TEACHING CONSERVATION OF WEIGHT BY MEANS OF VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS

Three groups of preschool children were given verbal instructions as to the invariance of weight in spite of transformations of shape. Instructions were phrased according to the principles of reversibility, decentering, and addition-subtraction, respectively. A fourth group received no verbal information but only external reinforcement. Verbally instructed groups were superior to control and nonverbal groups on a posttest. On transfer and counter-suggestion items the addition-subtraction group had a tendency towards superior performance.     

The psychological treatment of tinnitus: An experimental evaluation

Disabling tinnitus in 27 patients was treated in an experimental setting with two different types of therapy aiming at the development of coping behaviour. One was focused on behavioural control procedures, while the other aimed at more cognitive control methods such as distraction. The results of the two forms of therapy were compared with each other and with observations of the untreated control subjects. Assessments of subjective loudness, discomfort from tinnitus and controllability were made on analogue scales and at a questionnaire follow-up. Psychoacoustic measures such as personal loudness units (PLU) were used in connection with these self-recordings and for evaluation of treatment effects. The results confirmed favourable reports on behavioural methods in tinnitus. However, no differences were found between therapies. The results are discussed in the light of the coping and adaptation theory.     

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.