Perceptual cues used in reproduction of inspired volume

Man is capable of reproducing an inspired lung volume (IV) with relative precision (±3 %–8 %). To investigate the importance of cues which may be used to determine IV, we performed two experiments. In each, the subject inspired a “standard” breath (from resting end~xpired lung volume) corresponding to 25%, 50%, or 75% of inspiratory capacity (IC) and then expired nearly completely. From this expired volume, the subject either tried to reproduce the tidal volume (i.e., volume of air inspired) of the first breath (volume reproduction) or to reproduce the previous end-inspired lung volume (position reproduction). The constant error indicated that subjects overestimated tidal volume by about 200 ml. Despite this overestimation, the variability of reproduction was less for volume reproduction than for position reproduction when IV was small. The JND for volume reproduction increased linearly with increasing IV, whereas the JND for position reproduction was similar at all IVs so that the Weber ratio decreased. These observations suggest that, in the perception of inspired volume, the sensation of end-inspired position is important when the inspired volume is large, but that subjects apparently rely on some other cue to reproduce small lung volumes accurately.     

The role of attribution in the experience of crowding

The theory that the subjective experience of crowding results from an attribution of arousal process was examined. Specifically, it was predicted that subjects who were aroused by having their personal space violated would experience less crowding if they were led to believe that some other environmental factor was responsible for the arousal. Groups of subjects were placed in a room in which their personal space was either violated or not violated. Some subjects were told that either an arousing or a relaxing subliminal noise would be played into the room. (Actually there was no noise.) Other subjects were told nothing about subliminal noise. The subjects worked on a number of tasks and were then asked to report how crowded they felt. The noise manipulation had no effect on subjects' performance nor on feelings of crowdedness when their personal space was not being violated. However, when there was a violation of personal space, subjects who felt the noise would arouse them reported being less crowded and performed better than subjects in the relaxing noise or no explanation conditions. It was suggested that subjects attributed their arousal to the “arousing noise” and hence felt less crowded.     

Problems in the assessment of analyzability.

As additional studies of assessment of analyzability have been reported, research has proven very difficult and provided little clarification. This paper reviews the literature, particularly of the last twenty-five years, from the viewpoint of identifying the nature of the problems in developing useful methods of study. Some approaches to these problems, which might provide increased understanding as well as a clearer definition of some inherent limitations, are discussed.     

The effects of self-selection on trainees' verbal helping skills performance

Self-selected paraprofessional trainees enrolled in a helping skills training program participated in a 6-minute pretraining helping interview from which their frequency of continuing responses was obtained. Continuing responses allow helpees to present their concerns in a nonthreatening, supportive environment and are important in the relationship establishing stage of the helping process. For data analysis purposes only, trainees were divided into three groups, a high, medium, and low group, based on the frequency of continuing responses made. Following training, at posttest, no significant differences were found among the three groups on the amount of continuing responses made during a second identical 6-minute interview. Implications for various selection procedures and training are discussed.     

A general scheme for the analytic decomposition of objective test scores: Illustrative demonstrations using the Rod-and-Frame test and the Müller-Lyer illusion

Objective tests of personality typically include a number of items or trials; the total score on the test is the sum of the subject's “correct” responses across all such trials. Normally, the trials are varied systematically across various facets of the test design, so that the total score represents a composite measure of accuracy averaged across these test facets. However, since only one score is computed for each subject, some potentially important kinds of individual differences—namely all those associated with each particular variation in the test design—are treated solely as measurement unreliability. Such a psychometric stance may serve to obscure more differentiated types of individual differences, with the result that composite scores from trials based on one type of experimental design may not be highly related to such scores from trials using a somewhat different design. The present paper presents a general procedure for scoring objective tests more analytically. To illustrate this general rationale, and to demonstrate its potential utility, data have been reanalyzed from two previous studies, one using the Rod-and-Frame test, the other the Müller-Lyer illusion. In both cases, the traditional global accuracy score did not correlate significantly with other theoretically related variables, while a number of component scores were quite highly related.     

Youth Counselor Burnout

Counselors of unruly, runaway, truant, or delinquent children and their families run the risk of emotional overexposure– “burnout” as a result of intense client needs and problems. Survival on the job requires taking steps to avoid internalizing caseload pressures. These steps include: helping-not replacing-parents, keeping meetings brief, responding to emergencies selectively, taking simple steps first, using humor, taking care of oneself, expecting complications, avoiding panic, and knowing when to withdraw.     

Beyond Words: Influence of Nonverbal Behavior of Female Job Applicants in the Employment Interview

Three experiments studied the influence on hiring decisions of the nonverbal communication of female job applicants. The first experiment found ratings of the applicants' subtle cues to be significant predictors of the hiring decisions made by college-student judges. Professional employment interviewers served as judges in the second study to cross-validate the first experiment. The third study measured the relative contributions of work histories and nonverbal behavior to hiring decisions. Regardless of the work history preceding the applicant, nonverbal style had a statistically significant effect on hiring decisions.     

Measurement of head movement during auditory localization

Head movement can have a significant effect on the ability to locate the direction of a sound source. A system has been designed to track the head movement in response to sound originating at different azimuth locations with respect to the head. A videotape record is made of a light approximating a point source carried on a lightweight “beanie” mounted on the listener’s head. Movement of the light is monitored by the video camera and recorded on tape, along with the sound stimulus and information concerning loudspeaker location and time. The horizontal and vertical coordinates of the light-spot image are determined in relation to the video synch pulses defining the field borders. Synch signals are available from a video monitor either in real-time or from tape replay to define each TV frame and horizontal scan line. The circuitry interfaces to a computer programmed to take the information, apply a calibration, and process the data into records of time-varying head position and velocity. Examples of both digital and graphic printouts of head movement are given. The system is capable of expansion to three-axis operation.