Sex differences in self-confidence: The influence of comparison to others' ability level

Previous investigators have suggested that women display lower self-confidence than men in almost all achievement settings. The validity of this suggestion is assessed in an experiment testing the impact of comparison to others upon sex differences. Male and female undergraduates, who expected to cooperate in the future with a same-sex partner of high, average, or low ability, selected a difficulty level for an achievement test, completed the test, evaluated their own performance, and estimated their future partner's probable performance. As predicted, only when subjects' future partner was highly competent did women select an easier test than men, perform less well, and compare themselves less favorably to their partner. Also, women's, but not men's, self-evaluations depended upon their partner's ability level. It is concluded that sex differences are moderated by social comparison variables. Cognitive processes that may underlie such differences are discussed.The authors wish to express their appreciation to Phoebe Ellsworth for her critical comments on this research, and to Pamela Joy, Tama Jacobson, and Thomas Hallet for serving as experimenters. Portions of this study were reported at the Eastern Psychological Association Convention, 1978.     

Millisecond timing on the IBM PC/XT/AT and PS/2: A review of the options and corrections for the Graves and Bradley algorithm

Eleven methods of obtaining millisecond timing on the IBM microcomputer family are briefly reviewed. In our view, the approach recommended by Smith and Puckett (1984) has the fewest limitations, but it must be modified to prevent rare, yet unacceptable, errors. The modified algorithm has been presented for Turbo Pascal, C, and in the present paper, for BASIC and QuickBASIC.     

Glucose effects on mecamylamine-induced memory deficits and decreases in locomotor activity in mice.

Peripheral glucose administration attenuates the effects of muscarinic cholinergic antagonists on several measures, including spontaneous alternation, inhibitory avoidance, and locomotor activity. The present study examined glucose interactions with mecamylamine, a nicotinic cholinergic antagonist, on these measures. Mecamylamine (5 mg/kg, sc) significantly impaired spontaneous alternation performance. Glucose (100 mg/kg, ip) administered with mecamylamine attenuated the impairment. Treatment with hexamethonium (5 and 10 mg/kg, sc), a peripheral nicotinic blocker, did not impair performance. Pretraining treatment with mecamylamine, but not hexamethonium, significantly reduced later retention latencies on inhibitory avoidance tests. Glucose, administered with mecamylamine prior to training, significantly attenuated the impaired test performance. Mecamylamine, but not hexamethonium, significantly decreased locomotor activity. In contrast to the attenuating effects of glucose on the other measures above, glucose administered with mecamylamine potentiated the decreased locomotor activity. These findings demonstrate that glucose influences the behavioral effects of a nicotinic cholinergic antagonist in a manner generally similar to that of muscarinic cholinergic antagonists, and supports previous evidence that circulating glucose interacts with central cholinergic functions.     

Measuring the quality of residential care

Administrative personnel require objective, reliable and valid information in order to monitor the effects of allocating resources to different components of the service that they are providing. The initial problem is to define and measure the dependent variable—the ‘quality of care’ —against which the effects of changing various independent variables can be evaluated. The paper describes an attempt to use the operant conditioning model as a basis for constructing such a measure of the quality of care provided in residential settings for severely mentally handicapped people. The rationale for adopting this model is described, against a background of other studies in which the same problem has been addressed. The hypothesis, the tasks generated, and the methodological problems encountered, are outlined and discussed.

A subsequent paper will present the results obtained when using the method to measure the quality of care, so defined, in two residential units for severely mentally handicapped children.     

Metric unfolding: Data requirement for unique solution & clarification of Schönemann's algorithm

The object of this paper is to clarify Schönemann's unfolding algorithm and, in particular, to make it clear that the equations numbered (3.2) in Schönemann's [1970] article, which define Schönemann's solutions, are not a complete set of restraints for the purpose of defining metric unfoldings. Namely, Schönemann has transformed the original equations which define an unfolding to a set of linear and non-linear equations of which he uses only the linear equations to define his solutions. Given infallible data (solution(s) exist) Schönemann's solutions will include the correct solutions. If enough data are available so that there are enough linear equations to uniquely determine a single solution, then Schönemann's solution will coincide with the correct solution. LetP andQ denote the number of elements in the two sets of points, the interset distances of which are specified by the data in the unfolding problem. Letm denote the dimensionality of the Euclidean space into which these points are to be imbedded. If only the linear equations, numbered (18) herein, are to be used, then Schönemann gives the following data requirement for the solution to be uniquely determined: Max {P – 1,Q – 1} m(m + 3)/2. If the full set of linear and nonlinear equations (18–20) are used, then the amount of data required for a solution to be locally unique is relaxed toP +Q – 1 m(m + 3)/2. Both of these results assume that the equations are independent, which has not been proved.This study was supported by General Research Support Grant RR 5612 of the Division of Research Facilities and Resources, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service.     

A chamber for separating visual and physical prey access from predators

A chamber is described that provides automated separation of various phases of depredation dynamics. Two solenoid actuated doors control visual and physical access to prey items. A lever operandum is programmable to require differential response outputs by the predator. Search lever responses open one door and allow detection which may then be followed by pursuit lever responses and ultimate access for capture. The chamber is suitable for such medium sized predators as foxes and coyotes.     

THE RIGHT TO EFFECTIVE BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT

We propose that individuals who are recipients or potential recipients of treatment designed to change their behavior have the right to a therapeutic environment, services whose overriding goal is personal welfare, treatment by a competent behavior analyst, programs that teach functional skills, behavioral assessment and ongoing evaluation, and the most effective treatment procedures available.     

The role of verbalization in the Rorschach response process: a review

Traditional Rorschach theory has consistently overlooked the linguistic aspect of the response process. Most conceptualizations focus on the perceptual and cognitive aspects of the process, never examining the subject's need to find a linguistic representation for the inner, perceptual process. This review examines the traditional formulations and suggests that new research from information-processing, neuropsychological, and dual-coding memory theory paradigms offer new possibilities for Rorschach research that would incorporate an appreciation of the unique cognitive demand of the test--the linking of percept with language.     

The effects of training, epinephrine, and glucose injections on plasma glucose levels in rats

Recent findings indicate that a post-training injection of glucose enhances memory storage, suggesting that release of glucose into plasma may mediate the effects of epinephrine and perhaps other treatments on memory. The present experiment examined the effects of handling, inhibitory (passive) avoidance training, epinephrine and glucose injections on plasma glucose levels in Sprague-Dawley rats. Handling produced a small, but significant, transient increase in plasma glucose above basal levels. Saline injections caused a similar increase in circulating glucose levels. Inhibitory avoidance training with high footshock (2.0 mA, 2.0 s) resulted in significant increases in plasma glucose levels above those of low (0.5 mA, 0.75 s) and unshocked animals suggesting that glucose release is responsive to inhibitory avoidance training. Subcutaneous injections of epinephrine (0.01-1.0 mg/kg), or glucose (10-1000 mg/kg) significantly elevated glucose levels above those of saline-injected animals in a dose-dependent manner. Memory facilitating doses of epinephrine and glucose resulted in increases in plasma glucose levels similar to those seen in rats trained with high footshock. Higher doses of epinephrine and glucose resulted in further increases in circulating glucose, to levels significantly greater than those of memory facilitating doses. These results suggest that memory modulation, both endogenous and in response to epinephrine injections, may be mediated in part by circulating glucose levels. Thus, the findings of these experiments support the view that circulating glucose levels regulate the efficacy of neural memory storage processes.