The perceptual span and peripheral cues in reading

Skilled readers read passages that were displayed on a Cathode Ray Tube controlled by a computer. The readers' eye movements were monitored and certain critical words were changed by the computer as the eye was in motion. The experimental technique utilized in the study provided data on how wide the area is from which a reader acquires information during a fixation in silent reading. The results also delineate different types of visual information that are acquired from various areas within the perceptual span. It was found that a reader was able to make a semantic interpretation of a word that began 1–6 character spaces from his fixation point. When he fixated 7–12 character spaces prior to a word, he was able to pick up such gross visual characteristics as word shape and initial and final letters. It was concluded that the skilled reader is able to take advantage of information in the periphery. However, the size of the area from which he does is rather small.     

An experimental test of three choice shift hypotheses*

The present experiment pitted three choice shift hypotheses against each other in an attempt to eliminate one or more of the hypotheses and find support for those remaining. Ss responded three times to the 12 CDQ items, once as a pretest and twice following presentation of homogeneous sets of three arguments which advocated either a risky or a cautious position. The risk-as-value, relevant arguments, and conformity/attitude change hypotheses generated three separate predictions for the Ss' responses. Results mirrored the prediction of the relevant arguments hypothesis: New information, whether contained in cautious or risky arguments, caused a shift toward the type of argument presented. The risk-as-value and the conformity/attitude change hypotheses could not explain the present data.     

Escape from an effortful situation

This experiment investigated the tendency to escape from a situation requiring effortful responding. Five human subjects responded in a situation where the response mechanism required 20-lb force to operate; responses were reinforced according to a variable-interval schedule. A subject escaped from this situation by emitting a vocal response which produced a 60-sec “easy period”. During the easy period the reinforcement contingency was switched to a response mechanism requiring 1 lb to operate. It was found that: (1) Escape responding could be conditioned and maintained by producing the easy period; the easy period did not maintain escape responding when the force requirement in the normal situation was equated with it. (2) The rate of escape responding was a function of the magnitude of the force normally required. (3) When easy periods were scheduled after fixed ratios, pausing from the end of the previous easy period to the first escape response was noted. It was concluded that a situation requiring high-force responding is a negative reinforcer. The pattern of fixed-ratio responding suggests that this reinforcer produces typical schedule control in human subjects.     

Presentation modality,rehearsal-prevention conditions,and auditory confusions in tests of short-term memory

Ss were presented four-letter sequences either auditorily or visually and asked for ordered recall after 0, 2.1, 4.2, 8.4, or 12.6 sec of digit categorization. Three different rehearsal-prevention conditions were required during presentation of the memory set: categorizing, suppressing (saying "dah"), or pronouncing each letter. Recall was worst after categorizing, best after pronouncing. Auditory presentation led to better recall after no delay but more rapid forgetting than visual presentation, regardless of the rehearsal-prevention condition. These results, and analyses of auditory confusions, are inconsistent with a view of memory which asserts that sensory information is encoded auditorily regardless of presentation modality or vocalization behavior during presentation.     

Youth Self-Views,Coping with Stress,and Behavioral/Emotional Problems: The Role of Incremental Self-Theory

Previous research has established associations between stress and coping processes and internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents and emerging adults. The purpose of the present study was to integrate this literature with research demonstrating the importance of self-theory—views that individuals hold about themselves and their abilities. We examined the extent to which self-theory may influence both coping processes and internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents and emerging adults. Using moderated mediation, we tested whether coping serves as a mechanism through which self-theory of both intelligence and personality influences internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents and emerging adults. One hundred and forty participants (adolescents aged 14–17; emerging adults aged 18–30; 60 % female; 8.5 % ethnic minority) completed questionnaires on self-theory, coping responses, and behavioral/emotional problems. Results of moderated mediation analyses were consistent with coping as a mechanism through which self-theory influences psychopathology symptoms such that more malleable beliefs are associated with increased productive coping strategies and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. The current findings also indicate that these associations were significant for adolescents but not for emerging adults. Although cross-sectional, findings suggest that fostering malleable beliefs among adolescents may increase the use of productive coping strategies and positively influence adjustment.     

The Munroe-Meyer Approach: Continuous Integration of Didactic Instruction,Research, and Clinical Practice

Increased demand for applied behavior analysis (ABA) services has increased the need for additional masters-level practitioners and doctoral-level academicians and clinical directors. Based on these needs, the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s (UNMC) Munroe-Meyer Institute has developed a PhD program. The academic structure at UNMC allowed us to create our PhD program in a relatively quick and efficient manner. Our PhD program has many unique features, including (a) close integration of didactic instruction with clinical and research training provided by leading experts in ABA in which students immediately apply concepts introduced in the classroom during coordinated clinical and research practica; (b) structured grant writing training in which students learn to write and submit an NIH-level grant; (c) financial support in the form of a stipend of $23,400 per year, free health benefits, and a full-tuition waiver for up to 12 credits per semester for UNMC courses (a benefits package worth approximately $50,000 per year for an out-of-state student); and (d) encouragement and financial support to present papers at local, regional, and national behavior analysis conferences.     

Leaping to Conclusions: Why Premise Relevance Affects Argument Strength

Everyday reasoning requires more evidence than raw data alone can provide. We explore the idea that people can go beyond this data by reasoning about how the data was sampled. This idea is investigated through an examination of premise non‐monotonicity, in which adding premises to a category‐based argument weakens rather than strengthens it. Relevance theories explain this phenomenon in terms of people's sensitivity to the relationships among premise items. We show that a Bayesian model of category‐based induction taking premise sampling assumptions and category similarity into account complements such theories and yields two important predictions: First, that sensitivity to premise relationships can be violated by inducing a weak sampling assumption; and second, that premise monotonicity should be restored as a result. We test these predictions with an experiment that manipulates people's assumptions in this regard, showing that people draw qualitatively different conclusions in each case.