Studies in Vision: IV. The Interactions of Rods and Cones in After-Sensations

Fixed-ratio (FR) size was increased for pigeons (N = 6), while the number of eating responses at reinforcement was either held constant or increased. Also, FR size was held constant while the number of eating responses at reinforcement was increased. Major findings were as follows: (a) when eating responses were held constant, higher FR requirements led to stable key rates and postreinforcement pauses; (b) allowing more eating responses at successively higher FR requirements led to stable key rates and postreinforcement pauses; (c) at high FR requirements which produced low key rates, increasing the number of eating responses at reinforcement increased key rates; and (d) eating response rates varied systematically with key rates.     

Primary Process Communication

An unorthodox view of the function of primary process is presented with a view to enlarge, rather than diminish Freudian assumptions. One of the basic tenets of Freudian hypothesis was the supposed lack of influence of outside experience upon primary process functions. Yet we see demonstrated on a daily basis that primary process cognition is at work in any human interaction or experience. The mental structures of the self in interaction with the nonself is constantly monitored, added to, or subtracted from during contact with others. It is a prereflective mode that does not immediately rise into awareness. We give meaning to all interactions without necessarily reflecting upon them or even clarifying them to ourselves. Without allowing for such meaning to be integrated, we would lose or misinterpret large portions of our daily interactions. Flaws in communication occur every day and are demonstrable particularly in therapy when therapists are not attuned to their patients' emotional needs. It is demonstrated that nonverbal avoidance behavior of disturbed infants is the precursor for disturbed object relations of adults. Therefore, it makes no sense to interpret unconscious meanings—there are none. The difficulty lies in the inter-subjective realm and serves defensive modes. However, if patients present an inauthentic self, it is often difficult to decide if one is indeed in the presence of such a maimed self. The therapist's countertransference aids in detecting inaulhenticity. Ever-present, unconscious meaning analysis must be brought into consciousness by the therapist in order to further the therapeutic process.     

An Evaluation of the Effects of Graphic Aids in Improving Decision Accuracy in a Continuous Treatment Design

Educators, school psychologists, and other professionals must evaluate student progress and decide to continue, modify, or terminate instructional programs to ensure student success. For this purpose, progress-monitoring data are often collected, plotted graphically, and visually analyzed. The current study evaluated the impact of three common formats for visual analysis (scatter plots, scatter plots with trend lines, and scatter plots with trend and aim lines) on the decision accuracy of 52 novice analysts. All participants viewed 18 time-series graphs that depicted student growth on a continuous metric (e.g., oral reading fluency). Participants rated each graph as depicting substantial progress, minimal progress, or no progress. The magnitude of the true slope for each graph was fixed to 3.00 (substantial progress), 0.75 (minimal progress), or 0 (no progress). Inferential analyses were used to determine the probability of a participant correctly identifying different magnitudes of trend in the presence of different visual aids (no visual aid, trend line, and trend line with aim line). The odds of correctly identifying trend were influenced by visual aid (p < .01) and trend magnitude (p < .01). The addition of a trend line resulted in a sharp increase in the probability of making a correct decision. Graphs depicting minimal progress reduced the probability of a correct decision.