The role of surface order and surface deletion in sentence perception

The perceptual complexity of intransitive adverbials, truncated passives and full passives was investigated in two experiments using rapid visual processing tasks. Both forms of passive were found to be more complex than the intransitive adverbials, presumably because of the lack of correspondence of surface and base orders. However, deletion of the logical subject in truncated passives did not increase their complexity relative to full passives.     

Patterns of self-disclosure in homosexual and heterosexual college students

Two hypotheses concerning self-disclosure were investigated and confirmed in the present study, comparing homosexual and heterosexual college students. The first hypothesis was that self-disclosure, as measured by the Jourard Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, would be positively correlated with psychological femininity. The second hypothesis was that homosexual males and heterosexual females would exhibit similar patterns of high disclosure and femininity. No significant differences were found in total disclosure between homosexuals and heterosexuals, although homosexuals disclosed less to father, and more to friends than to parents. The conclusion was that psychological femininity and masculinity are more important than biological sex in determining self-disclosure.     

An audio-tactile display

Several devices have been developed enabling the blind to adapt to digital and visual displays. Most require extensive training and are relatively expensive. The audio-tactile display described in this paper requires very little training and promises to be inexpensive. Prototypes of the display have been developed for a digital stopwatch, a digital clock, and several electronic calculators. Because the device makes use of electrical impulses to communicate with the blind, it also has numerous potential capabilities as a research tool. The device is based on a panel containing columns of braille digits that are made active through a logic circuit interfacing the braille display with a calculator or other device. The subject scans the braille columns and discovers the digits active in each column when a tone is produced simultaneously with the finger contacting the braille digit.     

A developmental study of timing behavior in 4 1/2- and 7-year-old children

The present study investigated effects of age and instructions on temporal regulations of behavior in children. In the first experiment 4 1/2-year-old and 7-year-old subjects were trained with a DRL (differential reinforcement of low rates) 5-s and a DRL 10-s schedule. Results demonstrate that age and timing performance are related. Seven-year-olds are more efficient than the 4 1/2-year-olds. A striking decline in the 4 1/2-year-old children's capacity to space responses was observed in the DRL 10-s schedule as compared to the DRL 5-s schedule. Analysis of individual performances suggests that the evolution of DRL performance between 4 and 7 years of age depends not only on the development of the capacity to delay responding but also on the acquisition of the ability to represent the reinforcement contingencies, that is, the temporal parameters of the task to oneself. In order to test this hypothesis a second experiment was conducted where instructions to wait between operant responses were given to a group of 4 1/2-year-old subjects at the beginning of a DRL 5-s and a DRL 10-s schedule. The results show that these instructions enhance DRL performance. By directing the 4 1/2-year-old subjects' attention to the temporal requirements of the task, instructions led to efficient performance and accurate timing of responses to the DRL schedule.     

Alcohol and the prior residence effect in male convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum)

A series of experiments were undertaken to demonstrate the dominance advantage of a territorial resident over an intruder (the prior residence effect) in the adult male Convict Cichlid (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) and to evaluate the effects of alcohol (ethanol) on this phenomenon. After successfully demonstrating the prior residence effect, additional experiments were conducted in which the resident or intruder was given one of three different doses of ethanol (0.15%, 0.20%, 0.35%). These doses have previously been shown to reduce or increase intraspecific aggression in this species Over the entire dosage range, drugging the intruder produced no changes in the dominance advantage of the resident. However, drugging the resident at the higher doses (0.20%, 0.35%) resulted in loss of the resident's dominance advantage. These effects were not due to impaired locomotor behavior of the drugged fish, as no abnormal motor behaviors were noted. In general, as reported in previous studies, the resident fish, whether drugged or not, typically attacked first. Also as has been previously shown, the fish that attacked (bit) first typically showed eventual dominance. The present results show that the dominance advantage of the territorial resident is not altered by giving an intruder a hypo- or hyperaggression-producing dose of alcohol. Changes in the dominance advantage occur only as a function of drugging the resident, thereby providing evidence that the behavior of the territorial resident is either directly or indirectly (reaction of the intruder to these changes) responsible for the prior residence effect. The present studies also provide some pharmacological approaches for determining the variables important in a laboratory analog of a naturally occurring instance of intraspecific aggression.