Implicit memory for new associations: The pictorial influence

A series of experiments was conducted in order to show that implicit memory for new associations is not always dependent on semantic integrative processing during study. The material used in these experiments differed from traditional studies that employed pairs of unrelated words. Instead, targets (words in Exps. 1 and 2 and pictures in Exps. 3 and 4) were encoded in the context of an unrelated picture. The implicit tests used were word-stem completion (Exps. 1, 2, and 3) and picture-fragment identification (Exp. 4). The explicit test was word-stem cued recall (Exps. 1, 2, and 3) and picture-fragment cued recall (Exp 4). For implicit tests, context effects were not obtained using words as targets with a non-integrative semantic-elaboration encoding task (Exp. 1). When an integrative semantic-elaboration encoding task was used, a standard context effect emerged (Exp. 2) for implicit memory. Importantly, with pictures as targets, context effects appeared without integrative semantic encoding (Exps. 3 and 4). However, context effects were obtained for all conditions of cued recall. Results are discussed with regard to the concept of unitization.     

PASTIS: A program for curve and distribution analyses

Reaction time (RT) data afford different types of analyses. One type of analysis, called “curve analysis,” can be used to characterize the evolution of performance at different moments over the course of learning. By contrast, distribution analysis aims at characterizing the spread of RTs at a specific moment. Techniques to deduce free parameters are described for both types of analyses, given an a priori choice of the curve or distribution one wants to fit, along with statistical tests of significance for distribution analysis: The log likelihood technique is used if the probability density function is given; otherwise, a root-mean-square-deviation minimization technique is used. A program—PASTIS—that searches for the optimal parameters of the following curves is presented: power law, exponential, and e-based exponential. PASTIS also searches for Weibull and the ex-Gaussian distributions. Some tests of the software are presented.     

Maternal attitudes during pregnancy predict mother-infant physical proximity six months after birth

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing maternal attitudes. Three photographs representing infants or mother-infant dyads were presented to 26 mothers in the second half of pregnancy and six months after birth. Nine mothers were clinical cases, seventeen mothers were nonpathological controls. Thirty-three semantic categories were used to code the mothers' responses to the pictures. Mothers' responses were coded independently by two researchers. The factor analysis of the codes yielded an ‘attraction to, vs rejection of, children’ factor. Compared with the control group, the mean factor score of the clinical group was significantly lower, i. e. reflected less attraction (p < 0.01). To study the relation between the attraction factor and the physical proximity of mothers and infants, 21 of these mother-infant dyads were videotaped in a semi-structured play interaction six months after birth. Recordings were coded independently by two researchers for various indices of proximity (spatial proximity, kisses, embraces, touches). The factor analysis of the codes yielded a factor contrasting distant vs close and tender interaction. A significant correlation was found between the attraction scores of pregnant women and the proximity scores of mother-infant interaction (r = 0.46; p < 0.05). These results suggest that this instrument is useful in assessing maternal attitudes of psychiatrically disturbed pregnant women and that maternal attitudes of pregnant women are significant predictors of physical proximity in motherinfant interaction at the end of the first semester.     

ETUDE COMPARATIVE DE L'IMAGE DE LA PSYCHOLOGIE CHEZ LES ETUDIANTS EN PSYCHOLOGIE,BELGES, ESPAGNOLS,FRANCAIS, MEXICAINS ET QUEBECOIS*

1373 psychology students from Barcelona (Spain), Liège (Belgium), Lille (France), Mexico city (Mexico) and Montréal (Canada) responded to a questionnaire dealing with their image of the discipline at various points in their university career. The students were asked to designate the authors they felt to be the most important as well as their preferences in regard to various areas and tendencies in psychology. The results show more agreement than could have been expected considering the cultural diversity and the great distance among the groups examined. Relevant differences from the other universities studied were found only with the Mexican students.     

A COMPARISON OF COGNITIVE CONFLICT BETWEEN PERSONS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES1

Etude comparative du conflit cognitif interpersonnel en Europe occidentale et aux Etats-Unis. — La recherche a été menée conjointement dans divers pays européens (Grande-Bretagne, France, Italie, RFA) et aux Etats-Unis, selon la même procédure. On induit des différences cognitives détetminées entre les 2 membres d'un groupe, en les entraînant différemment (ce dont ils ne sont pas conscients) dans une tâche d'apprentissage portant sur des problèmes politiques; il s'ensuit un conflit quand on réunit les deux sujets et qu'on leur demande d'aboutir à des solutions communes. Les résultats montrent que — a) les différences cognitives ne sont pas réduites en Europe alors qu'elles le sont, lentement, aux Etats-Unis; — b) les sujets européens aboutissent moins souvent que les sujets américains à des solutions de compromis; — c) les européens réagissent différemment à l'idée de « Contrôle de l'Etat ». Ce type de recherche peut être utilisé pour étudier le conflit cognitif sur une base interculturelle; les résultats font apparaître des problèmes importants qui n'ont pas encore été étudiés.     

THE ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM IN COMPETITIVE CHOICE BEHAVIOR1

Le rôle de L'estime de soi dans les choix compétitifs — Un programme transnational de recherche sur les déterminants des processus de décision s'est concentré dans une première phase sur la relation entre L'estime de soi et le comportement compétitif dans un jeu de type « Dilemme du prisonnier ». Des étudiants américains, chez lesquels une grande estime de soi avait été induite, firent davantage de choix compétitifs que les sujets chez lesquels on avait induit une faible estime de soi. Une des deux expériences avec des étudiants français a reproduit les mêmes résultats, alors que des expériences avec des sujets italiens ont produit des résultats inverses. Différentes interprétations théoriques des résultats sont proposées et critiquées.