Application of a graded choice procedure to obtain errorless learning in children

A simultaneous, two-choice color discrimination was carried out with three groups of four- to seven-year-old children. For Groups I and II, the opportunity to respond to the incorrect stimulus was controlled (graded) over three different conditions. First, only a red light (S+) and its retractable bar were presented (16 trials for Group I and 316 trials for Group II). Second, a green light (S−) was added with its correlated bar retracted for 14 trials. Third, 40 trials were given with both stimuli on and their correlated retractable bars extended. The opportunity to respond to S− was not graded for Group III children. They experienced only the third condition applied to Groups I and II. Responses to S+ were reinforced for all three groups, while responses to S− were not. Children in the first two groups made from zero to three responses to S−, while the control children emitted 11 to 46 errors. The results demonstrate that fading in S− or presenting S− early in the training procedure are sufficient, but not necessary conditions for errorless learning.     

Backward masking,disinhibition, and hypothesized neural networks

Backward masking, metacontrast, and disinhibition can be obtained under a variety of conditions. The mechanisms that underlie each depend, of course, upon the particular conditions responsible for the effects. Theoretical expositions seeking to explain phenomena produced by small brief concentric disks of light in the same terms as those necessary to explain effects produced by large displaced complex patterns of light are likely to be wrong.     

Gender and Truthfulness in Daily Life Situations

To determine the extent to which perceivedgender enters into judgments of credibility indaily-life situations, 46 raters (23 males and 23females matched for age and education) read a set ofaccusations and rated synthetic speakers' audiotapedresponses to the accusations on how believable the maleand female synthetic speakers were. The results suggestthat on the daily-life scenarios posed, both male and female speakers are equally likely to judgefemale speakers to be more credible than male speakers,whether the accusation is deemed to reflect anintentional or negligent act.     

Experience-Expectant Plasticity in the Mushroom Bodies of the Honeybee

Worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) were reared in social isolation in complete darkness to assess the effects of experience on growth of the neuropil of the mushroom bodies (MBs) during adult life. Comparison of the volume of the MBs of 1-day-old and 7-day-old bees showed that a significant increase in volume in the MB neuropil occurred during the first week of life in bees reared under these highly deprived conditions. All regions of the MB neuropil experienced a significant increase in volume with the exception of the basal ring. Measurement of titers of juvenile hormone (JH) in a subset of bees indicated that, as in previous studies, these rearing conditions induced in some bees the endocrine state of high JH associated with foraging, but there was no correlation between JH titer and volume of MB neuropil. Treatment of another subset of dark-reared bees with the JH analog, methoprene, also had no effect of the growth of the MB neuropil. These results demonstrate that there is a phase of MB neuropil growth early in the adult life of bees that occurs independent of light or any form of social interaction. Together with previous findings showing that an increase in MB neuropil volume begins around the time that orientation flights occur and then continues throughout the phase of life devoted to foraging, these results suggest that growth of the MB neuropil in adult bees may have both experience-expectant and experience-dependent components.     

Cholesterol and Aggression: An Ethnocultural Perspective

Although serum cholesterol has for several decades been linked to atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, cardiovascular primary prevention studies that have resulted in low or lowered cholesterol have not reduced total mortality. This finding may be due in part to an increase in mortality from suicides, homicides, and accidents among people with low or lowered serum cholesterol. This article attempts to review the literature on cholesterol and aggressive behavior, examines possible links connecting the two, and suggests an ethnocultural perspective to these connections.     

A dotted line assimilates in visibility to a solid line

This study tested the theory that a context-produced increase in visibility of a target is due to its assimilation in visibility to the context. A context+target and a context are discriminated better than are a target and background. This occurs for two different context+targets in which the context is a solid line and the target is a dotted line. But it does not occur when solid lines replace these dotted lines. The dotted lines are much less visible than the solid lines. Therefore, the dotted lines increase in similarity in visibility to the solid lines, which is assimilation, but for visibility, rather than for a typical part. Assimilation does not occur between perceptually equal parts. Consequently, the reason why the two context+targets with only solid lines do not result in increases in visibility may be that these lines are sufficiently equal in visibility that assimilation in visibility is precluded. So, the theory is supported. This theory is consistent with evidence that one group (phenomenal whole) is associated with both assimilation and an increase in visibility. Accordingly, a stimulus with a relatively large distance between its solid and dotted lines is apprehended as a relatively weak group, and does not result in an increase in visibility.     

The Psychosocial and Familial Dimensions of Work Addiction: Preliminary Perspectives and Hypotheses

Work addiction and its associated problems have been ignored or downplayed in the professional literature. The author reviews anecdotal research and the small number of empirical studies that examine the relationship between work addiction and family-of-origin dysfunction and its impact on family development. The latest empirical research, although tentative at best, was found to corroborate earlier anecdotal reports on nearly all the variables studied. Intervention strategies are presented for counselor implementation.     

Memory and intelligence: Age and ability differences in strategies and organization of recall

Proficiency at organizing information for recall is one aspect of memory functioning which could be expected to be related to intelligence, or general ability. Comparisons of children of average and of superior ability (Kuhlmann-Anderson scores) in a multitrial free-recall learning task confirmed this prediction: Both level of recall and amount of sequential organization were significantly higher for the superior ability groups. Mental age definitions of intelligence imply that equivalent performance by children of different chronological ages will be based on qualitatively similar cognitive processes. This assumption was not confirmed. Age-related changes in mnemonic strategies were not associated with ability-related differences in recall or organization. Some features of memory development are more dependent on age, whereas others are more dependent on ability. The latter may be best explained in terms of production inefficiency (Flavell, 1970).