The relative contributions of rods and cones in sensory memory under photopic and scotopic conditions

Brief presentations of letter arrays were probed by bar markers within or outside the fovea after various time delays. Figural information presented to the foveal region was retained better under a photopic condition than information in the parafoveal region, but under a scotopic condition parafoveal information demonstrated superior retention. However, decay rates over time of all functions were similar, demonstrating that figural information in the rods and cones decays at similar rates.     

Reciprocal Effects Between Locus of Control and Job Attributes

The purpose of this study was to examine the reciprocal relationships between locus of control and job attributes of a representative sample of 1383 employees in a large Australian city. It was predicted that employees with an internal locus of control would attain jobs higher on skill-utilization, influence and income than those attained by employees with an external locus of control. It was also predicted that jobs involving high skill-utlization, influence and income would induce greater internal control beliefs than those low on skill-utilization, influence and income. Locus of control was measured using Rotter's scale (Rotter, 1966). Reciprocal causation was assessed using two-stage least squares analysis. For the total sample, it was found that locus of control and job attributes were reciprocally determined. However, locus of control was not related to influence when skill-utilization and income were controlled. When the sample was split on the basis of gender and marital status, the predicted relationships between locus of control, skill-utilization and income were found for married men only. For married women, locus of control was neither a determinant of job attributes nor an outcome of job experience. These sub-group differences were interpreted in terms of differences in job tenure, work values and occupational opportunity.     

Induction by reinforcer schedules.

Traditional strategies for determining whether a reinforcer schedule enhances the occurrence of an activity are reviewed and critically evaluated. A basic assumption underlying these strategies is that it is possible to isolate the effect of reinforcer intermittency on schedule induction. It is concluded that this is not, in fact, possible. An alternative approach is proposed that emphasizes the inductive effects of the reinforcer schedule as a unit and the effects of particular aspects of the reinforcer schedule (e.g., interreinforcer interval, repetition of the reinforcer, reinforcer magnitude).     

Performance of disturbed hyperactive and nonhyperactive children on an objective measure of hyperactivity

Twenty hyperactive emotionally disturbed children (6–11 years) and a matched sample of nonhyperactive emotionally disturbed children were selected from the population of a therapeutic day treatment facility on the basis of teacher ratings. They were administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test-20 and were rated on several scales of impulsivity and/or hyperactivity. Each subject was required to perform on the Delay Task of the Gordon Diagnostic System, which required them to inhibit behavioral responding on a temporally based schedule (DRL-6) in order to win points. Children classified as hyperactive, whether by one or more criteria, were relatively unable to refrain from emitting a high number of nonreinforced responses. Moreover, these performance differences persisted regardless of age or IQ and were stable over the 8 minutes required to complete the test.The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the following members of the Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Virginia: Richard Abidin, Ann Loper, Ronald Reeve, and Sherry Kraft. Data analyses were conducted using STATMANAGER, Hayden Software Company, copyright 1983.     

Schizotypy and hemisphere function—I : Theoretical considerations and the measurement of schizotypy

This paper brings together, in the context of individual-differences theory, two developing themes in schizophrenia research. One concerns the manifestation, in normal people, of ‘psychotic’ characteristics and their measurement using scales which, unlike the Eysenck P scale, draw their items from the clinical symptomatology of psychosis. Recent work on the so-called ‘borderline states’ is considered especially relevant and a new two-scale questionnaire (STQ) is described which was modelled on the current distinction, in DSM-III, between ‘schizotypal personality disorder’ and ‘borderline personality disorder’. The second theme addressed concerns the possible biological basis of individual differences in ‘schizotypy’. It is argued, in the light of some emerging views about the nature of schizophrenia, that this may lie in the functional and structural properties of hemisphere organization. A suggested strategy for evaluating this theory is an examination of the performance of schizotypal normal Ss on tests of hemisphere function.     

Schizotypy and hemisphere function—III : Performance asymmetries on tasks of letter recognition and local-global processing

Two experiments are reported comparing high and low schizotypal normals on divided field tasks of (a) letter recognition and (b) local-global processing. On the former, low schizotypal Ss showed an expected right visual-field superiority, whereas high schizotypal Ss showed the opposite, in that respect resembling schizophrenic patients. A similar reversed asymmetry was found when the two personality types were compared for local and global processing of letter stimuli, high schizotypals being especially unusual in showing superior local processing for stimuli presented in the left visual field. The results are taken as providing further support for the theory of schizotypy put forward in a previous paper.     

Smoking and academic performance

Smokers and nonsmokers were compared on three aspects of academic achievement. Although exactly the same percentage of smokers and nonsmokers passed the first-year university examination, smokers obtained significantly higher marks. Similarly, smokers achieved significantly higher marks in their final year examinations in comparison with nonsmokers. Finally, a comparison of the tutorial essay marks of the smokers and nonsmokers again showed that smokers obtained significantly higher marks than nonsmokers. These data are consistent with the idea that ambitious students adopt smoking in the belief that it will help them study and sustain concentration.     

Does Analytic Thinking Insulate Against Pro-Kremlin Disinformation? Evidence From Ukraine

Pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns have long targeted Ukraine. We investigate susceptibility to this pro-Kremlin disinformation from a cognitive-science perspective. Is greater analytic thinking associated with less belief in disinformation, as per classical theories of reasoning? Or does analytic thinking amplify motivated system 2 reasoning (or “cultural cognition”), such that analytic thinking is associated with more polarized beliefs (and thus more belief in pro-Kremlin disinformation among pro-Russia Ukrainians)? In online (N = 1,974) and face-to-face representative (N = 9,474) samples of Ukrainians, we find support for the classical reasoning account. Analytic thinking, as measured using the Cognitive Reflection Test, was associated with greater ability to discern truth from disinformation—even for Ukrainians who are strongly oriented towards Russia. We find similar, albeit weaker, results when operationalizing analytic thinking using the self-report Actively Open-Minded Thinking scale. These results demonstrate a similar pattern to prior work using American participants. Thus, the positive association between analytic thinking and the ability to discern truth versus falsehood generalizes to the qualitatively different information environment of postcommunist Ukraine. Despite low trust in government and media, weak journalistic standards, and years of exposure to Russian disinformation, Ukrainians who engage in more analytic thinking are better able to tell truth from falsehood.     

The detection of visual intensity differences by pigeons

Pigeons were trained in a conditional discrimination procedure to discriminate between visual stimuli that varied in intensity. The magnitude of the intensity difference ranged from 0.80 to 0.05 logarithmic units. Psychometric functions were calculated from the data and the mean difference threshold for the 11 subjects was approximately 0.12 logarithmic units. A signal-detection analysis of the data suggested that stimuli that were below the calculated threshold were detectible to the subjects.