Distractor clustering enhances detection speed and accuracy during selective listening

The effects of distractor clustering on target detection were examined in two experiments in which subjects attended to binaural tone bursts of one frequency while ignoring distracting tones of two competing frequencies. The subjects pressed a button in response to occasional target tones of longer duration (Experiment 1) or increased loudness (Experiment 2). In evenly spaced conditions, attended and distractor frequencies differed by 6 and 12 semitones, respectively (e.g., 2096-Hz targets vs. 1482- and 1048-Hz distractors). In clustered conditions, distractor frequencies were grouped; attended tones differed from the distractors by 6 and 7 semitones, respectively (e.g., 2096-Hz targets vs. 1482- and 1400-Hz distractors). The tones were presented in randomized sequences at fixed or random stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). In both experiments, clustering of the unattended frequencies improved the detectability of targets and speeded target reaction times, Similar effects were found at fixed and variable SO As. Results from the analysis of stimulus sequence suggest that clustering improved performance primarily by reducing the interference caused by distractors that immediately preceded the target.     

Affective interactions of depressed and nondepressed mothers and their children

The expressed affect of clinically depressed and nondepressed mothers as measured by the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia: Lifetime Version (SADSL) and their children (1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years) was observed in seminatural situations. The objectives were to investigate how maternal depression enters into affective interactions between mother and child and how the affect patterns of mother and child are related. Fortynine unipolar and 24 bipolar depressed mothers and 45 nondepressed mothers were observed on 2 days, 2 weeks apart, for a total of 5 h. Each minute was coded for the predominant affect of mother and child. Affects relevant to depression (anxioussad, irritableangry, downcast, pleasant, tenderaffectionate) were coded. Depressed mothers expressed significantly more negative affect than did control mothers. Mothers' expressed affect and their selfreports of affect on days of observation were unrelated. Mother's and child's affects, measured on different days, were significantly correlated. Unipolar mothers and mothers severely depressed spent significantly more time in prolonged bouts of negative affect. There was significant synchrony between their bouts and the negative bouts of their daughters. Gender of child was related to mother's and child's affect, and to relations between mother's and child's affect.     

The effects of narrative context on French verbal inflections: A developmental perspective

This experiment examines how narrative context affects French subjects' selection of past imperfective (imparfait) vs. perfective inflections with different predicate types. Adults and 10-year-old children were asked to inflect verbs presented in their written infinitive form in two conditions: (a) in isolated sentences; (b) embedded in the beginning, middle, or end of narratives. Regardless of conditions, the adults rarely used theimparfait with punctual resultative predicates. In both conditions, the frequency ofimparfait was high with durative predicates, particularly with aresultative ones, but it varied with position in the narratives, being highest at the beginning and lowest at the end. Although the children also used the imparfait frequently with durative predicates, they overgeneralized it to punctual resultative ones, regardless of conditions and of positions. These results show that adult uses of the imperfective/perfective distinction are determined by both predicate properties and grounding in narrative context. The children are less sensitive to some predicate properties than the adults and they do not differentiate imperfective/perfective aspect consistently as a function of discourse context.     

The gender role journey measure: Scale development and psychometric evaluation

The Gender Role Journey concept was developed to help women and men explore their gender role changes and transitions. A 34-item Gender Role Journey Measure (GRJM) was conceptualized and developed through empirical methods. The construct validity of the five phases of the gender role journey is assessed. The GRJM and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) were given to a sample of women and men (N=878). The sample was predominantly Caucasian from a mixed ethnic background. Principle factor analysis indicated three meaningful factors: Acceptance of Traditional Gender Roles; Gender Role Ambivalence, Confusion, Anger, and Fear; and Personal-Professional Activism. Moderately high test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were found for each of the factors. Gender differences and gender by PAQ interactions were found for all three of the factors of the GRJM. Implications for future research, teaching, and workshops are suggested.This article was presented at the 99th convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, California, August 1991. It was supported by a grant from the Research Foundation of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut.     

Deconstructing the declaration: A case study in pragrammatology

I would like to thank Jonathan Lee, Terry Pinkard, Steven S. Schwarzschild, Jill Petzall, Bob Gibbs, Bill Hamrick and Jim Bohman for their very helpful criticisms of earlier drafts of this paper.     

Compensation for Jaw Fixation by Aphasic Patients

The ability to compensate for fixation of the jaw by a bite block was investigated in 6 nonfluent aphasics, 6 fluent aphasics, and 10 normal control subjects. Acoustic analyses of the vowels [i u a æ] and fricatives [s s] revealed substantial but incomplete compensation for the perturbation in all three subject groups. Perceptual identification scores and quality ratings by naive and phonetically trained listeners indicated poorer identification of the high vowels [i u] under compensatory conditions relative to normal production. Of particular interest was the fact that all three groups of subjects exhibited similar patterns of results. The findings suggest that any deficit in speech motor programming demonstrated by the nonfluent aphasic patients did not affect compensatory abilities. Results are discussed with respect to normal speech adaptation skills and the nature of articulatory breakdown in nonfluent aphasia.     

Internal Objects - A Theoretical Analysis of Jungian and Kleinian Models

In this paper I discuss the ways in which experimental and objective research from cognitive science and developmental psychology can help analysts evaluate the theoretical models of mental objects which we use; I indicate the ways in which such evidence tends to support models of internal objects as mental representations or developmental capacities rather than as wish-fulfilling expressions of instinctual drives. This land of empirical evidence is not just of academic interest but also has direct clinical relevance, particularly with borderline patients; such patients' sense of identity is totally dependent on the analyst's understanding of their internal world and for this to be misunderstood by the analyst can be catastrophic. An accurate theoretical model of mental objects can therefore help analysts to contain their patients more effectively.     

Assessment of Supervisee Developmental Level and Supervision Environment Across Supervisor Experience

Supervisors representing different levels of experience viewed videotape vignettes of counselors demonstrating the first three developmental levels of Stoltenberg's (1981) Counselor Complexity Model. Supervisors assessed each counselor on his or her developmental level and on the supervision environment he or she would provide for the trainee. Results indicated that supervisor experience did not influence the assessment of developmental level or the ability to make accurate environmental matches. Nevertheless, supervisors had the most difficulty accurately assessing counselors representing Level 2 in Stoltenberg's model and tended to make relative judgments about counselor developmental level. Implications for training and further research are discussed.     

Spatiotemporal boundaries of linear vection

Thresholds for the perception of linear vection were measured. These thresholds allowed us to define the spatiotemporal contrast surface sensitivity and the spatiotemporal domain of the perception of rectilinear vection (a visually induced self-motion in a straight line). Moreover, a Weber’s law was found, such that a mean relative differential threshold in angular velocity of about 41% is necessary to perceive curvilinear vection. This visually induced self-motion corresponds to the sensation of moving in a curved path. It is proposed that curvilinear vection is induced when the apparent velocity difference is detectable. The spatiotemporal domain of perception of rectilinear vection and its spatiotemporal contrast surface sensitivity are centered on low spatial frequencies. Concurrently, the values which correspond to the relative differential thresholds of curvilinear vection are low spatial frequencies. Accordingly, the peripheral ambient visual system seems to be involved in perceiving linear vection. It is argued further that the central ambient system might also be involved in the processing of linear vection.