Converting an electronic calculator into a combination stopwatch-calculator

A method for adding electronic stopwatch capabilities to a calculator is described. An integrated circuit (NE555) is used for a time base. The circuit drives an opto-isolator or light-emitting diode that operates a photocell. The opto-isolator or photocell substitutes for a switch closure to increment the calculator in .10-sec intervals.     

Developmental aspects of categorized recall in a West African Society

Studies are reported among West African populations on the relationship between preferred mode of organization of categorizable material and use of organization in recall. Various child and adult groups differed in the types of organization they imposed on the material in a sorting task, with those exposed to school and modernizing influences showing a preference for taxonomic organization. All subjects, however, used their own form of organization to order their subsequent recall of the material, supporting the idea that organizing processes in recall are universal.     

Reinforcement from the sucking environment and subsequent modification of sucking behavior in the human neonate

The reinforcing aspects of sucking behavior in 36 human newborns was examined in a limited instrumental conditioning paradigm where sucking was both operant and reinforcer. During training, response density (rate based on sucking opportunity time) and latency were measures of two components of nonnutritive sucking, contingent negative pressure suction, and incidental jaw movement. The strategy for determining the reinforcing aspects of sucking involved comparisons of three types of sucking stimuli as reinforcers. The nature of modified operant sucking was investigated during extinction by examining number of sucks per burst, number of bursts emitted, and interburst interval time. The feedback from sucking which acted as reinforcement was concluded to be response density. Sucking was modified by changes in pausing behavior, including response latency and pauses between bursts of sucks. The number of sucks per burst also showed a significant change under certain conditioning arrangements.     

Sex differences in preadolescent self-disclosure

Both amount and content of self-disclosure may vary with sex role. Both adult and preadolescent females have been reported as engaging in greater amounts of self-disclosure than males; the present study attempted to replicate these findings with preadolescents, and to investigate sex differences in the content of self-disclosure. A self-disclosure questionnaire covering a wide range of subjects was administered to 307 urban children. The sex difference on the total number of items revealed to a friend closely approached significance, with girls showing greater disclosure. When only intimate content items were examined, the sex difference reached clear significance. Content analysis showed that girls were more willing to reveal items related to emotionality, anxiety, and dependence.     

Counselling breast cancer patients: A specialist nurse service

The evaluation of a specialist nurse-counselling service is described. Forty newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, treated by mastectomy, were randomised to receive either routine care or routine care plus counselling by a nurse. Psychological morbidity was assessed at one week, 3 months and 12 months postoperatively to determine the efficacy of this service. Comparisons between the groups indicated that counselled patients were significantly less depressed at 3 months postoperatively and reported more beliefs in personal control over health. At 12 months postoperatively there were no significant differences between the groups. Although both groups continued to adjust throughout the year following surgery, this adjustment occurred more rapidly if patients were counselled. The results suggest that a nurse-counselling service can be of value in helping to reduce the amount of distress experienced as a result of the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.     

Intelligence and spontaneous flexibility in adulthood and old age

Interrelationships among measures of intelligence and spontaneous flexibility were examined at two age levels using a multitrait-multimethod matrix design and other multivariate procedures. Measures of intelligence were Ravens Matrices and WAIS Vocabulary, WAIS Digit Symbol, and WAIS Similarities. Blots, Hidden Pictures, Brick Uses, and Impossibilities were used as measures of spontaneous flexibility. Subjects were 100 younger (X¯= 19.54,S.D.= 1.23) and 100 older (X¯= 63.99,S.D.= 2.94) men and women tested at two occasions. Adult age differences in factor structure were explored using a maximum likelihood analysis; common variances among the measures were greater for the elderly compared to the younger adults. Findings supported a dedifferentiation hypothesis with regard to both intelligence and spontaneous flexibility.     

Levels and speed of processing effects on word analysis

Previous work on semantic priming effects has suggested that priming is contingent upon semantic analysis of the prime stimulus. In the present series of experiments, subjects in Grade 3, Grade 6, and college performed variants of a priming task in which semantic (lexical decision) as well as fast (case judgment) and slow (letter search) nonsemantic levels of processing were required for both prime and target stimuli. Contrary to a levels of processing hypothesis, context effects were not simple functions of the level at which the prime was processed. Priming effects were found with a slow nonsemantic prime task (letter search), but generally not with a fast nonsemantic analysis of the prime (case judgment). The form of the priming effect when the prime was processed semantically by a lexical decision depended on the relationship between prime and target processing: a switch from semantic prime processing to nonsemantic target processing produced Stroop-like interference, with other combinations of prime and target processing producing facilitation. By using a series of discrimination, focusing, and classification tasks in a Garner (1978) paradigm, it was possible to determine how subjects were processing the semantic and nonsemantic dimensions, and these perceptual strategies were compared across educational levels to account for the priming effects. Our results suggest that context effects need to be understood in terms of the speeds of processing of different codes of information inherent in words.