Expected endings and judged duration

In four experiments, the predictions of an expectancy/contrast model (Jones & Boltz, 1989) for judged duration were evaluated. In Experiments 1 and 2, listeners estimated the relative durations of auditory pattern pairs that varied in contextual phrasing and temporal contrast. The results showed that when the second pattern of a pair either seems to (Experiments 1 and 2) or actually does (Experiment 2) end earlier (later)than the first, subjects judge it as being relatively shorter (longer). In Experiment 3, listeners heard single patterns in which notes immediately preceding the final one were omitted. Timing of the final (target) tone was varied such that it was one beat early, on time, or one beat late. Listeners’ ratings of target tones revealed systematic effects of phrasing and target timing. In Experiment 4, listeners temporally completed (extrapolated) sequences of Experiment 3 that were modified to exclude the target tone. The results again showed that phrase context systematically influenced expectancies about “when” sequences should end. As a set, these studies demonstrate the effects of event structure and anticipatory attending upon experienced duration and are discussed in terms of the expectancy/contrast model.     

Interpersonal correlates of the guilt inventory

The interpersonal correlates of the Guilt Inventory (Kugler & Jones, 1992), which yields scores for state guilt, trait guilt, and moral standards, were assessed. Data collection addressed three issues including the relationships among Guilt Inventory scores and measures of: (a) interpersonal emotions and traits (e.g., shyness, self-consciousness, anger, etc.); (b) the social support network; and (c) ratings of trait guilt, moral standards, and relevant adjectives by friends and family members. Results indicated that trait and state guilt scores were significantly related to various interpersonal measures, most particularly, depression, anxiety, shyness, and loneliness, but only modestly related to satisfaction with social support. Moral standards were generally unrelated to these variables. Others tended to rate participants higher on trait guilt negatively (e.g., higher on contemptuous, angry, guilty, etc.), and participants higher on moral standards in socially acceptable terms (e.g., higher on prompt, self-reliant, moral, and religious). Results are interpreted in view of the frequently cited distinction between social and nonsocial emotions.     

The Influences of Performance Cues and Observational Focus on Performance Rating Accuracy1

The present study examined the effects of observational focus and performance cues on rating accuracy. It was hypothesized that these two factors would affect ratings independently: a) subjects given a good performance cue would rate the target more positively than subjects given a poor performance cue and, b) subjects using an event focus would rate the target person more accurately than subjects using a person focus. One hundred twenty undergraduates viewed the same videotape and subsequently stated which of a set of 48 behaviors were exhibited by the target person. The results supported the hypothesized performance cue effect. Observational focus did not have the hypothesized main effect on rating accuracy but was involved in a four-way interaction. The interaction indicated that, as the focus of the subject's attention broadened to the entire event, the errors associated with the performance cue effect were lessened. The subjects using an event focus were likely to generate ratings characterized by a positivity bias, whereas those using a person focus were more likely to generate ratings biased by performance cues.     

Aversive potency of urine from dominant and subordinate male laboratory mice (Mus musculus): Resolution of a conflict

The present study assessed the aversive potency of urine collected from male albino mice that had been clearly identified as dominants/winners or subordinates/losers of paired aggression tests and then housed either individually or in a quasi-paired situation in which only a wire-mesh divider separated the two mice. This divider permitted constant visual, olfactory, auditory, and some tactile contact. The responses of individually tested, group-housed males were recorded when half of the substrate in a test box was treated with either water or one of the four urine types; the other half remained untreated. Significant preferences for the untreated half were found when the urine of winners or losers housed in individual metabolism cages or that of pair-housed dominants was used as the test stimulus. On the other hand, neither water nor the urine of cohabiting subordinate males was avoided. The present findings confirmed our earlier reports that the urine of dominant male mice was aversive, whereas that of their cohabiting subordinate partners was not. They also identified Sawyer's [1978] procedure of housing winners and losers in individual cages, with the consequent interruption of social contact as the likely reason for his failure to replicate our reports that subordinate male urine lacked aversive properties. The territorial implications of the aversive factor and other urinary signals are discussed.     

Medical malpractice and the legal standard of care

In this essay, I examine the relationship between lawsuits for medical malpractice and the legal standard of care. I suggest that there is an insidious, dynamic relationship between physicians' reactions to the recent increase in malpractice litigation and an artificial elevation of the legal standard of care. Since, that is, the legal standard for proper medical care is based upon the community standard of care rather than the reasonable person standard, to the extent that overtreatment or “defensive” medicine becomes widespread as a reaction to malpractice litigation, the legal standard becomes elevated as well. Thus, it will increasingly be the case that unless a physician practices defensive medicine, and hence practices unreasonably, she risks being found liable for medical malpractice.     

Effects of cognition on the psychophysical function

Previous investigation of the deterministic-sensory and the probability-sensory-learning models of psychophysical relationships have featured the manipulation of a single cognitive cue. The present study sought to expand these findings through the manipulation of multiple cognitive cues. Subjects made magnitude estimations of skin-area contact for each of two sets which varied identically in surface area but differed in that one set also varied in accelerative force. Within sets, three treatments featured systematic variation in the presentation of cognitive cues. Power functions were obtained for all treatments and the results supported the deterministic-sensory model. It was suggested, however, that resolution of the perception versus cognition issue must await the identification of innate and conditioned correlates of the subjective response to specific sensory stimuli.     

Political orientation and occupational values of college youth, 1969 and 1981: a shift toward uniformity

McFalls and Gallagher (1979) have found a strong relationship between the occupational values and political orientations of college students. Their study was based on the results of a sample survey conducted in 1969. However, the political climate on college campuses has changed dramatically, and so has the nature of the job market. A new survey was conducted in 1981 which was identical to the 1969 survey. Its objective was to determine if the same political group differentials in occupational values which existed in the politically tumultuous late sixties and early seventies still hold in the more placid 1980s. The findings are reported here.     

On marching to two different drummers: perceptual aspects of the difficulties

People have remarkable difficulty generating two responses that must follow different temporal sequences, unless the temporal patterns are simply related (e.g., periods in 2:1, 3:1 relation). For example, it is hard to tap to two conflicting rhythms presented concurrently (i.e., a polyrhythm) using the right and left hands (Klapp, 1979), or to tap while articulating a conflicting speech utterance (Klapp, 1981). The present experiments indicate that difficulties in processing conflicting rhythms occur even when people must (a) merely monitor the stimuli and indicate the termination of one rhythmic sequence or (b) tap with a single hand. Responding to polyrhythms is thus difficult even without multiple limb coordination. Furthermore, the difficulty of two-handed tapping to polyrhythms that involve two different tones was found to decrease as the pitch difference between the tones was decreased. This result indicates that the difficulty of rhythmic coordination can be perceptually manipulated in a striking fashion. Polyrhythmic performance thus provides an excellent opportunity for examining possible interactions of perceptual and motor organizations.