Demonizing and mental illness (2) the problem of assessment: Los Angeles

Pastoral Psychology -     

Odor as a conditioned inhibitor: Applicability of the Rescorla-Wagner model to feeding behavior

Hooded rats were given conditioned inhibition training in which the taste of saccharin alone was always followed by induced illness, but the taste of saccharin plus the odor of amyl acetate was not. In a series of three subsequent tests—summation, enhancement of conditioning, and retardation—it was demonstrated that the odor had acquired active inhibitory properties. The results paralleled those obtained with more traditionally studied stimuli and techniques and hence were found to be readily predictable from a recent model of conditioning set forth by Rescorla and Wagner (1972).     

Memory for general and specific sentences

Cued recall indicated that memory was better for sentences containing specific verbs (e.g., scratched) than for sentences containing general verbs (e.g., injured). When synonymic verb responses were included, however, the general-specific difference was eliminated. Also, for complete sentence recall, subject nouns were better retrieval cues than verbs or object nouns. nt]mis|This research was supported by National Science Foundation Research Grant GB-22664 to L. Starling Reid and by a grant to the author from the Denison University Faculty Development Activities Program. Thanks are due Bill Stehle and Larry Giordano, who assisted in data collection and analysis.     

Psychophysical study of numbers

Summary This paper develops three theoretical models to predict the numbers generated by Ss in an experiment described by Baird and Noma, 1975, Exp. II. The models (digit, base, and quarter) are each grounded on different assumptions about the process underlying number generation without the constraints of physical stimuli usually present in psychophysical tasks. Each of the models proved applicable to a restricted subrange of the physical continuum from 1–1000. A combination of models seems necessary to adequately predict number generation.This article is the second in a five-part series. Reprint requests should be sent to John C. Baird.     

Classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane response of the lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris)

An experimental group of lemon sharks received 100 daily presentations of light flash as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and electric shock as the unconditioned stimulus (US) in a classical conditioning situation. The conditioned responses (CRs) and unconditioned responses (URs) under observation consisted of extensions of the nictitating membrane. Separate control groups received either (a) no CS or US, (b) CS-alone, or (c) completely random presentations of CS and US. Few CRs occurred in the experimental group at the outset of conditioning, but the percentage of CRs during the second half of the first acquisition session exceeded 95%. Conditioning stabilized above 95% CRs during Acquisition Sessions 3 through 7. These responses could not be attributed to pseudoconditioning, sensitization, or other nonassociative factors. When the experimental group was subsequently given six CS-alone sessions, the course of extinction was gradual. Most results seemed similar to those previously obtained during classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane in rabbits.     

A high-speed algorithm for computing conditional probabilities of substrings of sequentially observed data

An algorithm is described that computes relative frequencies of occurrence of all arbitrarily long substrings of sequential data, such as are obtained from experiments in learning/memory and verbal interaction. The algorithm offers high speed and provides systematization for the computation of empirical conditional probabilities. Use of this algorithm allows application of probabilistic and information theoretic disciplines to reveal dependencies between events separated arbitrarily in time.     

The effect of manipulated success ratios on task preference

The hypothesis that success influences task preferences was tested by subjecting 230 Ss to three different success-failure reinforcement schedules and observing subsequent preferences for the tasks concerned. Success ratios of 85-15%, 70-30%, and 50-50% in tasks dealing with unpreferred stimuli were used. Results supported the hypothesis: the probability of change in task preference was greatest under high success reinforcement ratio conditions.     

Localization of a peripheral target during parametric adjustment of saccadic eye movements

The aim of the experiment was to find out whether saccadiceve movements have any effect on perceived visual directions. ihe method was to alter the parameters of the oculomotor system so that the eye movement made in response to a peripheral target was inappropriate to the retinal locus of its image. It was found that this procedure had no effect on the perceived location of the peripheral target; and it was concluded that a specific retinal locus is more or less rigidly associated with a corresponding visual direction, but not with a particular magnitude of ocular rotation.     

Vocational Preference Inventory High Point Codes and Educational Preferences

This study reports normative data describing the combinations of various VPI high point codes associated with educational preferences classified into one of six of Holland's occupational environments and an undecided category. Eight hundred thirty-one male and 129 female college freshmen were queried regarding their educational preferences and were administered the VPI directly prior to college enrollment. The comparisons between preferences and VPI combinations revealed that Intellectual and Realistic, Social and Enterprising, Conventional and Enterprising, and Social and Artistic, seem to go together frequently for male students. The female sample revealed that Social and Artistic VPI codes were common.