On the discriminative control of concurrent responses: the relations among response frequency, latency, and topography in auditory generalization

Human subjects were used in a study of auditory generalization following multiple-response discrimination training. The relations observed among stimulus intensity, response probability, and response latency were invariant with respect to whether the two vocal responses conditioned were topographically discrete, as in one experiment, or topographically continuous, as in another. The major findings were:

1. The probabilities associated with a specific response were maximal over several stimulus values at the extreme ends of the continuum, then dropped sharply at stimuli intermediate to the initial S^D's as the probability of the alternative response increased.

2. Overall response latency was inversely related to the relative frequency of the two responses at each stimulus value. When the two responses were most nearly equal in probability, latencies were maximal; when one response had close to unit or zero probability, latencies were minimal.

3. Analysis of the latencies of the two responses, taken separately, revealed: (a) an increase in latency as the difference between the test stimulus and the initial S^D increased; (b) a sharp discontinuity in the latency gradient and reversal in trend at intermediate stimulus intensities; and (c) at a given stimulus value, latencies associated with the stochastically dominant response were consistently shorter than those of the nondominant response.

4. No changes in response topography (fundamental frequency) were correlated with the characteristic changes in probability and latency during stimulus generalization.

     

Verbal self-reports of emergent relations in a stimulus equivalence procedure.

During a preliminary training phase, college students were taught to categorize each of their responses accurately in a conditional discrimination task as either correct or incorrect. Next, in the absence of self-reports, subjects acquired conditional discriminations (involving novel stimuli) prerequisite to the formation of two four-member equivalence classes. The self-report procedure was reinstated during probe sessions that tested for untrained relations indicative of equivalence class formation. Interspersed trials involving trained relations provided a positive control, and trials with no class-consistent comparison provided a negative control. Eight of 10 subjects demonstrated equivalence class formation; all accurately reported their performance on trained relations and on trials with no class-consistent comparison. Subjects also reported their performance on most untrained (emergent) relations accurately, but in several instances self-reports indicated failure or uncertainty despite nearly perfect emergent-relations performance. These inconsistencies add to a growing body of literature that suggests there are differences between individual types of emergent relations. We suggest that the present procedure may be helpful in understanding these differences and other equivalence-related effects.     

The expectation of guilt and resistance to temptation

Children's expectations about the emotions that surround a moral transgression were examined. In experiment 1, children aged 4-6 years and 8-9 years listened to a story about a child who resisted but then yielded to the temptation to take a sweet without permission. In line with earlier findings (Nunner-Winkler and Sodian, 1988), older children were more likely than younger children to expect the wrongdoer to feel pleased at resisting, but to feel bad after yielding to, temptation. In experiment 2, the relation between expectations of emotion and actual resistance to temptation was studied. Children aged 5-6 years again made judgements about a story character who eventually yielded to temptation. Their own resistance to temptation was assessed by means of a cheating task: children were given an opportunity to cheat by peeking during the experimenter's absence. Children who did not peek were more likely to attribute morally oriented feelings to the story protagonist. The results suggest that children who readily anticipate the emotional consequences of wrongdoing are more likely to resist the temptation to transgress.     

Methods and findings in an analysis of a vocal operant

The relations among acoustic parameters of a vocal operant were considered and some methods for their measurement are described. Four human subjects (Ss) and one chick were employed in an experiment on the relations among vocal rate, vocal topography, and schedules of reinforcement. The earlier finding that schedules of reinforcement control human and infra-human vocal responding as they do other operants was replicated and extended to the case of variable-interval reinforcement. An analysis of response amplitude, pitch, and duration showed that the mean and variance of these parameters typically increase from CRF to VI, from VI to EXT and, for a second group of Ss, from CRF to EXT. The topography of the chick's vocal response appears to stand in the same relation to reinforcement operations as does the human vocal response.     

PsychLib: A library of machine language routines for controlling psychology experiments on the Apple Macintosh computer

The hardware and system software of the Apple Macintosh computer are described, and their implications for conducting psychological research is discussed. A library of machine language routines for presenting auditory and visual stimuli and recording response latencies is described.     

The influence of negative advertising frames on political cynicism and politician accountability

This research examined the influence of negative political advertising frames on the thoughts and feelings people generate in response to campaign advertising. Preparing and conducting this investigation involved the use of a multiple‐method strategy. Content analysis identified two advertising frames (i.e., candidate theme and ad hoc issue advertisements) and two experiments separately induced political cynicism and politician accountability. Three hundred and sixty people participated in the experimental studies, in which they read and responded, using a thought‐listing technique, to candidate theme or ad hoc issue negative advertisements. Results demonstrated that participants were more likely to generate cynical comments and hold politicians accountable for the country's ills when reading candidate theme advertisements than ad hoc issue advertisements. The results indicate that this contributes to a political climate of cynicism and may function to erode the electorate's overall trust in government.     

Applying the Interactive Systems Framework to the Dissemination and Adoption of National and State Recommendations for Hypertension

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP), commissioned an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report to identify the highest priority action areas for CDC, state health departments, and other public health partners in their efforts to reduce and control hypertension. To assess the dissemination and adoption of the IOM report recommendations, DHDSP developed an evaluation based on the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF). The evaluation incorporates data collection at critical points across 3 years. In this article, we focus on the ISF systems to describe the role of funded state partners and their relationship with CDC in implementing public health recommendations. We describe baseline results for three data collection activities: (1) key informant interviews, (2) a Web‐based survey, and (3) content analysis of state workplans to determine the degree of alignment with IOM recommendations. For example, currently 30 % of surveyed programs are implementing most (or all) of the recommendations in the IOM report, however 76 % intend to change hypertension program priorities based on the recommendations of the IOM report. Qualitative data suggest that there are several facilitators and barriers in implementing public health policy recommendations. DHDSP will use these baseline results to provide additional technical assistance and support to state health departments in their efforts to implement the IOM report's recommendations. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Being Narrow While Being Broad: The Importance of Construct Specificity and Theoretical Generality

This article considers Gunderson et al.’s (2011) analysis of the intergenerational transmission of mathematics attitudes in light of broader knowledge about the nature of attitudes. It makes two primary points. First, many of the constructs that Gunderson et al. include under the umbrella of “attitude” are theoretically and psychometrically distinct. Researchers who follow the agenda laid out by Gunderson et al. should take care to carefully define their constructs. Second, using the literature on the intergenerational transmission of implicit attitudes as a starting point, this commentary explores specific ways in which children’s mathematics attitudes may arise as a function of their parents’ and teachers’ attitudes.     

The Utopianism of Hamilton's State of Needs: on rights,deliberation, and the nature of politics

Abstract

This article explores the role and conception of politics in Lawrence Hamilton's The Political Philosophy of Needs (Cambridge, 2003), including his critique of the 'rights-preference couple' and of rights in general; his critique of deliberation; and his view regarding the role of political philosophy. It argues that his theory rests on a remarkably high epistemic, moral and political confidence in the state, or rather in what states might be capable of becoming; equally, it rests on an underexplored understanding of the nature of politics itself. The article also criticizes Hamilton's approach to needs by comparing it to the needs approach of Wiggins and the capabilities approach of Alkire, arguing that the difference is not as great as Hamilton believes. Finally, it is suggested that Hamilton needs additional elements to his argument to show how a state of needs could be psychologically and politically self-sustaining.