after each saccade in visual search decreased oculomotor and manual reaction times, with a greater effect occurring for the oculomotor response. The saccadic oculomotor reaction might have been facilitated in three ways: by the facilitation of reaction with a foreperiod warning stimulus, by the attenuation of saccadic suppression effects due to the stimulus onset delay, or by the use of a strategy of preprogramming fixation durations. The results support a model of visual search using preprogrammed control of visual fixation durations.     

Response bias associated with asking former study participants to assist in new research

To limit research costs, former parent-participants from a completed pediatric neurology study were asked to assist with new research on behavioral contributors to childhood injury. An evaluation of the response bias associated with this recontact effort showed that 224 parents who completed the survey did not differ from the 51 who failed to complete it in race, age, education, or income. Nonresponders were significantly less likely to be married than responders.     

Dynamic algebras: Examples,constructions, applications

Dynamic algebras combine the classes of Boolean (B 0) and regular (R ; *) algebras into a single finitely axiomatized variety (B R ) resembling an R-module with scalar multiplication . The basic result is that * is reflexive transitive closure, contrary to the intuition that this concept should require quantifiers for its definition. Using this result we give several examples of dynamic algebras arising naturally in connection with additive functions, binary relations, state trajectories, languages, and flowcharts. The main result is that free dynamic algebras are residually finite (i.e. factor as a subdirect product of finite dynamic algebras), important because finite separable dynamic algebras are isomorphic to Kripke structures. Applications include a new completeness proof for the Segerberg axiomatization of prepositional dynamic logic, and yet another notion of regular algebra.Dept. of Computer Science, Stanford, CA 94305 This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF grant no. MCS78-04338. Preparation of the present version was supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF grant number CCR-8814921.This paper originally appeared as Technical Memo #138, Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT, July 1979, and was subsequently revised, shortened, retitled, and published as [Pra80b]. After more than a decade of armtwisting I. Németi and H. Andréka finally persuaded the author to publish TM#138 itself on the ground that it contained a substantial body of interesting material that for the sake of brevity had been deleted from the STOC-80 version. The principal changes here to TM#138 are the addition of footnotes and the sections at the end on retrospective citations and reflections.     

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 -     

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.