Recognition and recall as measures of long-term retention

Acquisition and retention of a list of paired associates were measured either by cued recall or by multiple-choice recognition. The method of testing used during original learning was combined factorially with the type of test administered after a 1-week interval. Speed of learning to criterion under the two procedures was comparable. Long-term recognition was substantially higher than recall. This difference did not interact significantly with the method of learning. Recall benefited substantially from a prior test of recognition, but there was little effect when the order of tests was reversed. It is concluded that (a) both occurrence and retrieval information were stored under each condition of learning, and (b) occurrence information is less subject to forgetting than retrieval information.     

Teaching young children how to use a computer-based Teletype as a “desk calculator”

The first stage in the research reported here was to teach students the mechanics of how to use a computer-based Teletype as a “desk calculator” in the solution of arithmetic problems. In the second stage, we examined a specific use for the desk-calculator program: we presented a series of word problems to the students and analyzed the solutions of these problems to determine the variables related to problem difficulty.     

A signal detection theory analysis of a category judgment experiment

A category-judgment experiment is the reported. Rating-scale judgments of loudness were made with five or eight intensity levels of a tone and with different frequencies of presentation of the stimuli. Obtained ROC curves for pairs of stimuli were judged to support application of signal-detection theory. However, certain common assumptions of the theory are called into question by the data. Discrimination was poorer when more categories were available. This is attributed to an increase in criterion variance with an increase in the number of criteria. The slope of the ROC curves for different stimulus pairs suggested that stimulus variance is neither constant nor does it necessarily increase with stimulus intensity It is argued that stimulus variance may depend upon the distribution of internal observations over all trials.     

The effects of therapist turnover in a training clinic: The core group phenomenon

Group psychotherapy conducted in training settings presents the membership with a unique opportunity to experience and work through loss. This paper describes the potentially problematic influence of predictable therapist turnover in these clinical settings. The core group phenomenon which emerges as a function of this anticipatory grief is described, as are the dynamics of core group members who are particularly vulnerable to the comings and goings of therapists in training. Finally, the importance of therapist attention to the impact of the turnover process in group psychotherapy training programs is underscored.     

Couples psychotherapy group: Treatment of the married alcoholic

As part of an intramural research program of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism focused on the psychobiogenetics of familial alcoholism, a psychodynamically oriented married couples psychotherapy group was formed. Its purpose was to determine whether this modality could be utilized as an outpatient treatment approach to identify and modify interpersonal interactions that affect both drinking behavior and the quality of family and marital life. This paper, a clinical case report, presents follow-up data and disusses both themes that emerged in the therapy process and the usefulness of this modality in the treatment of the married alcoholic.She was formerly Chief, Unit of Family Studies, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).At the time this paper was written, she was a Research Social Worker, Laboratory, of Clinical Studies, NIAAA, Bethesda, Maryland.