THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL ON THE DETECTION OF LIGHT SIGNALS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE VISUAL FIELD

6 subjects performed 12 times each a signal detection task lasting 40 minutes in parallel with a simple tracking task. They reported every 2nd second whether or not a signal was given in any one of 10 widely spaced locations. 0.5 or 1.0 ml alcohol/kg body weight (or no alcohol) was given 35–25 minutes prior to the task. Hit rate ( HR ) covaried with tracking efficiency; FAR was uniformly low. Variation in signal probability had no effect. Alcohol had a strong and uniform effect on 3 "experienced" subjects, reducing HR for all signals and producing a funneling effect, but had little effect on the performance of 3 "inexperienced" subjects. Motivational variables which may account for the individual differences are discussed.     

ON THE NONVISUAL CUES CONTROLLING THROWlNG MOVEMENTS

M ikkonen , V. & K olehmainen , K. On the nonvisual cues controlling throwing movements. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1968, 9, 169–176.—When position of subject's head is varied (his eyes fixating the target) in dart throwing experiments, systematic errors occur in the throws in the direction in which the head is turned. Subjects trained to hit the target with the head turned to the side, and then allowed to throw with the face towards the target, make errors in the direction opposite to that in which the head was turned during training. The most recently learned relationship between head and hand thus tends to guide the throws. Changes occur primarily in the direction of the throwing movement, the starting position of the throwing hand being relatively stable.     

ACQUISITION AND FORGETTING IN FREE-RECALL LEARNING

M ikkonen V. Acquisition and forgetting in free-recall learning. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1972, 13 , 109–120.—Formulae are defined for absolute and proportional acquisition and forgetting in the course of free recall experiments, and also for total net gain and gains per trial. By applying these formulae to a set of experimental results, scores are generated which demonstrate: (1) that the diminishing gains of the typical learning curve are mainly governed by variation in forgetting, and (2) that inter-subject and inter-item differences in recall are caused jointly by acquisition and forgetting. Subjects who learn well forget little and vice versa. Similarly, items most likely to be acquired are best retained, and vice versa. As no single score can describe all the phenomena of a typical experiment, the use of several scores in combination is indicated.