Self-focused attention and belief perseverance

The perseverance of an erroneous belief was investigated in the debriefing paradigm as a function of self-focused attention. Subjects were given either success or failure experiences via bogus performance feedback and received this feedback under high or low mirror self-focusing. All subjects were subsequently debriefed about the false nature of the feedback, and then, before answering questions about their estimated actual performance and ability, mirror self-focus was again manipulated. The results showed that self-focus prior to debriefing increased belief perseverance while self-focus after debriefing reduced the perseverance effects. Discussion of these findings emphasized the role of self-focus in information processing before and adherence to veridical standards after debriefing.     

Vocal changes in stutterers and nonstutterers during monotoned speech

For years, reports have circulated that stutterers experience marked decrements in their stuttering when they speak or read in monotone. Wingate has suggested that the ameliorative effects of various novel speaking conditions on stuttering can be attributed to modifications in vocalization induced by such conditions. The present study was conducted to see whether this explanation would extend to monotoned speech as well. Ten teenage and adult stutterers and 10 normal speakers were tested in control and monotone reading conditions. Dependent measures were the frequencies of disfluency and stuttering, fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency standard deviation, vocal SPL, vocal SPL standard deviation, and fluent reading rate. Only within-group statistical comparisons were made, because members of the two groups could not be matched pairwise along critical vocal parameters. The major findings of this study indicated that across the two conditions, both groups significantly reduced their fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency standard deviation, vocal SPL and vocal SPL standard deviation. Only the stutterers exhibited a significant decrement in disfluency and stuttering. The normals did not evince enough disfluency in the control condition for a reduction to occur during monotoning. Neither group effected a reduction in fluent reading rates. These and other findings and interpretations are discussed relative to Wingate's modified vocalization hypothesis.     

Effect of list length on recall after dichotomous visual presentation

A visual analogue of an auditory dichotic listening experiment was carried out using what may be termed dichotomous visual presentation of lists of either three or four stimuli. Each stimulus consisted of several identical letters which were arranged so as to form the outline of a second, large letter. Subjects attended to either the small or large letters, and recalled either the attended or unattended letters first. It was found that the results for the three-stimulus and four-stimulus lists differed substantially; they were interpreted as consistent with the model of short-term memory proposed by Broadbent (1975).     

Classification in well-defined and ill-defined categories: evidence for common processing strategies

Early work in perceptual and conceptual categorization assumed that categories had criterial features and that category membership could be determined by logical rules for the combination of features. More recent theories have assumed that categories have an ill-defined structure and have prosposed probabilistic or global similarity models for the verification of category membership. In the experiments reported here, several models of categorization were compared, using one set of categories having criterial features and another set having an ill-defined structure. Schematic faces were used as exemplars in both cases. Because many models depend on distance in a multidimensional space for their predictions, in Experiment 1 a multidimensional scaling study was performed using the faces of both sets as stimuli, In Experiment 2, subjects learned the category membership of faces for the categories having criterial features. After learning, reaction times for category verification and typicality judgments were obtained. Subjects also judged the similarity of pairs of faces. Since these categories had characteristic as well as defining features, it was possible to test the predictions of the feature comparison model (Smith et al.), which asserts that reaction times and typicalities are affected by characteristic features. Only weak support for this model was obtained. Instead, it appeared that subjects developed logical rules for the classification of faces. A characteristic feature affected reaction times only when it was part of the rule system devised by the subject. The procedure for Experiment 3 was like that for Experiment 2, but with ill-defined rather than well-defined categories. The obtained reaction times had high correlations with some of the models for ill-defined categories. However, subjects' performance could best be described as one of feature testing based on a logical rule system for classification. These experiments indicate that whether or not categories have criterial features, subjects attempt to develop a set of feature tests that allow for exemplar classification. Previous evidence supporting probabilistic or similarity models may be interpreted as resulting from subjects' use of the most efficient rules for classification and the averaging of responses for subjects using different sets of rules.     

Heterosexual anxiety: Stable multichannel assessment for therapy outcome research

Thirty-six shy males participated in two interpersonal performance tests with attractive female confederates. Between the two interpersonal performances, each was exposed either to one of three elaborate placebo treatments or to no treatment. During and after each performance, heterosexual anxiety was measured with instruments recommended for research purposes by Borkovec et al. (1974). Results showed that the recommended shyness measures were immune to unwanted changes either from repeated assessments or from any of the three multisession placebo procedures. Hence the experiment partially replicated and substantially extended previous research, suggesting the feasibility of using the Borkovec et al. shyness-assessment package in behavioral fear-therapy research.     

Comparisons between 25 reversible and ambiguous figures on measures of latency,duration, and fluctuation

Data are presented for 16 reversible and 9 ambiguous figures on measures of latency and duration of the initial response and total number of fluctuations during a 30-sec interval by 42 Ss. Of particular interest are the magnitudes, correlations, and factor analysis of eight widely used figures (e.g., Necker cube). The methodological advantages, theoretical ambiguities, and further research possibilities of this information are discussed.     

Shock as punishment in a picture-naming task with retarded children

Two retarded children were taught to name pictures according to a standardized procedure. In Exp. I, correct responses were positively reinforced on a five to one ratio under one stimulus condition, incorrect responses were followed with a sharp "no", and the subject was ignored for inattentive behavior. Under another stimulus condition, correct responses were reinforced as in the first condition, but incorrect responses and 5-sec periods of inattentive behavior were followed by "no" and an electric shock. Less inattentive behavior was exhibited and more words were learned to a pre-set criterion in the shock condition than in the no-shock condition. In Exp. II, the ratio of inappropriate responses to shock was varied. The amount of inattentive behavior tended to increase in the shock condition, relative to that in the no-shock condition, as this ratio was increased. Two other measures of performance used in the present experiments were the ratio of errors to correct responses and the number of correct responses. Shock tended to produce better performance on these measures also.     

Judgment of angle size: An experimental appraisal

Previous work on the estimation of angle size suggested that three factors play a significant part in the forming of an accurate estimation: the size of the angle, its orientation, and the mode in which the response is made. An examination of the judgment by 60 Ss of 12 angles under varied conditions of orientation, response mode, and cue was carried out with the result that the importance of size and orientation was confirmed. Despite an overall significant difference in estimation between response modes, there was no indication of a consistent effect across angles for the different modes. Predictions on the influence of orientation made by Fisher and Beery were tested, and while the former investigator was adequately supported, the latter was held to have reported results on a limited sample of angles which do not generalize to the wider range of angles used in the present study.