Acquisition of stimulus control while introducing new stimuli in fading.

After establishing discrimination between a red positive stimulus and a green negative stimulus, the lowest intensity colors that restricted all responding to the positive stimulus were determined. Then, two new white lines differing in terms of line orientation were each superimposed on one of the colors and were increased in intensity. Thereafter, the intensity of the colors was decreased and eventually eliminated. Probe stimuli consisting of the lines presented against dark backgrounds were presented before each change of stimulus intensity, and probe responding was used to assess the control acquired by various dimension of the new stimuli during the course of fading. The lines acquired control of responding while they were being introduced, and control was strengthened as the colors were attenuated. Such a locus of acquisition was attributed to the starting intensity of the original controlling stimuli and was explained in terms of stimulus blocking. Finally, using probes while introducing the new stimuli enhanced the acquisition of control by the new stimuli.     

EQUIVALENCE CLASS FORMATION: A METHOD FOR TEACHING STATISTICAL INTERACTIONS

Many students struggle with statistical concepts such as interaction. In an experimental group, participants took a paper‐and‐pencil test and then were given training to establish equivalent classes containing four different statistical interactions. All participants formed the equivalence classes and showed maintenance when probes contained novel negative exemplars. Thereafter, participants took a second paper‐and‐pencil test. Participants in the control group received two versions of the paper‐and‐pencil test without equivalence‐based instruction. All participants in the experimental group showed increased paper‐and‐pencil test scores after forming the interaction‐indicative equivalence classes. Class‐indicative responding also generalized to novel exemplars and the novel question format used in the paper‐and‐pencil test. Test scores did not change with repetition for control group participants. Implications for behavioral diagnostics and teaching technology are discussed.     

Individual skill differences and large-scale environmental learning

Spatial skills are known to vary widely among normal individuals. This project was designed to address whether these individual differences are differentially related to large-scale environmental learning from route (ground-level) and survey (aerial) perspectives. Participants learned two virtual environments (route and survey) with limited exposure and tested on judgments about relative locations of objects. They also performed a series of spatial and nonspatial component skill tests. With limited learning, performance after route encoding was worse than performance after survey encoding. Furthermore, performance after route and survey encoding appeared to be preferentially linked to perspective and object-based transformations, respectively. Together, the results provide clues to how different skills might be engaged by different individuals for the same goal of learning a large-scale environment.     

Still looking for Poppa

In 1992, V. Phares published an article titled "Where's Poppa?: The Relative Lack of Attention to the Role of Fathers in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology". Since that time, there have been modest gains in the research literature on clinical child issues, but there remains a wide gap between the inclusion of mothers and fathers in clinical child and family research. To provide an update of this issue for the field of developmental psychopathology, the authors of this comment conducted an updated review and analysis of the research on fathers and developmental psychopathology. These current data were compared with the data from the Phares and Compas (1992) study. It was found that there continues to be a dearth of research on fathers and developmental psychopathology.     

The effect of test schedules on the formation of linked perceptual classes

After training conditional discriminations among selected stimuli from two perceptual classes, the emergence of novel relations involving other members of both classes was assessed using cross-class probes. The cross-class probes were presented using one of four different testing schedules. In the 2/9 test, nine different probes were presented in each of two test blocks. In the 6/3 test, three different probes were presented in each of six test blocks. In the 18/1-RND test, each of the 18 cross-class probes was presented in separate test blocks. In the 2/9 and 6/3 tests, the cross-class probes were presented in a randomized order within test block. In the 18/1-RND test, the cross-class probes were presented in a randomized sequence. In the 18/1-PRGM test, however, the cross-class probes were presented in a programmed order (i.e., the values of the stimuli in each cross-class probe were changed systematically in the succession of probe presentations). About 55% of the linked perceptual classes emerged during the 2/9, 6/3, and 18/1-RND tests. Thus the number of different probes in a test block did not influence the emergence of classes as long as the probes were presented in a random order. Virtually all classes emerged during the 18/1-PRGM test. Thus at least one ordered introduction of different cross probes resulted in the reliable emergence of linked perceptual classes. Mechanisms responsible for linked perceptual class formation are discussed along with the relation of these classes to other complex categories.     

Consistent Quantum Mechanics Admits No Mereotopology

It is standardly assumed in discussions of quantum theory that physical systems can be regarded as having well-defined Hilbert spaces. It is shown here that a Hilbert space can be consistently partitioned only if its components are assumed not to interact. The assumption that physical systems have well-defined Hilbert spaces is, therefore, physically unwarranted.     

The contextually controlled, feature-mediated classification of symbols

The classification of names of people or objects based on the features acquired by the names and the sorting instructions provided is a commonplace occurrence. For example, given the names Renoir, Pollock, James and Voltaire the average adult would be able to classify them differentially based on the instruction to classify them based on vocation or nationality. In general, such a repertoire reflects the reclassification of symbols (i.e, the names of individuals) in terms of contextual cues (instructions to sort by vocation or nationality) and the features acquired by the symbols (the specific nationalities and vocations). The present experiment studied this phenomenon with the use of arbitrary stimuli that did not have clear preexperimental associations. Two of 4 participants classified the symbols into different equivalence classes based on the prevailing contextual cues and the features that had been acquired by the symbols. Using an ABA reversal design we then demonstrated that 1 participant classified the symbols in accordance with the contextual cues and acquired features when present, but not in the absence of the contextual cues. A 3rd participant showed symbol classification that differed from that predicted by the procedures, and the 4th classified the symbols based on one set of features but not on context. These data describe one set of conditions that could account for the establishment of complex classification repertoires that occur in natural settings.     

Head Coach Changes in Women’s College Soccer: An Investigation of Women Coaches Through the Lenses of Gender Stereotypes and the Glass Cliff

Sex Roles - Women are underrepresented in leadership positions in sport, including coaching. In the present study of women’s college soccer in the United States, the authors examine the...