Figural goodness and internal structure in perceptual discrimination

The time required for 24 Ss to sort four decks of cards composed of 5-dot figures (Garner & Clement, 1963) was measured. A deck consisted of 32 cards: 4 each of 8 patterns. There were 4 sets of figures: Sets AI and A2 had identical amount and form of redundancy; so also did BI and 82. Sets BI and B2, having more uncertainty in simple contingencies and having negative interaction terms, required significantly more time to sort than Sets AI and A2, All sets differed in mean ratings of figural goodness, (Garner & Clement, 1963). Even when amount and form of redundancy are held constant, the figural goodness of the individual figures constituting the set influence the discriminability, Sets consisting of good or simpler figures are easier to sort.     

Effect of Person

The role of the experimenter in the behavioral study, although recognized by Darwin, Pavlov, psychiatrists and others, has not been adequately evaluated in terms of the quantitative measures of the CR. Our study in this paper concerns especially the cardiac changes induced by “Person” in normal and pathological animals—monkey, dog, cat, opossum, guinea pig and rabbit. Owing to the greater sensitivity of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, these are more reliable and delicate measures than the usual somatic muscular ones. The Person can be used as an unconditional stimulus on the basis of which conditional reflexes are formed. Person has an especially pronounced effect on neurotic animals—shown often in a more pronounced way in the cardiorespiratory responses than in the more superficial behavioral ones. This Effect of Person may provide insights into the production of neurosis as well as some of the beneficial effects of therapy, e.g., the personal factor of the therapist.     

Figural goodness and internal structure in perceptual discrimination

The time required for 24 Ss to sort four decks of cards composed of 5-dot figures (Garner & Clement, 1963) was measured. A deck consisted of 32 cards: 4 each of 8 patterns. There were 4 sets of figures: Sets A1 and A2 had identical amount and form of redundancy; so also did B1 and B2. Sets B1 and B2, having more uncertainty in simple contingencies and having negative interaction terms, required significantly more time to sort than Sets A1 and A2. All sets differed in mean ratings of figural goodness, (Garner & Clement, 1963). Even when amount and form of redundancy are held constant, the figural goodness of the individual figures constituting the set influence the discriminability. Sets consisting of good or simpler figures are easier to sort.     

Sex differences in symbol-digit substitution task performance

Estes (1974) proposed that the superior performance of women over men on the Digit-Symbol Substitution subtest of the Wechsler scales was due to their greater ability to encode symbols verbally. Three forms of a symbol-digit substitution task were administered to 62 female and 96 male college students. The symbol sets of the three forms differed in the relative amount of figural and spatial orientational information. Women performed better than men on the form which used the Wechsler symbol set in which all symbols are figurally different and, presumably, most easily coded verbally. Men performed better than women on the form which had the greatest amount of spatial orientational information. Estes' hypothesis is supported by these findings.     

Effect of perceptual cohesiveness on pattern recoding in the block design task

In the block design task, one type of intelligence test task, the subject reproduces a square-field pattern by assembling cubes having solid and diagonally divided surfaces. The task requires that the subject recode the perceived stimulus pattern into the alternatives available on the block surface. This experiment examined the effect on response or reproduction time of perceptual cohesiveness of pattern, quantified as the number of adjacent same-colored edges of cubes which abutt to form the pattern. This stimulus variable interacts with the type of design (quantified as total set size for designs constructed of all solid surfaces, all diagonally divided surfaces, or mixtures of the two types of surfaces) and with cuing (presence or absence on stimulus pattern of a superimposed grid congruent with block edges of the constructed design). Cohesiveness increases the difficulty of “mentally slicing” or recoding the pattern into the set of block alternatives. The psychological processes involved in recoding probably are the most important ones underlying the intelligence test task.     

Trait Goal Orientation, Self-Regulation, and Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to meta-analytically examine trait goal orientation constructs and their relationships with the self-regulation variables of self-monitoring, self-evaluations, self-reactions, and self-efficacy as well as task performance across a range of contexts.

Design, Methodology, Approach

Data were gathered from published and unpublished research examining the goal orientation construct and self-regulation and/or task performance. Effect sizes from 102 research reports involving over 16,000 participants were included.

Findings

In general the mastery-approach goal orientation construct was positively related to the self-regulation and performance variables. Conversely, negative relationships were found between the performance-avoid goal orientation and those variables. Relationships between goal orientation and self-regulation tended to be higher compared to those found for goal orientation and performance. Overall, the findings support the discriminant validity of the three factors of goal orientation (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoid).

Practical Implications

Practitioners and researchers will benefit from learning that mastery-approach goal orientation consistently relates to self-regulation and task performance. The findings indicate that a mastery-approach goal orientation could serve as a meaningful predictor in selection processes or as an explanatory variable of motivation.

Originality/Value

The present study updates and expands upon past research by focusing on relationships of trait goal orientation across a variety of contexts. The results extend meta-analytic results to a wider range of self-regulatory variables.     

A machine method for computing the biserial correlation coefficient in item validation

A method for computing the biserial correlation coefficients with the aid of punch card equipment is oultined. A numerical example and a work sheet layout is included in the presentation.This method was developed by Dr. Elmer B. Royer prior to his untimely death on April 3, 1939. It has been prepared for publication by some of his former associates, not only as a contribution to science but also as a tribute to the memory of a true scientist.     

Effect of movement on the cardiac conditional reflex

The cardiac component of the motor conditional reflex to a faradic stimulus to the hind leg in three dogs was measured. The leg was paralyzed by crushing 4 to 5 anterior roots of the lumbar nerves (second to sixth). The cardiac experiments were repeated beginning four days after operation and measurements were taken of the cardiac conditional reflex. A comparison of the increase in cardiac rate to the conditional stimulus before and after operating showed no significant difference in spite of the fact that the dog was unable to lift his leg to the stimulus. From this we conclude that the execution of the movement is not necessary for the increase of heart rate in the cardiac conditional reflex.