Objects and attributes in divided attention: Surface and boundary systems

A series of experiments investigated concurrent discriminations of surface and nonsurface attributes, including color, brightness, texture, length, location, and motion. In all cases but one, results matched those previously reported: Interference occurred when two discriminations concerned different objects, but not when they concerned the same one. In the two-object case, interference was the same whether discriminations were similar (e.g., two surface discriminations) or different (e.g., one surface, one boundary). Such results support a model of visual attention in which separate visual subsystems are coordinated, converging to work on surface and boundary properties of the same selected object. A partial exception is color: For reasons that are unclear, color escapes twoobject interference except from other, concurrent surface discriminations     

Nonstranger sexual aggression: A discriminant analysis of the psychological characteristics of undetected offenders

Sex Roles - Rape is an underreported and underconvicted crime. Therefore, many highly sexually aggressive men are missed by research employing judicial identification for sample selection. The...     

The kinematics,movement phasing and timing of a skilled action in response to varying conditions of uncertainty

This study was designed to provide a detailed analysis of the parameters which interact to produce a field hockey drive. The drive was performed by an elite performer under two conditions of uncertainty (Blocked and Random). The subject was asked to drive a field hockey ball toward a specified target. In the Blocked condition the speed of the approaching ball remained constant (20, 30 and 40 m.p.h.) while in the Random condition these speeds were randomly assigned to each trial. Cine analysis of the subject's successful responses under the two experimental conditions led to an investigation of the kinematics, phasing, and timing of the stroke. The subject placed emphasis upon varying the initial phases of the stroke (i.e., backswing and preparatory phases) in order to produce a temporally consistent ballistic downswing to ball contact. It seemed likely that the subject appraised the ball speed that was being delivered and then incorporated additional stick movement to ‘mark time’ before initiating temporally consistent movement phases, as spatial uncertainty increased, the subject delayed her response initiation, but then tended to respond in intervals of one reaction time for each stroke phase. Consistency was evident for displacement and initiation point values, but to a lesser extent than existed for the other variables. However, as a result of this adjustment in spatial location and displacement of the stick end during the preliminary phases of the response, the subject was able to produce a consistent and accurate ballistic downswing.     

Transformation rules in concept learning

Two major classes of models have been proposed to explain concept learning: strength models and distance models (Hayes-Roth & Hayes-Roth, 1977). The present study demonstrates that subjects abstract transformation rules as defined by the Franks and Bransford 11971) distance model. Transformation rules characterize how the patterns of a concept differ from each other. Transformation rules are inconsistent with strength models, which assume that subjects abstract component features and not relational information characterizing the differences among patterns. Whether a strength model or a distance model is more appropriate in other instances of concept learning is probably a function of task demands, stimulus characteristics, and subject characteristics.     

Similarity and contrast in memory for relations

The paper reports four experiments concerned with memory for sets of categorically related or unrelated nouns, as a function of the extent to which initial processing focused on categorical or distinctive features of the nouns. The general finding is that distinctive features are valuable for later intracategory discrimination in recall and recognition, but categorical features are not, as judged by cued recall, recognition, measures of association between items, and categorical intrusion errors. A theoretical framework, based on the diagnostic value of features for various classifications, is offered as an account of the results.     

A Discursive Review

L angs , R obert . The therapeutic interaction.
C. G. J ung . The symbolic life.
C orsini , R aymond J., Current personality theories.
M aclagan , D. Creation myths. Man's introduction to the world.     

Reviews

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M c G uire , W illiam and H ull , R. F. C. (Eds.). C. G. Jung speaking: Interviews and encounters.
C arotenuto , A ldo . (Ed.). The annual of Italian analytical psychologists.
G uggenbühl -C raig , A dolf . Marriage—dead or alive.
W innicott , D. W. The Piggle (Ed. I. Ramzy).
B lum , H arold P., M.D. (Ed.). Female psychology: contemporary psychoanalytic views.
R obert , M arthe . From Oedipus to Moses
B iller , H enry B. Father, child and sex rôle.
E liade , M ircea . No souvenirs, Journal 1957–1969.     

Experimentation in social psychology: A reappraisal

Psychological inquiry into social phenomena has become virtually indistinguishable from controlled experimentation. Although the assets and liabilities of psychological experiments have been subject to periodic debate, a continued increase in the reliance placed experiments is evidenced. The present paper re-examines the adequacy of experimentation in light of major features of social interaction. Significant failures of the experiment emerge when the following characteristics of social events are considered: their imbeddedness in broader cultural patterns, their position within extended sequences, their open competition within real-life settings, their reliance on psychological confluences, and their complex determination. The additional consideration of social phenomena within historical context indicates that all reasonable hypotheses are valid and that critical testing between hypotheses about social behaviour is fruitless. Criteria for the productive usage of experiments are detailed.