Transfer of learning across reinforcers: Appetitive discrimination learning between stimuli previously associated with shock

In each of two experiments rats learned a food-rewarded discrete-trial discrimination in which the correct response in a two-lever Skinner box was signalled by an external stimulus. For one (experimental) group of subjects, one of the stimuli had previously been associated with electric shock while the other had been used to signal the absence of shock. A control group had previously experienced the stimuli uncorrelated with shock. In both experiments its was found that the control subjects learned the discrimination more rapidly than experimental subjects. The relevance of these findings to theories of the acquired distinctiveness of cues and to accounts of interaction between appetitive and aversive motivational systems is discussed.     

Loss of associability by a compound stimulus comprising excitatory and inhibitory elements

In each of two experiments rats learned a discrimination between a stimulus (A) that signaled shock and a compound stimulus (AB) that signaled no shock. In Experiment 1 it was found that the AB compound acquired excitatory strength only slowly when, in a second phase of training, it was made to signal the occurrence of shock. In Experiment 2 the acquisition of inhibitory strength by the compound was similarly found to be retarded. This second experiment also replicated the results of Experiment 1. The relevance of these results to current theories of latent inhibition and attention is discussed.     

On the precision of a euclidean structure

This paper is concerned with the development of a measure of the precision of a multidimensional euclidean structure. The measure is a precision index for each point in the structure, assuming that all the other points are precisely located. The measure is defined and two numerical methods are presented for its calculation. A small Monte Carlo study of the measure's behavior is performed and findings discussed.The authors are indebted to Bert F. Green, Jr., Ronald Helms, Andrea Sedlak, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Sex-role stereotyping,a function of age and education,as measured by a perceptual-projective device

The sex-role attitudes of 89 married male factory workers were measured using the Hall Sex Role Stereotyping Test. The test involves the presentation of pictures showing ambiguous figures performing tasks which are commonly assigned to one sex or the other. After a limited exposure time, subjects are asked to describe the task and to tell the sex of the person performing it. The hypothesis that men with college training stereotype less than those without was borne out for this sample. The second hypothesis, that older men stereotype more than younger, was not borne out. In fact, the mean nonstereotyping scores for older men within each level of education were higher than for younger, although the difference was not significant.     

Changing correlates of job involvement in three career stages

The nature of correlates of job involvement over three career stages (i.e., early, mid, and late career) was explored in order to account for the lack of consistency of past empirical work in the job involvement area. Data relating to perceptions of job involvement, job characteristics, job satisfaction, rewards, and individual differences were collected from 332 Canadian transportation ministry employees. Utilizing correlational analysis, support was found for the hypothesis that career stage moderated the relationship of job involvement and various situational, individual difference, and outcome measures. These results are discussed in light of the current literature.     

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory: alternative form reliability and further evidence of construct validity

The aim of this study was twofold: (a)to measure the alternate form reliability of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, and (b)to determine its construct validity by correlating it with the four scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). The alternate form reliability was .72. The Extraversion and Psychoticism scales of the EPQ were positively and significantly correlated with the narcissism measure, and the Lie scale showed a significant negative correlation. The Neuroticism scale showed a nonsignificant relationship with narcissism. In addition, the combined Extraversion and Psychoticism scales produced[ a Multiple R with the narcissism measure that accounted for significantly more of the variance in narcissism than did either measure alone.     

Self and external management compared with psychotherapy in the control of obesity

Seventy-four obese TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) members were assigned to one of five conditions: delayed treatment control, insight psychotherapy, self-management training plus external reinforcement, self-management training only, or external reinforcement only. The latter four groups met once per week for ten weeks and were seen at three and six months and followup. It was hypothesized that self-management plus external reinforcement would be superior to other conditions at both post-treatment and followup, and that this condition alone would produce continuing weight losses. Analysis of covariance on body weight, with pretreatment weight as covariate, indicated that self-management plus external reinforcement, self-management only, and external reinforcement only, did not differ in mean body weight at post-treatment. These three groups differed significantly from control and psychotherapy conditions, which did not differ from one another. Self-management plus external reinforcement produced better performance of techniques. At three and six month followup, differences between the four treatment conditions were no longer significant. Results are discussed in terms of evaluation of psychotherapy and behavior modification and durability of results.