Antagonistic effects of adjacency and apparent speed in induced movement

Two experiments concerning induced movement are reported. The hypothesis was that when outline inducing frames were used, object-relative displacement was modified by two variables, adjacency and apparent speed. Adjacency is directly related to the magnitude of induced movement. Small outline frames are high in adjacency, and so small frames should be powerful generators of induced movement. On the other hand, several investigators have found the speed of the inducing frame to be inversely related to the magnitude of induced movement. It is hypothesized here that this effect of speed was determined by apparent speed (not real speed), and if so, since small objects appeared to move faster than large ones, a small outline frame should be a relatively weak generator of induced movement. In the first experiment, this hypothesis was tested using single inducing frames. In the second experiment, this hypothesis was tested using two inducing frames presented simultaneously. The implications of these experiments were discussed with regard to other theories of induced movement.     

Interactive effects of generalized and situational expectancies on the arousal of cognitive and emotional components of social anxiety

This study examined the arousal of social anxiety in an interview setting as a function of anticipated self-disclosure. Of 88 college students who completed the Social Avoidance and Distress (SAD) scale and other measures of social anxiety, self-disclosure, need to affiliate, and interpersonal trust, 24 volunteered for the interview. During the interview, both components of anxiety (worry and emotionality) were affected by expectancy conditions, and emotionality was higher for high- than for low-SAD subjects. The prediction of an interaction between SAD level and expectancy condition on worry was confirmed: only high-SAD subjects exposed to the negative-expectancy condition experienced significant elevations in worry. Though social anxiety and self-disclosure measures correlated negatively, anxiety did not affect self-disclosure during the interview.     

Retention of verbal information by rehearsal in relation to the fluency of verbal output in aphasia

The purpose of the present study was to determine if aphasic subject groups differentiated by the fluency of their verbal output employed rehearsal as a strategy for maintaining verbally coded information in primary memory. A task based upon the Brown-Peterson paradigm was administered to 10 fluent aphasic patients, 10 nonfluent aphasic patients, 10 right-brain-damaged patients, and 10 nonneurological patients. The findings indicate that the nonfluent aphasic patients did not rehearse the verbal information while the fluent aphasic, right-brain-damaged, and nonneurological patients did rehearse. In addition, both fluent and nonfluent aphasic patients encoded significantly less information into the memory system initially and performed worse on the task overall than right-brain-damaged and nonneurological patients.     

Psychosocial aspects of fertility behavior: an overview

Selected aspects of decision making in fertility behavior are reviewed. Attention is directed to assessing motivational determinants, the value of children, the concept of "wantedness," delayed childbearing, and adolescent fertility. A woman's decision to use or not to use a birth control method is heavily influenced by partner interaction. The perception of the partner's attitudes and degree of control in the couple relationship are likely to affect the type of method used, the consistency of contraceptive practice, and the resolution of eventual pregnancies. The present generation in many countries is the 1st to be involved in the conscious process of deciding when and how many children to have and to discontinue contraception. The psychosocial model of fertility behaviour emphasizes the subjective assessment of the environment by the individual and the importance of the 2 partners in a couple influencing each other's perceptions and choice behavior. A key feature of successful couple planning behavior is their joint ability to anticipate future outcomes, plan ahead, and develop contingency alternatives. The history of attempts to explain and delineate motivational determinants of fertility behavior is long and filled with testimonials regarding the complexity of the task. It has been well documented in cross-national studies and commentaries that the pleasures which parents experience in raising their children are highly valued. The gradual transition in the perceived economic value of children probably reflects changing parental attitudes accompanying the secular decline in fertility rates. Reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies has been and continues to be one of the major objectives of international planned parenthood and responsible parenthood movements. No published evidence exists, however, that the unexpected, unplanned, or even unwanted pregnancy is always "bad" or that a planned pregnancy more often produces a psychologically healthy child. To date research has been sparse on the effect of a 1st birth as a conditional factor influencing the number and spacing of subsequent births. Little attention has focused on the process of continuing employment and parenthood. Amid the generally falling birth rates for women under age 20, the number of births to women under age 16 has increased from approximately 25,000 in 1960 to 42,000 in 1977. In the U.S. adolescents bearing children are the least likely to receive adequate prenatal care, are most at risk for having a low birth weight baby, and are more exposed to complications of labor and delivery.     

Do tough-minded people hold tough-minded attitudes?

Eysenck originally postulated that extraverts would adopt tough-minded social attitudes, although psychoticism is now considered to be of greater importance than extraversion. Previous research has attempted to relate psychoticism to realism-idealism, a principal factor of the Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale, and a measure of tough-mindedness acceptable to Eysenck. Results have proved discrepant; authors have used psychoticism scales of uncertain item content and length. The present study examines the relationship between psychoticism, extraversion and realism-idealism, using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Wilson-Patterson Attitude Inventory. The results provide only weak support for Eysenck’s theory. A more significant relationship was obtained between psychoticism and conservatism, and extraversion and conservatism, although a theoretical rationale for these relationships is lacking.     

The inferiority game: Perceptions and behavior

Other-sex perceptions and actual reported behavior of 318 college males and 287 college females were compared for four dating situations. The average degree of inaccuracy (disregarding direction) for males was 29.0%, while for women it was 12.5%. Conclusions support other research indicating superior role-taking ability on the part of females. The issues of cultural transmission and pluralistic ignorance are discussed as they affect male and female interaction. Important research implications for human relations and the family in particular are noted.     

Spontaneous configuring to a tone-light compound using appetitive training

Rats were trained to bar-press for water in the presence of a simultaneous compound tone-light stimulus using a discrete-trial procedure. Different groups were given between 300 and 3900 trials. When subsequently tested in extinction, all rats showed consistent levels of responding to the compound stimulus but responding to the tone and light components declined as a function of number of training trials. This is a demonstration of spontaneous configuring. Two other experiments showed that with similar procedures generalization from a component of the training stimulus to other values on the same continuum decreases with increased training with the compound stimulus. It was concluded that configuring and generalization from a single stimulus involve the same processes.     

Concurrent fixed-interval variable-ratio schedules and the matching relation

Five rats responded under concurrent fixed-interval variable-ratio schedules of food reinforcement. Fixed-interval values ranged from 50-seconds to 300-seconds and variable-ratio values ranged from 30 to 360; a five-second changeover delay was in effect throughout the experiment. The relations between reinforcement ratios obtained from the two schedules and the ratios of responses and time spent on the schedules were described by Baum's (1974) generalized matching equation. All subjects undermatched both response and time ratios to reinforcement ratios, and all subjects displayed systematic bias in favor of the variable-ratio schedules. Response ratios undermatched reinforcement ratios less than did time ratios, but response ratios produced greater bias than did time ratios for every subject and for the group as a whole. Local rates of responding were generally higher on the variable-ratio than on the fixed-interval schedules. When responding was maintained by both schedules, a period of no responding on either schedule immediately after fixed-interval reinforcement typically was followed by high-rate responding on the variable-ratio schedule. At short fixed-interval values, when a changeover to the fixed-interval schedule was made, responding usually continued until fixed-interval reinforcement was obtained; at longer values, a changeover back to the variable-ratio schedule usually occurred when fixed-interval reinforcement was not forthcoming within a few seconds, and responding then alternated between the two schedules every few seconds until fixed-interval reinforcement finally was obtained.