Motivational effects of smoked marijuana: behavioral contingencies and low-probability activities.

Six adult male research volunteers, in two groups of 3 subjects each, lived in a residential laboratory for 15 days. All contact with the experimenters was through a networked computer system, and subjects' behavior was monitored continuously and recorded. During the first part of each day, they were allowed to socialize. Two cigarettes containing active marijuana (2.7% delta 9-THC) or placebo were smoked during the private work period and the period of access to social activities. Three-day contingency conditions requiring subjects to engage in a low-probability work activity (instrumental activity) in order to earn time that could be spent engaging in a high-probability work activity (contingent activity) were programmed during periods of placebo and active-marijuana smoking. During placebo administration, the contingency requirement reliably increased the amount of time that subjects spent engaged in the low-probability instrumental activity and decreased the time spent engaged in the high-probability activity. During active-marijuana administration, however, the increases in instrumental activity were consistently larger than observed under placebo conditions. The decreases in contingent activity were similar to those seen under placebo conditions. Smoking active marijuana was thus observed to produce increments in instrumental activity under motivational conditions involving contingencies for "work activities."     

Effects of ethanol on reinforced variations and repetitions by rats under a multiple schedule.

Response sequences emitted by five Long-Evans rats were reinforced under a two-component multiple schedule. In the REPEAT component, food pellets were contingent upon completion of a left-left-right-right (LLRR) sequence on two levers. In the VARY component, pellets were contingent upon variable sequences (i.e., a sequence was reinforced only if it differed from each of the previous five sequences). The rats learned to emit LLRR sequences in the REPEAT component and variable sequences in VARY. Intraperitoneal injections of ethanol (1.25, 1.75, and 2.25 g/kg) significantly increased sequence variability in REPEAT, thereby lowering reinforcement probability, but had little effect on sequence variability in the VARY component. These results extend previous findings that alcohol impairs the performance of reinforced repetitions but not of reinforced variations in response sequences.     

Gender and response effects in telephone interviews about gender characteristics

This study investigates the effect of gender on responses to questions about sex role orientations. Literature on gender effects in survey interviews, job interviews and counseling studies, and experiments leads to hypotheses that male interviewers will elicit more response effects than female interviewers, especially from females; that female respondents will show desirability effects more than males; and that respondents, especially female respondents, will disclose liberal orientations more to female than to male interviewers. Findings show that male interviewers do not elicit more response effects, especially among females, and there seem to be desirability effects operating instead of conformity effects, especially for female interviewers. Females, and low-power, highly educated males exhibit more liberal responses to female interviewers. This study demonstrates that in areas where interviewer—respondent question content is related to salient dimensions, response effects are observed and constitute potentially damaging sources of error.     

一种快速记忆法个案报告

作者以自己为被试,运用自己创造的一系列数序形象挂钩法识记105位化学元素名称和300位圆周率数字,结果表明:运用此法记忆顺序性极强、数量很大、难于记住的材料快速高效,能倒顺背诵和随点随背,能冲破前摄和倒摄干扰,使识记很快通过短时记忆而迅速地顺利进入长时记忆,在识记后的开初(26小时)遗忘不多也不快,在隔一天以后进行检查(复习)并强化未记牢的材料,可使保持率在数百日后不下降,因而作者认为,艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线应界定为机械识记的遗忘曲线较为妥当。作者在文中第一次较详细地公开了在一天内就能倒顺背诵105位化学元素名称和300位圆周率数字的数序形象挂钩法及其关键与技巧。     

Predicting behavior on a computer from intentions, attitudes, and experience

Research on computer attitudes has generally focused on describing the cognitive elements. The present study used the Ajzen and Fishbein model to predict intentions to work hard in a computer course and actual time on the computer. In addition, the influence of experience on predictions was examined. Results from 74 social science students showed that the Ajzen and Fishbein model is effective at predicting both intentions and behavior. Unlike previous findings, experience did not interact with attitudes. Finally, a short cognitive attitude scale was an additional significant predictor beyond intentions in explaining behavior variance.     

Recalling pictures and words: Reversing the generation effect

Blind and sighted children’s memory for words and raised shape pictures was tested. The investigation compared performance with items when they were studied under neutral conditions (naming words and pictures) and when they were self-generated in response to cues (cue: hot ?: response: cold). The blind children could identify and name the raised shape pictures with the same apparent ease as blind-folded sighted children (as long as a cue was provided). The sighted children showed the generation effect (Slamecka and Graf, 1978) for both words and pictures, namely that self-generated items were far better recalled than neutral ones. The pattern of results for the blind children was markedly different. Although the level of memory performance overall was the same as that of the sighted controls, the congenitally blind children showed areverse generation effect. A stem completion study indicated that these results couldnot be accounted for by a relatively greater reliance on data-driven processing by the blind.     

恒河猴自由取食时利手的观察

本文观察记录了生活在自由条件下进行人工喂饲的没有实验经验的恒河猴自由取食时利手的现象。结果表明,从群体的材料看无一侧化利手优势现象;从个体材料看一侧化利手者是显著的。     

Effects of meaning training on overcoming functional fixedness

Functional fixedness (FF) consists in focusing on some function of an object while overlooking another necessary for problem solving. Assuming that FF occurs when too few meanings are assigned to the major problem aspects, it was hypothesized that widening the scope of meaning would reduce FF, particularly in subjects providing more responses. The task was completing two electrical circuits. Meaning training consisted in requesting the subjects to provide responses to questions reflecting 11 meaning variables concerning three referents of the task. The subjects were 64 high school girls about 15 years old, only half of whom got meaning training. The results showed that meaning training reduced FF: the experimental subjects solved the target task faster, especially if they assigned more direct or indirect function responses to the target referents. Discussion centered on the effects of specific and nonspecific meaning training on different phases of problem solving. This study is based partly on the data presented by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University.