The development of Marx's economic theory

Marx develops his economic theory in Capital in a rather peculiar way. This paper focuses on some of these peculiarities, especially his attempt to base his account of prices and derivative entities (profit, rate of profit, etc.) on the labour theory of value. Although he may be said to have failed in this, there is still some kind of Marxist theory of prices possible. This is due to both, the so-called fundamental theorem (linking profit and surplus-value) and the possibility, shown by Sraffa and others, to determine prices from the physical parameters of production. By adding on an earlier paper of mine, in which the surplus-value theory has been reconstructed within the structuralistic framework, this paper sketches such a reconstruction for the basic parts of a full-blown Marxist economic theory of capitalistic production.I am indebted to Prof. Peter Flaschel for some useful hints.     

Implicit memory in spelling from word images

Summary A series of experiments is reported concerning implicit memory in imaginal processing. In the standard condition, subjects had to encode word images before spelling a word. The spelling task was repeated in the test phase with the same words and with additional control words. Spelling times were registered after the image encoding. Implicit memory has been detected if repeated words can be spelled faster than control words. Experiment 1 showed that levels of processing manipulations (such as the additional generation of meaning images at encoding or variations in word concreteness) favor explicit memory, but do not show up in implicit memory. Experiment 2 demonstrated that implicit memory disappears if spelling at encoding took place on visually present words. Experiment 3 investigated whether the focusing of specific letter positions within the image may contribute to the effect, but this was not found. According to a processing view that underlies our task analysis, implicit memory depends on transfer-appropriate processing and is attributed to processes of image encoding or generation and image reconstruction or regeneration.     

The phonological loop model of working memory: An ERP study of irrelevant speech and phonological similarity effects

The phonological loop model for retention of auditory verbal material in working memory, developed by Baddeley, assumes that irrelevant speech and phonological similarity influence only one and the same element of the system—that is, the phonological short-term store. We tested this idea by recording eventrelated potentials (ERPs) to auditorily presented letters that were phonologically similar or dissimilar and were to be memorized in the presence of more or less disturbing irrelevant speech. Irrelevant speech and phonological similarity caused ERP effects with clearly different scalp topographies, indicating that these factors influence different brain systems and hence probably different cognitive elements. Moreover, ERPs indicated that the phonological similarity effect might involve processes at the level of phonological analysis. Our data also support recent suggestions that the irrelevant speech effect is not based on the phonological similarity between relevant and irrelevant material, but on the phonological variability within the irrelevant stream.     

Event-Related Brain Potentials during Identification of Tachistoscopically Presented Pictures

In the present study in 20 healthy subjects, event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the identification of picture stimuli. Each of 36 landscape pictures and 36 scrambled pictures was presented by a tachistoscope repeatedly until the subject made an identification response. Presentation of one picture was finished after 12 exposures. On the average, landscapes were identified after 5.8 ± 0.4 exposures; identification responses to scrambles were always wrong and occurred after 11.8 ± 0.1 exposures. Latencies and amplitude measures were assessed for P2, P3, N400, and the slow wave (SW). Changes in P2 across stimulus presentations did not differ between landscapes and scrambles excluding this component from being indicative for the processing of stimulus meaning. Amplitude of P3 generally declined across presentations, but increased prior to identification for landscape pictures. N400 rapidly declined across presentations of landscapes, but less rapidly for scrambles. The SW increased across stimulus presentations. This increase was more pronounced for landscape than scrambled pictures. The pattern of ERP changes can be interpreted in a framework of a stepwise inhibition of spreading activation within semantic memory with progressing picture identification.     

The use of psychological theories by ‘naive’ judges: A study in implicit personality theory

Sixty-three subjects judged the behaviour of one of two fictitious stimulus persons by means of five different types of explanation which corresponded with specific psychological theories. These types of explanation based behaviour on adaptation to external conditions, reward/punishment, fulfilment of role expectations, effects of unconscious motives and the imitation of models. The explanations were evaluated on graphic rating scales as to their truth and convincingness. Two-way analyses of variance with repeated measures on one factor showed significant main effects for type of explanation and interaction effects of stimulus person × type of explanation for both dependent variables. The results are discussed in the light of studies done so far in implicit personality theory.     

Effects of monochromatic rearing on spectral discrimination learning and the peak shift in chicks

Chicks were hatched and raised in white or monochromatic sodium (589 nm) light. They were trained on a 590 (+) vs. 580 (-) nm successive discrimination. The combined results of two experiments indicated that rearing illumination did not affect discrimination acquisition. All subjects given generalization tests after discrimination training exhibited peak shifts that were equivalent for the two rearing conditions. The peak shifts exhibited by the monochromatically reared subjects represent maximum responding to stimuli they had not previously seen. This result further confirms the notion that behavioral control by the spectral dimension in birds is organized independently of differential early experience on that dimension.     

Persistence and change in sex-role stereotypes

Persistence and change in sex-role stereotypes were examined by replicating in 1978 a study of sex-role conceptions published by Sherriffs and McKee in 1957. Results suggested that in many particulars sex-role stereotypes have changed little over the intervening two decades. Respondents of both sexes continued to view men as more forceful, independent, stubborn, and reckless than women; and women continued to be viewed as more mannerly, giving, emotional, and submissive than men. On the other hand, many changes in sex-role conceptions were also found to have occurred. Especially for female respondents, results suggested that stereotypes have changed in the direction of greater favorability toward women and less favorability toward men. The relevance of these findings to the psychological understanding of social change is discussed.     

The Impact of Case Characteristics and Prior Jury Experience on Jury Verdicts1

An archival analysis of records from 206 criminal cases was used to evaluate the impact of personal and situational factors on jury verdicts. In particular, we evaluated whether repeated jury service produced bias in jurors that was sufficient to affect jury decisions. A variety of case characteristics and indices of prior jury experience was examined for their relative impact on trial outcomes. Several of the case characteristics were related to verdicts, but the personal characteristics were not. Although more than half of the juries contained experienced jurors, juror experience had little influence on verdicts in either major or subsidiary analyses. However, there was a slight tendency for small juries with large proportions of experienced jurors to convict. This result is consistent with data from Kentucky; a meta-analysis across the two data sets indicates that it is a reliable finding. The results have implications for the determination of jury size. We suggest that future research examine the possibility that increasing jury size may reduce the influence of an individual's bias by providing a balance of other jurors with no or offsetting biases.