Stimulus dimensionality and temporal repetition

Two experiments involving temporal repetition of tachistoscopically presented visual stnnuh are reported. Experiment I employed an alphabet of four straight lines presented one, two, or four times. Experiment II employed three stimulus sets, such that the stimuli varied in size, brightness, or both, with the forms being presented either once or four times. The Ss made four-choice identification responses. Results indicate that multidomensionality is not a necessary condition for better Identification performance with multiple observations, and that this differential in favor of multiple observations persists after many, many experimental sessions.     

Visual detection as a function of attentional demand and perceptual system error

Attentional demands were varied in a two-alternative, forced-choice detection experiment. A bar indicator designated the target form in one condition and occurred in random locations in a second condition. Exposure durations necessary for predetermined single-form display HRs were determined for each of eight Ss to measure performance at different levels of perceptual system error. Forms differed in only a single feature. Detection was superior when the bar indicator designated the target form, and differences increased with increased display size. Evidence for interference in detection due to the presence of nontarget forms apart from noting requirements of such forms was found. Estimates of number of perceptual channels noted did not clearly differentiate serial from parallel processing models. It was concluded that display interference error and spatial selectivity influences are important determinants of detection accuracy.     

A Bayesian prediction of multiple-look identification performance from one-look data: The effect of unequal prior probabilities

Bayes’s theorem had accurately predicted multiple-look visual identification performance from one-look data in two previous studies when the prior probabilities of the visual stimuli were equal. In this study, prior probabilities were manipulated to determine whether these values were important in determining agreement between man and statistical man. The prior probabilities of the stimuli, four gap orientations in Landolt rings, were .7, .1, .1, and .1 for four Ss and .3, .3, .3, and .1 for three Ss. One-look data were used to predict two-look and four-look performance. In the 7-1-1-1 condition, the empirical percent correct increased as a function of repeated observations for the rare stimuli, but not for the high-probability stimuli. In the 3-3-3-1 condition, Ss improved over repeated observations for both types of stimuli. Predictions of multiple-look performance under unequal prior probability conditions in this study were less accurate than those under equal prior probability conditions in previous studies. Three possible determinants of this difference were discussed.     

Kinetic and static imagery in sentence memory

This experiment investigates the possibility that two different kinds of imagery codes are used in sentence memory, one involving moving images (kinetic imagery) and the other involving stationary images (static imagery). Using a modality-specific interference task it was shown that only sentences involving kinetic imagery were affected by the visual interference task; neither static nor low imagery sentences were so affected. The results are interpreted as showing that some kind of imaginal code is used in memory, but that there are different kinds of code available. It is claimed that this result is inconsistent both with Paivio's (1971) ‘dual-coding’ hypothesis and with propositional accounts of sentence memory.     

An experiment in social engineering in serving the families of predelinquents

One hundred and two predelinquent adolescents were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an experimental condition in which behavioral contracting services were offered both at home and in school or a control condition in which clients were told that they could not be accommodated by project therapists and were informed about the possibility of their receiving treatment in other programs in the community. Most of those who were assigned to the control condition did not avail themselves of services in these other programs. Results indicate that, relative to the controls, the behaviorally treated youth scored small but statistically significant improvement relative to the controls on five measures: ratings of school behavior by the person who originally referred them for service, by their teachers, by their mothers, and by their fathers, and ratings of their parent—child interactions as measured by their mothers. Gains were also reported in mothers' ratings of their children's behavior at home. The failure of significant gains to be made in two measures of school performance grades and attendance is explained by the failure o f the treatment techniques to over-come an age-related deterioration in these areas found among most children in the participating schools. The failure of fathers to find significant improvement in their relationships with the referred adolescents is viewed as a consequence of unanticipated changes in the intrafamilial balance of power resulting from contracting services. Finally, a subsidiary analysis showed that the contracting service appeared to offer the greatest gain to the demographically defined sub-groups of youths who are among the population-at-risk in many juvenile courts.This study was supported by Grant R01-MH21452 from the Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency, National Institute of Mental Health. The authors wish to thank L. Nilles, who served as general administrator of this project, and C. Faller, S. Iman, P. Ippel, L. Lott, J. Marsh, C. Stephenson, J. Tanter, D. Virtue, and R. Welter, who served as therapists.     

Threats,Promises, and Coalitions: A Study of Compliance and Retaliation in a Simulated Organizational Setting1

This research sought to examine the effects of threats and promises on compliance and the formation of subordinate coalitions in a simulated employeremployee conflict situation. It also sought to determine some of the motives underlying coalition decisions-tangible and intangible-and the conditions under which each of these possible motive types would be salient. Coalition motives were examined by manipulating the consequences for coalition members following their use of coalition power (presence vs. absence of monetary gain). A control condition was present in which no such power was available. Ninety male undergraduate business students were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions in a 3 × 2 factorial design. Three Ss engaged in a modified bilateral monopoly bargaining task in which two of them (the “employees”) believed they were exchanging a series of offers and counteroffers with the third (the “employer”) over a hypothetical wage increase for a maximum of eight rounds. Ss were told they would earn a sum of money proportional to the effectiveness of their bargaining. In actuality, all Ss were assigned the employee role and all employer “offers” were pre-programmed. On round six, the Ss were “sent” either a threat or promise message by the employer demanding that they accept his round five offer. Compliance-noncompliance was defined as employee acceptance-rejection of this demand, respectively. In addition to compliance behavior, S s in coalition conditions had the power to form an alliance with the other employee against the employer after the latter used his threat or promise power. Coalitions could confiscate up to 25% of the employer's earnings and, depending on experimental condition, could either keep or not keep any money their coalition acquired. It was hypothesized that threateners would elicit less compliance, and be responded to with more, and more severe subordinate coalitions than would promisers. It was further assumed that there would be less compliance when subordinates had coalition power, and that the effect of monetary reward on the likelihood of coalition formation would be contingent on the type of power (threats vs. promises) the employer used. Specifically, it was assumed that a majority of S s in the Threat condition who had this power would form coalitions against the employer regardless of whether or not they realized any tangible gain for doing so. In the promise condition, however, it was expected that coalition decisions would be based primarily on whether Ss stood to gain monetarily. The hypotheses were supported. These results were discussed in terms of the impact of power acquisition as a variable mediating perception and compliance behavior, and in terms of the role of economic vs. retaliatory motives as factors underlying subordinate coalition decisions. Some of the conditions which influence the relative salience of these two coalition motives were proposed, and the organizational implications of these findings were suggested.     

Intersensory substitution in the blind

This study looks at the implications for theories of development of an intersensory surrogate for the blind—the Sonicguide. Results of both short- and longterm studies suggest that there is a critical age, before which use of the Sonicguide is qualitatively more effective than attempts at intervention begun after this age. Similarly the young infants in the sample show a much more rapid acquisition of ability to use the guide effectively. The importance of such results for theories of perceptual development is discussed.     

Abrasive personality disorder: Definition and diagnosis

This article advances a proposal for a newly identified type of personality disorder. While, like some of the other major personality disorders, the abrasive personality disorder (AbPD) shares some features with other Axis II disorders, it may however be considered as possessing sufficient idiosyncratic features as to warrant a separate classification. There are few documented discussions of this disorder within the historical confines of scientific psychology, however a good deal of attention is being focused currently in the popular press, under the rubric of “difficult people,” “control freaks,” and the like. The disorder is defined, its distinguishing characteristics delineated, with theoretical discussion provided. Some rudimentary assessment approaches are noted, with a call for research in this virgin territory.