A change of context can enhance performance of an aversive but not of an appetitive conditioned response

In four experiments rats received pairings of one auditory CS and mild shock in one context and of a second auditory CS and shock in a second context. When tested with one of these CSs in the context in which it had never been experienced, they consistently showed enhanced levels of suppression. In one of these experiments, suppression was measured over 15-sec intervals throughout a 90-sec long CS. A change of context resulted in an increased level of suppression at all points throughout the CS, a finding which does not encourage the belief that it was due to an increase in unconditioned suppression at the onset of the CS. Another experiment provided equally little support for an alternative account in terms of increased arousal. The results therefore suggest that a change of context can increase the level of conditioned suppression elicited by a CS paired with mild shock. Two final experiments employing the same CSs and contexts, however, found no evidence that a change of context had any effect at all on the performance of an appetitively conditioned response.     

The role of mathematical skill in sex differences on Raven’s Matrices

This study replicated a previously reported male advantage on certain items of Raven’s Matrices and found no sex differences in performance on other items. We refer to the latter as analytic (1) items and the former as analytic (2) items. Reasons for the male advantage were investigated by correlating scores obtained by male and female high school students on analytic (1) and analytic (2) items with their scores on tests of spatial, verbal and mathematical ability. There were no sex differences in the magnitude of the correlations between scores on analytic (2) items and the two spatial and verbal tests. In contrast, males but not females showed a significantly higher correlation of maths with analytic (2) than with analytic (1). The results suggest the Raven’s Matrices may engage different, more specific cognitive processes in males and more general cognitive processes in females.     

Book reviews

GRAY, J. A. Elements of a Two-Process Theory of Learning. London: Academic Press. 1975. Pp. 423. £6.60.

STOCKBRIDGE, H. C. W. Behaviour and the Physical Environment :Case Studies in Psychology and Ergonomics. London: Batsford. 1975. Pp. 191. £7.50.

CRYSTAL, D. The English Tone of Voice-Essays in Intonation, Prosody and Paralanguage. London: Edward Arnold. 1975. Pp. 198. £3.75.

MCFARLAND, D. J. (Ed.). Motivational Control Systems Analysis. London and New York: Academic Press. 1974. Pp. xii + 523. £11.00.

IVERSEN, S. D. and IVERSEN, L. L. Behavioral Pharmacology. New York and London: Oxford University Press. 1975. Pp. xiv + 310. £2.75.

LEVITT, R. A. Psychopharmacology. A Biological Approach. New York: Wiley. 1975. Pp. x + 502. £9.45.

DOWNS, R. M. and STEA, D. (Eds). Image and Environment. Chicago: Aldine. 1973. (London: Arnold). Pp. xxii + 439. £6.75.

MACCOBY, E. E. and JACKLIN, C. N. The Psychology of Sex Differences. London: Oxford University Press. 1975. Pp. 634. £7.00.

MASSARO, D. W. (Ed.). Understanding Language. New York: Academic Press. 1975. PP. 438. £7.90.

HILGARD, E. R., ATKINSON, R. C., and ATKINSON, R. L. Introduction to Psychology. Sixth Edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1975. Pp. 658. £8.10.     

Loss of control by a less valid or by a less salient stimulus compounded with a better predictor of reinforcement

An unsalient stimulus, or one imperfectly correlated with reinforcement, may acquire significant control over responding, provided that it is the only available signal for reinforcement, but may fail to acquire control if it is reinforced only in conjunction with a second, more salient or more valid stimulus. A stimulus imperfectly correlated with reinforcement may also lose control over responding if having initially been reinforced in isolation, it is subsequently reinforced only in conjunction with another, more valid stimulus. If the effects of relative salience are to be explained in exactly the same way as those of relative validity, we should expect a similar loss of control by an unsalient stimulus, A, if, after initial consistently reinforced trials to A alone, subjects subsequently receive reinforcement only in the presence of a compound stimulus, A + B. Two experiments on discrete-trial discrimination learning in pigeons and one on conditioned suppression in rats confirm this expectation. The results have implications for theories of selective association in conditioning and discrimination learning.     

Book reviews

GAZE, R. M. The Formation of Nerve Connections. London and New York. Academic Press. 1970. Pp. 282. £4.00.

CORNSWEET, T.N. Visual Perception. New York and London: Academic Press. 1970. Pp. xi + 475. £7.00.

ESTFS, W. K. Learning Theory and Mental Development. New York and London: Academic Press. 1970. Pp. 223.

SCHOENWLD, W. N. (Ed.). The Theory of Reinforcement Schedules. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. 1970. Pp. x + 316. (Price not known.)

REESE, HAYNEW. AND LIPSITT, LEWIS P. Experimental Child Psychology. New York and London: Academic Press. 1970. Pp. 782. £6.30.

MCNEILL, DAVID. The Acquisition of Language: The Study of Developmental Psycho-linguistics. New York: Harper & Row. 1970. Pp. 183. £3.15.

SINGLETON, W. T., Fox, J. G. and WHITFIELD, D. Measurement of Men at Work. London: Taylor and Francis. 1971. Pp. xiii + 267. £6.00.

NELSON, D. SSRC: Bibliography of British Psychological Research 1960-1966. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1971. Pp. 210. £1.00.     

Book reviews

Patterns of Redundancy: A Psychological Study. By A.C. Staniland. London: Cambridge university Press. 1966. Pp. viii + 216. 45s. $50.

Signal Detection theory and Psychophysics. By David M. Green and John A. Swets. London and New York: Wiley. 1966. Pp. xi + 455. 104s.

Acquisition of Skill. Edited by E.A. Bilodeau. New York and London: Academic Press. 1966. Pp. xiii + 539. £5.0

Readings in Verbal Learning: Contemporary Theory and Research. Edited by Donald H. Kausler. London and New york: Wiley. 1966. Pp. xii + 578. 60s.

Experiments in Visual Perception. Edited by M.D. Vernon. London: Penguin Modern Psychology. Pp. 430. 8s 6d.

Motivation. Edited by Dalbir Bindra and Jane Stewart. London: Penguin Modern Psychology. 1966. Pp. 352. 8s. 6d.

Pattern Recognition: Theory, Experiment, Computer Simulations, and Dynamic Models of Form Perception and discovery. Edited by Loenard Uhr. New York and London: wiley. 1966. Pp. xii + 393. 68s. cloth, 45s. paper.

Advances in the Study of Behavior. Volume I. Edited by D. S. Lehrman, R. A. Hinde and E. shaw. New York and London: Academic Press. 1965. Pp. x + 320. 76s.

Fields of Psychology. Edited by J. P. Guilford. Third Edition. Princeton, N. J. and London: Van Nostrand. 1966. Pp. x + 350. 72s.

Attitudes. Edited by M. Jahoda and N. Warren. London: Penguin Modern Psychology. 1966. Pp.375. 8s. 6d.

Personality Assessment. Edited by Boris Semeonoff. London: penguin Modern Psychology. 1966. Pp. 443. 8s. 6d

The Psychology Of Learning. By R. Borger and A. E. M. Seaborne. Harmondsworth. Middx.: penguin Books (Pelican Orginal). 1966. Pp. 243. 5s.

Eliminating the Unconscious: A Behaviourist View Psycho-analysis. By T.R. Miles. Oxford and London: Pergamon. 1966. Pp. xviii + 171. 17s. 6d.

Manuel Pratique de Psychologie Experimentale. By Paul Fraisse. Paris: Presses universitaires de France. 2nd edition, 1963. Pp. 392. 20F.

Abstraction and Concept Formation. By Anatol pikas. London: Oxford University press (Harvard University Press). 1966. Pp.xiii + 303. 56s.

Tactics of Scientific research. By Murray Sidman. London and New York: Basic Books. 1966. Pp. x + 428. $17s. 6d.

Psychodynamics and Hypnosis: New Contributions to the practice and theory Of hypno-therapy. Compiled and Edited by Milton V. Kline. Springfield. Illinois: Thomas. 1966. Pp. xi + 194. $8.75.

Psychology: The Science of Mental Life. By G.A Miller. London: Penguin Books. 1966. Pp. 415.7s. 6d.

The Memory System of the Brain. By J. Z. Young. London: Oxford University Press. 1967. Pp. vii + 128. 28s.     

Reversal learning in octopus vulgaris lamarck with and without irrelevant cues

Three groups of eight octopuses each were trained on a brightness discrimination and its reversal. Within each group half the animals were overtrained on the original problem and half were not. For Group I the discrimination was a simple one, for the other two groups irrelevant cues were introduced (for Group II position and for Group III orientation).

It was found that the overtrained animals learnt the reversal significantly faster than the non-overtrained only where irrelevant cues were present (i.e. only in Groups II and III). The results are discussed in relation to various theories of discrimination reversal.