Using tutoring systems to study learning: An application of HyperCard

HyperCard was used to develop a simplified tutoring system whose principles were based on a learning theory, and a genetics tutoring system was evaluated experimentally. Learning was studied by examining immediate versus delayed feedback after an error was made. Such tutoring systems aid in psychological studies of learning, because experimental variables can be easily manipulated. HyperCard provides a good vehicle for tutoring system development, since it requires no extensive programming skills.     

Rational-emotive therapy and the christian client

In some cases a person's religious beliefs can cause or exaccerbate emotional problems. Sometimes religious concepts can be used to ameliorate a client's problems. In dealing with Christian clients, the RET therapist can utilize the teachings and actions of Jesus in leading a client to recognize irrational beliefs. This paper illustrates and discusses rational teachings and actions of Jesus as regards four basic irrational beliefs and eleven underlying irrational beliefs.Sandra D.M. Warnock, M.A., served as a missionary to Hawaii with the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and as Minister of Outreach at Vinton Baptist Church, Vinton, Virginia. She was Senior Staff Clinician at Hollins Communications Research Institute in Hollins College, Virginia and is currently an adjunct lecturer in Psychology at Southside Virginia Community College in Keysville, Virginia.     

Effects of uncertainty on melodic

In three experiments, musically trained and untrained adults listened to three repetitions of a 5-note melodic sequence followed by a final melody with either the same tune as those preceding it or differing in one position by one semitone. In Experiment 1, ability to recognize the final sequence was examined as a function of redundancy at the levels of musical structurein a sequence, contour complexity of transpositions in a trial, and trial context in a session. Within a sequence, tones were related as the major or augmented triad; within a trial, the four sequences began on successively higher notes (simple macrocontour) or on randomly selected notes (complex macrocontour); and within a session, trials were either blocked (all major or all augmented) or mixed (major and augmented randomly selected). Performance was superior for major melodies, for systematic transpositions within a trial (simple macrocontours), for blocked trials, and for musically trained listeners. In Experiment 2, we examined further the effect of macrocontour. Performance on simple macrocontours exceeded that on complex, and excluded the possibility that repetition of the 20-note sequences provided the entire benefit of systematic transposition in Experiment 1. The effect of musical structure (major/augmented) was also replicated. In Experiment 3, listeners provided structure ratings of ascending 20-note sequences fromExperiment 2. Ratings onsame trials were higher than those on correspondingdifferent trials, in contrast to performance scores for augmentedsame anddifferent trials in previous experiments. The concept of functional uncertainty was proposed to account for recognition difficulties on augmented same trials. The significant effects of redundancy on all the levels examined confirm the utility of the information-processing framework for thestudy of melodic sequence perception.     

Computer Communication and Organizational Commitment: Tracing the Relationship in a City Government

Various theories and management policies suggest that there should be a positive relationship between communication and commitment to the organization. However, support for that relationship remains equivocal. We report the results of a questionnaire on communication and commitment filled out by 376 employees of a mid-sized city government. They were asked about the mode and frequency of their communications within the organization and about their commitment to the city government. Consistent with our hypotheses about the nature of computer-mediated communication, use of computer mail and bulletin boards predicted organizational commitment, but use of the telephone and paper modes of communication did not. In addition, those most likely to benefit from the immediacy and memory of computer communication—shift workers—evidenced a stronger relationship between computer mail use and commitment than did regular employees. Two mechanisms for mediating the relationship between communication and commitment were evaluated. Evidence supports active participation in communication as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between communication and commitment. The informational value of communication does not appear to be important in this regard.     

Parent-infant resemblance for general and specific cognitive abilities in the Colorado adoption project

Previous publications emanating from the Colorado Adoption Project have reported significant relationships between parental general cognitive ability (g) and infant Bayley MDI scores. The present study compared infant Bayley factor scores representing separable dimensions of infant cognition with parental general and specific cognitive abilities for 182 adoptive families and 164 nonadoptive families. Parent/offspring correlations between 12-month Bayley factors and parental cognitive abilities suggest only minimal relationships for both parental g and specific abilities. At 24 months, more parent/offspring resemblance was present; moreover, Bayley factors that were related to parental cognition tended to be related to parental g, not to specific abilities. The finding of significant parent/offspring relationships at 24 months between biological parents and their adopted-away infants, as well as between nonadoptive parents and their infants, suggests some genetic continuity from infancy to adulthood.     

Moral judgment and attitudes toward authority of political resisters

In an exploration of the personal basis of resistance to authority, moral judgment and attitudes toward authority were examined in 183 men and women political resisters, including antinuclear, draft registration, and tax resisters, and anarchists, and compared to 34 liberal and 29 conservative activists. The measures used were the Defining Issues Test and a specially designed attitude survey. As predicted, the differences between resisters and nonresisters were in the realm of cognitive beliefs and values. Strong rejection of political and social authority, a belief that individual conscience is a better guide to conduct than the law, a professed unwillingness to be in positions of authority over others, and a lack of conventional religious affiliation significantly differentiated the resisters from the nonresisters. The resisters also measured high in level of moral judgment but were significantly different only from the conservatives.