Capacity limitations in human information processing

The nature of processing demands during a letter-match task was investigated in an extension of the Posner and Boies (1971) paradigm. In Experiment I, a visual probe was employed in addition to an auditory probe in two different experimental conditions. The shape of the auditory probe reaction time (RT) function was similar to that found by Posner and Boies. However, in contrast to their findings, RT was greatly increased shortly after presentation of the first letter for the visual probe function. It was concluded that perceptual as well as postperceptual limitations on processing capacity exist. A second experiment provided further support for this hypothesis.     

Physical distance and attraction: An intensification effect

This study was designed to test the effects of both interaction distance and the quality of the interaction upon attraction. It was found that close interaction distances amplified the quality of the interaction so that for a positive interaction there was more liking for a close rather than a far partner, while for a negative interaction a close partner was liked less. The implications of this finding for research concerning crowding is discussed, as are possible explanatory mechanisms.     

Auditory evoked potentials during selective listening to dichotic speech messages

The sensitivity of the scalp-recorded, auditory evoked potential to selective attention was examined while subjects monitored one of two dichotically presented speech passages for content. Evoked potentials were elicited to irrelevant probe stimuli (vowel sounds) embedded in both the right- and the leftear’s message. The amplitude of the evoked potential was larger to probe stimuli embedded in the attended message than to probe stimuli in the unattended message. Recall performance was unaffected by the presence of the probes. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that this evoked potential sensitivity reflects an initial “input selection” stage of attention.     

Deceit as a function of sex of subject and target person

Thirty male and female undergraduates were run in same- and opposite-sex pairs to determine if the extent of experimentally sanctioned deceit would be influenced by sex pairings and potential for harm to another's self-esteem. Ss, who all believed they were playing the role of a teacher in a learning experiment, were instructed to provide false feedback (lie) at least three times during 30 trials to a learner, the other S. Consistent with hypotheses derived from a consideration of the potential harm to another's self-esteem and a suggested norm of white lying, perceived relative importance of male and female sex roles, and greater female concern for the social welfare of others, it was found that white lies occurred significantly more often than lies, that males were significantly more likely to give false feedback than females, that females were the target of false feedback significantly more often than males, and that the interaction between sex of S and sex of target person was also significant in that males lied to females more than any other sex pairing.This research was partially supported by the New Mexico Highlands University Institute of Scientific Research. A brief version of this report was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting, Denver, May, 1974.     

老化的年龄标识:主观年龄对老年人主观老化体验的影响

为证明年龄对老化的标识作用,研究假设降低被试的主观年龄可减少老年人的主观老化体验。采取实验组控制组前测后测设计,以主观年龄为自变量,分为"等于年代年龄"(控制组)和"小于年代年龄10±5岁"(实验组)两种水平,随机分配至两组的62名老年被试填写《个人老化体验问卷》,评估其主观老化体验。结果显示,实验组在后测中的主观老化体验不仅显著低于本组前测,也显著低于控制组,且这一结果不受被试最初自评的主观年龄影响。原假设得到证明,支持年龄对老化的标识作用。年龄标识对老化意义的简单化建构了世俗的绝对老化观。     

A note on computing Louis’ observed information matrix identity for IRT and cognitive diagnostic models

Using Louis’ formula, it is possible to obtain the observed information matrix and the corresponding large-sample standard error estimates after the expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm has converged. However, Louis’ formula is commonly de-emphasized due to its relatively complex integration representation, particularly when studying latent variable models. This paper provides a holistic overview that demonstrates how Louis’ formula can be applied efficiently to item response theory (IRT) models and other popular latent variable models, such as cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs). After presenting the algebraic components required for Louis’ formula, two real data analyses, with accompanying numerical illustrations, are presented. Next, a Monte Carlo simulation is presented to compare the computational efficiency of Louis’ formula with previously existing methods. Results from these presentations suggest that Louis’ formula should be adopted as a standard method when computing the observed information matrix for IRT models and CDMs fitted with the EM algorithm due to its computational efficiency and flexibility.