The impact of task difficulty upon perceptions of arousal and goal attractiveness in an avoidance paradigm

Measures of goal attractiveness, self-perceived energization, and self-perceived tension were taken immediately before 55 young male subjects were to perform an easy, difficult, or impossible motor activity in order to avoid an unpleasant noise. Results showed a greater magnitude of goal valence, and higher energization and tension in the difficult task condition than in the easy task condition. Subjects in the impossible task condition reported reduced energy relative to subjects in the difficult task conditions; however, tension and goal attractiveness scores did not differ significantly between these conditions. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

A portable pupilometer system for measuring pupillary size and light reflex

A new pupilometry assessment system was evaluated as an instrument for potential use in basic research and clinical studies of addictive drug use in humans. The system is portable and can be used as a peripheral device with a variety of IBM-compatible personal computers. The pupilometer electronically measures the pupil diameter with infrared sensors and has the ability to stimulate the pupil with a programmable pulse of light and to record the resultant papillary response. The present report compares the static pupil-diameter measurements obtained with this infrared pupilometer and those obtained photographically in a bench-top and in a clinical setting. The infrared pupilometer was also used to record the light reflex of the pupil in research subjects after administration of various morphine-related drugs. The results indicate that static pupil-diameter measurements made with the infrared pupilometer compare favorably with the photographic measurement. The ability of the infrared pupilometer to record the light reflex may provide an additional means of quantitatively measuring drug action.     

PSN: A prolog declarative model of conceptual knowledge

This paper introduces a declarative model of semantic memory, called PSN, written in Prolog. It is shown to be a descendant of Quillian’s (1969) Teachable Language Comprehender (TLC) in its structuring of knowledge as a conceptual reticulum and in its use of spreading activation as a retrieval mechanism. PSN goes beyond TLC, however, in its ability to instantiate the essential benchmark properties of human semantic retrieval. As such, it can provide cognitive science with a normative model on which to assess further research and it demonstrates the value of the Prolog language for modeling psychological processes.     

Person-treatment interactions across nonaversive response-deceleration procedures for self-injury: A case study of effects and side effects

Three nominally nonaversive response-deceleration treatment packages, “gentle teaching,” differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior plus interruption, and graduated guidance, were administered to two profoundly retarded men who exhibited topographically similar self-injurious head-hitting maintained under contrasting contingencies identified by functional analysis. Following No Demand and Instructional Demand baseline sessions, the three intervention packages were balanced across 18, 30-minute analog training sessions and three trainers in each subject's prevocational setting, using a simple panel-pressing task as the training objective. There were significant differences between the three packages in rates of target response suppression, effects on collateral behaviors, acquisition of panel pressing, and immediate post-treatment carry-over, both within and between subjects. It is concluded that both functional analysis and within-subject treatment comparison may assist in identification of the least restrictive alternative in applied service settings, and that topographic similarity of self-injury between subjects may not necessarily indicate selection of similar treatment packages.     

Construct asymmetry and the range of relevance of personal anticipations

This paper analyses the logical structure of personal construct systems in terms of relations of partial entailment between constructs and the relative frequencies of positive and negative judgments concerning both self and others. It is argued that conditional hypotheses (‘anticipations’) which incorporate the positive poles of constructs (e.g. happy) as antecedent terms will have wider ranges of relevance, on average, if self is assigned to the positive poles of those constructs. Conversely, hypotheses with antecedents based on the negative poles of constructs (e.g. sad) will tend to have wider ranges of relevance when self is assigned to their negative poles. Some theoretical implications of these relationships for the adaptability of personal construct systems are elaborated.     

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

Abstract. Kant argues that any argument for a transcendent God presupposes the logically flawed ontological argument. The teleological argument cannot satisfy the demands of reason for a complete explanation of the meaning and purpose of our universe without support from the cosmological argument. I avoid the assumption of a perfect being, and hence the ontological argument, in my version of the cosmological argument. The necessary being can be identified with the creator of the universe by adding analogical mental relations. The creation of the universe is then shown to reflect modern scientific cosmology as well as stories and metaphors in the Eastern and Western religious traditions and to resolve the problem of evil.     

Conceptual investigations in counseling psychology: Three candidates to fill the gap

A case is made for the pursuit of critical conceptual inquiries in counseling psychology. Theree types of conceptual study are discussed to illustrate the nature of such investigation and how it might benefit the discipline of counseling psychology.     

Assessing auditory distance perception using perceptually directed action

Three experiments investigated auditory distance perception under natural listening conditions in a large open field. Targets varied in egocentric distance from 3 to 16 m. By presenting visual targets at these same locations on other trials, we were able to compare visual and auditory distance perception under similar circumstances. In some experimental conditions, observers made verbal reports of target distance. In others, observers viewed or listened to the target and then, without further perceptual information about the target, attempted to face the target, walk directly to it, or walk along a two-segment indirect path to it. The primary results were these. First, the verbal and walking responses were largely concordant, with the walking responses exhibiting less between-observer variability. Second, different motoric responses provided consistent estimates of the perceived target locations and, therefore, of the initially perceived distances. Third, under circumstances for which visual targets were perceived more or less correctly in distance using the more precise walking response, auditory targets were generally perceived with considerable systematic error. In particular, the perceived locations of the auditory targets varied only about half as much in distance as did the physical targets; in addition, there was a tendency to underestimate target distance, except for the closest targets.     

Application of the Generalized Matching Law for Description of Student Behavior in the Classroom

Matching law and theory have applied implications for classroom instruction and student behavior. The Generalized Matching Law (GML) is examined in this exploratory study to assess its utility for quantitatively describing student behavior in the classroom. Data were collected using computer-based observational software. Time-lag sequential analysis was used to identify specific teacher behaviors following specific student behaviors as estimates of reinforcement. Derived rates of student and teacher behaviors were analyzed in a linear regression of the natural logarithmic form of the GML. On average, the GML described over 70% of the variance in two students' behavior in a first-grade regular education classroom. Discussion addresses the potential utility of the GML for observation and intervention in the classroom.