Co-occurrent use of cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee in healthy, community-living men and women

Previous studies have examined intra-individual aggregation in the use of cigarettes, alcohol, and coffee by examining the co-occurrent use of any pair of these three substances. A recent literature review failed to find a single investigation that studied use of all three in the same sample. In the present study, co-occurrent use of all three of these substances was examined in crossvalidated subsamples of 226 male and 245 female healthy, community-living, middle-class Americans. A log-linear analysis was used to compare the proportion of smokers, ex-smokers, and nonsmokers categorized as users of more or less amounts of coffee and alcohol. Although most of the intercorrelations were not strong, the results indicate that for both sexes, smokers and ex-smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to drink greater amounts of alcohol and coffee. Furthermore, for smokers, ex-smokers, and nonsmokers, a majority of individuals who reported drinking more alcohol also reported drinking more coffee. Interestingly, the coffee and alcohol consumption levels of ex-smokers resembled those of smokers more than those of nonsmokers. Also, ex-smokers reported drinking more wine and decaffeinated coffee than either smokers or nonsmokers. Finally, the number of cigarettes smoked per day (daily quantity) was positively related to total alcohol and coffee consumption in men, but not in women. Further studies are recommended to examine the role of individual differences in the development, maintenance, and modification of these three appetitive habits and their co-occurrence.     

Using interactive computing to expand intelligence testing: A critique and prospectus

Microcomputers can serve as automated testing stations for use in psychometric assessment. There are economic advantages in conducting aptitude and intelligence testing with such stations. It is possible to improve the quality of cognitive assessment by extending the range of cognitive abilities to be assessed? Two types of extension are considered; modifying and expanding testing procedures for psychological functions that are components of conventional tests, and the extension oof testing to psychological functions not generally assessed by conventional intelligence or aptitude tests. Computerized presentations will make relatively little difference in our ways of testing verbal comprehension. Computer controlled testing could well extend the ways in which we evaluate spatial-visual reasoning and memory. The impact of testing on the evaluation of reasoning is unclear. Computer-controlled item presentation makes it possible to conceive of tests of learning and attention, neither of which are evaluated in most psychometric programs today. The psychological nature of the abilities being assessed raises problems in assessment that are not addressed by the fact oof computer-control. Some research questions are identified that ought to be explored before testing is extended into these fields. Computer-controlled evaluation could be extended to the assessment of criterion performance, either in the normal working situation or in a simulation of the workplace. While evaluation of this sort does raise social questions, it clearly presents an opportunity to obtain validation data for psychological assessment studies.     

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) spatial problem solving with the use of mirrors and televised equivalents of mirrors

Two adult male chimpanzees reached through a hole in the wall of their home cage and, by tracking the images of their hands and of an otherwise hidden target object in a mirror or closed-circuit television picture, moved their hands in whichever direction was necessary to make contact with the target object. They discriminated between live video images and tapes and performed effectively when the target objects were presented in novel locations and when the video picture was presented at random in different orientations. There was thus no consistent relation between the location of images on the monitor and the location of their real-world counterparts. Comparable performances in monkeys and nonprimates seem unlikely.     

Doctoral training in behavior analysis: Training generalized problem-solving skills

This essay provides guidelines for designing a doctoral program in behavior analysis. First, we propose a general accomplishment for all behavior analytic doctoral students: that they be able to solve problems concerning individual behavior within a range of environments. Second, in order to achieve this goal, we propose that students be trained in conceptual and experimental analysis of behavior, the application of behavioral principles and the administration of behavioral programs. This training should include class work, but it should emphasize the immersion of students in a variety of environments in which they are required to use behavior analytic strategies. Third, we provide an example of a hypothetical graduate program that involves the proposed training. Finally, an evaluation plan is suggested for determining whether a training program is in fact producing students who are generalized problem-solvers. At each step, we justify our point of view from a perspective that combines principles from behavior analysis and educational systems design.     

Responsiveness to estrous chemostimuli in male rats (Rattus norvegicus) of different ages

Previous findings indicate that Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) respond differentially to estrous chemostimuli in early infancy and that adult male sexual responsiveness to such chemostimuli depends on infantile experience with suckling odors (Fillion & Blass, in press). The development of behavioral responsiveness to estrous chemostimuli in male rats from late infancy to adulthood was examined in this study. Preweanling, adolescent, and adult males were observed for 20 min in the presence of an anesthetized estrous or an anesthetized diestrous female. This was, for adolescent and adult subjects, the first heterosexual encounter since weaning. Rats in each age-group responded differentially according to female state, but in distinct, age-related ways. Preweanling spent more time investigating the female's body if she was estrous. Adults expressed the same affinity but by more focused investigation directed perivaginally. Adolescents showed no female-directed bias but groomed themselves more if the female was estrous. These data identify developmental continuities and discontinuities in male rat behavior toward sexually receptive females.     

Achromatic color categories

Sternheim and Boynton’s (1966) continuous judgmental color-naming technique was used to assess the elemental nature of achromatic colors. Results from three subjects indicate that the names “black” and “white” are necessary and sufficient to describe achromatic test lights associated with the name “gray.” On the basis of the criteria that establishes a color as elemental, black and white were confirmed as elemental, whereas gray was not. These findings support the assumption of various opponent processing models that there are only two elemental achromatic sensations. In addition, the results support Hering’s (1920) view that black and white differ from the paired-chromatic opponent colors in that they are not mutually exclusive.     

Infants’ sensitivity to familiar size: The effect of memory on spatial perception

Two experiments investigated infants’ sensitivity to familiar size as information for the distances of objects with which they had had only brief experience. Each experiment had two phases: a familiarization phase and a test phase. During the familiarization phase, the infant played with a pair of different-sized objects for 10 min. During the test phase, a pair of objects, identical to those seen in the familiarization phase but now equal in size, were presented to the infant at a fixed distance under monocular or binocular viewing conditions. In the test phase of Experiment 1, 7-month-old infants viewing the objects monocularly showed a significant preference to reach for the object that resembled the smaller object in the familiarization phase. Seven-month-old infants in the binocular viewing condition reached equally to the two test phase objects. These results indicate that, in the monocular condition, the 7-month-olds used knowledge about the objects’ sizes, acquired during the familiarization phase, to perceive distance from the test objects’ visual angles, and that they reached preferentially for the apparently nearer object. The lack of a reaching preference in the binocular condition rules out interpretations of the results not based on the objects’ perceived distances. The results, therefore, indicate that 7-month-old infants can use memory to mediate spatial perception. The implications of this finding for the debate between direct and indirect theories of visual perception are discussed. In the test phase of Experiment 2,5-month-old infants viewing the objects monocularly showed no reaching preference. These infants, therefore, showed no evidence of sensitivity to familiar size as distance information.