Cerebral hemispheric mechanisms in the retrieval of ambiguous word meanings

Targets related to ambiguous primes were projected to the left and right visual fields in a lexical priming experiment with stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) of 35 and 750 msec. Right visual field results were similar to our earlier results with central projection (G. B. Simpson & C. Burgess, 1985, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 11, 28-39). Facilitation was found for the more frequent meaning at both SOAs and a decrease in facilitation for the less frequent meaning at the longer SOA. In contrast, left visual field results indicated a decay of facilitation for the more frequent meaning at the longer SOA, while activation for the subordinate meaning increased. Results suggest that, while automatic processing occurs in both hemispheres, only the left hemisphere engages in controlled processing of ambiguous word meanings. In addition, the present results support the idea that the right hemisphere has a special role in ambiguity resolution and that the right hemisphere lexicon possesses a richer endowment than earlier thought.     

Scopolamine interactions with D1 and D2 antagonists on radial-arm maze performance in rats

Recent evidence indicates that acetylcholine and dopamine play complementary roles in cognitive as well as motor functions. In our previous study, the dopamine receptor blocker, haloperidol, was found to attenuate the radial-arm maze choice accuracy deficit caused by the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor blocker, scopolamine. Haloperidol has activity in blocking both D1 and D2 dopamine receptor subtypes. The current study was conducted to determine whether this dopamine-acetylcholine interaction specifically involved D1 or D2 dopamine receptors. The D1 antagonist, SCH 23390, and the D2 antagonist, raclopride, were administered with a dose of scopolamine which caused choice accuracy deficits in the radial-arm maze. The scopolamine-induced deficit was reversed by SCH 23390, the D1 antagonist, indicating that D1 blockade alone is sufficient to reverse the amnestic effects of muscarinic blockade. There was no indication in this study that the D2 blocker, raclopride, had a similar effect. However, this does not mean that such an effect may not be present at other doses of raclopride or with other D2 antagonists. The present finding that D1 blockade counteracts scopolamine-induced cognitive dysfunction not only furthers the understanding of dopamine-acetylcholine relationships in cognitive function, it also suggests a promising direction for the development of treatments for cognitive dysfunction due to cholinergic loss.     

Naltrexone-reversible pain suppression in the isolated attacking mouse

Fighting pairs of isolated DBA/2 mice showed a significant increase in tail-flick response latencies independent of whether opponents were losing or winning the combat. The effect lasted less than 10 min in both animals. Elevated pain thresholds were also found in isolates that attacked a nonaggressive conspecific, and were prevented by naltrexone (0.2 mg/kg), while a larger dose (1.0 mg/kg) inhibited the attack behavior. A small increase in pain threshold was observed after exposure of isolates to the test box alone, while isolation per se had no effect on baseline tail-flick latencies. The data demonstrate that endogenous pain suppressing systems are activated during attack and suggest that this opioid-mediated antinociception is a correlate of the isolation syndrome, reflecting enhanced arousal of the attacking animal.     

An evaluation of the Garren-Edwards diet and behavior modification program

This study evaluated the efficacy of the Garren-Edwards Behavior Modification Program, which uses the Garren-Edwards Gastric Bubble as an adjunct to treatment. Group therapy sessions were conducted with 23 morbidly obese subjects for 6 months on a biweekly basis. Each therapy session used a five-stage problem-solving sequence designed to facilitate adaptive behavioral alternatives. In evaluating weight change, a multivariate analysis of variance was conducted along with two preplanned orthogonal comparisons. Patients lost significant amounts of weight between initial to 3-month (p<.0001) and 3- to 6-month intervals (p<0001). A similar treatment effect was noted in an additional sample of 24 morbidly obese subjects following 3 months of treatment (p<0005). The findings support the value of longer goal-oriented programs in promoting continued weight loss. Implications for treatment process and therapist interventions prompted by this new format are discussed.     

A developmental-genetic analysis of aggressive behavior in mice (Mus musculus): III. Behavioral mediation by heightened reactivity or immobility?

This research was designed to investigate development and behavioral mediation in lines of ICR mice that have been selectively bred for aggressive behavior. General behavioral reactivity and behavioral immobility have been implicated as potential mediators by prior analyses of preattack interactions. To evaluate the separate roles of these dispositions, the emergence of attacks in genetically selected lines was tracked for 11 years by three levels of analysis: over successive generations, over development, and over dyadic interactions. Convergent outcomes were observed in all three levels with respect to two findings: (a) Robust line differences were obtained in attack behaviors, and (b) strong associations were found between line differences in attacks and line differences in behavioral immobility. Conversely, all three levels of analysis indicated a weak and inconsistent association between line differences in attacks and measures of social and nonsocial reactivity.     

Confidence in judgments based on incomplete information: An investigation using both hypothetical and real gambles

This study assessed how confidence in judgments is affected by the need to make inferences about missing information. Subjects indicated their likelihood of taking each of a series of gambles based on both probability and payoff information or only one of these sources of information. They also rated their confidence in each likelihood judgment. Subjects in the Explicit Inference condition were asked to explicitly estimate the values of missing information before making their responses while subjects in the Implicit Inference condition were not. The manner in which probability information was framed was also manipulated. Experiment 1 employed hypothetical gambles and Experiment 2 employed gambles with real money. Expressed likelihood of taking gambles was higher when probability was phrased in terms of '% chance of winning' rather than '% chance of losing', but this difference was somewhat less with real gambles than with hypothetical gambles. Confidence ratings in each experiment were actually higher on incomplete information trials than on complete information trials in the Explicit Inference condition. Results were related to the general issue of confidence in judgments.     

Cance and luck are not the same

In the mind of many people chance and luck act as real but different causes of events. Even in strictly defined situations as casino gambling, people may perceive influences of luck that help to overcome the negative expectancy defined by the rules of chance. Interviews with gamblers in casinos confirmed this idea. In two experiments it was established that the distinction between chance and luck are also made by ordinary subjects in everyday situations. The results revealed that chance is perceived to operate when an event is surprising, an unexpected coincidence. Luck is perceived when an event implies the escape from negative consequences, or the achievement of something that is important and difficult. The distinction between chance and luck can explain why people are trapped by the illusion of control, even when it is clear that they have no influence on the physical causation determining the outcomes of events. They cannot change the outcome of the roulette wheel, but they can employ their luck, which helps them to place their bets on the winning number.     

Recent developments in non-traditional employment testing: An introduction

The purpose of this special issue of theJournal of Business and Psychology is to provide a review and update of several key types of non-traditional employment tests. Non-traditional employment tests can be divided into two categories. One category consists ofbiological/physiological tests. The second category consists ofnarrow-based personality tests. A framework for thinking about non-traditional employment tests is provided.     

Individual response profiles in the behavioral assessment of personality

A long-standing problem in the behavioural assessment of personality is the individual specificity of responses. Often, different persons externalize the same trait in different responses. One solution to this problem is to aggregate many different responses. The paper compares the power of response aggregation for predicting self-and other-ratings of personality with two alternative strategies of response selection: the nomothetic strategy of selecting the response with the highest overall predictive power, and the more idiographic strategy of selecting, for each individual, the most extreme response. Seventy subjects were videotaped in a sequence of social situations inducing shyness to various degrees. Five different nonverbal measures of shyness all correlated significantly with the subjects' self- or other-rated shyness, and showed low correlations across subjects and a substantial cross-situational consistency of response profiles. Response aggregation and both strategies of response selection were found to be equally powerful in predicting the subjects' self- and other-ratings of shyness from the five behavioural responses. Therefore, these findings somewhat dampen the hope often expressed in recent theoretical discussions of personality assessment that more respect for the individual case may improve nomothetic assessment procedures.