Frequency recognition in temporal interference tasks: A comparison among four psychophysical procedures

The frequency discrimination of a 20-msec test tone was measured for the same subjects in four psychophysical paradigms: a single-interval procedure, a two-alternative forced-choice procedure, a same-different procedure, and a method-of-adjustment procedure. In each paradigm, the 20-msec test tone was preceded or followed by a 500-msec, 800-Hz interfering tone. The interfering tone occurred 50 or 5 msec before the onset of the test tone (forward interference) or 100 or 5 msec after the offset of the test tone (backward interference). In each of the four paradigms and for each of the interference conditions the value of Δf for the test tone was varied symetrically around 800 Hz to obtain an estimate of the frequency discrimination thresholds. In all psychophysical paradigms except for the single-interval procedure, there were small or no significant differences in observers’ frequency discrimination behavior among the interference conditions. The thresholds for Δf from these conditions were approximately the same as those obtained without an interfering tone. In the single-interval task, when the test tone preceded the interfering tone (backward interference) by 5 msec, an increase in the value of Δf required for discrimination over that required in the other conditions was measured. These results suggest that the effect of backward interference on a target tone does depend on psychophysical procedure.     

BIRTH ORDER OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AND THE OCCUPATIONAL AMBITIONS OF THEIR PARENTS

Une étude antérieure, faite aux Etats-Unis, a montré que les étudiants en médecine sont en général les aînés de leur famille; cette tendance est spécialement marquée lorsque le père souffre d'un certain déséquilibre dans son statut professionnel, en ce sens que celui-ci est inférieur à ce à quoi il pouvait aspirer de par sa formation. Cette étude a été refaite et étendue en Suède; les conclusions sont les suivantes: (1) Les étudiants en médecine, filies et garçons sont en général les aînés de leur famille. (2) Cette tendance est plus marquée chez les filies dont le père a un statut déséquilibré. (3) Pour les étudiants des deux sexes, la proportion d'aînés est spécialement forte chez ceux qui relatent que leur père a été frustré dans ses aspirations professionnelles. On pourrait done penser que le fils ainé prend son père comme modèle de rôle professionnel quand le père est satisfait de son travail, tandis que, lorsque le père est frustré, le fils prend pour modèle le rôle que le pére n'a pas réussi à atteindre. (4) Conformément aux prédictions basées sur la primogéniture, les effets du rang de naissance, pour les sujets masculins, sont plus marqués dans les zones rurales que dans les villes, mais cette différence ne joue pas pour les filies. Plusieurs problèmes méthodologiques afférant aux recherches sur le rang de naissance sont discutés ici.     

Private self-consciousness, canned laughter, and responses to humorous stimuli

Sefl-focused attention is hypothesized to (a) intensify emotional responses; (b) diminish susceptibility to suggestion; and (c) increase the consistency of self-report and behavior. These hypotheses were tested by having 82 undergraduates varying in private self-consciousness (PrSC) listen to humorous stimuli presented either with (laugh track group) or without (no laugh track group) canned laughter. Subjects' funniness ratings and overt laughter served as dependent measures. Regression analyses revealed that PrSC and funniness ratings were negatively correlated in the laugh track group, but uncorrelated in the no laugh track group. In contrast, PrSC and overt laughter were positively correlated in both groups. The association between funniness and laughter appeared stronger in high than in low PrSC subjects. Interpreted in light of research indicating that funniness ratings represent affect-free evaluations of humor stimuli, whereas laughter represents amusement, these results suggest that self-focus (a) intensified subjects' amusement; (b) decreased the extent to which their evaluations of the stimuli were biased by canned laughter; and (c) increased the consistency between their (self-reported) cognitive and (overt behavioral) affective responses (although this finding was equivocal).     

Criteria for psychiatric hospitalization: A checklist approach

The decision to hospitalize a psychiatric patient is often a source of controversy. This fact is reflected in the Connecticut Mental Health Center’s program of quality assessment. The center conducts individual, retrospective chart review using a 32-page checklist of normative criteria. The primary purpose of this portion of the chart review system is to highlight those cases in which a patient may have been hospitalized unnecessarily. We present and analyze the cumulative data from 300 cases for which the criteria-for-hospitalization scale was completed. We conclude that the scale is an efficient instrument and is convenient for justifying hospitalization. We suggest minor revisions in the scale and speculate upon its as-yet-untapped research potential.     

PROGRAMMING “LOOSE TRAINING” AS A STRATEGY TO FACILITATE LANGUAGE GENERALIZATION

This study investigated the generalization of spontaneous complex language behavior across a nontraining setting and the durability of generalization as a result of programming and “loose training” strategy. A within-subject, across-behaviors multiple-baseline design was used to examine the performance of two moderately retarded students in the use of is/are across three syntactic structures (i.e., “wh” questions, “yes/no” reversal questions, and statements). The language training procedure used in this study represented a functional example of programming “loose training.” The procedure involved conducting concurrent language training within the context of an academic training task, and establishing a functional reduction in stimulus control by permitting the student to initiate a language response based on a wide array of naturally occurring stimulus events. Concurrent probes were conducted in the free play setting to assess the immediate generalization and the durability of the language behaviors. The results demonstrated that “loose training” was effective in establishing a specific set of language responses with the participants of this investigation. Further, both students demonstrated spontaneous use of the language behavior in the free play generalization setting and a trend was clearly evident for generalization to continue across time. Thus, the methods used appear to be successful for training the use of is/are in three syntactic structures.     

INTERTRIAL INTERVAL DURATION AND LEARNING IN AUTISTIC CHILDREN

This study investigated the influence of intertrial interval duration on the performance of autistic children during teaching situations. The children were taught under the same conditions existing in their regular programs, except that the length of time between trials was systematically manipulated. With both multiple baseline and repeated reversal designs, two lengths of intertrial interval were employed: short intervals with the S^D for any given trial presented approximately one second following the reinforcer for the previous trial versus long intervals with the S^D presented four or more seconds following the reinforcer for the previous trial. The results showed that: (1) the short intertrial intervals always produced higher levels of correct responding than the long intervals; and (2) there were improving trends in performance and rapid acquisition with the short intertrial intervals, in contrast to minimal or no change with the long intervals. The results are discussed in terms of utilizing information about child and task characteristics in terms of selecting optimal intervals. The data suggest that manipulations made between trials have a large influence on autistic children's learning.     

Masculinity,femininity, academic performance,and health: Further evidence concerning the androgyny controversy1

Spence and Helmreich's (1978) claim that individual differences in four components of achievement motivation (mastery, work, competitiveness, and personal unconcern) are attributable to masculinity and femininity rather than to gender was generally supported, with one exception: Masculinity was associated with competitiveness for males but not for females. Furthermore, competitive women were more likely than noncompetitive women to have mental and physical health problems, but there was no such difference for males. In general, masculinity emerged as a beneficial constellation of traits for both males and females, correlating negatively with achievement conflicts and stress symptoms, and positively with mastery and work. Femininity, on the other hand, appeared to be a detrimental cluster of traits for both sexes, at least in terms of academic performance and health. Implications for the controversial concept of androgyny were discussed, and it was suggested that, in the future, research inspired by an ideal conception of adult behavior confront the ideal directly rather than describe it in terms of the traditional concepts of masculinity and femininity. Any such research effort will have to deal with the pivotal role of competitiveness.     

Individuation and attachment in personality development: Extending Erikson's theory

The question of whether Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is a complete and coherent view of development in males and females is considered After a thorough review of Erikson's views on the role of sex in psychosocial development, the authors suggest that an important element is neglected in Erikson's account of personality development in both sexes That is, due to his focus on issues of identity, Erikson does not account fully for the development of intimacy or other expressions of interpersonal attachment The authors conclude that the major shortcoming of Erikson's theory is not, as some feminists have argued, that it is a male theory but that it fails to account adequately for the processes of interpersonal attachment that are essential to the development of both males and females Preliminary elements of a two-path model of development are proposed     

Effects of the cognitive organization of route knowledge on judgments of macrospatial distance

The effects of route segmentation were examined in a series of three experiments, Subjects in Experiment 1 divided an actual route into segments. Subjects in Experiment 2 performed corresponding proximity-judgment and distance-estimation tasks involving locations selected on the basis of the route segments identified in Experiment 1. Subjects in Experiment 3 performed a simple unidirectional distance-estimation task. Results from these experiments indicated that subjects can readily divide a route into segments and that these segments significantly bias judgments of macrospatial distance. These findings suggest a similarity between route segmentation in macrospatial cognition and categorization in other cognitive-task domains.