An automated version of the digit symbol substitution test (DSST)

An automated version of the Digit Symbol Substitution Test is described that employs a relatively inexpensive, commercially available microcomputer to present and score the task. Advantages of the automated DSST include: (1) objective scoring of both speed and accuracy of test performance, (2) printed copies of test scores, (3) convenient administration under standardized test conditions, and (4) the capacity for repeated assessment of an individual’s performance over time. Task performance data for individual subjects following doses of pentobarbital are presented; these data illustrate both the stability of task performance under constant conditions and the within-subjects sensitivity of task performance to experimental manipulations.     

Couple interaction: A study of the punctuation process

This study examined couples' punctuation of their own interactions. The association between causal explanations for the interactions on issues involving differences and the nature of relatedness (i.e., degree of distress) was the major purpose of the study. Punctuation was defined as a way of grouping sequences of interactions. Punctuational differneces were operationalized by measuring couples' causal explanations and attributions of responsibility concerning their own interactions. Twenty distressed and non-distressed couples, matched on age, income, education, and length of relationship, participated in an intensive 3-hour interview conducted at their homes. Two relationship measures to determine the degree of distress were administered. The interview involved: generating issues of important differences, improvisational role plays of interactions, responses to open-ended questions about self and other perspectives, and rankings of causal explanations and attributions of responsibility about the interactions. The results suggested that the nature of relatedness, as defined by degree of distress, was associated with the punctuation of interactions by the communicators, tentatively supporting the Watzlawicket al. (1967) metacommunicational axiom. The main finding was that distressed couples attributed responsibility to the mate rather than self, whereas in nondistressed douples responsibility was shared.This article is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The senior author is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco     

The abstraction of linguistic ideas in “meaningless” sentences

It was proposed that the Bransford and Franks linear effect is unrelated to semantic processes and will, therefore, occur even when “meaningless” sentences (i.e., sentences containing nonsense instead of meaningful content words) are employed. Within the Bransford and Franks format, Ss were given either the meaningless sentences or control sentences. Results showed a significant linear effect for the meaningless sentences. Furthermore, although the slope of the effect for meaningless sentences was flatter than that of the control, other data ruled out a semantic integration explanation based on the availability of semantic information contained in sentence structure. A simple guessing strategy hypothesis was offered to account for the linear effect.     

Locus of control and persistence in structured and unstructured preschool classrooms

The effect of locus of control and classroom structure on persistence and attention in preschool children was examined. Teachers' ratings of persistence were obtained for 16 children from a relatively structured classroom and for 18 children from a relatively unstructured classroom. Locus of control was measured by administering the Preschool and Primary Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974). As predicted, teachers from the structured classrooms rated externally controlled children as more persistent (r=.55, p<.05), while teachers from the unstructured classroom rated internally controlled children as more persistent (r= -.35, p<.10). Practical implications of this line of research for making classroom placement decisions are discussed.     

Inferring Sublexical Correspondences from Sight Vocabulary: Evidence from 6- and 7-year-olds

We report an experiment designed to investigate 6-to-7-year-old children's ability to acquire knowledge of sublexical correspondences between print and sound from their reading experience. A computer database containing the printed word vocabulary of children taking part in the experiment was compiled and used to devise stimuli controlled for grapheme-phoneme correspondence (GPC) frequency and rime neighbourhood consistency according to the children's reading experience. Knowledge of GPC rules and rime units was compared by asking children to read aloud three types of nonword varying in regularity of GPC and consistency of rime pronunciation. Results supported the view that children can acquire knowledge of both GPC rules and rime units from their reading experience. GPC rule strength affects the likelihood of a GPC response; rime consistency affects the likelihood of a rime response.     

Processing strategies in a phoneme deletion task

The present study explores the factors underlying competence in a difficult consonant deletion task, using a sample of nine-year-old children whose development had been followed from the age of four. In particular it examines the factors governing use of phonological and orthographic strategies in the deletion task, and the relations between strategy use, current reading and spelling ability, and earlier phonological awareness skills. Processes in consonant deletion are then mapped on to current dual-route models of reading and spelling.     

Auditory food cue conditioning: Effects of spatial contiguity and taste quality

The effects of spatial location of an auditory stimulus and quality of a potentiating taste on the aversive conditioning of an auditory food cue were investigated. In Experiment 1 rats ate salty food activating a tone from a speaker either in (spatially contiguous with) or displaced from the food and were then made ill. It was found that spatial contiguity during conditioning resulted in avoidance of food with a contiguous or a displaced tone in testing, and spatial displacement during conditioning resulted in avoidance of food only if the tone was also displaced in testing. Experiment 2 was identical, except rats ate salty, bitter, or sweet food with a displaced tone during conditioning and testing. The salty and bitter food groups demonstrated an avoidance of noisy food relative to the sweet food group. These results indicate that spatial contiguity interacts with taste quality in the conditioning of nongustatory food cues.