Auditory perception of breaking and bouncing events: a case study in ecological acoustics

The mechanical events of bouncing and breaking are acoustically specified by single versus multiple damped quasi-periodic pulse patterns, with an initial noise burst in the case of breaking. Subjects show high accuracy in categorizing natural tokens of bouncing and breaking glass as well as tokens constructed by adjusting only the temporal patterns of components, leaving their spectral properties constant. Differences in average spectral frequency are, therefore, not necessary for perceiving this contrast, though differences in spectral consistency over successive pulses may be important. Initial noise corresponding to glass rupture appears unnecessary to categorize breaking and bouncing. The data indicate that higher order temporal properties of the acoustic signal provide information for the auditory perception of these events.     

Uncontrollable shock proactively increases sensitivity to response-reinforcer independence in rats

Learned helplessness theory predicts that animals exposed to inescapable shock acquire an expectancy of response-reinforcer independence, which proactively interferes with learning of response-reinforcer dependence. The theory also predicts that this expectancy can increase sensitivity to subsequent instances of response-reinforcer independence. These experiments test the latter prediction in a paradigm that minimizes the confounding effects of shock-induced activity deficits. Rats were trained to respond for food, then given either escapable, inescapable, or no shock. Subsequently, they received two sessions of response-contingent food followed by sessions of noncontingent food deliveries. During this phase, inescapably shocked animals decreased responding faster than did controls. Experiment 2 replicated this finding with a different schedule of food delivery and a procedure that more directly minimized the possibility that the outcome is due to either direct or indirect shock-induced activity changes. These results support the prediction that uncontrollable aversive events can increase an animal's sensitivity to noncontingent response-reinforcer relationships.     

Measuring activity using actometers: A methodological study

Actometers are men's self-winding mechanical wristwatches that have been modified such that they measure activity rather than time. Actometers can be used to obtain longitudinal naturalistic measures of activity concerning a variety of clinical populations. However, no systematic methodological research has been conducted with regard to the site of attachment and the duration of measurement necessary to ensure valid results. This article presents the results of a methodological study designed to answer these questions. The mean activity levels associated with the Left Wrist and Ankle were nearly equal to those associated with the Right Wrist and Ankle. The Ankle readings were substantially greater than the Wrist readings because the subjects' legs were longer than their arms. The data from Week 2 were the same as those from Week 1.     

So you think you are an ally? Effects of (in)congruence between men's self-perceptions and women's perceptions of men's values and allyship on women's inclusion and vitality

As public consciousness of sexism is increasing in the workplace (e.g., #MeToo movement), labelling oneself as an ally (e.g., UN HeforShe campaign) is becoming more socially desirable for men. However, do women agree with such men in their assessments of being allies? Importantly, how does women's agreement (or not) with men's self-assessments of allyship affect women's inclusion-relevant outcomes? Using a multi-informant design and data from 101 men–women colleague pairs, this study considered men's self-perceptions and women's other-reports of men's key allyship-relevant characteristics—justice, moral courage, civility and allyship. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed differential impacts of (in)congruence between men's and women's perceptions on women's sense of inclusion and vitality. Simply, when women perceived men as higher (or the same) in justice, moral courage and civility than men reported themselves, it positively predicted women's outcomes. This suggests that humble self-presentation by men on characteristics that are parallel to allyship (but not allyship) may be ideal. Yet, both under- and overestimation by men on allyship itself predicted poorer outcomes for women, suggesting that the ideal is for men to have an accurate assessment of their own strengths and weaknesses as an ally.     

Transfer of responses to open and closed shapes in discrimination learning by cats

Two sets of 32 cats each were matched for performance in learning to discriminate an open and a closed shape and were then trained on a transfer task. The consistent groups were rewarded for choosing the same class of shape (open or closed) in learning and transfer. The inconsistent groups were rewarded for choosing the open figure in one task and the closed figure in the second, or vice versa. After learning the transfer task, all of the Ss relearned the original discrimination task under the same conditions that prevailed in initial training. The inconsistent groups made more errors on both the transfer and retention problems; both these differences were significant at the 0.1% level of confidence. These results and those obtained on preference tests support the hypothesis that cats classify shapes as open or closed in terms of perimeter and number of sides.     

Stimulus factors in aversive controls: conditioned suppression after equal training to two stimuli

Pigeons trained to peck a key for food were periodically presented with tones ending with electrical shock until tone presentation consistently suppressed ongoing pecks. Shock was then discontinued and gradients of stimulus generalization were assessed by presenting tones with frequencies above, below, and at the frequencies of those used to develop conditioned suppression. When the training tones had frequencies at 670 and 1500 cps, resulting gradients were bi-modal with peak suppression at 670 and 1500 cps. Of the other test tones, 1000 cps produced the most suppression. When the training tones had frequencies at 450 and 2250 cps, bi-modal gradients were again obtained with peak suppression to the 450 and 2250 cps tones. Of the other test tones, 1000 cps produced the least suppression. These results support the hypothesis that generalized response tendencies summate.