Retroactive interference in the retention of prose: A reconsideration and new evidence

The sensitivity of naturalistic prose material to retroactive interference (RI) was investigated in three experiments, with due consideration given to the conditions known to produce RI in non-prose material. In experiment 1, unrelated, related, and nearly identical (parapharase) prose passage conditions yielded a pattern of results very similar to those obtained with non-prose material, with only the related condition associated with significant amounts of RI. Based upon these results and a few simple assumptions, a classificatory scheme was developed within which predictions were made regarding RI in related prose material. Several such predictions were tested and confirmed in Experiments 2 and 3. It was concluded that the many previous failures to detect RI in the retention of prose may be attributed to factors other than any inherent insensitivity of the material itself, and that RI may be just as predictable in prose as it is non-prose material.     

《文赋》的文艺心理学思想试探

陆机《文赋》的贡献是将我国古代文论侧重对美的本质及其社会意义的探讨引向对创作过程中个体心理活动、主观体验的研究。它对创作的心理活动及其主观体验的描写相当精致,也揭示出一些规律性东西,因而颇具心理学意义。     

Injury control. A promising field for psychologists.

Injury is the fourth leading cause of death for all Americans and the most frequent cause of death for those from age 1 to 45. Moreover, injury is associated with higher treatment costs and with greater lost life-years than the other three leading causes of death. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of severe brain injury, including most paraplegic and quadriplegic cases. Because injury control is essentially psychological, there are many opportunities for psychologists to contribute, both to scientific research on the causes of injury and to clinical interventions for injury control.     

Consistency,mechanicalness, and the logic of the mind

G. Priest's anti-consistency argument (Priest 1979, 1984, 1987) and J. R. Lucas's anti-mechanist argument (Lucas 1961, 1968, 1970, 1984) both appeal to Gödel incompleteness. By way of refuting them, this paper defends the thesis of quartet compatibility, viz., that the logic of the mind can simultaneously be Gödel incomplete, consistent, mechanical, and recursion complete (capable of all means of recursion). A representational approach is pursued, which owes its origin to works by, among others, J. Myhill (1964), P. Benacerraf (1967), J. Webb (1980, 1983) and M. Arbib (1987). It is shown that the fallacy shared by the two arguments under discussion lies in misidentifying two systems, the one for which the Gödel sentence is constructable and to be proved, and the other in which the Gödel sentence in question is indeed provable. It follows that the logic of the mind can surpass its own Gödelian limitation not by being inconsistent or non-mechanistic, but by being capable of representing stronger systems in itself; and so can a proper machine. The concepts of representational provability, representational maximality, formal system capacity, etc., are discussed.     

Do recognizable figures enjoy an advantage in binocular rivalry?

Five experiments examined whether recognizable stimuli predominate in binocular rivalry. It was found that a face predominated more than did a pattern equated for spatial frequency, luminance, and contrast; an objective reaction time procedure confirmed predominance of the face. The face was still liable to fragmentation as stimulus size increased. Observers tracked exclusive dominance of a picture of a camouflaged figure (a Dalmatian dog) prior to and then following discovery of the figure's presence; control observers received the same protocol with a scrambled version of the dog stimulus. Compared with control results, predominance of the dog picture was higher even before observers knew of the camouflaged figure. Inversion of the dog figure reduced its predominance. Binocular rivalry is sensitive to object-related, configural properties of a stimulus.     

Gender and Wellness: A Multidimensional Systems Model for Counseling

An expanded view of health is advocated for assessment and treatment of individual clients in helping them achieve and maintain their maximum potential for high-level wellness. In addition, moderating variables, such as culture, age, and gender differences, have an impact on every dimension of health and wellness. In this article a multidimensional systems model for wellness is described, and gender differences along those dimensions are reviewed. Application of the model and implications for counseling are discussed. Finally, two illustrative case examples, one man and one woman, are described.     

Applied behavior analysis and the movement to restructure schools: Compatibilities and opportunities for collaboration

The field of applied behavior analysis has devoted considerable effort to the problem of educating America's youth. In addition to developing a wide range of procedures to improve children's academic and classroom survival skills, behavioral researchers have discussed a wide range of technological characteristics that are likely to facilitate the adoption of their procedures by educational decision-makers and practitioners. A movement to restructure American schools has become highly popularized within educational, political, and public media forums over the past several years. One general characteristic of this movement is its failure to recommend the more frequent implementation of applied behavior analysis techniques to educate America's youth. A close inspection of three global models for school reform, however, reveals notable compatibilities with the focus and goals of applied behavior analysis. Applied behavior analysts can collaborate with and contribute to the school restructuring movement by pursuing the more formal and systematic analyses of characteristics essential to the adoption process.     

TEACHING SUPPORTED EMPLOYEES WITH SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

Two individuals with severe mental retardation, employed by a janitorial supply company, were taught to use self-instruction in combination with multiple exemplar training to solve work-related problems. Use of the combined strategy resulted in generalization of the effects of independent variables, as well as generalization to nontrained problems. Use of the strategy is discussed in terms of promoting independent performance among supported employees.