Dominance: Another Facet of Type A1

Aggression, but not dominance, is typically used as a criterion for the assessment of Type A behavior. This study proposed and demonstrated that nonaggressive dominance, defined as interpersonal resistance or persistence in efforts to control a competitive situation, is associated with Type A behavior for both males and females. Forty males and 35 females typed with the Jenkins Activity Survey participated in a revised version of the classic Deutsch and Krauss (1960) competition paradigm. Both A males and females were more dominant than their respective Type B counterparts. Type A males were not different from Type A females in persistence, nor were Type B males different from Type B females. Female Type A's were more resistant to their competitor's efforts at controlling the situation than were their Type B counterparts. Male Type A's did not differ from their Type B counterparts in resistance. The implications of these results in further elucidating the mechanisms underlying the relationship between Type A and pathophysiologic health hazards are discussed.     

Motor impairment and antisocial behavior in adolescent males at high risk for schizophrenia

A familial link between schizophrenia and antisocial behavior has been established (e.g., Silverton, 1985). This study examined this relationship in a Danish cohort. The subjects were 36 high-risk males (offspring of a schizzophrenic parent) and 36 low-risk males (offspring of parents without psychopathology). This high-risk subjects exhibited more antisocial behavior than the low-risk subjects. We tested the hypothesis of a correlation between neurointegrative deficits, as defined by motor impairment, and antisocial behavior, rated at ages 10–13, in subjects at genetic risk for schizophrenia. Path analyses were conducted from motor impairment at 1 year and motor impairment at 10–13 years to antisocial behavior separately for high-risk and low-risk subjects. Adolescent motor impairment was a significant predictor of antisocial behavior for high-risk subjects. Motor impairment at 1 year was also associated with antisocial behavior for these subjects, although the association was partly due to the indirect effects of motor impairment at 1 year on motor impairment at 10–13 years, which, in turn, was associated with changes in antisocial behavior. As predicted, none of the path coefficients nor the effect coefficient was significant for low-risk subjects.     

Speech rate and the development of short-term memory span

Two experiments are reported which examine the effects of word duration on memory span in subjects of different ages. The same linear function relating recall to speech rate (assessed by the speed of repeating words) fits the results of subjects ranging in age from 4 years old to adulthood. It is concluded that developmental increases in short-term memory span can be explained in terms of increases in speech rate and that there is no evidence for an increase in short-term memory capacity. Analyses of the children's speech suggests that increases in speech rate with age reflect increases in the speed of articulation of individual words, rather than any change in the duration of pauses between successive words or changes in coarticulation between words.     

Frequency and recency effects on response biasing in a pseudo-perceptual task

The pseudo-recognition technique provides an ingenious method of evaluating the influence of response biasing variables. This study tests the effects of recency on low and medium frequency words using the pseudo-recognition procedure. It was found that under short recency conditions the thresholds of medium and low frequency words did not differ, while under longer recency conditions the low frequency words had significantly lower thresholds than medium frequency words.     

Pause adjustment mechanism and measurement system (PAMMS)

A system is described whereby silent interval duration may be studied as a parameter in the perception of speech pauses under controlled conditions. PAMMS (pause adjustment mechanism and measurement system) provides the S (or the E) with the unique capability of directly manipulating a pause which is then automatically measured electronically. The system includes electronic devices which provide for a specialized switching and dubbing procedure by means of which test tapes are generated.     

Authoritarianism and recall of evidence about criminal behavior

Research by Marshall (1966) suggested that high authoritarian persons might be more accurate at recalling evidence about criminal behavior than low authoritarian persons. Drawing on other research findings, Marshall's hypothesis was expanded to predict that high authoritarians would recall more about evidence relating to defendant character and low authoritarians would recall more about situational evidence. In two jury-simulation experiments the new hypothesis was confirmed.     

Stability and change in a perspective reversal illusion

A phenomenologieal explanation is presented for the stability and instability of the appearance of the form of objects as a consequence of changes in (1) the spatial position of the observer with respect to the object, and (2) the amount of time the object is observed from a specific spatial position. In support of the explanation, an object was constructed so that it would have multiple appearances when observed continuously from the same viewpoint. The initial appearance of this object when observed from different spatial positions and the constancy over time of these appearances were demonstrated to be in agreement with the theoretical expectations.     

A structural analysis of stability in the perceived form of objects rotating in depth

Summary The stability and form of the two different appearances of a simple rotating object were explained by considering both the geometric transformations interrelating these appearances and their degree of organization. The analysis was then used to guide the construction of two complex rotating objects each expected to have multiple appearances. The results of an experiment confirmed the predicted form of the objects' initial appearances (illusory), the relative stability in time of these appearances and the form of the subsequent appearances (also illusory). The veridical appearances were never seen despite continued observation during two 10 min periods.We wish to thank P. Hamilton, A. Pearsall, A. Vadum, and H. Vadum for their help with this research. Requests for reprints should be sent to the first author at 1 Howatson Way, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01609, USA