Social Comparison,the Threat of AIDS,and Adolescent Condom Use1

This study tested hypotheses from social comparison theory about adolescent condom use. Questionnaires were administered to 457 twelfth-grade students (284 sexually active). Three different operationalizations of social comparison were used—comparative ratings, affiliative preferences, and derogation; each produced different results. Low condom users who felt threatened by AIDS made more downward comparative ratings regarding condom use than did unthreatened low users. In contrast, low users preferred upward affiliations with high users. Adolescents with higher self-esteem derogated adolescents with AIDS less as threat increased. Adolescents with lower self-esteem who made downward comparative ratings were more satisfied with their own past condom use. Satisfied low condom users were less likely to intend condom use in the future. The results provide evidence that downward comparison may act indirectly to deter behavioral change.     

The temporal architecture of central information processing: Evidence for a tentative time-quantum model

Summary A new, elaborated version of a time-quantum model (TQM) is outlined and illustrated by applying it to different experimental paradigms. As a basic prerequisite TQM adopts the coexistence of different discrete time units or (perceptual) intermittencies as constituent elements of the temporal architecture of mental processes. Unlike similar other approaches, TQM assumes the existence of an absolute lower bound for intermittencies, the time-quantum T, as an (approximately) universal constant and which has a duration of approximately 4.5 ms. Intermittencies of TQM must be multiples T _k=k·T ^* within the interval T ^*T _kL·T ^*M·T ^* with T ^*=q·T and integer q, k, L, and M. Here M denotes an upper bound for multipliers characteristic of individuals, the so-called coherence length; q and L may depend on task, individual and other factors. A second constraint is that admissible intermittencies must be integer fractions of L, the operative upper bound. In addition, M is assumed to determine the number of elementary information units to be stored in short-term memory.     

High-performance computer applications in the behavioral sciences

This symposium revisited the 1985 conference on Advanced Computing for Psychology. That meeting examined the application of new supercomputers in the behavioral sciences. The present symposium reviewed high-performance computing as applied to psychological models, human vision, neuralphysiological processes, and statistical analysis. The recent past and the projected future of high-performance computing in the behavioral sciences were evaluated.     

REDISCOVERING THE PAST:

The origins of experimental psychology are found in the theory of discrimination created by Gustav Fechner The theory advanced by Fechner was the first theory of mental judgment that applied the ideas of Gaussian error to human discrimination Despite Its powerful theoretical and empirical results, the theory vanished Later embellishments, such as the addition of response bias found in signal detection theory, gave such theories new life, but Fechner never received the credit due to the founder of psychological detection theory     

Effect of display movement on tactile pattern perception

The effect of display movement on the ability of subjects to rec ognize alphabetic shapes tactually was investigated. The display consisted of a computer-controlled 8-by-6 array of small airjet stimulators that could be physically translated in a small circle by means of a mechanical linkage. The experimental parameters were the stimulus duration, the angular velocity of the display, and the amplitude of the rotation. Recognition accuracy increased with stimulus duration between 100 and 400 msec. For a rotation amplitude of 0.8 cm, a maximum in recognition accuracy occurred at a rotation velocity of 400 rpm, or 150 msec. per revolution. The optimum angular velocity appeared to decrease as the amplitude of rotation increased. From these results and certain related neurophysiological evidence, a hypothetical model is suggested which qualitatively can account for the data.