EFFECTS OF PICTURE PROMPTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF COMPLEX VOCATIONAL TASKS BY MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS

The effects of using picture prompts on the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of complex vocational tasks were evaluated within a multiple baseline design across subjects and tasks. Five moderately and severely mentally retarded adolescents were first trained to use picture prompts to guide their performance on one or more complex tasks. Following training, posttesting with and without the picture prompts was conducted to evaluate the effects of training and to determine maintenance effects over a 2- to 4-week interval. Generalization of performance across tasks was assessed with three of the students who were provided novel tasks (with and without picture prompts) without training. Results indicated that picture prompts can be successfully used to promote both acquisition and generalization of performance, and that subsequent training time on a novel task was reduced when the use of picture prompts had been previously trained.     

Strategic factors in a lexical-decision task: Evidence for automatic and attention-driven processes

The present study examined strategic factors in a semantic-priming, lexical-decision task. The first experiment demonstrated that the greater the proportion of related word-word pairs to unrelated word-word pairs, the greater the amount of facilitation, a result which is consistent with others reported in the literature. The second experiment demonstrated that this strategic factor apparently requires that sufficient time (at least several hundred milliseconds) be available for the processing of the priming word, and thus is probably caused by attention-driven processes. The third experiment replicated and extended the results of the first two studies by demonstrating that prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony is an important limiting factor in determining whether such proportion-induced strategic factors are involved in word-recognition processes, even when no other aspect or variable of the procedure changes. The results are discussed in the context of Posner and Snyder’s (1975a) two-process model of word recognition.     

Actors' and Observers' attributions,self-serving bias and positivity bias

An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of evaluative factors upon preference for situational and dispositional attributions. Subjects listened to a tape recording of a group discussion on smoking, two actors presenting arguments in favour of smoking and two actors arguing against smoking. Subjects were then asked to explain in attributional terms the actors' behaviour and their own smoking behaviour, their evaluation of smoking being separately assessed. Results provided no support for a general self-other attributional difference; subjects did not explain their own behaviour in more situational terms while explaining the behaviour of others in more dispositional terms. Findings indicated that individuals generally attributed positively evaluated behaviour to dispositional factors and negatively evaluated behaviour to situational factors, regardless of attributor role (actor or observer). The results are interpreted as offering support for a positivity bias in attributional preference.     

Some evidence for a limited capacity parallel selfterminating process in simple visual search tasks.

An experiment was carried out in order to investigate the questions of exhaustive vs selfterminating and serial vs parallel processing in a simple visual search task. In the experiment, 1, 2 or 3 letters were placed on an imaginary circle round the fixation point. Two different letters were used, one of which was defined as the ‘signal’. Ss had to respond ‘yes’ when one or more signals were in the display, ‘no’ otherwise. The number of signals in the display was varied from ‘no signals’ to ‘all signals’.A decrease in latencies with increasing number of signals for a fixed number of elements presented was observed indicating a selfterminating search. A decrease in latencies with increasing number of elements when only signals were presented was taken as evidence for a parallel selfterminating process. A further analysis of the error data showed that a limited capacity system had to be assumed. It was shown that it was possible to construct the overall pattern of latencies over conditions from the error data obtained.     

A search for predictive factors in institute supervised cases: a retrospective study of 183 cases from 1959-1966 at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.

The purpose of this project was to determine if it is possible to predict from the information contained in the write-ups of the preliminary evaluations of patients accepted for Institute supervised analyses those patients who would successfully complete their analyses and those who would not. Three raters independently studied the write-ups of 183 cases treated at the Boston Institute during the period 1959-1966. Each rater filled out a questionnaire of 105 items which were thought to be of possible predictive value. Outcomes were sought from the analysts who treated the patients. 130 outcomes were obtained and revealed that the patients fell into 4 distinctly different outcome groups: (Group 1) those who completed analysis by mutual agreement between the analyst and patient; (Group 2) those who prematurely terminated their analyses against the advice of their analysts; (Group 3) those whose analyses were prematurely interrupted by their analysts; (Group 4) those whose analyses became interminable. Statistical analyses were done to see which of the 105 predictor items distinguished these four distinct outcome groups. Many of the predictor items were not useful because they either showed no variation among patients, or were too often left blank, or were rated with very low interrater agreement. Of the remaining items, we found ten items which did show a highly significant difference between Group 1 patients and those patients in at least one of the other three outcome groups. We found five other predictor items which showed large, although not quite statistically significant, differences between Group 1 and at least one of the other three groups. Of these 15 items, 7 dealt with family history. The others concerned the patient's past history (2), object relationships (2), patient's sex (1), symptomatic state (1), field of endeavour (1), and history of previous psychotherapy (1). We found it made no difference in terms of these 4 outcome groups what the patient's diagnosis was or whether he was a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th supervised case. Among the other negative findings were patient's age and the ability to experience and tolerate felt anxiety. These did not distinguish any of the outcome groups. These findings show that additional predictively useful information is present in the preliminary evaluations of patients already screened and accepted for Institute analysis by trained evaluators. These results suggest that one particularly important area on which to focus future attention is family history.     

Cardiac orienting responses of 6- and 16-week-old infants

Since previous data suggested that the magnitude of orienting evidenced by cardiac deceleration increased over the first 16 weeks of life, 6- and 16-week-old infants were compared on various characteristics of orienting: habituation, dishabituation, and magnitude of deceleration to stimulus offset as well as to stimulus onset. Neither the change in stimulus following habituation trials nor the stimulus offset produced a large enough response to confidently evaluate age differences suggested by the data. Stimulus onset elicited a pronounced deceleration which for the two age groups was of equivalent magnitude on initial trials and declined similarly with stimulus repetition. It was suggested that similarity of the two age groups on these parameters was due to control of state within a narrow alert range, and that, in general, younger infants are less likely than older infants to show orienting when conditions for orienting are marginal.     

Frequency recognition in temporal interference tasks: A comparison among four psychophysical procedures

The frequency discrimination of a 20-msec test tone was measured for the same subjects in four psychophysical paradigms: a single-interval procedure, a two-alternative forced-choice procedure, a same-different procedure, and a method-of-adjustment procedure. In each paradigm, the 20-msec test tone was preceded or followed by a 500-msec, 800-Hz interfering tone. The interfering tone occurred 50 or 5 msec before the onset of the test tone (forward interference) or 100 or 5 msec after the offset of the test tone (backward interference). In each of the four paradigms and for each of the interference conditions the value of Δf for the test tone was varied symetrically around 800 Hz to obtain an estimate of the frequency discrimination thresholds. In all psychophysical paradigms except for the single-interval procedure, there were small or no significant differences in observers’ frequency discrimination behavior among the interference conditions. The thresholds for Δf from these conditions were approximately the same as those obtained without an interfering tone. In the single-interval task, when the test tone preceded the interfering tone (backward interference) by 5 msec, an increase in the value of Δf required for discrimination over that required in the other conditions was measured. These results suggest that the effect of backward interference on a target tone does depend on psychophysical procedure.     

Testing some implications of the sensory physiological model of the time sense

Summary In this paper some implications of the pulse generator model of time perception have been tested. In the case of serial (re)production of an interval a lengthening effect occurs. Generally, this phenomenon is explained by assuming that the time-keeper is driven by the state of general physiological activation which decreases in the course of the task. An experiment was carried out in which EEG activity was recorded during the time estimation process. It appeared that a lengthening effect occurred, but there was no correlation between the reproduction times and the means of the EEG spectra, however. In a second experiment two series of time estimations were compared as a function of administering a placebo and methamphetamine. In the latter case the model predicts that no lengthening will occur since arousal (at least for a short period of time) is kept at a high and constant level. In fact, no differences between the regressions of the time estimation curves before and after drug administration have been found, so that the predictions of the model as regards the origin of lengthening could not be supported. It is suggested that the nature of the effect should be studied within the framework of the cognitive theory of time experience which offers various starting points in this respect.     

Earman on the causal theory of time

Conclusion I have so far ignored Earman's Section IV in which spatiotemporal coincidence is discussed. The answer will be clear from the preceding: the exact definitions and principles of the exact theories we have displayed are to be discussed with reference to the special and not the general theory of relativity. But moreover, Earman's transition from (C) to (1) assumes what we do not grant: that events are causally connectible exactly if the points in the mathematical space-time at which they are located are linked by a causal curve.This captures in a nutshell my own conclusions. The first is that the causal theory, after its success vis-à-vis the STR, must now provide a detailed analysis of spatiotemporal concepts in the GTR. The second is that the points raised by Earman do not provide substantive reasons for doubting the adequacy of the causal theory to this task, because Earman insists in his extrapolations on a much closer relation between the empirical structure of events and the mathematical structures that model it than ought to be assumed.I wish to acknowledge gratefully my debt to Dr. A. Grünbaum, University of Pittsburgh, to Dr. C. Glymour, Princeton University, and to the support of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.