The effects of a memory aid on three types of conservation judgments

Twelve boys and 12 girls at each of 3 ages (4, 5, and 6 years) were tested on three types of conservation judgments (qualitative, quantitative, and equivalence) on both continuous and discontinuous substances. Half of the subjects were provided a memory aid while the other half were not. Conservation ability was determined both with and without verbal justification. The memory aid increased the number of equivalence conservation responses only when verbal justification was not required. The number of subjects conserving on each of the three tasks varied as a function of the scoring criteria used. Type of materials, sex, and age effects were found. The role of transitive inferences and memory in the equivalence conservation task was discussed. Inconsistencies in previous research due to different scoring techniques were noted.     

Effects of an audio cueing system on the rate of teacher praise

The effects of automated cueing on teacher praise rate was investigated in one special, one fourth-, and one seventh-grade classroom. After establishing baseline praise rates in each of the three classrooms, two methods for increasing teacher praise rate were introduced according to a multiple-baseline design. During the first phase, two teachers were instructed to count and graph their praise rate during each session. All teachers received auditory cues to prompt praising during another phase. In all cases, introduction of cues markedly increased teacher praise rates, but self-recording was relatively ineffective. An analysis of teacher-praise distributions showed that cues closely controlled teacher praise for two of the three teachers.     

A parallel but not necessarily connectionist model of the auditory system

The basic processing elements (the neurons) in the brain operate in the millisecond range and are about a million times slower than a computer (Feldman, 1985). In order to make up for this lack of computational speed, the brain must use a parallel multisynaptic method to transmit information. This paper presents a parallel processing model of the auditory system; the model accounts for the frequency and the sound-localization information.     

Cognition and affect in evaluations of stereotyped group members

The contribution of cognition and affect to evaluations of stereotyped group members was examined. Subjects were American male undergraduates who evaluated a male homosexual or a male heterosexual applicant to a program in elementary education or fine arts. Cognitive measures used to predict evaluations were the discrepancies between stereotype components for the social category and stereotype components for the occupation; affective measures were four dimensions of mood-affect. Results indicated that negative affect predicted evaluations of homosexuals but not heterosexuals. Homosexuals were evaluated less favorably than heterosexuals for both occupations, despite the fact that homosexuals were perceived as less discrepant from occupational members than heterosexuals.     

From dispositions to behaviors: The flip side of attribution

The implicational relations between dispositional levels and relevant categories of behavior were investigated. Observers were asked questions about the extent to which persons occupying moderate or extreme positions on an attribute (dispositional) continuum (a) attempt various behaviors, (b) are potentially able to perform various behaviors, and (c) generally emit those same behaviors. Three determinants—central tendency, ability, and social desirabliity—offer a reasonable account of the observed implicational relations. First, persons with a given disposition are not expected to emit behavior that is widely discrepant with that disposition. Second, ability considerations dictate that persons with skillful dispositions are believed capable of unskillful behavior, but unskillful persons are thought relatively incapable of skillful behavior. Third, persons are believed to more frequently attempt socially desirable than socially undesirable behavior. Also, persons with moderate dispositions are believed to actually emit socially desirable behavior more frequently than socially undesirable behavior. Finally, the determinants noted above may be of differing relevance for morality, ability, and preference attributes.     

Movement refractoriness: The influence of response structure and speed

In the first experiment, refractoriness of a primary arm swing was studied using two movement speeds and three secondary responses (reversal, contralateral and ipsilateral thumb-lift). Pre-movement inter-stimulus intervals were 100, 200 or 300 msec and response-stimulus intervals ranged from zero to 200 msec. Accelerometers provided kinematic data. The second experiment repeated the reversal condition with the addition of EMG analysis.The prediction that the maximal speed condition would show a general intensification of control processes, and thus less refractoriness as compared to submaximal speed, was upheld for all response conditions. The findings also supported the prediction that the pattern of refractoriness depends on the functional relationships of the muscles concerned.The EMG analysis revealed that while the sequencing of muscle action was unchanged with movement speed, its phasing characterized the shifts in response metrics. The overall findings emphasize the need to view the refractoriness phenomenon in the context of anatomical and mechanical consequences of force changes in controlling limb movement as they interact with intentional command.     

Some effects of congenital spasticity on fundamental frequency

5 normal speakers and 5 speakers with congenital upper motor-neuron damage repeatedly spoke a three-work sentence stressing the first, second, or third words. Fundamental frequency was measured for each word and over each sentence. Analysis showed that the spastics' mean fundamental frequency was significantly higher than the normals', regardless of utterance. Also, spastics were more restricted in their prosodic maneuvering above this average fundamental frequency. Despite this finding, the spastics were capable of producing consistent stress patterns with normal variability.