Taste aversion learning: simulation of interference with the gustatory cue during conditioning

Rats were taught an aversion to a sucrose taste cue of varying strengths. The concentration of the sucrose solution was either, 10, 7.5, 5, 2.5, 1, 0.5, or 0.25% which the animals drank for 5 min. Thirty minutes later they were poisoned with lithium chloride. On the test day all animals had access to a 10% sucrose solution regardless of the concentration they had drunk on the conditioning day. Animals conditioned with a 10, 7.5, or 5% sucrose cue subsequently displayed an identically strong aversion to the 10% cue. Only those animals conditioned with a sucrose cue which was 1% or less displayed a significantly weaker aversion to the 10% cue. The results are discussed in terms of the theory that interference with taste aversion learning by such agents as pentylenetetrazol and electroconvulsive shock may have their effect by disrupting the gustatory engram. If this assumption is correct then it suggests that the memory of the gustatory cue may be stored, at least prior to poisoning, in a quite labile state and an apparently limited disruption of taste aversion learning may in fact represent a substantial amnesic effect.     

Indian students' perceptions of the ideal self, the ideal leader, the ideal teacher, Indira Gandhi and the business executive.

The Activity Vector Analysis (AVA) was administered to three samples drawn from a population of graduate students at an Indian university. Results indicated a high positive relationship among the perceptions of the ideal self, ideal teacher, and ideal leader. Likewise, the consensual profile of Indira Gandhi was found to be quite similar to the ideal self cluster (r = .96). The collective perception of the business executive, however, was only remotely similar to the other two character profiles.     

Emotional arousal and persuasion effects in flooding

The effects of a single session of imaginal flooding were studied in female students unable to touch a harmless spider. All combinations of continuous vs. discontinuous presentation and highly arousing vs. less arousing material were used in a factorial design, to test the hypothesis that highly arousing material is beneficial only when presented under massed conditions. Results were clearly against prediction and suggested that immediate attitude change was maximal following less arousing material, irrespective of method of presentation; while behaviour change was greatest when less arousing material was presented continuously.

In a second experiment, subjects were exposed to both types of theme material in either a low-high or a high-low order. Some evidence was found for the postulated attitude changes and contrast effects, which favoured the use of a high-low order. Possible explanations for earlier contradictory evidence, and implications for clinical treatment are discussed.     

Effects of bars and blanks on recognition of words and nonwords embedded in a row of letters

Solid bars or blank spaces placed before, after, or on both sides of a pronounceable four-letter string embedded in a longer string of letters facilitated recognition of the embedded string. This effect was equal whether bar or blanks were used, and whether the embedded string was a word or a pronounceable nonword. The effect of bars or blanks on pronounceable strings was interpreted in terms of a multiletter processing operation.     

REWARD SIZE AND GAME PLAYING BEHAVIOR

S haw J. Reward size and game playing behavior. Scand, J. Psychol ., 1972, 13 , 121–132.—The results of studies dealing with the effects of heightened incentives in game playing situations present a complicated pattern of findings ranging from those favoring cooperation, through those indicating no relation, to those favoring competition. A critical review of these studies is made followed by attempts to reconcile the divergent findings. These include: ( a ) Gallo's (1968 b ) index of average payoff per trial, and ( b ) Oskamp & Kleinke's (1970) notion that large rewards may induce individualistic behavior. Suggestions are made for further research on reward size as related to ( a ) noneconomic rewards, ( b ) matrix structure, ( c ) reward pattern, ( d ) multichoice methodologies, and ( e ) parametric values.     

Fitness promotion for adolescent girls: the impact and effectiveness of promotional material which emphasizes the slim ideal

This study looks at techniques for promoting fitness participation among adolescent girls, in particular those which emphasize the "slim ideal." Various promotional posters were designed which systematically used different models (slim, average, and overweight) and different messages (slimness, activity, and health). The relative effectiveness of these posters was tested using a probability sample of 627 female high school students. The slim model was found to be the most effective poster, while slimness was the least effective of the messages. Demographic and self- and body-image factors had relatively little effect on the ratings of the posters. Focus group interviews conducted with the student sample indicated that they were concerned about their body weight, and that they associated slimness with fitness. However, the slimness message was not thought to encourage participation in fitness because overt emphasis on body image may lead to self-consciousness and fear of social rejection. The idea that participation would lead to a slim physique was also thought to be unrealistic. The students were more critical of the slimness message than of the slim model in the posters. Overall, the data indicate that promoting fitness through messages relating fitness to slimness is not an effective approach with adolescent girls. The use of very slim models in promotional material may be effective, but this approach may not be desirable because it reinforces the dominant cultural stereotype of the "ideal" slim female form.     

Processing of tachistoscopic displays with controlled order of characters and spaces

The task used was designed to force Ss consistently to process the letters of a tachistoscopic display in the same spatial order, if Ss are able to process the letters in a brief display serially and if Ss have enough voluntary control over the selection of a processing order to use the order chosen by the E. In the main series of experiments the set of slides shown in each session included slides having a blank space in some position in the linear array of letters. For control, no-blank slides, a sharp, monotonic decrease in the percentage of correct detections of a signal letter with distance of the signal letter from the focusing dot was obtained. An unexpected result from the slides having a blank space was that detection of the signal letter was considerably more accurate on the slides having a blank space immediately following the signal letter than on the control slides having no blank space or the slides having a blank space immediately before the signal letter in the processing order. In one experiment blank spaces were replaced by black rectangles with no substantial change in the pattern of results. The results from the slides having a blank space or a black rectangle were interpreted as indicating that the onset of processing the image of a letter was determined by the distance in the display from the focusing dot to the letter and that the duration of processing an image of a letter was determined by the distance in the display from the letter to the next letter in the processing order.     

USING INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT TO PROGRAM MAINTENANCE OF VERBAL/NONVERBAL CORRESPONDENCE

We investigated the effects of an intermittent reinforcement procedure on maintenance of verbal/nonverbal correspondence with nutritious snack choices in a day-care setting. Nutritious snack choices were first established using correspondence training procedures in a multiple baseline across three children. Withdrawal of the procedures with one subject led to loss of appropriate responding, suggesting the need for a maintenance strategy. The intermittent reinforcement procedure was implemented in a multiple baseline across subjects. Nutritious snack choices were observed consistently during the intermittent reinforcement condition and the subsequent extinction condition.     

The relationship among sex roles,living arrangements,and the division of household responsibilities

Twenty couples living together, 10 married and 10 unmarried, were given the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a questionnaire on the performance of household responsibilities. Findings provided partial support for hypotheses relating more traditional sex roles, living arrangements, and division of household responsibilities. Results also indicated a greater variability in household responsibilities for unmarried males and for males and females who were not traditionally sex typed. The latter results support a model which was formulated relating changes in sex-role attitudes with changes in sex-related behavior. In this model, a period of uncertainty intervenes between the change in attitude and the change in related behavior.     

The use of imagery by intelligent and by creative schoolchildren

Two studies focusing on differences in thinking strategies between intellectually gifted and creative children were undertaken. In the first study (N = 29), ethnographic techniques of observation along with testing and problem-solving interviews were used in a regular classroom. Three subjects (one high IQ and high creativity, one high IQ and low creativity, and one low IQ and high creativity) were identified for intensive observation. In the second study, testing procedures and problem-solving interviews were completed with 30 children who were placed in a gifted program within an urban school system. Both studies produced evidence supporting the link between imaging abilities and creative thinking.