Bivar: A program for generating correlated random numbers

This article describes Bivar, a program that generates random numbers from a wide variety of bivariate distributions. Numbers are written to an ASCII output file, from which they can be read as needed by programs simulating stochastic processes. The program runs under the DOS operating system on IBM-PC compatibles with a 386 or later processor, and it is free for educational and noncommercial use.     

The asynchronous discrete coding model: Further tests with single-attribute stimuli

Two experiments using a probe-RT paradigm showed that partial information about the size of a stimulus can influence response processes before complete size information is available. Contrary to the asynchronous discrete coding model, these results suggest that the perceptual system may transmit to the response system information that only partially specifies a single stimulus attribute. In combination with previous findings, these results also suggest that there are at least two dissociable forms of selective preparation for a given response.     

Positive priming: Locations containing relevant information are labeled accordingly

Individuals engaged in a location task where the relevancy status [relevant (stimulus) vs irrelevant (distractor) information] of these locations was reversed from one trial (prime) to the next (probe). The results produced by these reversals (Distractor-to-Stimulus and Stimulus-to-Distractor) indicated that both stimulus and distractor items are given relevancy status labels which participate in the future processing at the labeled locations. These findings support the view that selective processing involves both ‘facilitatory' and ‘inhibitory' components. Further, unlike identity tasks, the data indicated that neither the formation nor the subsequent use of these ‘location' labels (stimulus or distractor) is related to the presence of a response conflict.PsycINFO classification: 2330; 2340     

Effects of noise letters on decisions: Discrete or continuous flow of information?

Four forced-choice letter-detection experiments examined the effect on detection latency of noise letters that were visually similar to target letters. A single target letter was present in each display. Noise letters were similar to the target letter present in the display (the signal), to a different target letter assigned to the same response as the signal, or to a target letter assigned to the opposite response from the signal. Noise letters were present in either relevant or irrelevant display positions, and two quite different stimulus sets were used. The experiments were designed to test a prediction of models in which information about noise letters is transmitted continuously from the recognition to the decision process. These models predict that responses should be faster when noise letters are visually similar to a target assigned to the same response as the signal than when noise letters are similar to a target assigned to the opposite response. Statistically reliable effects of the type predicted by continuous models were obtained when noise letters appeared in relevant display positions, but not when they appeared in irrelevant positions.     

Repeating the Errors of Our Parents? Family‐of‐Origin Spouse Violence and Observed Conflict Management in Engaged Couples*

Based on a developmental social learning analysis, it was hypothesized that observing parental violence predisposes partners to difficulties in managing couple conflict. Seventy-one engaged couples were assessed on their observation of parental violence in their family of origin. All couples were videotaped discussing two areas of current relationship conflict, and their cognitions during the interactions were assessed using a video-mediated recall procedure. Couples in which the male partner reported observing parental violence (male-exposed couples) showed more negative affect and communication during conflict discussions than couples in which neither partner reported observing parental violence (unexposed couples). Couples in which only the female partner reported observing parental violence (female-exposed couples) did not differ from unexposed couples in their affect or behavior. Female-exposed couples reported more negative cognitions than unexposed couples, but male-exposed couples did not differ from unexposed couples in their reported cognitions.     

Mixed interpretations of sales proposal signals

Long-term relationships with customers are critical determinants of a sales organization’s success. However, research tends to assess relational approaches from the salesperson or sales organization’s perspective and often neglects to capture customers’ perspectives which lead to the evaluative success or failure of buyer–seller relationships. This study assesses the seller’s bid-related signals from the buyer’s perspective following their selection or rejection of a business-to-business sales proposal. The authors adopt a theories-in-use approach, utilizing 54 depth-interviews with decision-makers from 33 buyer organizations. Within this data set, findings reveal three bid signals that are represented across both selection and rejection outcomes (i.e. mixed interpretations by buyers). These signals are the seller’s usage of price concessions, sales proposal specificity, and comparative customer examples. To better understand the mechanisms which influence buyers’ mixed interpretations of these signals, the authors utilize the newly-advanced qualitative pivoting technique to identify contextual variables across cases that influence the buyer’s positive or negative signal interpretation.     

Non-semantic contributions to “semantic” redundancy gain

Recently, two groups of researchers have reported redundancy gains (enhanced performance with multiple, redundant targets) in tasks requiring semantic categorization. Here we report two experiments aimed at determining whether the gains found by one of these groups resulted from some form of semantic coactivation. We asked undergraduate psychology students to complete choice RT tasks requiring the semantic categorization of visually presented words, and compared performance with redundant targets from the same semantic category to performance with redundant targets from different semantic categories. If the redundancy gains resulted from the combination of information at a semantic level, they should have been greater in the former than the latter situation. However, our results showed no significant differences in redundancy gain (for latency and accuracy) between same-category and different-category conditions, despite gains appearing in both conditions. Thus, we suggest that redundancy gain in the semantic categorization task may result entirely from statistical facilitation or combination of information at non-semantic levels.     

Evidence for parallel semantic memory retrieval in dual tasks

In this dual-task study, we applied both cross-talk logic and locus-of-slack logic to test whether participants can retrieve semantic categories in Task 2 in parallel to Task 1 bottleneck processing. Whereas cross-talk logic can detect parallel memory retrieval only in conditions of categorical overlap between tasks, the locus-of-slack approach is independent of such restrictions. As was expected, using the cross-talk logic, we found clear evidence for parallel retrieval of semantic categories when there was categorical overlap between tasks (Experiment 1). Locus-of-slack-based evidence for parallel semantic retrieval was found, however, both in conditions with (Experiment 1) and in those without (Experiment 2) categorical overlap between tasks. Crucially,however, increasing the demand for resources required to switch from Task 1 to Task 2 eliminated even the locus-of-slack-based evidence for parallel memory retrieval during the psychological refractory period (Experiment 3). Together, our results suggest that parallel retrieval is not bound to conditions of categorical overlap between tasks but, instead, is contingent upon resources needed for switching between tasks (e.g., Oriet, Tombu, & Jolicoeur, 2005).     

The impact of evidence lineups on fingerprint expert decisions

Forensic examiners routinely compare a crime-relevant mark of unknown origin against a single suspect's sample, which may create an expectation that the two will match. We tested how embedding the suspect's sample among known-innocent fillers (i.e., an evidence lineup) affects expert decision-making. Experienced fingerprint examiners (N = 43) compared crime-relevant marks against either individual suspect fingerprints (i.e., the standard procedure) or arrays of fingerprints (i.e., evidence lineups), with a matching fingerprint either present or absent. Evidence lineups promoted conservative decision-making, as evidenced by fewer correct IDs and a higher rate of inconclusive judgments. Though errors were rare, evidence lineups also occasionally revealed errors that would have otherwise gone undetected. Our findings thus support arguments that evidence lineups can expose fraud, identify flawed methodologies, and curb overconfidence. The potential benefits and challenges of implementing evidence lineups in forensic laboratories are discussed.