Comparing the effects of two correction procedures on human acquisition of sequential behavior patterns

Thirty-one college undergraduates learned to touch abstract stimuli on a computer screen in arbitrarily designated “correct” sequential orders. Four sets of seven stimuli were used; the stimuli were arrayed horizontally on the screen in random sequences. A correct response (i.e., touching first the stimulus designated as first) resulted in that stimulus appearing near the top of the screen in its correct sequential position (left to right), and remaining there until the end of the trial. Incorrect responses (i.e., touching a stimulus out of sequence) terminated the trial. New trials displayed either the same sequence as the one on which an error had occurred (same-order correction procedure), or a new random sequence (new-order correction procedure). Whenever all responses occurred in the correct sequence, the next trial displayed a new random sequence. Each phase ended when five consecutive correct response sequences occurred. Initially, the same-order correction procedure increased control by the position as well as by the shape of the stimuli; also, it produced more errors, more total trials, more trials to mastery, and more individual patterns of reacquisition than were produced by the new-order procedure.     

Of beasties and butterflies: Evidence for the stability and domain-specificity of individual differences in categorization

Previous research has failed to demonstrate unambiguously the relative stability across time and consistency across tasks of individual differences in categorization, or categorization breadth The present study of categorizing behavior in college students assesses breadth at each of four points in time over a six-week period Results are consistent with an interpretation of breadth as a highly stable individual difference variable, but one that is constrained by the nature of the stimulus sets employed High stability coefficients were observed for each of two redundant tasks In contrast, cross-task consistency indices were generally low Personality correlates of breadth were similarly weak and inconsistent Several variables are suggested that may attenuate the generality of categorization breadth The existence of multiple styles of categorization is discussed     

Sex typing and division of labor as determinants of marital change across the transition to parenthood

This investigation examines the proposition that wives who describe their personality in ways that deviate from sex stereotypes will become less positive and more negative about their marriage from before to after they become mothers, particularly when the transition to parenthood is accompanied by an increase in the traditionalism of marital roles. Sixty-one couples were studied longitudinally from the last trimester of pregnancy through the third postpartum month. The wives completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978), which measures the extent to which they ascribe personality attributes stereotyped as "masculine" (i.e., instrumental, agentic) and "feminine" (expressive, affectional) to themselves, and several questionnaires assessing the marital relationship at both times of measurement. Results revealed that the more division of labor changed toward traditionalism, the greater the decline in wives' evaluations of the positive aspects of marriage and that changes in wives' evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of marriage can be significantly predicted by the interaction of the wives' expressivity and changes toward increased traditionalism in division of labor. Additional analyses showed that wives who do not ascribe female sex-typed attributes to themselves (relative to those who see themselves in sex-stereotyped ways) are more apt to evaluate their marriage less favorably from before to after parenthood when roles shift toward greater traditionalism.     

The relations between type A behavior, clinically relevant behavior, academic achievement, and IQ in children

The relation of Type A behavior to IQ, academic achievement, and several clinically relevant dimensions of behavior in children was assessed in 873 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders by means of the Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH), the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT), the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITED), and the teachers' form of the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC-T). The MYTH and its competitiveness and impatience-aggression subscales were found to be differentially related to academic achievement and to account for a small but significant portion of the variance in achievement not accounted for by IQ. The subscales of the MYTH were found to be highly correlated with several clinically familiar dimensions of children's behavior. The significance of these findings for the construct validity of the MYTH is discussed.     

Alternative scoring system of repeated items on the MMPI: caveat emptor

There are 16 items in the standard MMPI group forms which are included twice. It was found that a number of computerized scoring services use only the first occurrence of repeated items in scoring the MMPI scales, whereas the handscoring templates use an arbitrary combination of the first and second occurrence of these items. Comparison of these conventions suggested a potential for significant differences in score, particularly on the Sc scale. Scoring a set of 126 MMPIs of chronic pain patients by both of these scoring conventions revealed differences of up to 10 T points on the Sc scale. It is recommended that a single scoring convention for the MMPI be adopted by psychologists. For several reasons we suggest that only the first occurrence of repeated items should be used for scoring purposes. In the absence of a single convention, comparisons between Sc scores on different protocols should not be made without first insuring that the protocols were scored in the same manner.     

Auditory word discriminations in the pigeon.

Four pigeons were trained on a multiple variable-interval 30-s extinction schedule with various pairs of spoken English words presented as the discriminative stimuli. The birds typically produced discrimination indices of 70% to 90% accuracy. Discrimination accuracy was improved by shortening the interval between auditory stimulus presentations, and by increasing the number of syllables in the words.     

Daily versus major life events as predictors of symptom frequency: a replication study

Predictions of physical symptomatology by daily life events and by major life events were compared, replicating and expanding work reported by DeLongis, Coyne, Dakof, Folkman, & Lazarus (1982). Analyses of daily, prospective data collected on 79 married men for 90 days demonstrated that daily, undesirable events were better predictors of symptom frequencies than either past, major life events or daily, desirable events. These results, similar to those found by DeLongis et al. (1982), were further explored by examining "healthy" subjects versus subjects with prior medical conditions. Undesirable daily events were a much stronger predictor of physical symptoms in the healthy group than in the prior medical conditions group.     

Do semantic memory deficiencies underlie learning disabled readers' encoding processes?

This study investigates the extent to which learning disabled readers' atypical encoding relates to their deficiencies in semantic memory. Inferences related to ability group performance were based on the assumption that encoding involves the matching of incoming information against a featural representation of that information in semantic memory. To this end, learning disabled and nondisabled readers in two age groups were compared on dichotic listening recall tasks that included orienting and nonorienting instructions. Orienting instructions directed children's attention toward semantic, phonemic, or structural word features. Dependent measures were lateralization, free recall, retrieval organization, and selective attention. The efficiency of allocating attentional resources was inferred from correlations between central and incidental recall. Primary results included the following: Disabled and nondisabled readers' ear asymmetry differences were dependent upon age, orienting instructions, and type of word list; disabled readers' recall and organization scores were lower than skilled readers'; however, both ability groups benefitted from orienting instructions compared to nonorienting instructions; during orienting instructions, disabled readers were less able than skilled readers to divide their attention between target and nontarget word features, especially during interhemispheric processing conditions; and the relative efficiency of allocating attentional resources differed qualitatively between the two ability groups. The results suggest that ability group variations reflect the structure of the memory trace in interaction with ear presentation and encoding processes. It is inferred that disabled readers' inferior memory traces reflect the quantity and internal coherence of information stored in semantic memory as well as the means by which such information is accessed.     

The accuracy of aimed movements to visual targets during development: the role of visual information

Children aged 1.5 to 8 years were required to touch accurately an illuminated target lamp located on a vertical board. Movements were made when visual information was complete (target lit for 3 s, room illuminated; partial (target lit for 3 s, room dark, and reduced (target lit for 0.7 s, room dark). Dependent variables were response accuracy, reaction time, and movement time. Accuracy decreased with decreasing availability of visual information and improved with age under all conditions. Reaction times were shorter in the dark (Conditions 2 and 3) than in the light; they decreased with age up to age 5 and did not continue to decrease thereafter. Movement time did not change with age under Conditions 1 and 3 but tended to increase with age under Condition 2. Slower movements were more accurate at all ages, provided visual feedback could be utilized. Increased reliance on the strategy "slower movements yield higher accuracy" was held to account for developmental changes under Condition 2, whereas in Conditions 1 and 3 improvement in the efficiency of motor preprogramming was implicated.