What is the signal in signal detection?

This study concerns the nature of the stimulus represented along the decision axis in the yes/no auditory detection task. Two contrasting interpretations, absolute and difference representation of the stimulus, are tested by raising the carrier tone embedded within the background “noise” to the level of the signal, on occasional “catch” trials. Results indicate that difference detection may be the preferred mode of operation when a carrier tone is present and the task is a difficult one. Implications for the TSD model are discussed in terms of the relative efficiency of the two detection mechanisms.     

Examination stress and performance on a color-word interference test

Interference observed in the Stroop color-word task is influenced by various characteristics of the words employed. 38 students in their final year, approaching examinations, were asked to name the colors of words associated with this theme. These words produced greater delay than a control set, and those students who were most anxious about the examinations experienced most interference. This effect might be more generally employed in stress research, providing a performance-based index of reaction to issues or situations which are potential sources of anxiety.     

早期经验和人类的发展

经验对行为的发展起着多么大的作用?这个问题是传统的先天论者和经验论者论战的中心。一方认为婴儿在生物学上已经具备能够适应感觉刺激的能力,并以一种有系统的方式与外在环境交互作用。这种观点认为儿童随着年龄的增长所完成的较复杂技能是来自成熟而不是来自经验。经验论者的观点可以William James的论述为代表:“婴儿用     

The psychology of environmental concern—some Australian data

An attempt is made to find out what psychological traits (if any) are characteristic of the environmentalism supporter in the community at large. In an Australia-wide mail survey, ‘environmentalists’ were found to be consumer-conscious, anti-authoritarian, anti-Australia, less interested in personal ‘success’, anti-fashion, counter-culturally oriented and hedonistic. All except the first were however very weak tendencies. They were found to be equally likely to go either way on social conservatism, economic conservatism, sociability and misanthropy.     

The effect of Velten's mood-induction procedure for depression on hand movement and head-down posture

The purpose of the present study was to extend the behavioral criteria of Velten's mood-induction procedure for depression. Nonverbal behaviors (hand movements and head-down position) associated with clinical depression were measured both before and after a subject read either negative self-referential statements (N=14) or neutral statements (N=12). The measures were unobtrusively obtained by video recordings of the subject's behavior during a standardized interview with an experimenter. The reading of negative self-referential statements led to a significant decrease in the use of hand illustrators and a marginal increase in the use of head-down postures. No significant changes occurred in the control group. The results support the notion that Velten's procedure for depression does alter behavior in a manner similar to the clinical state of depression.This study was conducted as a senior research project at Franklin & Marshall College by the second author under the supervision of the first author.     

Interrater reliability of scores derived from two methods for scoring the clock drawing test

Scores on the Clock Drawing Test have long been considered a useful screening tool for neuropsychological dysfunction, and a number of scoring methods have been developed to evaluate various aspects of performance. This study compared quantitative and qualitative scoring by briefly trained students on 145 clock drawings produced by patients in a geriatric psychiatry outpatient clinic to estimate the interrater reliability of the methods, user's acceptance of the methods, and whether the methods provide differential diagnosis. Both systems showed acceptable interrater reliability. Using the quantitative method, raters scored drawings by patients with organic mental disease as more impaired than those patients diagnosed as depressed or schizophrenic. Results suggest that the Clock Drawing Test is a reliable screening tool for cognitive impairment in a geropsychiatric population, but the scoring methods examined do not yet appear psychometrically sound enough to provide a differential diagnosis.