Auditory List Memory in Rhesus Monkeys

Auditory memory of 2 rhesus monkeys was tested in a serial probe recognition task. Lists of four environmental or natural sounds were followed by a retention interval and a test. The test matched one of the list items on half of the trials. The retention interval was varied across sessions. Six experiments showed similar results and changes in the serial position function. At short retention intervals, there was good memory for first list items (primacy effect) and poor memory for last list items. At intermediate retention intervals, memory improved for last list items (recency effect). At long retention intervals (20 s and 30 s), the recency effect was strong, and the primacy effect had dissipated. These auditory primacy and recency effects and their changes with retention interval were opposite to those for visual memory. Implications for processes and mechanisms of memory are discussed.     

Pathways of Risk for Accelerated Heavy Alcohol Use Among Adolescent Children of Alcoholic Parents

The current study examined two questions. First, do internalizing symptoms and externalizing behavior each mediate the relations between parent psychopathology (alcoholism, antisocial personality disorder, and affective disorder) and growth in adolescent heavy alcohol use? Second, are there gender differences in these mediated pathways? Using latent curve analyses, we examined these questions in a high-risk sample of 439 families (53% children of alcoholic parents; 47% female). Collapsing across gender, adolescent-reported externalizing behavior mediated both the relation between parent alcoholism and growth in heavy alcohol use and the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use. Parent-reported externalizing behavior only mediated the relation between parent antisociality and growth in heavy alcohol use in males. No support was found for internalizing symptoms as a mediator of these relations. Avenues are suggested for further exploring and integrating information about different mediating processes accounting for children of alcoholics' risk for heavy alcohol use.     

The inflected noun system in Serbo-Croatian: Lexical representation of morphological structure

Repetition priming is examined for alternating and nonalternating morphologically related inflected nouns. In Experiments I and 2, latencies to targets in nominative and dative/locative cases, respectively, were invariant over case of prime. In Experiment 3, latencies to nominative-case nouns were the same whether the nouns were primed by forms in which the spelling and pronunciation of the common stem were shared (nonalternating) or not (alternating) with the nominative form. Results are interpreted as reflecting lexical organization among the members of a noun system. In Experiments I and 2, the pattern of latencies to primes suggests a satellite organization in which nominative forms are more strongly linked to oblique forms than oblique forms are to each other. In Experiment 3, atypical cases of alternating forms showed a different pattern of prime latencies, suggesting that the organization within a noun system may differ for alternating and nonalternating forms.     

A “misrepresentation” of method as theory : Reply

Previous studies on the development of problem-solving skills in compensation tasks suggest that sequential decision theory more accurately describes the earlier phases of development than information integration theory. Compared to information integration theory, sequential decision theory appears to provide a more valid representation of children's and adults' processing of simpler compensation problems. On more developmentally advanced compensation problems, adults appear to use a variety of strategies. Information integration is capable of describing many of these patterns accurately. However, detailed analyses of performances by children and adults indicate that processing compensation problems by algebraic integration is the exception, rather than the general rule.     

Sex and race discrimination resulting from manager-client relationships: Applying the rational bias theory of managerial discrimination

Rational bias theory predicts that discrimination may be situationally influenced by circumstances in which a show of bias seems likely to be rewarded or punished by others. This study applies the theory in an examination of managerial sex and race discrimination in situations in which normative or unusual signals are given. In agreement with rational bias theory, the participants, acting in the role of managers, indicated that they would be less likely to discriminate in personnnel decisions with cues indicating that discrimination might not be needed or wanted. The results are interpreted as supportive of rational bias theory and as useful for the design of new policies aimed at ending discrimination. The findings also suggest that the importance of discrimination against blacks of both sexes in management has been widely ignored.     

Using hardware interrupts for timing visual displays and reaction-time key interfacing on the Commodore 64

The use of hardware interrupts for presenting and timing visual displays and for controlling reaction timing on the Commodore 64 is described. The three sources of interrupts discussed are reaction-time keys interfaced through the user port to on-board hardware timers, the alarm of the 60-Hz real-time clocks, and the video raster. In a demonstration program, these interrupts are used to measure display durations, to change screen displays, and to coordinate the onset of reaction timing with the onset of screen changes. In addition, an externally generated interrupt caused by a keypress is used to control reaction timing independently of CPU operations.     

L'INVENTAIRE DE RESOLUTION DE PROBLEMES PERSONNELS: UNE PERSPECTIVE METACOGNITIVE*

Studies on personal problem solving demonstrate important variations in intra- and interindividual problem solving performances. These differences have been associated with different levels of subject's psychological distress. Recently, several investigators have attempted to identify meta-cognitive factors associated with fluctuations in problem solving performance and variations in subject's level of mental health. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric qualities of the French version of the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI). The 35-item questionnaire assess people's attitudes toward their personal problem solving competence. Reliability, factorial structure and construct validity of the instrument were evaluated with two different samples of subjects. Results indicated that the French version of the PSI has high internal consistency and, as predicted, a tri-dimensional factorial structure. The observed relation between subject's appraisal of their personal problem solving abilities and level of psychological distress support the discriminant properties and the concurrent validity of the PSI.     

Evaluations of older and younger adult speakers: influence of communication effectiveness and noise

University students (N = 96) performed 3 communication tasks presented to them either by young men (mean age = 26 years) or by older men (mean age = 77 years). In counterbalanced order, students heard speakers in 3 message conditions (effective, ineffective, and noise). The messages of older men and the older men themselves were evaluated less positively than were younger men. In line with the hypothesis of age-biased behavioral interpretation, older adults speaking effectively were not accorded the same evaluative benefits over their less effective guises, especially on competence ratings, as were younger speakers. Furthermore, the noise condition was predictably more detrimental to ratings of the older speakers, who were more vulnerable to generalized negative affect.