Analysis of discriminative control by social behavioral stimuli

Visual discriminative control of the behavior of one rat by the behavior of another was studied in a two-compartment chamber. Each rat's compartment had a food cup and two response keys arranged vertically next to the clear partition that separated the two rats. Illumination of the leader's key lights signaled a “search” period when a response by the leader on the unsignaled and randomly selected correct key for that trial illuminated the follower's keys. Then, a response by the follower on the corresponding key was reinforced, or a response on the incorrect key terminated the trial without reinforcement. Accuracy of following the leader increased to 85% within 15 sessions. Blocking the view of the leader reduced accuracy but not to chance levels. Apparent control by visual behavioral stimuli was also affected by auditory stimuli and a correction procedure. When white noise eliminated auditory cues, social learning was not acquired as fast nor as completely. A reductionistic position holds that behavioral stimuli are the same as nonsocial stimuli; however, that does not mean that they do not require any separate treatment. Behavioral stimuli are usually more variable than nonsocial stimuli, and further study is required to disentangle behavioral and nonsocial contributions to the stimulus control of social interactions.     

Timeout as a punishing stimulus in continuous and intermittent schedules

The effectiveness of a brief period of isolation (timeout) in the control of disruptive behavior emitted by a retarded child in a preschool classroom setting was examined. Timeout was shown to be an effective punishing stimulus, and its control of the child's disruptive behavior was investigated under four schedules of intermittent timeout. The results suggest that as a larger percentage of responses were punished, a greater decrease in the frequency of that response occurred. This inverse relationship between the percentage of responses punished and the frequency of the response did not appear to be linear, but rather a non-linear function. This function suggests that some schedules of intermittent punishment may be as effective as continuous punishment, at least in the case of the continued suppression of a response that has already been reduced to a low frequency.     

A behavioral analysis of peaking in residential electrical-energy consumers

This study was concerned with "peaking", which is the tendency for electrical-energy users to consume at high rates for brief periods during the day. Peaking results in the inefficient use of generating facilities, which may lead to unfavorable effects on the environment, such as the construction of new energy producing facilities or the activation of older, less safe, generating units. A continuous data collection system to monitor consumption of electrical energy was installed in the homes of three volunteer families. Information, feedback, and incentives were evaluated for their effects on peak energy consumption. A combination of feedback plus incentives was most effective and reduced peaking about 50%. Removal of experimental treatments resulted in a return to pre-treatment patterns of consumption.     

Direct visual access in reading for meaning

Two experiments examined whether phonological receding is an obligatory stage in reading for meaning or whether direct access to a word's semantic representation is the general rule. The first study demonstrated that the time to make a semantic decision about a pair of words was much more delayed by misspelling than was the time to make a phonological one. The second study investigated the effect of varying the syllabic length of a word on reaction time in a category decision task. While reaction time varied with the semantic difficulty of the category decision, it generally proved invariant with respect to syllabic length. It is argued that reading for meaning generally uses a direct route from visual form to semantic representation.     

Multiple effects of a procedure to increase sitting in a hyperactive, retarded boy

A prompting and differential reinforcement procedure was used to increase sitting in a hyperactive, retarded boy in a remedial preschool. This procedure not only increased sitting, but had the additional effects of decreasing posturing while leaving normal walking unaffected, and increasing the use of toys and proximity to children. All of these changes can be considered socially desirable effects of the sitting program. The results suggest that preschool programs can be designed that will treat several behaviors simultaneously in order to maximize a teacher's effectiveness.     

认知科学在军事训练中的应用

本文描述认知科学与军事训练两大独立体系之间的相互影响,为那些在训练上感兴趣于认知研究应用的人们提供一个实际的方向。我们首先讨论军事训练中与认知有关的一般问题,然后介绍四个很大程度上是以认知研究和理论为基础的先进的军事训练系统。     

大众文化和世界文化:论"美国化"和文化保护主义政策

围绕着美国文化对欧洲和世界其他地方的影响所进行的争论已经不是什么新鲜事了.关于录象机、卫星广播和闭路电视及其吸引入的内容所带来的文化影响的讨论,只是一部长剧中的最后一个插曲,在这部长剧中,年轻而咄咄逼人的美国文化威胁着古老欧洲的古老文化(或者同时蹂躏和消灭不发达世界古怪有趣而没有自卫能力的部落文化,硬把当地人民拉进从吃椰子到喝可口可乐的个性转变期).尽管人们就这个问题的某些方面写