The effects of stimulus familiarization on patterns of visual selection

Patterns of visual selection were recorded as Ss viewed pairs of stimulus drawings in which the two members were either both incongruous or both banal. Prior to presenting the paired stimuli, S was preexposed to either one member of the stimulus pair or to the incongruous or banal counterpart of one member of the stimulus pair. The results indicate that: (1) preexposure to a stimulus reduced its potential to elicit looking responses, and the magnitude of that reduction was greater for incongruous stimuli than for banal stimuli; (2) preexposure to an incongruous stimulus affected the potential of its banal counterpart to elicit looking responses, but preexposure to a banal stimulus did not affect the potential of its incongruous counterpart to elicit similar responses; and (3) the reduced potential of the preexposed member of a stimulus pair to elicit looking responses waned after 10 sec. These results were discussed in light of an “information-conflict resolution” model of visual selection.     

Elective mutism in a first grader: The remediation of a complex behavioral problem

Teachers frequently deal with unusual and perplexing behavioral problems in their classes. This study demonstrates how spontaneous and prompted speech were produced in a six-year-old mute by a first-grade teacher and her aide. A reinforcement system for peer-prompted speech and spontaneous speech was employed in three separate school classes in a multiple-baseline fashion. The reinforcement system produced prompted and spontaneous speech in each situation. Postchecks in the second grade indicated the child was still speaking and conversing spontaneously with his peers. This study suggests a method that teachers can use in the classroom to deal with this severely handicapping condition.     

THE EFFECTS OF KNOWN-ITEM INTERSPERSAL ON ACQUISITION AND RETENTION OF SPELLING AND SIGHTREADING WORDS1

The use of well-documented procedures such as shaping, differential reinforcement, and fading may not be the most practical for teaching certain academic behaviors. An alternative procedure of interspersing trials on previously trained items with trials on unknown items has been suggested, but its effects on acquisition and retention have not been systematically examined. This study investigated the effects of interspersing known items during training on new tasks. Six mentally retarded adolescents were given pretests on spelling and sightreading words, which were divided into pools of learned and unlearned items. Training and baseline conditions were implemented concurrently, using a multi-element design. During interspersal training sessions, 10 known words from the pretest were alternately presented with each of 10 test words that were incorrect on the pretest. The ratio of previously mastered words to test words was gradually reduced. During baseline sessions, 10 different test words were presented without alternation of previously known words. During this condition, a procedure involving high-density social reinforcement contingent on task-related behaviors, but not necessarily correct responses, was later introduced, followed by a return to the original noninterspersal baseline. During all conditions, test words were deleted and replaced after meeting a mastery criterion of three consecutive correct trials. Retention tests were administered over learned test words for all conditions, at specified intervals. Results showed that both acquisition and retention of spelling and sightreading words were facilitated by the interspersal procedure. All subjects acquired more words during the interspersal condition than either the high-density or baseline conditions. The effectiveness of the procedure may possibly be attributed to better maintenance of attending behavior to unknown items as a function of the inclusion of known items, which directly increase the amount of reinforcement for correct responses during the early stages of skill acquisition.     

Footshock/ECS induced state dependent learning in rats parametric evaluation of ECS intensity and time of testing

Rats were given a footshock followed by ECS of either low or high intensity. Controls received neither footshock nor ECS. Twenty-four hours later all subjects acquired a simple position habit in a water maze. Then, independent subgroups were reversal trained at 24-hr intervals up to 144 hr post-treatment. Compared to controls, rats given footshock, and ECS showed memory for training at the initial test followed by amnesia, memory recovery, and finally amnesia at subsequent tests. The alternating pattern of retention appeared to be a function of ECS intensity. In a second experiment, rats were first maze trained then given footshock and ECS 24 hr later. Like the results of the first experiment, ensuing tests indicated an alternating retention function in experimental animals again influenced by ECS intensity. Several possible explanations of these results were discussed, and it was suggested that the altering retention function observed in the experimental animals resulted from a footshock and ECS induced state dependency effect that subsided and recurred spontaneously up to 144 hr post-treatment.     

Recording puff volume in smoking

Recent research on nicotine self-administration has highlighted the need to accurately assess within-cigarette topography in order to estimate changes in puff profiles that occur in response to varying nicotine content. This paper describes equipment and techniques that may be used to record puff volume in the laboratory and discusses methods used by other researchers to study puff volume with an emphasis on methodological advantages of the present technique.     

Bilingual speech: Bilateral control?

Forty bilinguals from several language backgrounds were contrasted to a group of English-speaking monolinguals on a verbal-manual interference paradigm. For the monolinguals, concurrent finger-tapping rate during speech output tasks was disrupted only for the right hand, indicating left-hemisphere language dominance. Bilingual laterality patterns were a function of language used: native (L1) versus second acquired (L2), and age of L2 acquisition. Early bilinguals (L1 + L2 acquisition prior to age 6) revealed left-hemisphere dominance for both languages, whereas late bilinguals (L2 acquired beyond age 6) revealed left-hemisphere dominance only for L1 and symmetrical hemispheric involvement for L2.     

Interpersonal mood induction: Situational and individual determinants

Several situational and individual aspects of interpersonal mood induction were investigated in an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms by which depressed mood is transmitted from one individual to another. Eighty-four psychology students interacted with confederates previously trained to enact one of three mood states — depressed, neutral, or elated. Participants were randomly assigned to same-sex confederates in one of two roles — helper or stranger, resulting in a 3×2×2 design. Mood and self-esteem were independent variables assessed prior to the interaction. Mood, perceptions, and reactions to the confederate were dependent variables assessed following the interaction. Results indicated induction of depression and anxiety in participants exposed to depressed confederates, and induction of hostility following interaction with elated confederates. Induction of depression and hostility were significantly attenuated in participants in the helper role as opposed to person perception role, while the concept of individual vulnerability to mood induction was not supported in this study. Rejection of depressed persons was only modestly associated with negative mood induction. Thus, role components of the situation affected mood induction more than did individual participant differences. The results and their implications for therapists and family members of depressed individuals are discussed within the framework of Lazarus's cognitive model of emotional arousal.The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions and talents of Bill Dorfman, Mike Harrington, Ginger Johnson, Anita Navarra, and Debbie Illman.