Stimulus exposure time and perceptual memory

The recent explosion of research on implicit memory has facilitated the examination of perceptual and conceptual processes in the encoding of information. Nevertheless, stimulus exposure time—the amount of time that a stimulus is physically available to a perceiver’s scrutiny—has received little attention. In the present paper, we examine the effect of stimulus exposure time on three implicit memory measures (word-fragment completion, perceptual identification, and general knowledge) and two explicit memory measures (graphemic cued recall and semantic cued recall). In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that increases in exposure time lead to increases in implicit perceptual memory, but not to implicit conceptual memory, when the encoding task focuses on perceptual features of the stimulus. We replicated this effect in Experiment 2 and demonstrated that increases in exposure time lead to increases in perceptualand conceptual memory when the measures are explicit. Thus, the current experiments demonstrate that manipulations of exposure time lead to dissociations in implicit, but not explicit, memory.     

PERSONALITY AND PERCEPTUAL EXPERTISE:

Abstract— We hypothesized that people become expert at perceiving information that is related to concepts they think about a great deal, because of their extensive perceptual experience with this material To test this idea, we manipulated the capitalization of a series of briefly exposed words If expertise emerges because of perceptual experience, then people should show facilitation identifying words that they think about a great deal, but only when capitalization of these words is consistent with prior perceptual experience with these words Support for this hypothesis was found in two experiments–one in which trait words were presented to depressed and nondepressed subjects, and one in which food words were presented to anorexic and nonanorexic subjects Thus, these experiments demonstrated that personality, as well as personality disorder, has the potential to change the nature of the input people receive from the perceptual system     

Artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization

This paper explores some of the ethical (and legal) implications of artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. In both cases the emphasis is on the interests of the potential child. It concludes that in neither case is great optimism or great pessimism appropriate. About AID, much of the legal and ethical concern has been other than child-centered, and has focused mainly on the interests of parents and donors. Three aspects expecially remain troubling: donor selection, record-keeping and disclosure and the testing of frozen semen. About further IVF research, approval appears justified, as long as remaining concerns about risk/safety and need are satisfied.     

A computer-controlled language training system for investigating the language skills of young apes

A computer-controlled language training system was designed and constructed to enhance the objectivity and efficiency of inquiry into the language-relevant behaviors of apes. The system allows the S to gain control over the events of the 24-h day in direct correspondence with its competence in using a keyboard on which each key represents a word. Various incentives can be obtained through the selection and depression of appropriate keys in accordance with rules of sentence structure monitored by a computer. The system is flexible and allows for eventual conversation between man and ape, with the computer as the intermediary. A Teletype records all that transpires. Achievements of the chimpanzee S over the course of the first 8 months of the system’s operation attest to the worth of the system and training methods.     

ON THE PROBLEM OF SELECTION IN ICONIC MEMORY

von W right J. M. On the problem of selection in iconic memory. Scad J. Psychol ., 1972, 1 3 , 159–171.—Conditions determining the selection of items in iconic memory were analysed. The accuracy of partial reports and the strategies adopted by the subjects varied regularly as a function of the mode of report as well as of the subject's uncertainty about the type of response he would be asked to make. By varying these factors, the apparently conflicting results of previous studies could be fairly well replicated. In optimal conditions, selection by simple physical characteristics was efficient whereas selection by class (letterslnumbers) remained difficult. Similar results were obtained when precue and postcue conditions were compared. The role of output interference and of the subjects' encoding and response strategies are discussed.     

Separation crisis in a family with a borderline adolescent

The case discussed illustrates the crisis value of separation strivings in borderline families. Dynamic and interpersonal issues were approached from a focus on (a) patterns of projective identification; (b) parental definitions interfering with the child's ego structure formation; and (c) the deterioration of a borderline personality toward frankly schizophrenic functioning under the double pressure of the developmental task of separation and binding parental maneuvers.