Comprehension of main ideas and details in coherent and noncoherent discourse by aphasic and nonaphasic listeners

Aphasic and nonaphasic listeners' comprehension of main ideas and details within coherent and noncoherent narrative discourse was examined. Coherent paragraphs contained one topic to which all sentences in the paragraph related. Noncoherent paragraphs contained a change in topic with every third or fourth sentence. Each paragraph contained four main ideas and one or more details that related to each main idea. Listeners' responses to yes/no questions following each paragraph yielded the following results: (1) Nonaphasic listeners comprehended the paragraphs better than aphasic listeners. (2) Both aphasic and nonaphasic listeners comprehended main ideas better than they comprehended details. (3) Coherence did not affect comprehension of main ideas for either group. (4) Coherence did not affect comprehension of details by nonaphasic subjects. (5) Coherence affected comprehension of details by aphasic subjects, and their comprehension of details in coherent paragraphs was worse than their comprehension of details in noncoherent paragraphs. There was no significant correlation between Token Test scores and measures of paragraph comprehension.     

Pictorial rehearsal

Subjects were presented with a sequence of picture-word items. The pictures were line drawings of common objects, and the words were the names of the objects. Half of the items were followed quickly by the next item, and the other half by a 15-sec “rehearsal interval.” The subjects were told to use these intervals to rehearse the item just presented, either by saying the word over and over to themselves or by maintaining the picture before the mind’s eye. There followed a test in which each item from the study list was cued with a fragment of either the picture or the name. Consistent with previous findings, identification was more probable for fragments of items that had been followed by a rehearsal interval. In addition, this advantage was found to be greater when the type of cue matched the mode of rehearsal that the subject had been instructed to adopt; there was in fact little, if any, advantage of rehearsal when cue and mode of rehearsal mismatched. This pattern of results suggests functionally distinct pictorial and verbal modes of rehearsal that serve not only to maintain information in conscious mind but also to build up memory proper.     

Semantic foundations for conditional permission

Conclusion The principal aim of the present paper has been the presentation of a semantical foundation for an important species of deontic logic (viz., the conditional variety). This semantical approach to the problem is essentially new and has the advantage of providing a complex of conceptual machinery by means of which this branch of applied logic can be placed upon a more rigorous and solid foundation. Above all, it makes available a logically rigorous criterion of acceptability for deontic principles by means of which questions in this sphere can be treated and resolved upon other than intuitive grounds.     

On ‘there is’

Philosophical Studies -     

The effect of overtraining and repeated extinctions on speed of extinction in electrical self-stimulation

Fourteen rats with hypothalamic electrodes needed at least 3,000 reinforcements in self-stimulation before extinction scores reached their peak. In a series of up to 36 further extinctions and reconditionings, involving a total of 10,500 reinforcements, extinction scores fell to the extreme low values typical of self-stimulation. The extent of this fall was shown to depend on the number of extinctions administered, but not on the number of reinforcements, indicating that a process of conditioned inhibition may be partially responsible for rapid extinction after self-stimulation.     

Reflections on uncomplemented philosophies,integrated curriculums and words that bind and separate in counseling and clinical psychology

Should counseling psychology remain a distinct specialty or should it merge with clinical psychology? Recently, a growing amount of attention has been directed toward the increasing similarities between the counseling and clinical specialties, and musings about integrating them into a generic training model have emerged. This position paper considers some problems with the current divisions existing between counseling and clinical psychology. Three basic points are examined: (a) the effects of language systems on the counseling and clinical specialties; (b) the normal-abnormal dimension of behavior as a weak justification for distinct specialties; and (c) the fostering of distorted views of human behavior through counseling and clinical training programs.     

Person-centered theory and the contemporary practice of psychological testing

This paper examines the effects of person-centered theory on contemporary psychological testing. Seven basic ideas or assumptions, which are integral to and guide the testing process, are identified and briefly discussed. Each idea is considered to have been affected either directly or indirectly by person-centered philosophy. Some of the ways in which these ideas are reflected in contemporary testing practice are indicated.