Frame-of-reference training and cognitive categorization: an empirical investigation of rater memory issues.

We considered the effects of frame-of-reference (FOR) training on raters' ability to correctly classify ratee performance as well as their ability to recognize previously observed behaviors. The purpose was to examine the cognitive changes associated with FOR training to better understand why such training generally improves rating accuracy. We trained college students (N = 94) using either FOR or control procedures, had them observe three managers on videotape, and rate the managers on three performance dimensions. Results supported our hypotheses that, compared with control training, FOR training led to better rating accuracy and better classification accuracy. Also consistent with predictions, FOR training resulted in lower decision criteria (i.e., higher bias) and lower behavioral accuracy on a recognition memory task involving impression-consistent behaviors. The implications of these results are discussed, particularly in terms of the ability of FOR-trained raters to provide accurate performance feedback to ratees.     

Parental conflict and male adolescent problem behavior.

Mothers in 30 clinical and 35 nonclinical families completed a behavior checklist for a target son and all other sons in the family who were between 13 and 17 years old. Each of these male adolescents completed two perceived parental conflict questionnaires for their biological parents. In each group, child behavior problems and parental conflict were correlated under two conditions: (a) using information pertaining to the target adolescent and (b) using information pertaining to the male adolescent experiencing the greatest behavior difficulties. Correlations increased in the nonclinical group when the information used was for the adolescent experiencing the greatest behavior difficulties.     

A theory of cheating

The theory of motivated cheating postulates that test takers may cheat when they do not know an answer. With probabilityk, an “observer” is unsure of an answer and will copy from a nearby “target” with probabilityc. The corresponding parameters for the target may be entirely unrelated to those of the observer. Thus, the undesirable feature of bidirectionality of parameters found in correlational techniques is not an inherent feature of this theory of cheating. Predictions are derived, and estimates ofk andc are proposed. Statistically large values of c suggest that an observer was copying from a target. High values ofc for both the observer and the target suggest collusion. The theory is applied to a 40-item five-choice test taken by students in an introductory psychology section. From the full paired comparison matrix of target × observer parameter estimates, the method identifies 2 students who were probably in collusion.     

Characteristics of male partners of adult female incest survivors

The interpersonal style of male partners of adult female incest survivors was investigated. Two groups of men (partners of incest survivors, n=30; and a control group, n=30) completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance failed to support clinically-based hypotheses (a) that partners of incest survivors would exhibit a greater sense of entitlement in interpersonal relationships and (b) that a larger number of men abused in childhood would be in relationship with incest survivors than those not abused. Results point to a need for further controlled quantitative studies of the characteristics of male partners of female incest survivors. This article is based on the Master's Thesis of the first author submitted to the Graduate School of Texas Woman's University.     

Parental Attachment and gender-role identity

The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory were given to 218 primarily middle class college students of whom 90% were Caucasian. A 2 × 4 × 2 univariate factorial analysis of variance was used to examine the association of attachment level with gender, gender-role identity, and the within subjects factor of attachment figure. Feminine and androgynous individuals reported significantly higher levels of parental attachment than those classified as masculine and undifferentiated. There were also similar multivariate differences among the gender-role categories on the IPPA subscales of Communication, Trust, and Alienation. Across all participants, attachment to mother was higher than to father. Although there were no overall gender differences in parental attachment, females reported higher peer attachment.This paper is based on a master's thesis submitted in May of 1993 to the Graduate School of Texas Woman's University. This research appeared as a poster presentation at the 1994 annual convention of the American Psychological Association.     

An empirical couple typology based on differentiation

Both spouses of 100 married, heterosexual couples completed the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-Q). A cluster analysis of the couples' scores on the four intimacy and fusion scales of the PAFS-Q produced four clusters that were meaningfully distinct in the patterns of differentiation of the wives and husbands. Couples comprising these clusters are described in terms of intergenerational theories of family interaction.This paper is based on the master's thesis of the first author submitted to the Graduate School of Texas Woman's University. A presentation based on this work was given at the 1988 annual convention of the Southwestern Psychological Association, Tulsa, Oklahoma. The authors thank Glenda Peters and Joe Natale for their contributions to the preparation of this paper. A more extensive report of the methodology and results of this study can be obtained from the second author.     

Using neutralizing routines to reduce problem behaviors.

Establishing operations can alter problem behaviors by changing the momentary value of reinforcers associated with those problem behaviors. If establishing operations (EOs) precede the presentation of discriminative stimuli (S^Ds) for problem behaviors, it may be possible to introduce neutralizing routines that both reduce the value of reinforcers associated with problem behaviors and decrease the occurrence of problem behaviors. The present study examined this logic with 3 adolescents with severe intellectual disabilities. Initial functional analyses indicated that problem behaviors were motivated by either escape or tangible items. Functional assessment interviews identified possible establishing operations that were associated with the occurrence of problem behavior and indicated that these establishing operations occurred over 1 hr before presentation of the S^D for problem behaviors. We used an alternating treatments design to examine problem behaviors during instruction under four conditions: EO + S^D, S^D only, EO only, and neither S^D nor EO. For all 3 participants, problem behaviors occurred almost exclusively during the EO + S^D condition. A further analysis compared the EO + S^D condition when neutralizing routines were embedded between the EO and the S^D. Results from an ABAB reversal design supported the effectiveness of neutralizing routines to reduce these problem behaviors. Applied and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Excluded middle and bivalence

I consider two related objections to the claim that the law of excluded middle does not imply bivalence. One objection claims that the truth predicate captured by supervaluation semantics is not properly motivated. The second objection says that even if it is, LEM still implies bivalence. I show that LEM does not imply bivalence in a supervaluational language. I also argue that considering supertruth as truth can be reasonably motivated.     

Some cautionary notes regarding the use of aggregated scores as a measure of behavioral stability

The utility of the method of aggregation as a measure of behavioral consistency was examined in 26 studies involving computer-generated, repeated-measurement data. The first series of studies involved rectangular distributions in which score constant. A second series of studies used normally distributed z scores, and score consistency was manipulated by inducing a desired correlation between the scores in adjacent trials. In both sets of studies, the aggregate stability coefficient was a strictly increasing function of the number of aggregated trials, and even trivial amounts of score stability resulted in large stability coefficients. In a third series of studies, high stability coefficients occurred when computed on combined unstable subsamples which differed from each other only in central tendency. Terminal aggregate coefficients were compared with Spearman-Brown prophecy and Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients computed on the experimental data. It was concluded that the method of aggregation produces spuriously high estimates of behavioral consistency. It was further shown that the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula and coefficient alpha accurately predict the results of the aggregation method, suggesting that aggregation is an internal consistency reliability procedure. The equating of stability with traditional notions of reliability was questioned.     

Iconic memory: A reply to Professor Holding

Professor Holding has argued that the partial report superiority normally taken as evidence for the existence of iconic memory might instead be due to cue anticipation or output interference. I have suggested that both of these alternative explanations are inconsistent with the finding that the partial report superiority diminishes rapidly with increasing cue delay. In addition, Sperling’s original partial report experiment was designed in such a way that cue anticipation could not have occurred; and both his results with selection by letter vs number and Averbach and Coriell’s bar-marker results indicate that output interference effects are absent or negligible in tachistoscopic experiments. Consequently, I have concluded that the partial report superiority, and especially its decline with increasing delay, remains as strong evidence in favor of the conventional view of iconic memory. Furthermore, if this view were wrong, there would remain no way of giving a satisfactory account of (a) Averbach and Coriell’s results, (b) “direct” investigations of visual persistence, or (c) integration and interruption effects in backward visual masking.