Perceptions of single and multiple incident rape

This investigation focused on impressions of single and multiple incident rape victims. College as well as non-college male and female samples reported their perceptions of a rape victim who was raped for the first time or who experienced a prior rape 1, 3, or 8 years previously. Half of the fictional victims with prior rape histories were described as having reported and half as not having reported the earlier incident. No differences in perceptions were related to initial or repeat victimization. Attempts to ward off realization of vulnerability to victimization were offered as explanations for differences in male and female observers' perceptions. College and non-college sample differences in observers' perceptions were discussed in terms of differences in living experience. Caution seems warranted in estimating the general public's perceptions of rape victims from assessments based on college student samples.This investigation was supported by a grant from the University of North Texas Organized Faculty Research Fund. Special thanks are extended to the Legal Services Department of the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport for their assistance and to Jack Haynes for assistance in the data analysis.     

Sensitivity analysis in connectionist modeling

The application of sensitivity analysis methodology to connectionist modeling is discussed. Sensitivity analysis examines the functional relationship of parameters in dynamic systems to specify the interactions of parameters and the boundary conditions of dynamic system models. Sensitivity analysis is contrasted with parameter estimation. Reasons to favor sensitivity analysis in connectionist modeling are discussed. Six steps for sensitivity analysis are detailed with examples from the modeling of short- and long-term memory retrieval.     

The Role of Contiguity in Free-Operant Unsignaled Delay of Positive Reinforcement: A Brief Review

The Psychological Record - The temporal contiguity between responses and consequences is an important variable in operant conditioning. This paper examines a selected portion of the empirical...     

Primärversorgung von psychischen und psychosomatischen Patienten

Zusammenfassung Der Erstkontakt psychisch und psychosomatisch Erkrankter findet im deutschen Gesundheitssystem meist unter der Präsentation von körperlichen Störungen in einer Hausarztpraxis statt. Aufgrund der speziellen äußeren Strukturen der hausärztlichen Praxisführung und einem besonders dem Hausarzt eigenen pragmatischen lösungsorientierten Umgang mit seinen Patienten begegnet er den Patienten mit psychischen und psychosomatischen Krankheiten in anderer Weise, als es der Psychotherapeut für adäquat hält. Der vorliegende Text will das gegenseitige Verständnis für die unterschiedlichen Typen der Therapeut-Patienten-Interaktionen zwischen den Hausärzten und den Psychotherapeuten fördern. Die psychotherapeutischen Leser werden zu neuen Kooperations- und Kommunikationsformen mit Hausärzten ermutigt, dem hausärztlichen Leser werden Fallstricke im therapeutischen Kontakt zu psychisch und psychosomatisch Erkrankten aufgezeigt, und er wird ermuntert, strukturierter und kompetenter als bisher mit diesen schwierigen Patienten zum Wohle dieser Patienten umzugehen.     

Aging: a switch from automatic to controlled processing of sounds?

In this article, the authors show that aging differentially affects peoples' ability to automatically and voluntarily process auditory information. Young, middle-aged, and older adults matched behaviorally in an auditory discrimination task showed similar patterns of neural activity indexing the voluntary and conscious detection of deviant (i.e., target) stimuli. In contrast, a negative wave indexing automatic processing (the mismatch negativity) was elicited only in young adults for near-threshold stimuli. These results indicate that aging affects the ability to automatically register small changes in a stream of homogeneous stimuli. However, this age-related decline in automatic detection of small change in the auditor environment can be compensated for by top-down controlled processes.     

Children's metamemorial judgments in an event recall task

Two studies were conducted in which two different indicators of metacognitive monitoring were investigated in a complex everyday memory task. In the first phase of each experiment, 8- and 10-year-olds as well as adults were shown a short event (video) and gave judgments of learning, that is, rated their certainty that they would later be able to recall specific details correctly. In the second phase of the experiments, participants underwent a memory interview about the event and in Study 2 also gave confidence judgments, that is, rated their certainty that the provided answers to the memory questions were correct. Results revealed significant influences of memory characteristics on monitoring in that delaying judgments and monitoring judgments concerning irretrievable information affected judgments of learning. From 8 years of age onward, there were relatively appropriate metamemorial monitoring abilities in both indicators. Moderate intraindividual consistency was found across the two measures of metacognitive monitoring, with a tendency toward higher consistency in older age groups. The results are discussed in terms of the adequacy of the underlying theoretical construct.     

Cross-national stereotypes of locus of control in university students1

Stereotypes of locus of control were studied in male and female university students from eight countries (Canada, France, West Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, United States). The subjects took the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control (I-E) Scale in standard fashion (“own” scores) and then in the role of students similar to themselves in their own country (attributed own) and in selected other countries (attributed other). Using the difference between “own” scores and “attributed” scores as the operational measure of stereotype, the results indicate (1) that scores attributed to students in a given country bear little relationship to those students “own” scores, thereby suggesting the presence of stereotypes of locus of control; (2) students in most countries attribute greater externality to the average student in their own country compared to themselves; (3) countries vary in the degree to which they stereotype other countries with the U.S. students significantly attributing greater externality to other countries and Japanese students significantly attributing greater internality to other students; (4) countries vary in the degree to which they are stereotyped with German students perceived as most internal and Italian students as most external; (5) the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. are perceived differently on content subscales of the I-E Scale although their overall attributed scores do not differ.     

Correctly responding to reasons while being means-end incoherent

This paper argues that Reason Responsiveness (RR) accounts of rationality, proposed for example by Benjamin Kiesewetter and Error Lord, fail to explain structural irrationality (i.e., the irrationality involved in holding incoherent attitudes). Proponents of RR hold that rationality consists in correctly responding to available reasons. Structural irrationality, they argue, is just a “by-product” of incorrect reason-responding. Applying this idea to cases of means–end incoherence, this paper shows that RR accounts must rely on a certain transmission principle. Roughly, this amounts to the principle that necessarily, if (1) A has decisive available reason to intend to E and (2) A has decisive available reason to believe that intending to M is necessary for E-ing, it follows that (3) A has decisive available reason to intend to M. By considering an example, this paper argues that even the most plausible version of this transmission principle does not hold true. It follows that one can correctly respond to one's available reasons while being means–end incoherent.     

The effects of the binocular disparity differences between targets and maskers on visual search

A visual search for targets is facilitated when the target objects are on a different depth plane than other masking objects cluttering the scene. The ability of observers to determine whether one of four letters presented stereoscopically at four symmetrically located positions on the fixation plane differed from the other three was assessed when the target letters were masked by other randomly positioned and oriented letters appearing on the same depth plane as the target letters, or in front, or behind it. Three additional control maskers, derived from the letter maskers, were also presented on the same three depth planes: (1) random-phase maskers (same spectral amplitude composition as the letter masker but with the phase spectrum randomized); (2) random-pixel maskers (the locations of the letter maskers’ pixel amplitudes were randomized); (3) letter-fragment maskers (the same letters as in the letter masker but broken up into fragments). Performance improved with target duration when the target-letter plane was in front of the letter-masker plane, but not when the target letters were on the same plane as the masker, or behind it. A comparison of the results for the four different kinds of maskers indicated that maskers consisting of recognizable objects (letters or letter fragments) interfere more with search and comparison judgments than do visual noise maskers having the same spatial frequency profile and contrast. In addition, performance was poorer for letter maskers than for letter-masker fragments, suggesting that the letter maskers interfered more with performance than the letter-fragment maskers because of the lexical activity they elicit.     

Anger expression: parental and cognitive factors

The associations of parental moral disengagement, guilt, prosocial behavior, and anger, with their children's maladaptive anger was examined. 98 college undergraduate students and their parents participated. Both students and parents completed the Anger Response Inventory, the Mechanism of Moral Disengagement Scale, the Texas Social Behavior Inventory, the Fear of Punishment Scale, and the Need for Reparation Scale. A multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the students' variables which predicted maladaptive anger. Only moral disengagement was a predictor of the students' maladaptive anger. Subsequent multiple regression analyses were used to examine whether parental variables predict students' anger. Fathers' maladaptive anger, and prosocial skills were significantly related to students' maladaptive anger. Maternal variables produced an increase in the multiple R similar to the fathers', but none of the individual measures were significantly associated with the students' maladaptive anger.