Models for within-proposition representation tested by cued recall

A model is presented to account for the data from incremental cuing experiments that have been carried out to identify the representation of propositions in memory. In such experiments subjects first learn a list of sentences and are afterward cued for recall with words from the learned sentences. The model proposed distinguishes between a memory structure and stimulus and response processes. The all-or-none tendency in the data is captured by a Gestalt-like memory code. The model is compared with the stochastic theory of Anderson and Bower and the fragmentation hypothesis of Jones.     

Ontogeny of the Ponzo illusion: Effects of age,schooling, and environment(1)

Subjects were 384 Moroccan males (age range 6–22 yrs.), divided into 16 equal groups, according to the factorial design: age (4) × schooling (2) × environment (2). Subjects were tested on four Ponzo configurations (differing in contextual information) from Leibowitz et al. (1969), the Ponzo perspective stimulus from Segall et al. (1966), the CEFT from Witkin et al. (1971), and a measure of pictorial depth perception. Individual measures of contact with mass-media and urban life were collected on each subject. Analyses indicated that all main factors of age, schooling, and environment played important, and differing, roles in inducing illusion susceptibility. Piaget's (1969) theory of primary and secondary illusions was found useful in understanding the results of the Ponzo configurations used in the study. Primary illusion configurations were found to be relatively insensitive to experiential variables, and illusion susceptibility decreased with chronological age. In contrast, secondary illusion configurations were affected by many experiential factors, and illusion susceptibility was mediated through perceptual development and pictorial depth perception rather than chronological age. It was concluded that single-factor theories of ontogenetic change in illusion susceptibility were inadequate to explain the complex interactions found in this study.     

Ursachen der gegenseitigen Verdeckung von taktil dargebotenen Buchstaben: Unterbrechung,Summation oder Verzögerung?

Zusammenfassung Für die Erklärung der Verdeckung von Reizen in verschiedenen Sinnesmodalitäten mit einfacher Struktur wurden in der Literature bisher im wesentlichen zwei verschiedene Erklärungskonzepte diskutiert: Die Summationshypotheses behauptet, daß die Eindrücke von schnell aufeinanderfolgenden Reizen sich zu einer Gesamtrepräsentation überlagern, aus der die Einzelreize erschwert herauszuanalysieren sind, die Unterbrechungshypothese dagegen nimmt an, daß die Verdeckung auf eine Störung der Verarbeitung des einen Reizes durch die kurzzeitig folgende Darbietung eines weiteren Reizes zurückgeht. Zur Erklärung der gegenseitigen Verdeckung von taktil dargebotenen Buchstaben sind beide Hypothesen ungeeignet, weil sie die unterschiedliche Beeinträchtigung von Form- und Positionserkennung der Buchstaben nicht erfassen können. Deshalb wurde eine neue Hypothese aufgestellt: Die Repräsentation eines Reizes im sensorischen Register wird durch die Merkmalsanalyse des vorangegangenen Reizes kaum behindert, aber dessen Übertragung aus dem analysierenden System in das Kurzzeitgedächtnis eine bestimmte Zeit verzögert. Diese Verzögerungshypothese wurde mit einem Experiment überprüft, in dem 3 Vpn je etwa 12 Versuchsstunden lang die Erkennung von Buchstabenpaaren übten. Da die Diskrimination zwischen den Buchstaben bei taktiler Darbietung sehr viel schwieriger als bei visueller ist, wurden nur 5 Buchstaben im Experiment verwendet. Die Ergebnisse des Experiments werden durch ein mathematisches Modell beschrieben. Bezüglich der numerischen Werte der freien Parameter machen die 3 Hypothesen unterschiedliche Vorhersagen. Die Parameterschätzung ergab eine gute Übereinstimmung des Modells mit den Daten und zeigte eine Überlegenheit des Konzeptes Verzögerung für die Erklärung der gegenseitigen Verdeckung taktil dargebotener Buchstaben.

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Sources of mutual masking of tactile presented letters: Interruption, summation or delay?

Summary Two different explanations of the masking phenomenon with simple structured stimuli have been discussed in the literature: The summation hypothesis and the interruption hypothesis. The summation hypothesis maintains that the images of quickly succeeding stimuli superimpose and build up one unified representation from which the single stimuli are difficult to analyse. In contrast the interruption hypothesis assumes that masking is caused by the successive stimulus disturbing the processing of its predecessor. Both hypotheses are unacceptable for an explanation of the mutual masking of tactile presented letters where a different impairment of form and position recognition is observed. Therefore a third hypothesis was tried: The processing of a preceding stimulus hardly affects the representation of the successive one in the sensory register. Rather the transfer from the analysing system to short-term memory is delayed by a certain time. This delay hypothesis was tested by an experiment in which three subjects practiced to recognize pairs of letters for a total of 12 sessions. Since discrimination between letters is much more difficult with tactile compared to visual presentation only five letters were used as stimuli. The results are described by a mathematical model. The three hypotheses predict discrepant numerical values for the free parameters. Parameter estimation revealed a close fit between the general model and the data and showed a superiority of the delay hypothesis as an explanation of mutual masking of tactile presented stimuli.

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Für die wertvolle Beratung bei der Erstellung des endgültigen Textes danken wir besonders Herrn Professor Dr. K. F. Wender und Herr Dr. K. Nippert.     

The effects of gormone manipulations on aggressive target-biting in mice

Aggressive biting of an inanimate target by mice was studied. Males attacked the bite-target more frequently than females, but this difference disappeared after castration when the response rate of the males approached that of the females. Ovariectomizing the females had little effect on their bite-attack frequencies. Subsequent androgen injections restored the biting-attack frequency of the castrated males to preoperative levels but had little effect on the intact males. Estrogen had little effect on the response frequency of the females, whereas androgen produced a slight increase in their bite-attack frequency. Results indicate that androgen is critical for the maintenance of this aggressive response and that the single subject paradigm utilized in this study was a sensitive measure of aggressive tendencies in mice.     

Response styles in affect ratings: making a mountain out of a molehill

Ratings of affect words are the most commonly used method to assess pleasant affect (PA) and unpleasant affect (UA). The reliance on self-reports would be problematic if affect ratings were heavily influenced by response styles. Several recent publications have indeed suggested (a) that the influence of response styles on affect ratings is pervasive, (b) that this influence can be controlled by variations of the response format using multitrait-multimethod models, and (c) the discriminant validity of PA and UA is spurious. In this article, we examined the evidence for these claims. We demonstrate that (a) response styles have a negligible effect on affect ratings, (b) multiple response formats produce the same results as a single response format, and (c) the discriminant validity of PA and UA is not a method artifact. Rather, evidence against discriminant validity is due to the use of inappropriate response formats that respondents interpreted as bipolar scales.     

The psychological bases of ideology and prejudice: testing a dual process model

The issue of personality and prejudice has been largely investigated in terms of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, these seem more appropriately conceptualized as ideological attitudes than as personality dimensions. The authors describe a causal model linking dual dimensions of personality, social world view, ideological attitudes, and intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling with data from American and White Afrikaner students supported the model, suggesting that social conformity and belief in a dangerous world influence authoritarian attitudes, whereas toughmindedness and belief in a competitive jungle world influence social dominance attitudes, and these two ideological attitude dimensions influence intergroup attitudes. The model implies that dual motivational and cognitive processes, which may be activated by different kinds of situational and intergroup dynamics, may underlie 2 distinct dimensions of prejudice.