On the conflict between logic and belief in syllogistic reasoning

Three experiments are reported that investigate the weighting attached to logic and belief in syllogistic reasoning. Substantial belief biases were observed despite controls for possible conversions of the premises. Equally substantial effects of logic were observed despite controls for two possible response biases. A consistent interaction between belief and logic was also recorded; belief bias was more marked on invalid than on valid syllogisms. In all experiments, verbal protocols were recorded and analyzed. These protocols are interpreted in some cases as providing rationalizations for prejudiced decisions and, in other cases, as reflecting a genuine process of premise to conclusion reasoning. In the latter cases, belief bias was minimal but still present. Similarly, even subjects who focus primarily on the conclusion are influenced to an extent by the logic. Thus a conflict between logic and belief is observed throughout, but at several levels of extent.     

Dynamic role of social support in the link between chronic stress and psychological distress.

How a chronic environmental stressor can interfere with the buffering effects of social support by eroding social support was analyzed in this prospective, longitudinal study. A classic buffering effect of support was found after 2 months of exposure to the stressor, household crowding. Crowded residents with low perceived support had greater increases in psychological distress than did crowded residents with high perceived support. However, after 8 months exposure the buffering effect disappeared. Moreover, greater crowding had become directly associated with lower support, which in turn was associated with greater increases in psychological distress. All analyses controlled for prior distress. Under some types of chronic stress, the buffering effects of social support may be short-lived because the stressor eventually erodes social support.     

Perceptions of current and ideal body shape of athletes and nonathletes

This study was done to examine the relationship between sex and perception of body image among athletes and nonathletes. A total of 211 men and women athletes and nonathletes completed a questionnaire which asked them to identify from a nine-figure body-silhouette scale their current image and the image that they thought was most ideal. t tests showed no significant differences for men based upon athletic participation and that both athletes and nonathletes were satisfied with their body image. However, when comparing current image and ideal image, significant differences were found for women athletes and nonathletes. These data support previous research documenting women's dissatisfaction with their body images and show athletic participation is not associated with this perception.     

Tactile attention and the perception of moving tactile stimuli

Three experiments investigated the ability of subjects to identify the direction of movement of a pattern across the skin. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects were required to identify the direction of movement of a pattern presented to one fingerpad while another moving pattern was being presented to an adjacent fingerpad. Subjects were instructed to attend only to the target location. The results showed that accuracy was consistently higher and reaction times were consistently faster when the two patterns moved in the same direction than when they moved in opposite directions. Both effects were largest when the two patterns were presented simultaneously. In Experiment 3, the nontarget location was the contralateral hand. In this case, performance was not affected by the presentation of the nontarget. Combined, the results suggest that movement information is processed across adjacent fingers even when subjects are explicitly instructed to attend only to one finger. Subjects do appear to be able to restrict attention to a single hand.     

Perceptions of parenting behavior and young women's gender role traits and preferences

This study examines the effect of perceptions of mothers' and fathers' parenting behavior on their college-aged daughter's gender role development. Unlike in previous studies, in this analysis we consider both the gender role traits of young females (their instrumentality and expressiveness) and their gender role preferences (modernity vs. traditionalism) simultaneously. Three alternative empirical models are tested with data from 163 randomly selected college-aged females using analysis of covariance structures in LISREL VII. Findings substantiated the hypothesis that perceptions of earlier parenting behavior exert a substantial influence on gender role developments of children, particularly regarding mothers' influence on the instrumentality and expressiveness of their daughters. Mothers' parenting, measured along the dimensions of encouragement and control, was generally more strongly related to their daughters' gender role traits than was fathers'. Little influence of parenting behavior on daughters' gender role preferences was found.The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Hyman Rodman for his comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Sex-role identity and self-esteem in female graduate nursing students

This study investigated masculinity and femininity characteristics and levels of self-esteem of 96 female graduate nursing students between the ages of 20 and 50. The instruments used were incorporated into a questionnaire which was mailed to each student. Self-esteem was measured by a version of Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory which Good and Good modified to adapt to adult standards. To measure femininity and masculinity, a shortened version of the Bem Sex Role Inventory was used: Subjects rated themselves along a 7-point Likert scale for 10 masculine and 10 feminine traits. The categorical method of scoring by Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp was employed. The students were fairly evenly distributed across the following four categories: low masculine-low feminine; low masculine-high feminine; high masculine-low feminine; and high masculinehigh feminine. The students in the high masculine-low feminine and the high masculine-high feminine categories were found to have a statistically higher mean self-esteem than the students in the low masculine-low feminine and low masculne-high feminine categories. Implications were mentioned regarding the development of a high degree of both masculine and feminine characteristics in nurses.     

The role of imagery in the representation of linear orderings

Two experiments were carried out to investigate whether visual imagery was used in representing transitive linear ordering relationships. Subjects were presented with passages describing either a linear ordering or a set inclusion relationship, while being subjected to either visual or verbal interference. Performance was tested by asking subjects to judge the truth or falsity of statements concerning both the information presented in the passages and inferences that could be drawn from this information. In neither experiment was there any evidence for the linear ordering material being selectively disrupted by the visual interference task, as would have been predicted by the imagery theory. Thus it is concluded that linear orderings are probably not represented as visual images.     

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT FOR PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNITS1

Two studies were conducted to analyze behaviors of staff and patients on a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). In the first study, behavioral observation procedures were employed to assess patient state, physical position, affect, verbal behaviors, visual attention and activity engagement, and staff verbal behavior. On the average, one-third of the patients were judged to be conscious and alert but markedly nonengaged with their environment. In the second study, a member of the hospital staff provided alert patients with individual activities to determine whether a simple environmental manipulation could positively affect behavior of children in intensive care. Employing a reversal design, the activity intervention was found to increase attention and engagement and positive affect, and to decrease inappropriate behavior. Both studies demonstrate that behavioral assessment procedures can provide an empirical basis for designing PICU routines affecting children's psychosocial status, and, thus, complement current procedures designed to provide quality medical care.     

An unlabeled bracketing solution to the problem of conjoined phrases in Montague's PTQ

Conclusions Although Montague claims that the system of The proper treatment of quantification in ordinary English includes some conjunction and disjunction, the rules for other grammatical constructions do not take conjunction or disjunction into account, and in general fail either syntactically or semantically when one of their arguments is so formed. Using an unlabeled bracketing of syntactic structure and recursive definitions, we have been able to rewrite the rules so that correct results are obtained.These results should provide a firmer basis for extension of PTQ.This research was supported in part by NSF Grants GS-31309 and BNS 76-23840. Our observations were made with the aid of several computer programs for PTQ: a sentence generator for the bracketed syntax, a parser, and a translator. I should like to thank Philip Tedeschi, David Warren, and David Lewis for helpful discussions. Warren is also acknowledged as co-author of the section on the semantic role of conjunction.