Semantic congruity effects in perceptual comparisons

Semantic congruity effects occur when, as in Experiment 1, for example, the time to select the shorter of two relatively short lines is faster than the time to select the longer; conversely, selection of the longer of two relatively long lines is faster than selection of the shorter. Semantic congruity effects are also demonstrated in experiments requiring comparisons of the heaviness of weights (Experiment 2) and horizontal extent (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, the magnitude of the semantic congruity effect was larger under conditions emphasizing accuracy rather than speed and when the comparison was difficult. In fact, when comparisons were errorless, the effect was minimal (20 msec), thereby replicating previous failures to obtain the effect with supraliminal perceptual comparisons (Banks, Mermelstein, & Yu, 1982; Marschark & Paivio, 1981; Petrusic & Baranski, 1988a). In confirmation of Henmon's (1911) introspective analyses of psychophysical comparisons, Experiments 2 and 3 extend the range of the semantic congruity effect to include judgments of confidence. However, in each of the three experiments, semantic congruity effects were not evident with the response-accuracy measure. Finally, using highly confusable stimuli, in Experiment 3 the magnitude of the semantic congruity effect was shown to be larger for error than for correct response times. The implications of these findings for a decisional locus of the effect and for the semantic coding theory are discussed.     

Normal cerebrospinal fluid findings in spinal tumors--an analysis of 503 cases

Till now almost nothing has been published about normal liquor findings in spinal cord tumours. Out of 503 cases there were normal findings of total proteins and cells in 30 cases (6 per cent). A connection with the severity of the compression-syndrome was not evident. Nevertheless liquor examinations are important in diseases of the medulla spinalis. This is especially useful in the differential diagnostical demarcation of inflammable spinal cord diseases, accompanying reactions or bleedings into the spinal channel.     

Objective and simulated stimulation: an empirical study of the effect of indirect suggestion on motor behavior

In an experimental investigation it is demonstrated that motor behavior-in contrast to the opinion forwarded in the literature-is not only elicitable by means of direct persuasion, but also to a great extend by mere indirect suggestion, (feigning of stimuli). A differential investigation of these effects provided evidence that reactions to feigned stimuli are highly person specific and relatively homogenous concerning the respective instruments whereas objective stimuli lead to reactions relatively specific for the respective instrument applied. The findings are interpreted as an analog on to placebo-effects in the area of motor behavior. Their extend may be seen as an argument for a stronger concern with subjective reaction tendencies in this field.     

Timed magnitude comparisons of numerical and nonnumerical expressions of uncertainty

Two experiments involving paired comparisons of numerical and nonnumerical expressions of uncertainty are reported. Subjects were timed under two opposing sets of instructions ("choose higher probability" vs. "choose lower probability"). Numerical comparisons were consistently faster and easier than their nonnumerical counterparts. Consistent distance and congruity effects were obtained, illustrating that both numerical and nonnumerical expressions of uncertainty contain subjective magnitude information, and suggesting that similar processes are employed in manipulating and comparing numerical and verbal terms. To account for the general pattern of results obtained, Holyoak's reference point model (1978) was generalized by explicitly including the vagueness of the nonnumerical expressions. This generalized model is based on the notion that probability expressions can be represented by membership functions (Wallsten, Budescu, Rapoport, Zwick, & Forsyth, 1986) from which measures of location for each word, and measures of overlap for each pair can be derived. A good level of fit was obtained for this model at the individual level.     

Social psychology and the wrong revolution

Many social psychologists take increasing comfort in cognitive explanations of human action. This paper first attempts to demonstrate that cognitively based formulations not only delimit the possibilities for social understanding, but create a range of intractable conceptual problems. If real world events are reduced to cognitive representations of the world, then social events cease to exist for the discipline as legitimate foci of concern. Further, once the reality of cognition is granted, there is no conceptual means of viably explaining either the origins or acquisition of cognitive categories (schemas, representations, etc.), or the relationship between cognition and action. The paper then goes on to argue that the cognitive revolution in psychology blinds the discipline to the far more pervasive revolution occurring elsewhere in the intellectual world, that of social epistemology. When cognition is replaced by language as the major means for representing the world, then the individual is replaced by the social relationship as the central focus of concern. Theory and research within the framework of social epistemology are reviewed and their implications discussed.     

Depressive characteristics of physically abused children

Physically abused and nonabused children were compared on child-completed measures of depression, hopelessness, self-esteem, and locus of control. Results indicated that, in comparison with nonabused controls, abused children evidenced more depressive symptoms, heightened externality, lower self-esteem, and greater hopelessness about the future. Group differences in depressive symptomatology were not accounted for on the basis of differences in age, sex, race, gender, IQ, or socioeconomic status. Results replicate the results of Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, and Bell (1985) derived from a sample of physically abused psychiatric inpatients and extend the generality of these findings to abused children of nonpatient status. Implications of the findings for clinical interventions, theoretical models of child depression, and future research are discussed.The authors wish to thank Alvin Hadley and the staff of Franklin County Children Services.Appreciation is also extended to Dr. Charles Wenar.     

Effect of backward priming on word recognition in single-word and sentence contexts

Backward priming was investigated under conditions similar to those used in lexical ambiguity research. Subjects received prime-target word pairs that were associated either unidirectionally (BABY-STORK) or bidirectionally (BABY-CRY). In the first experiment, targets were presented 500 ms following the onset of visual primes, and subjects made naming or lexical decision responses to the targets. Forward priming was obtained in all conditions, while backward priming (i.e., priming for pairs in which there was a unidirectional target-to-prime association, as in BABY-STORK) occurred only with lexical decision. In the second experiment, primes were presented auditorily, either in isolation or in a sentence. Targets followed the offset of the primes either immediately or after 200 ms. Backward priming occurred with both response tasks, but only when the prime was an isolated word. In addition, backward priming decreased over time with the naming task, but not with lexical decision. These results suggest that the locus of the backward priming effect is different for the two response tasks. Further, the lack of a backward priming effect with sentence contexts suggests that backward priming cannot account for the demonstrations of multiple access in the lexical ambiguity literature. These results, therefore, support a context-independent view of lexical access.     

Assessing the relationship of Type A beliefs to cardiovascular disease risk and psychosocial distress

Investigators have begun to take a multimodal approach to the assessment and treatment of psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). For instance, cognitive responses have become the focus of contemporary research along with continued examination of overt Type A behaviors. Price (1982) has outlined a set of beliefs purportedly associated with Type A behavior and subsequent CVD risk. The current study examines the validity of this belief set as represented by a newly developed measure, the Type A Cognitive Questionnaire (TACQ). Subjects were 221 employed adults participating in a worksite CVD risk reduction program. They completed the TACQ as part of a pretreatment CVD risk screening protocol. As hypothesized, TACQ scores were significantly associated with Type A behavior, hostility, physiological mediators of CVD, and psychosocial distress. Discussion addresses continued refinement of the Type A belief construct.