THE NEW FUNCTIONALISM

SJÖBERG, L. The new functionalism. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 29–52. – The paper reviews the development of Brunswik's probabilistic functionalism. Brunswik's major contribution is held to be his consistent emphasis of the importance of the ecology. Brief reviews are then given of the many recent applications of probabilistic functionalism in perception, learning, and applied psychology. Finally, a mentalistic approach to psychology is considered as an alternative to functionalism.     

SENSATION SCALES IN THE SIZE-WEIGHT ILLUSION

S joberg , L. Sensation scales in the size-weight illusion. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, 10 , 109–112.-The subjects gave magnitude estimations of heaviness of a set of cylinders varying simultaneously in weight and height. The size-weight illusion could be well described by a simple model assuming heaviness to be inversely proportional to a sensation scale of size and directly proportional to a sensation scale of weight. The scale parameters corresponding to weight were a positively accelerated function of weight while the corresponding function for size was negatively accelerated.     

WHEN CAN THE SUBJECT BE TRUSTED NOT TO THINK?

Sjöberg , L. When can the subject be trusted not to think?Scand. J. Psychol., 1968, 9, 274–276.—Many tasks can be approached either in an intuitive or an analytical mode. Hence, problems of interpretation may arise. Such problems are particularly pressing in cases where the results can be explained as the outcome of a trivial, analytic process. Certain recent work is discussed where such a risk appears to be present.     

UNIDIMENSIONAL SIMILARITY REVISITED

It is argued that the use of direct scaling methods to derive the perceptual magnitudes in the similarity function is inadvisable on two grounds. (1) Attention may shift from one way of rating to another and thereby affect the perceptual magnitude so that what is rated may depend on the method of rating. (2) Direct methods of scaling seldom give consistent data and present knowledge of the reason for this is limited. The preferred procedure then is to study solely the structure of the similarity matrices themselves. When this is done on four sets of published data it is found that the similarity mechanism of Eisler and Ekman gives a close fit.     

COMMENTS ON FACTORING DICHOTOMOUS SCORE MATRICES

The fact that the Holley-Guilford G index is a mean cross product between individuals has two implications. First, standard procedures are available for the estimation of R factor loadings. Second, the factor space contains a factor of means. This factor is not unique when item polarities are arbitrary. The factor structure in such cases is a result of both qualitative and quantitative interindividual similarity.     

STUDIES IN THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF A NEW DRUG (DIETHYLPROPION)

In a 'triple blind' study on 30 subjects, 50 mg diethylpropion was compared with 10 mg dexamphetamine, 50 mg phenmetrazine, 250 mg caffeine, and placebo. The effects were measured in 5 subjective variables at 40 minutes intervals up to 4 hours. Clear trends were obtained in 'happiness', 'alertness' and 'pleasantness'. Peak effects were seen at about two hours, but in pleasantness the effects of phenmetrazine were increased even after that time. The demonstrated effects were discussed in relation to data on abuse of diethylpropion and phenmetrazine.     

THURSTONIAN METHODS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF LEARNING

A distinction is discussed between manifest and latent concepts on the one hand and observable and unobservable psychological processes (of which learning is one) on the other. Previous attempts at measurement by Hull and Björkman are briefly reviewed. An analysis is presented of improved performance in terms of the latent variables of the Law of Comparative Judgment. Finally, the author's method for successive intervals scaling is applied to some paired associate learning data.     

Double Denial in Attitude Formation1

While expressing their attitude toward an object, people sometimes deny both the probability of attributes that would speak against the attitude and the value of these attributes. We term this kind of functioning double denial. Double denial is incompatible with expectancy-value models of attitude formation. In eight studies of attitudes, values, and beliefs, there was clear evidence for double denial. The evidence was particularly strong for items measuring salient beliefs and for items and groups of participants yielding belief ratings that strongly correlated with attitudes. The results are interpreted in terms of the social functions of values and beliefs in the construing of arguments pro or con an attitude object. It is concluded that beliefs and values are dynamic entities, continually shaped in argumentation, and that expectancy-value models of attitude are inadequate to account for the relationships among attitudes, beliefs and values.     

The importance of including quality-of-life indices in international social and economic development activities

Psychology has not been a visible player in international social and economic development efforts. Through its demonstrated commitment to the concept of quality of life, psychology has an opportunity to help shape foreign policy and to improve the lives of countless people around the globe. Poverty has reached unacceptable limits of humanitarian tolerance and political consequence throughout the world. The United Nations estimates that 20% of the world's population now lives in conditions of absolute poverty in which there is an absence of even the bare essentials for living. Social and economic development efforts have often failed despite good intentions because they have often concentrated on improving peoples' material level of living but not their quality of life. This article addresses the need to include quality-of-life (QOL) indices in international social and economic development efforts. In addition, the article calls attention to the need to use valid cross-cultural measurement strategies (i.e., culturally equivalent) when assessing QOL across cultural and national boundaries. Current approaches to social and economic development rely heavily on interventions that do not reflect the actual peoples' perceptions of life satisfaction and subjective well-being. Self-serving political and economic national interests have kept new approaches to development from being implemented. New interventions must be holistic, decentralized, integrated, empowering, participatory, and human-resource directed, and must include culturally equivalent objective and subjective quality-of-life indices as the arbiters of success.     

Providing worked examples for learning multiple principles

Worked examples support learning. However, if they introduce easy-to-confuse concepts or principles, specific ways of providing worked examples may influence their effectiveness. Multiple worked examples can be introduced blocked (i.e., several for the same principle) or interleaved (i.e., switching between principles), and can be sequentially or simultaneously presented. Crossing these two factors provides four ways of presenting worked examples: blocked/sequential, interleaved/sequential, blocked/simultaneous, and interleaved/simultaneous. In an experiment with university students (N = 174), we investigated how these two factors influence the acquisition of procedural and conceptual knowledge about different, but closely related (thus, easy-to-confuse) stochastic principles. Additionally, we assessed the ability of students to discriminate between principles with verification tasks. Simultaneous presentation benefitted procedural knowledge whereas, interleaved presentation benefitted conceptual knowledge. No significant differences were found for verification tasks. The results suggest that it is worthwhile to adapt the presentation of the worked examples to the learning goals.