A NOTE ON TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL IN THE DELAYED-CUE PROCEDURE: FACILITATION BY AN OVERT DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE

This case study describes initially unsuccessful attempts to use the delayed-cue procedure to teach conditional discriminations to an individual with moderate mental retardation. The task was matching printed-word comparison stimuli to dictated-name sample stimuli. In three experiments, the subject typically waited for the delayed cue unless differential responses to the dictated samples (repeating the sample names) were required. Hence, the study provides an example of a way to make the delayed-cue method more effective. The stimulus control bases for the results are discussed.     

The role of attention in the shift from orientation-dependent to orientation-invariant identification of disoriented objects

In two experiments, the naming of rotated line drawings of natural objects was examined after a training phase in which the objects were either attended or ignored. In the training phase of Experiment 1, subjects were presented with objects in a number of orientations over five repeated blocks of trials. In the center of each object, seven letters (Xs and Ts, colored red or blue) were presented in rapid succession. Half the subjects named aloud the rotated object and ignored the changing letter display (object-attend). The other half ignored the object and counted the number of red Ts, and then used this number to perform a simple multiplication (object-ignore). In the test phase, all subjects named the rotated objects. The results showed that in the first block of trials in the training phase, mean naming time in the object-attend condition increased the further an object was rotated from the upright. This effect of orientation for attended objects was much reduced in the later presentations of the test phase. In contrast, there was no such benefit of prior presentation observed for the naming of objects that had previously been ignored. Instead, a substantial orientation effect was shown for the naming of previously ignored objects, which was similar to the orientation effect observed for attended objects named in the first block. Similar results were found in Experiment 2, in which object-attend subjects in training covertly named the objects and then performed a letter count and multiplication task. In both experiments, performance on the letter count and multiplication task varied with the angle of the ignored object. The results suggest that full attentional resources must be allocated in order for orientation-invariant representations to be formed and used in the identification of rotated objects.     

Negative priming by rotated objects

Previous work has found that repeated exposure to ignored rotated objects is insufficient to allow the formation of orientation-invariant representations (Murray, 1995b). In this study, the negative priming paradigm was used to examine whether the identity of ignored rotated objects was encoded. Subjects were briefly presented with a prime followed by a probe display. One of the two overlapping drawings of objects in each display was selected for further processing, and the other was ignored. In one condition, the ignored objects were upright; in another, they were rotated 240°; and in a final condition, subjects repeatedly named the 240° objects prior to experiencing them as ignored objects in the priming task. Naming latency for the attended probe was slower when it was semantically related to the ignored prime in all conditions. The results suggest that unattended rotated objects are processed to a level of representation that is at least categorical.     

Verb Comprehension Deficits in Probable Alzheimer's Disease

Studies of lexical comprehension in probable Alzheimer's disease (pAD) have focused almost exclusively on nouns. In the following preliminary study, we examined whether lexical comprehension for verbs is also impaired in 25 pAD patients. The semantic meaning of motion verbs, cognition verbs, and perception verbs was assessed with a triadic comparison task. Structural meaning associated with these verbs was evaluated by asking the patients to judge the coherence of sentence frames that accept these verbs naturally or awkwardly. We found that pAD patients are significantly impaired at identifying semantic relations among verbs. pAD patients also encountered significantly more difficulty judging the coherence of sentences than control subjects. Correlation and regression analyses demonstrated that semantic characteristics of verbs are projected from the verbs' sentence frames in control subjects, but there was minimal evidence for such a structural–semantic relationship in pAD. We consider several possible explanations for our preliminary observations of an impairment that has consequences for processing both semantic and structural aspects of verb meaning.     

Assessing decision strategies using HyperCard

The use of “process-tracing” techniques for examining individuals’ decision strategies has been criticized widely for yielding results that are uninformative and often confounded. The present paper describes a new technique based on a “structural” approach that allows efficient assessment of finely discriminated decision strategies via a HyperCard program called DECOUT. The program presents individuals with an information matrix (e.g., describing five alternative pesticides on three attributes). Individuals are asked to choose the best or the worst alternative in the matrix for 12 problems. Information in the matrix is constructed so that choice of an alternative by an individual is uniquely associated with use of one particular decision strategy. The strategies include information integration, maximin, maximax, pessimism-optimism, and minimax-regret processes. An experiment using the program is described, and possible directions for future research and development are discussed.     

Book reviews

Sun at Midnight. The Rudolf Steiner Movement and the Western Esoteric Tradition by Geoffrey Ahern The Aquarian Press, Wellingborough 1984 ISBN 0–85030–338–9 (H/B) £7.95

Religion and Medicine World Religions and Medicine (4th Volume of Essays in the IRM Religious and Medicine Series) (ed) D. Goodacre. Institute of Religion and Medicine, St Giles Oxford. £1.95

Believing and Belonging: The Practice of Believing in The Church by Anthony E. Harvey SPCK £2.50 pp.136 p/b

E. Milingo: The World In Between: Christian healing and the Struggle for Spiritual Survival Edited, with introduction, Commentary and Epilogue by Mona Macmillan London: C Hurst & Co, 1984. pp vi+138. Price: hard covers ‐ £7.95; soft covers ‐ £3.95

Hinduism in England edited by David G. Bowen The faculty of Contemporary Studies, Bradford College, 1981     

Adaptive regression and types of cognitive flexibility

The relationship between adaptive regression and cognitive flexibility was explored in a group of 42 college students. Adaptive regression was measured with the Holt scoring system for the Rorschach. One type of cognitive flexibility was measured by Guilford's tests of divergent production (Word Fluency, Associational Fluency, and Alternate Uses) and a second type by Mednick's Remote Associates Test. Adaptive regression was found to be significantly positively related to the Remote Associates Test in males but not in females. Adaptive regression was found to be unrelated to divergent production tests. These relationships were not found to be mediated by Rorschach productivity or verbal intelligence. A two-stage process was proposed to account for the cognitive operations underlying adaptive regression and the Remote Associates Test. The first stage is seen as a generative (primary process) stage, while the second stage is seen as an evaluative (secondary process) stage. Possible reasons for sex differences were also discussed.     

Prominent publications in cognitive psychology

This article identifies the 50 publications in cognitive psychology that were most frequently cited in the professional literature between 1979 and early 1982. The characteristics of these publications are discussed, and comparisons are made with other relevant findings.     

Can attention give a left-ear advantage for verbal stimuli?

Three independent groups of 8 subjects listened monaurally to a randomized list of 50 common and 50 rare words and responded ‘yes’ to rare words. Responses were analyzed for correct identifications of rare words. A 50:50 group heard an equal number of words in right and left ears and gave a small but non-significant right-ear superiority. A 66:34 group heard nearly twice as many words in the right ear as the left and gave a significant right-ear superiority. A 34:66 group heard nearly twice as many words in the left ear as the right and gave a significant left-ear superiority. Responses were also analyzed according to signal-detection theory. Implications are discussed for theories of ear advantages.