Sensory features and the reduction of imaginal interference

Interference generated among the sensory features of PA stimulus words is not eliminated by processing at the imaginal level. This experiment was planned to test the reverse possibility. Will interference generated by similar imaginal referents be eliminated by sensory overlap between the stimuli and their responses? Thus, stimulus words did or did not evoke similar images, pairs did or did not share initial letters, and lists were acquired either under an instructional set t o form interacting images or to repeat the items aloud. The results indicated that the imagery strategy was superior to the repetition strategy in all conditions, and that stimulus interference was statistically eliminated when pairs shared the same initial letters. The findings were interpreted as consistent with a levels of processing conceptualization.     

Visual and semantic factors in recognition from long-term memory

In recognition tests, physical and semantic relationships between targets and distractors have been shown, in separate manipulations, to affect the latency of subject's decision. Recognition was tested for distractors which were visually similar or dissimilar to targets and which belonged to the target categories or to nontarget categories in order to examine the interaction of these dimensions. Rejection latency was longer for target category than for nontarget category distractors. Latency was also longer for visually similar than visually dissimilar distractors, but only when combined with target category probes. This interaction can be explained by the hypothesis that word recognition depends on the analysis of several dimensions of the probe stimulus, and rejection can occur before all such analyses have been completed.     

An expanded scope for behavior modification in school settings

Behavior modification in the school setting has consisted primarily of the manipulation of consequent conditions to vary children's social and academic behaviors within classrooms. The scope of behavior modification within school settings may fruitfully be expanded by furthering the investigation and application of these additional areas: the interaction between the modification of social and academic behaviors, the manipulation of antecedent conditions in order to evoke reinforceable responses, the use of controlling variables on a school-system-wide basis, and the use of standardized tests as an additional dependent measure.     

The development of rulebound strategies for manipulating seriated cups: A parallel between action and grammar

Systematic observation of American children from 11 to 36 months of age playing with seriated nesting cups established the existence of a developmental sequence of rulebound or consistent strategies for combining the cups. The three action strategies seem formally homologous to certain grammatical constructions, and the manipulative strategies are acquired in the same developmental order as the corresponding grammatical structures. These strategies might therefore constitute a manifestation of some underlying structural capacities critical for language acquisition. The development of seriation described by Piaget for children from 4 to 8 years of age working with other materials was replicated in this much younger age range using nesting cups. These stages in the growth of a concept of ordinal quantity turn out to be empirically and theoretically related to the rulebound strategies upon which the study focused.     

Success estimations and performance in children as influenced by age,gender, and task

This study examined the effects of a manipulated sex association cue on the estimation of success as well as actual performance on a novel motor task. Boys and girls in the third and seventh grade (N=80) were randomly assigned by gender and grade to either a football-related or a dance-related group. The task was a simple reaction time test that was presented with instructions to indicate a sex association. Findings indicated that performance expectancies obtained prior to engaging in a novel motor task can be affected by the way a task is presented.     

Cognitive and marital factors in depression

The current investigation examines three groups of wives: (1) a group of nondepressed, nondiscordant community wives; (2) a group of nondepressed, discordant clinic wives; and (3) a group of depressed, discordant clinic wives. Groups were formed on the basis of structured interview responses and responses to a self-report inventory of depressive symptomatology. To be classified as depressed, wives were required to meet DSM III criteria for depression according to interview data and to exceed a Beck Depression Inventory score of 14. Both clinic groups showed equal levels of marital discord. Both nondepressed groups showed equally few cognitive errors. Accordingly, comparisons of these three groups allow us to test current interpersonal and cognitive theories of depression. The level of closeness in the marriage differentiated the depressed, discordant from the nondepressed, discordant wives despite their equal levels of overall marital discord. The level of depressive symptomatology was greater for the nondepressed clinic wives than it was for the community wives despite their equal levels of cognitive errors. Both closeness in the marriage and cognitive errors accounted for the unique variance in level of depression. Implications for current interpersonal and cognitive accounts of depression are discussed.Support for this research came in part from NIMH Grant 38390-02. Portions of this paper were presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy.