Effects of concreteness and semantic relatedness on composite imagery ratings and cued recall

Day and Bellezza (1983) rejected a dual coding imagery explanation for the superior recall of concrete words because unrelated concrete pairs were rated lower in composite imagery but were still remembered better than related abstract pairs. We show that dual coding theory explains their results and our new findings using the same paradigm. In Experiment 1, 120 subjects rated imagery or relatedness for 108 pairs that varied in concreteness, pair relatedness, and associative strength. Incidental cued recall followed. Relatedness and strength affected imagery ratings, as did concreteness, and very low relatedness partly accounted for the low composite imagery ratings for unrelated concrete pairs. Concreteness and relatedness also affected recall, and suporior recall for unrelated concrete pairs occurred consistently under imagery but not under relatedness instructions. In Experiment 2, 40 subjects rated imagery value and recalled 24 pairs. Subsequent questioning indicated that composite images were retrieved better given stimuli from unrelated concrete than from related abstract pairs. These findings and Day and Bellezza’s original results are explained in terms of (1) imaginal and verbal associative processes, which jointly influence composite imagery ratings and recall, and (2) the critical role of stimulus concreteness during image retrieval and recall (i.e., the conceptual peg hypothesis).     

Short-term memory for Chinese characters and radicals

Short-term memory for Chinese radicals and characters, varying in orthographic complexity, frequency, and—for radicals—intercharacter frequency (the number of compound characters that contain the radical), was studied using an immediate free-recall task. When radicals or characters are relatively frequent, so that their pronunciations are well known by literate Chinese, they seem to be maintained in verbal form in short-term memory. For these stimuli, intercharacter frequency and complexity have relatively small influences on memory span. Stimuli low in frequency, with pronunciations that are not apt to be known, seem to be maintained in visual form in short-term memory. Memory span is much smaller for these stimuli and is influenced by both intercharacter frequency and complexity. Furthermore, short-term memory for relatively high-frequency characters is interfered with more by a verbal than by a visual intervening task, whereas the opposite is true for low-frequency characters.     

Memory and awareness in a patient with multiple personality disorder

We studied an individual with multiple personality disorder in whom each of several personalities claimed to have no direct awareness of the others and to be unable to consciously remember the experiences of other personalities. A broad selection of implicit and explicit memory tests was used to determine the extent to which one personality had access to knowledge acquired by another and the circumstances in which that knowledge would be expressed. The implicit assessment of memory was a necessary but not sufficient condition for demonstrating interpersonality access. The degree of compartmentalization of knowledge in this patient depended largely on whether the interpretation of presented information was likely to differ across personalities.     

Studies of psychosocial influences on coronary artery atherogenesis in cynomolgus monkeys

The cynomolgus macaque provides a suitable primate model for studying how psychosocial factors contribute to coronary artery atherogenesis. Important interactions with diet, sex, and behaviorally elicited cardiovascular reactivity are described.     

A cost-benefit analysis of demand for food.

Laboratory studies of consumer demand theory require assumptions regarding the definition of price in the absence of a medium of exchange (money). In this study we test the proposition that the fundamental dimension of price is a cost-benefit ratio expressed as the effort expended per unit of food value consumed. Using rats as subjects, we tested the generality of this "unit price" concept by varying four dimensions of price: fixed-ratio schedule, number of food pellets per fixed-ratio completion, probability of reinforcement, and response lever weight or effort. Two levels of the last three factors were combined in a 2 x 2 x 2 design giving eight groups. Each group was studied under a series of six FR schedules. Using the nominal values of all factors to determine unit price, we found that grams of food consumed plotted as a function of unit price followed a single demand curve. Similarly, total work output (responses x effort) conformed to a single function when plotted in terms of unit price. These observations provided a template for interpreting the effects of biological factors, such as brain lesions or drugs, that might alter the cost-benefit ratio.     

Effects of reinforcement context on choice

Two experiments investigated the effects of successive reinforcement contexts on choice. In the first, concurrent variable-interval schedules of primary reinforcement operated during the initial links of concurrent chains. The rate of this reinforcement arranged by the concurrent schedules was decreased across conditions: When it was higher than the terminal-link rate, preference for the higher frequency initial-link schedule increased relative to baseline. (During baseline, a standard concurrent-schedule procedure was in effect). When the initial-link reinforcement rate was lower than the terminal-link rate, preference converged toward indifference. In the second experiment, a chain schedule was available on a third key while a concurrent schedule was in effect on the side keys. When the terminal link of the chain schedule was produced, the side keys became inoperative. Availability of the chain schedule did not affect choice between the concurrent schedules. These results show that only when successive reinforcement contexts are produced by choice responding do those successive contexts affect choice in concurrent schedules.     

Cloze analysis in schizophrenic speech: scoring method and raters' education

This report examines two methodologic concerns pertaining to use of the cloze procedure in studying the predictability of schizophrenic speech, scoring criteria and raters' education (at or below college level). We find that two strategies for scoring the predictions of raters, one requiring the exact word, the other permitting a reasonable synonym, do not appear to differ in distinguishing groups of patients. The accuracy of raters' guessing is, however, correlated with raters' education: the more educated the rater, the more accurate the guessing. Thought-disordered schizophrenic speech is significantly less predictable than that of nonthought-disordered schizophrenics and normal controls when scored by less educated raters. These differences diminish when more highly educated raters are used. We conclude that raters' education can influence the sensitivity of cloze analysis.     

Psychological gender, hand preferences, and sex differences in book-carrying styles

Individuals with stronger sex-role identities may be expected to show greater conformity to sex-typed behaviors. Proceeding from this assumption, the sex-role status and sex of students using different styles of carrying books were compared. This study also examined whether over-all hand preference or age were related to carrying styles or sex-role status. Subjects completed a questionnaire comprised of the 24-item Personal Attributes Questionnaire of Spence and Helmreich, a 6-item scale of hand preference and a self-rating of sex-role identity. Afterwards, each subject's carrying style was covertly observed and recorded. Most subjects carried their materials in a sex-typical way or in book bags (for which no sex-typed carrying styles were discovered). As in previous studies, men in this study scored higher than women on masculinity and androgyny and lower on femininity. Hand preference was not related to sex-role status. Carrying style was not significantly correlated with any of the predictor variables for men, perhaps because almost no variance in carrying style was observed among them. Women who used masculine carrying styles tended to be older, have greater instrumentality, and a more masculine identity.