Attack,inhibition and target of aggression

Predictions concerning aggression displacement, derived from Miller's conflict model, were investigated under conditions in which subjects' inhibitions about aggressing against an attacker were manipulated. Half of the high-attacked subjects were placed in a high-inhibition situation, designed so that strong inhibitory tendencies competed with strong aggressive tendencies; the remaining high-attacked subjects were placed in a low-inhibition situation, designed so that weak inhibitory tendencies competed with strong aggressive tendencies. Low-attacked control subjects also received the inhibition treatment. High- and low-attacked subjects were then confronted with one of four target persons, varying in similarity, toward whom they could aggress with electric shock. As expected, under high inhibition, the target most similar to the attacker received more shocks from high-attacked subjects than did either the attacker or two less similar targets. Contrary to expectation, the attacker did not receive the most shocks under low inhibition; personality evaluations of the attacker suggested that high-attacked subjects in substitute target conditions may have been unintentionally angered further by being denied the opportunity for direct retaliation.     

A developmental study of attribute encoding in free recall

In two studies, subjects from second-grade, sixth-grade, and college were presented lists of unrelated words for single-trial free recall. Embedded in the list were critical items that were either semantically or phonemically related or else were completely unrelated. The sets of related items were either massed or distributed in the longer list. For second-graders, recall of Phonemic words was better than recall of Semantic words while the reverse was true for sixth-graders. Recall of Semantic distributed words by second-graders and of Phonemic distributed words by sixth-graders did not differ from recall of unrelated words. College students recalled Phonemic and Semantic words equally well and all related words better than unrelated words. Developmental trends were seen in the salience of particular attributes and in the utilization of low salient attributes.     

Intelligence in Hong Kong measured for Spearman's g and the visuospatial and verbal primaries

Values for Spearman's g for Hong Kong are calculated from data derived from the administration of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices to several thousand children. The results indicate that the mean IQ in Hong Kong for the mid 1980s is approximately 108 in relation to a Caucasian mean of 100 for the United States and the United Kingdom. Values for the spatial and perceptual speed primaries are also substantially higher in Hong Kong. On the other hand Hong Kong children are relatively weak on the word fluency primary. The pattern of abilities of Chinese Hong Kong children is broadly similar to that obtained on other Mongoloid populations.     

Influence and Selection In the Friend-adolescent Relationship: Findings from Studies of Adolescent Smoking and Drinking1

The importance of friend influence as a determinant of adolescent behavior has primarily been inferred from research that has repeatedly demonstrated the behavior of friends to be similar. Homogeneity among peers, however, could also be due to a selection process whereby adolescents choose and keep friends whose behavior is similar to their own. Most previous studies have used cross-sectional designs that cannot delineate the source of peer homogeneity; this study employed sociometric data from longitudinal research on adolescent smoking and drinking to separate and examine the selection and influence processes. Although the findings indicate some support for the friend influence model, the acquisition hypothesis from the selection model accounts for substantially more of the adolescent-friend relationship. The implications of these results for past and future research concerning the role of peers in adolescence are discussed.     

Inhibition by Reinforcement: Effects of Reinforcer Magnitude and Timeout on Fixed-Ratio Pausing

The Psychological Record - Rats were trained on fixed-ratio schedules with different reinforcer magnitudes (concentrations of sweetened milk), using procedures in which responding was allowed to...     

On how adults identify the orientation of a shape

It is generally assumed that the orientation of a shape is judged only by identifying the location of a particular feature. In contrast, it is argued here that the basis of orientation judgments depends on the task; this proposal is examined for judgments of upside down and sideways. Pictures of mono-oriented objects were presentedone at a time, and adults identified the orientations of each in a RT paradigm. One condition presented successively upright and upside-down pictures or upright and sideways pictures. Another condition presented successively upside-down and sideways pictures. As predicted, the time to identify orientation was longer for the condition presenting two nonuprights, because specific identifications of upside down and sideways were required, whereas the other condition required only that uprightness be distinguished from nonuprightness. The notion that the nature of a judgment of shape orientation depends on the contrasts provided by the task has implications for theory and experimental design that are discussed for both realistic and geometric shapes.     

APL functions for interactive data analysis: Preparation of data files

APL functions to support preparation of data files are presented: a function to manage the entry of raw data, functions to display the entered data in formats convenient for checking, a function to support correction of errors, a function to organize the data into tables and file them, and a user interface function that provides menu selection of the data preparation functions. General-purpose support functions to assist in file use and in menu selection are also provided.     

Motor perseverative behavior in adult stutterers and nonstutterers

The performances of 22 adult stutterers and 22 adult nonstutterers on motor tasks requiring the graphic reproduction of a sequence of alternating figures following the production of a series of nonalternating figures were studied. The finding that there were no differences in the performance of the two groups on the alternating motor tasks was interpreted as challenging the validity of previous observations that motor perseverative behavior exists in stutterers and is indicative of a central neurological deficit in that population.     

Fantasy Proneness: Developmental Antecedents

ABSTRACT Wilson and Barber (1981) identified a “personality type” characterized by an extensive and deep involvement in fantasy that they termed “fantasy prone personalities” This study investigated the developmental antecedents of fantasy proneness as part of a larger research project designed to examine the construct validity of the fantasy prone personality Fantasy prone (n= 21, upper 4% of college population), medium range (n= 20) and nonfantasy prone persons (n= 18, lower 4% of college population) were selected with the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (Wilson and Barber, 1981) Subjects completed quantitative pencil and paper measures of early life experiences and participated in individual semi structured interviews Strong support for the construct validity of fantasy proneness and confirmation of previous findings regarding the developmental antecedents of extensive adult fantasy involvement were secured While six fantasy prones reported being severely physically abused during childhood, abuse was not reported in other groups Fantasy prones also reported greater frequency and severity of physical punishment, greater use of fantasy to block the pain of punishment, more thoughts of revenge toward the person who punished them, greater loneliness, and a preference for punishing their own children less severely than did the comparison groups, suggesting compensatory and adaptive functions of fantasy involvements