Memory for ideas: Synonym substitution

Subjects memorized sentences that contained a word with a synonym in English. There were large numbers of synonym substitution responses in recall (varying from 6.0% in Experiment I to 27.7% in Experiment III). Synonym substitution responses tended to be unidirectional and occurred with roughly equal frequency in abstract and concrete sentences. The results were interpreted as opposed to surface structure theories of sentence memory, since explanation in terms of word associations and sequential dependencies proved unsuccessful. The results were also taken to be opposed to image theories of sentence memory, since image theories predict few ff any synonym substitution responses for abstract sentences, while Experiment III found large numbers of synonym substitutions in both abstract and concrete sentences. The results support the position that memory for sentences is in terms of nonlinguistic, nonimage, abstract representations (ideas).     

Pairing effects and time-order errors in duration discrimination

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - The effects, measured in terms of reproductions, of pairing 4-sec-duration stimuli were examined for six ISIs varying between 1 and 26 sec. The results...     

The use of paraprofessionals in crisis intervention

Single-session crisis services by paraprofessionals (graduate students and community volunteers) in the emergency room of a community hospital were offered to 293 clients. These clients were followed-up 6 to 12 months after their last contact and asked about: (1) the effectiveness of the service, (2) their use of referrals, (3) the major source of change in their crisis situation, and (4) their rating of improvement for their presenting problem. There were 104 clients who completed the follow-up. The results support the interpretation that timely intervention by paraprofessionals may have long-lasting results in specific problem areas. A model emphasizing the use of service deliverers as researchers is proposed.     

Varying temporal placement during CS of an added stimulus correlated with non-delivery of UCS

This experiment extends Pavlov’s method of contrasts for training a stimulus discrimination to the case of the cardiac conditional response in the rhesus monkey. It explores the parameter of temporal placement of an additional stimulus (“CS₂”) within a 10-sec CS (or “CS₁”), with the appearance of the former stimulus on any trial signalling the absence of UCS (electric shock) on that trial. This experimental paradigm is a parallel to that of the “intruded stimulus” studies in operant conditioning. In both cases, several ways of describing the function of the added stimulus are possible, but all seem reducible to the same operational terms. Data were taken in the present study with respect to the form and latency of the cardiac rate changes produced by intrusion of CS₂ (light), across a range of placements varying from simultaneity with CS₁ (a different light) onset to two sec before UCS would have been delivered. The control of CS₂ over the cardiac rate CR was occasionally exhibited with a latency as short as three beats after stimulus onset. The order of CS₂ temporal placements to which a subject was exposed was a factor in determining the form of the conditioned cardiac rate response to CS₁.     

The use of an untrained index response in a conditioned suppression paradigm

The need for extended training and motivational manipulations when using an instrumental index response in a conditioned suppression paradigm is often problematic. An index response requiring no prior training and no manipulation of motivational states is described. An experiment which exemplifies the use of this index response in a conditioned suppression paradigm is reported.     

On-line brain stimulation: Measurement of threshold of reinforcement

This program and interface for a small computer (PDP8/e) performs the following operations: generates and delivers constant current stimulation to the brain of an animal, monitors electrical resistance at the stimulating electrode, and calculates the threshold of reinforcement based upon the frequency of characteristic pauses in the animal’s responding.