Adaptive regression and types of cognitive flexibility

The relationship between adaptive regression and cognitive flexibility was explored in a group of 42 college students. Adaptive regression was measured with the Holt scoring system for the Rorschach. One type of cognitive flexibility was measured by Guilford's tests of divergent production (Word Fluency, Associational Fluency, and Alternate Uses) and a second type by Mednick's Remote Associates Test. Adaptive regression was found to be significantly positively related to the Remote Associates Test in males but not in females. Adaptive regression was found to be unrelated to divergent production tests. These relationships were not found to be mediated by Rorschach productivity or verbal intelligence. A two-stage process was proposed to account for the cognitive operations underlying adaptive regression and the Remote Associates Test. The first stage is seen as a generative (primary process) stage, while the second stage is seen as an evaluative (secondary process) stage. Possible reasons for sex differences were also discussed.     

Impulsivity and paced tapping

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to both the intraindividual variability and the rate of performance of a paced tapping task. The independent variable in the tapping task were: feedback vs. no feedback; tempo; concurrent cognitive task (counting) vs. no concurrent cognitive task. Three measures of tapping performance were computed: absolute or total error of tapping, tapping rate, and the intraindividual variability of tapping. The results confirm the hypothesis that impulsivity is positively related to rate of paced tapping, although the degree of relationship varied under different experimental conditions within the paced tapping task. Intraindividual variability of tapping was not significantly related to impulsivity, but the results were suggestive of a positive relationship.     

How to maximize reward rate on two variable-interval paradigms

Without assuming any constraints on behavior, we derive the policy that maximizes overall reward rate on two variable-interval paradigms. The first paradigm is concurrent variable time-variable time with changeover delay. It is shown that for nearly all parameter values, a switch to the schedule with the longer interval should be followed immediately by a switch back to the schedule with the shorter interval. The matching law does not hold at the optimum and does not uniquely specify the obtained reward rate. The second paradigm is discrete trial concurrent variable interval-variable interval. For given schedule parameters, the optimal policy involves a cycle of a fixed number of choices of the schedule with the shorter interval followed by one choice of the schedule with the longer interval. Molecular maximization sometimes results in optimal behavior.     

Self-control in pigeons under the Mischel paradigm

Walter Mischel studied self-control in preschool children in the following manner: if the child waited for an interval to end, he or she received the more preferred of two reinforcers; if the child responded to terminate the interval by ringing a bell, the less preferred reinforcer was given. We used an analogous procedure to study self-control in pigeons: if the bird waited for a trial to end, it received the more preferred reinforcer; if the bird terminated the trial by pecking a key, the less preferred reinforcer was given. We explored the effects on self-control of a number of variables analogous to those studied by Mischel and co-workers, e.g., presence versus absence of reinforcers, of alternative responses, and of stimuli during the wait interval; prior experience of the subjects; and test paradigm. The results obtained with pigeons paralleled the results obtained by Mischel with human children.     

Stimulus generalization and the peak shift with movement stimuli

Stimulus generalization is suggested as an alternative method for examination of the "novelty" problem in motor learning. These experiments demonstrated that stimulus generalization occurs using simple movements as stimuli. The phenomenon of the "peak shift" in post-discrimination generalization gradients was also examined. The first experiment demonstrated that a peak shift occurred using linear movements as stimuli and that the magnitude of the peak shift increased as the difference between the training stimuli decreased. The second experiment showed similar results when the stimuli consisted of a range of movements rather than single movement length. The final experiment provided evidence that perception of movement length is influenced by the magnitude of an immediately preceding movement. The relevance of these studies to current motor-learning theory is discussed.     

GPS,一个模拟人类思惟的程序

GPS 是 General Problem Solver(通用问题解决者)的缩写,是一个计算机程序的名称。GPS 是用来探讨人工智能的一个重要手段,同时,它的各种变式也对人在解决问题时的思惟进行了模拟。GPS(以及在它之前的 Logic Thcory Machine,简称 LT 程序)的建立,标志着对思惟心理学的研究从传统的实验心理学方法跨入了信息加工的领域,用信息加工的观点和方法来探讨人的思惟行为。它为思惟心理学的研究,开拓了更广阔的前景。本文主要讨论 GPS 对人解决问题时的思惟行为的模拟,讨论人的思惟的心理学问题。     

《列宁的辩证法和实证主义的形而上学》一书结束语

当列宁在《哲学笔记》中尖锐而又十分明确地表达他对唯物辩证法的明快简练的观点时,这些观点决不只是(甚至可以说不是)作为他重新批判性地研究黑格尔著作的结论加以表述的,而是(甚至首先是)他在哲学领域中多年斗争的结果。这种斗争是他为反对马赫主义者、“主观社会学”的拥护者、“合法马克思主义者”以及把马克思主义思想僵化的教条主义等倾向而不得不进行的。这些倾向在第二国际的理论家中间(特别是在普列汉诺夫及其学生那里)表现得十分明显。     

IQ的生物学基础

智力研究的名声,已经被骗子的欺骗行径所败坏,为种族主义所沾污,就象炼丹术士的罐子一样黑。最近的争论集中在:智力是不是天生的?种族之间有没有区别?智力测验能否真正测量智力,或者只是表征一个人接受特定的文化的程度?目前有两个英国     

人的高级神经活动的年龄特点

生理学中已经积累了不少事实材料,可以说明人脑活动的年龄发育和退化的特征。但是,对某些时期,例如,对出生到7岁以及50岁之后的时期,进行了系统地研究,而对其它年龄期,只是作了些个别的研究工作。对高级神经活动生理学主要问题的研究也不平衡;对儿童第一信号系统水平上的条件反射活动形成的规律,研究得很充分,在这方面进行研究的有等人;对第二信号系统的发育和机能活动机制的研究却比较少,对确定儿童类型特点以及在理论和实践上都很重要的许多其它问题,研究得也不充分。因此,本文中材料的安排也相应地不平衡。