Normative Reasons are not Good Bases: a Reply to Gregory

Philosophia - In a recent paper, Gregory defends the claim that a normative reason is a good basis for Φ-ing. He claims that a “basis” is what is commonly known as a motivating...     

Book reviews

MELTON. A. W. and MARTIN, E. (Eds). coding Processes in Human Memory. Wahsington, D. C.: V. H. Winston and Sons. 1973. Pp. xiv + 448. £ 5.54.

ADOLFSON, J. and BERGHAGE, T. E. Peception and Performance Underwater. New york: Wiley Interscience. 1974. Pp. xx + 359. £ 10.60.

SCHWARTZ, M. Psysiological Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofs. 1973. Pp. 484. $ 7.65.

VALENSTEIN, E. S. Brain Control. New York: Wiley. 1973. Pp. 407. £ 6.40.

GOODMAN, I. J. and SCHEIN, M. W. (Eds). Birds: Brain and Behaviour. New York: Academic Press. 1974. Pp. 457. £ 10.00.

STONE, L. J., SMITH, H. T. and MURPHY, L. B. The Competent Infant. London: Tavi-stock Press. 1974. Pp. 1314. £ 11.00.     

Book reviews

ROBINSON, J. O. The psychology of Visual Illusion. London: Hutchinson University Library. 1972. Pp. 285. £ 3.00.

CARROLL, JOHN B. and FREEDLE, Roy O. (Eds). Language Comprehension and the Acquisition of Knowledge. New York: John Wiley. 1972.

PEARSON, R. The Avian Brain. London: Academic Press. 1972. Pp 624. £ 10.00.

KORNBLUM, S. (Ed.). Attention and Perfomance IV. New York and London: Academic Press. 1973. Pp. xxx+771. $ 18.50.

WASON, P. C. and JOHNSON-LAIRD, P. N. Psychology of Reasoming: Reasosming: Structure and Content. London: B. T. Batsford Limited. 1972. Pp 26.4. £ 3.50.

GILBERT, R. M. and MILLENSON, J. R. (Eds). Reinforcement: Behavioural Analysis. New York: Academic Press. 1972. Pp. xiii+288. £ 6.35.

STRONGMAN, K. T. The Psychology of Emotion. London: Wiley. 1973. Pp. 191. £ 3.50.

MYERS, R. D. (Ed.). Methods in psychobiology. Vol. 2. London and New York: Academic Press. 1972. Pp. xii+398. £ 6.50.

NILSSON, N. J. Problem-Solving Methods in Artificial Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1971. Pp. 255. POund 5.40.

SHEEHAN, P. W. (Ed.). The function and Nature of Imagery. New York: Acadmic Press. 1972. Pp. $ 22.50.

CLARKE, E. and DEWHURST, K. An Illustrated of Brain Furction. Oxford: Sandford Publication. 1972. Pp. 154. £ 5.50.

SCHACHTER, S. Emotion, Obesity and Crime. New York: Academic Press. 1971. Pp. 195. £ 3.50.

MCGUIGAN, F. J. and LUMSDEN, D.B. (Eds). Contemporary Appraches to Conditioning and Learning. Washingotn, D. C.: v. H. Winston and Sons. 1973. Pp. xii+231. £ 6.50.

BECK, J. Surface Colour Perception. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. 1972.Pp. £ 11.50.     

Short-Term Visual Recognition Memory in Pigeons

Recognition memory for lists of items was investigated in pigeons using a YES-NO recognition technique. Experiment I showed that increasing the exposure duration of the first item of a two-item list improved recognition for that item without impairing recognition of the second item. Experiment II showed that decreasing the inter-trial interval had no effect on correct YES responses but significantly increased the number of false YES responses. Experiment III showed that recognition for the last two items of a three-item list was no poorer than that for lists of only two items. Experiment IV showed that increasing the delay between presentation and test of a two-item list (from 0·25-1 s) had a more disruptive effect on recognition for the second than for the first item. The data from these four experiments support a model proposed by Roberts and Grant, according to which memory traces are independent, and decay as a negatively accelerated function of time. Experiments V, VI, and VII investigated recognition for lists of three, four, and five items, and found no evidence for a primacy effect, performance being a linear function of time since sample offset.     

Quantum theory and the relation between the conscious mind and the physical world

The measurement problem of quantum theory is discussed, and the difficulty of trying to solve it within the confines of a local, Lorentz-invariant physics is emphasised. This leads to the obvious suggestion to seek a solution beyond physics, in particular, by introducing the concept of consciousness. The resulting dualistic model, in the natural form suggested by quantum theory, is shown to differ in several respects from the classical model of Descartes, and to suggest solutions to some of the long-standing problems concerning the relation of consciousness to the physical world.     

Recognition Memory in Pigeons for Stimuli Presented Repeatedly: Perceptual Learning or Reduced Associative Interference?

Todd and Mackintosh (1990) found that recognition memory of pigeons for pictures was better when the same pictures were used each session (a recency task) than when different slides were used (a novelty task); they attributed the superior performance on the recency task to perceptual learning. Three experiments explored two alternative accounts. One was that their use of a within-subject design could have allowed the strategy adopted in the recency task to influence adversely the strategy used in the novelty task. This possibility was ruled out by Experiment 1, which showed superior performance in the recency task when a between-subject design was used. A second account proposes that slide-reward associations formed (in both tasks) during first presentations of slides interfere with appropriate performance during second presentations (associative interference); in the recency task, however, the high long-term associative strength of the slides restricts the consequence of a single slide-reward pairing to a short-term effect, and associative interference occurs at short retention intervals only. This account was explored in Experiment 2, which found no evidence that increases in retention interval resulted in reduction of associative interference in the recency task, and in Experiment 3, where associative interference was shown to occur but was of comparable magnitude in the recency and novelty tasks. By elimination, the results support a perceptual learning interpretation.     

Book reviews

Gleitman, H. Psychology. New York: Norton, 1981. Pp. xxii + 840. £11.50. ISBN 0 393 95102 2.

Darley, J., Glucksberg, D., Kamin, L. And Kinchla, R., Psychology. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1981. Pp. xvi+65z. £ 413.95. ISBN o 13 733154 I.

Valenstein, E. S. (Ed.).The Psychosurgery Debate : Scientific, Legal, and Ethical Perspectives. Freeman: San Francisco. 1980. Pp. 594. £14.80 (hbk); £7.60 (pbk). ISBN 0 7167 1156 7.

Gregory, R. L. Mind in Science. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1981. £18.50. Pp. XIV+641. ISBN o 297 77825 0.

Oborne, D. J., Gruneberg, M. M. And Eiser, J. R. Research in Psychology and Medicine. Volume I Physical Aspects-Pain, Stress, Diagnosis and Organic Damage; Volume II Social Aspects-Attitudes, Communication, Care and Training. London : Academic Press. I979. Pp. 486 and 488. ISBN 0 12 523701 4 and ISBN 0 12 523702 02. £10.80 each.

Sarason, I. G. and Spielberger, C. D. Stress and Anxiety. Volume 7. Washington: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation. 1980. Pp. 308. $25.50. ISBN 0 89116 183 X.

Levitt, E. E.The Psychology of Anxiety, Second Edition. Hillsdale, New Jersey, Erlbaum Associates. 1980. Pp. 188. ISBN 0 89859 040 X.

McGuigan, F. J., Sime, W. E. and Wallace, J. M. (Eds). Stress and Tension Control. New York: Plenum. 1980. Pp. 320. $29.50. ISBN 0 306 40450 8.     

Hyperstriatal lesions in pigeons disrupt recognition memory at long, but not at short, inter-trial intervals

Two series of experiments investigated short-term visual recognition memory in pigeons following lesions of the hyperstriatal complex; the first series used a choice technique, the second, a single-key go/no go technique. The results of the two series agreed, first, in finding impaired performance in hyperstriatal birds at long but not at short inter-trial intervals, and, second, in obtaining no evidence of differential rates of decay of traces in hyperstriatal and control subjects. A final experiment confirmed that the hyperstriatal birds were, as expected from previous work, impaired on reversals of colour and position discriminations. It is tentatively suggested that deficits following hyperstriatal damage in both recognition and reversal performance may be understood as being the consequence of an increased susceptibility to frustrating events in hyperstriatal subjects.