The automatic recording of aggression in pigeons: A comparison of two methods with live targets

Three pigeons were exposed to a fixed-time response independent food-delivery schedule and a live target pigeon restrained in a holder mounted on a spring and microswitch assembly. This common method of recording aggression was compared with a photocell system, and both were evaluated by observation of video-tape recordings. Dependent variables included the number of interfood intervals with an attack, attacks per minute, and attack duration. The photocell proved more reliable than the microswitch and correlated highly with observations of both the number of interfood intervals with an attack for three subjects and attack duration for two. Neither apparatus provided accurate information about the rate of attacks. The microswitch apparatus was not sensitive to changes in the subject’s attack topography, while both recording devices were susceptible to activation by responses in the attacking pigeon other than discrete pecks or physical blows. In view of these findings, attacks per minute may not be an appropriate measure of aggression in studies using such devices.     

Selective masking and processing strategy

A patterned masking stimulus was presented immediately following a 100-ms exposure of a centrally-fixated, eight-letter row. The bar-marker probe, indicating which letter to report, appeared either at onset (simultaneous cue), or at offset (delayed cue) of a letter row. A selective-masking effect--greater masking at the centre positions than at the ends of a row--was obtained with the delayed cue. With the simultaneous cue, all positions were masked and there was no selective-masking effect. These results indicate that the effects of a patterned masking stimulus are dependent upon the processing strategy, and they support previous interpretations of selective masking which state that it is produced by an ends-first processing strategy.     

Information need,affect, and cognition of autonomic activity

Several studies have shown that bogus feedback of physiological change induces a greater liking for attractive stimuli. Other research suggests that the affective change induced by bogus feedback requires an opportunity to visually search change-associated stimuli for information which can account for its purported physiological effect. While there is considerable agreement among theorists that a greater disliking should obtain when the stimuli are unattractive (but a lack of data supporting this contention), there is disagreement about whether information searching is directed equally toward change-associated stimuli and no-change stimuli, or toward change-associated stimuli alone.Results of the present study support the contention that stimulus features determine the kind of affect experienced: change-associated slides depicting nudes are rated as more attractive than no-change-associated nudes, and change-associated slides depicting accident vitctims are rated as more repulsive than no-change-associated victims. Information seeking data are more consistent with the contention that information needs exist after both types of feedback.     

WISC short forms with emotionally disturbed children

The complete WISC protocols of 100 emotionally disturbed children were rescored according to 30 selected-subtest and 1 selected-item methodologies and then compared for their correspondence to the standard form. High correlations between all of the short forms and the standard WISC were obtained. However, 16 of the selected-subtest short forms and the selected-item short form resulted in a significantly different mean than the standard. In addition, all short forms resulted in a high percentage of individuals changing IQ classification. Results are interpreted as indicating the inappropriateness of short forms with emotionally disturbed children when individual scores are of prime interest.     

Rule identity classification of name and shape stimuli

Displays consisting of two names, two shapes, or a name printed inside a shape, were classified by the report “Yes” if both components were ‘compact’ (square or cirle combinations) or if both were ‘elongated’ (ellipse and oblong combinations). Displayswhich did not conform to this rule were classified by the report “No”. An analysis of “Yes” RTs indicated that name-name combinations were classified rapidly at a physical identity level, but relatively slowly at the rule identity level. “No” RTs to name-name displays were significantly slower than RTs to shape-shape or name-shape displays. However, “No” RTs were not delayed when the display components were visually similar. These results are discussed in relation to some current theories about the semantic representation of object names.     

THE EFFECTS OF A SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL PACKAGE ON OVERACTIVE PRESCHOOL BOYS

The effects of a self-instructional package on three overactive preschool boys were investigated using a multiple-baseline design across subjects. Behavioral observations of the three target subjects indicated transfer of training effects from the experimental tasks to the classroom. On-task behaviors increased dramatically concomitant with the introduction of the self-instructional package, and treatment gains were maintained 22.5 weeks after baseline was initiated. In addition, the use of an observer-expectancy control condition gave further credibility to the demonstration of a causal relationship.     

Teaching social skills to isolated children

The effects of a social skill training program on socially isolated children are reported. The training program was derived from the results of a previous study of the specific social skills that discriminated popular from unpopular children. Training effects in the present investigation were assessed on sociometric position, and on the quality, frequency, and distribution of social interaction to peers. Time-series analyses were performed on the frequency and distribution of peer interaction. Two isolated children received social skill training with an adult coach, and two isolated children spent an equivalent amount of time with an adult. Results indicated that socially isolated children in the treatment group changed significantly in sociometric position on a follow-up assessment 9 weeks after the end of the intervention, did not change in the total frequency of peer social interaction, but did redistribute their interaction to peers. The two isolated children who did not receive the treatment program did not change significantly on the total frequency of peer interaction, and tended to withdraw from peers rather than redistribute their interaction. The insensitivity of total peer interaction frequency as a measure of outcome was discussed.     

On the disruption of visual memory: Interference produced by visual report cues

Report of single letters from centrally-fixated, seven-letter, target rows was probed by either auditory or visual cues. The target rows were presented for 100 ms, and the report cues were single digits which indicated the spatial location of a letter. In three separate experiments, report was always better with the auditory cues. The advantage for the auditory cues was maintained both when target rows were masked by a patterned stimulus and when the auditory cues were presented 500 ms later than comparable visual cues. The results indicate that visual cues produce modality-specific interference which operates at a level of processing beyond iconic representation.     

Processing order in visual perception

Initial increases in the availability of items for report following tachistoscopic presentation of centrally-fixated rows of seven random letters were directly evaluated by measuring report accuracy following exposure durations of 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 ms. A partial-report technique was used, and each presentation of a letter row was immediately followed by the presentation of a masking stimulus. Each of 10 subjects received 840 trials which reflected 24 trials for each exposure-duration by position-probed combination. The letters at both ends of a row became available for report prior to the centre letters. In addition, report of the left-most letter was consistently better than report of the right-most letter, and report of the centre item at fixation improved at a more rapid rate with increased exposure duration than report of the other centre letters. This pattern of results provides support for certain components of several different previous proposals concerning the order in which individual items from multi-element displays become available for report.