Semantic priming: subliminal perception or context?

Briefly presented, masked priming stimuli that cannot be identified by themselves can affect the processing of subsequent targets. The effect, which is sometimes viewed as a demonstration of unconscious processing, has been linked to the subliminal perception literature. Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that the identification of primes in the context of semantically related targets is superior to the identification of primes presented alone, and that the identification of primes in the context of semantically unrelated targets is inferior to the identification of primes presented alone. Experiment 3 indicated parallel findings in a recognition task. Consequently, an explanation of semantic priming in terms of the interactive nature of stimuli that are near to one another in time seems preferable to one based upon concepts of unconscious processing and subliminal perception.     

Trait-anxiety and sense of coherence: a longitudinal study

A study of trait-anxiety and sense of coherence on a group of medical students over 18 mo. shows that, although both characteristics are rather stable over time, the measure of sense of coherence is more sensitive to stressors than A-trait and is better predicted by A-trait than the opposite.     

State vs trait anxiety: A case study in confirmatory factor analysis

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1970) originally divided anxiety into two factors: state anxiety, reflecting how an individual currently feels, and trait anxiety, reflecting how an individual generally feels. Recently, however, Spielberger revised his position to separate the presence and absence of anxiety symptoms within state and trait factors, yielding a hypothetical correlated 4-factor structure (Spielberger et al., 1980). Endler and Magnusson (1965) and Endler et al. (1976) have challenged the state vs trait distinction based upon their own factor analytical results. Since both sets of investigations used exploratory approaches, which do not postulate a particular factor structure, these studies do not provide an explicit test of the state vs trait distinction. A confirmatory factor analytic approach was used in the present study to evaluate Spielberger's 4-factor hypothesis. The subjects were large samples of male air force trainees and high school students for whom STAI data were available. The results of these confirmatory analyses indicated that the factors identified in exploratory analysis by Spielberger and his colleagues accounted for the data quite well.     

An interactive program for observation and analysis of human behavior in a long-term continuous laboratory

An Apple II microcomputer is used for processing observations of human behavior in a long-term live-in laboratory. On-line analysis produces multiple measures of response strength and response pattern for experiments on the reinforcement value of ordinary human activities. An interactive program with an informative screen display monitors observers’ data input and operation of the experimental procedures, preventing certain classes of errors. Redundant storage is included to avoid loss of data in the event of equipment failure. The data are handled by humans only one time, as opposed to three with the previous system, reducing both expense and errors. Immediate availability of fine-grained analysis allows more sophistication in within-subjects designs.     

An empirical examination of relative deprivation theory

Relative deprivation theory centers around the proposition that the negative affect associated with judgments of one's own status is not simply a function of one's objective status. Instead, resentment, anger, dissatisfaction and other deprivation-related emotions vary with the subjective assessment of one's status. In the present experiment, subjects read vignettes in which the hypothesized preconditions of felt deprivation were manipulated. They then indicated the degree of perceived resentment and related cognitive-emotional factors attributed to the story characters. Perceptions of deprivation become more prevalent when an individual who lacks a desired outcome (X) (a) compares with another who does possess X, (b) feels entitled to X, (c) feels it was once feasible to attain X, and (d) feels it is not feasible to attain X in the future. The results also suggest that certain preconditions, such as the presence of a comparison other and entitlement, act conjunctively in affecting judgments of felt deprivation. Finally, personal control over desired outcomes appears to be important for relative deprivation theory.     

Temporal ordering deficits following anterior temporal lobectomy

Subjects were required to report the pitch sequence of two 10-msec tones of different frequency presented monaurally while the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the two tones was varied. The value of the SOA at which the subjects achieved an 80% correct sequence report was determined by an adaptive procedure without feedback. This measure was compared in the right and left ears, on subjects with a right or left anterior temporal lobectomy and on a normal control group. The results reveal an elevated threshold for performing temporal order judgments in the ear contralateral to the surgical lesion.     

An on-line laboratory in cognition and perception

The design of a computer-based laboratory system requires the coordination of pedagogical and technical goals. The development of our on-line laboratory in cognition and perception is described. The laboratory consists of 11 on-line experiments in which the student participates as both experimenter and subject. The software was designed for maximum transportability: Programs were written in a low-level BASIC, with thorough documentation; flexibility is provided both within and across experiments to suit local constraints; and the experiments are supported by a student manual, instructor’s manual, and implementation notes. Criteria for selecting experiments, implementation of the experiments, and preliminary evaluation of the laboratory are discussed.