The Influence of Values, Information, and Decision Orders on a Public Policy Decision

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of personal values, information, and decision order on choice and commitment to choice when the decision involved a complex matter of public policy. Findings indicated that values determined piorities, but not decisions; information did not influence choice, but had a curvilinear effect on the commitment to the choice; the decision order did not influence the components of the decision process, but did determine the proportion of value-consistent decisions. The significance of these findings to public policy and the need for future research are discussed.     

A stereotaxic implant technique for the weanling rat

A modified technique for permanently implanted electrodes in the weanling rat is presented. As a reliable and durable technique, long-term stimulation of the juvenile rat is made possible.     

A comparison of error based and time based learning measures as predictors of general intelligence

Two methodological issues involved in determining the relationship between learning and general intelligence (g) are examined. They are firstly, the use of subject learning strategies in a paired-associated learning task and secondly the importance of time in the measurement of learning efficiency. Concerning the first issue, paired-associates learning scores of subjects who were instructed in the use of an appropriate learning strategy correlated significantly with general intelligence scores while those not so instructed did not. Concerning the second issue, a time based learning measure was developed to predice the time required for complete learning in the paired-associates learning task. This measure was compared learning with a number of error-based learning measures in their ability to predict general intelligence. The time based learning measure was clearly superior to the error based measures yielding a correlation of .59 with general intelligence.     

Sex differences in Group Embedded Figures Test performance in relation to sex-role,state and trait anxiety

The Group Embedded Figures Test of field dependence (GEFT) was administered to first-year psychology students who were then assigned to four sex-role classes depending on whether or not they exceeded median masculinity and femininity scores on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. Males achieved significantly higher GEFT scores but there were no significant sex-role effects. In a second study, other students were assigned to field dependent (DEP) and independent (INDEP) groups according to whether or not they exceeded the median GEFT performance for each sex. Between-group comparisons were then made of scores on the state and trait scales of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. In neither case was there a significant difference between the DEP and INDEP groups. However, for males only, there was a significant negative correlation between state and GEFT scores as well as a significant positive correlation between the two anxiety scales. Although the latter results suggested a sex difference in how the GEFT demands are perceived, it was concluded that neither sex-role nor state or trait anxiety could adequately account for consistently better male GEFT performance.     

The application of cognitive dissonance theory to consultation

Despite the importance of the consultation role for the school psychologist, the current literature on consultation has little to offer the practitioner in terms of empirically-based consultation strategies. This paper views consultation as, at least in part, a persuasive process. Cognitive dissonance theory is an extensively researched social psychological theory that predicts when a particular persuasive attempt will be successful and which has implications for consultation.

This article summarizes those aspects of dissonance theory that are most relevant to consultation, reviews the corresponding experimental support, and suggests practical applications of dissonance research and theory to consultation. Because these applications are extrapolations from research outside of consultation, they are viewed as hypotheses.     

Killing kids: The juvenile death penalty and community sentiment

In the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, “community sentiment” plays a central if not dispositive role in determining if a punishment is disproportionate. To gauge sentiment on the death penalty for juveniles, two experiments with death-qualified subjects were run, where age (a 15–25 age range) and case (heinousness) were varied in the first, and type of defendant (principal, accessory, or felony-murder accessory) and an extended age range (13–25) varied in the second. Significant age effects occur in both experiments, with approximately 75% and 65% refusing to give the death penalty for the youngest (13–15) and next youngest (16–18) groups, whereas 60% give the death penalty for the 25-year-old. In their reasons for their decisions, the killing kid was judged less blameworthy and death-worthy. Although politicians have called for “a man-sized punishment for a man-sized crime,” this community does not see that “man-sized” punishment fitting the kid.     

Haptic perception of texture gradients

To pick up 3-D aspects of pictures is arguably the most difficult problem concerning tactile pictorial perception by the blind. The aim of the experiments reported was to examine the potential utility of texture gradients in this context. Since there is no theoretical basis for predicting absolute values of 3-D properties from 2-D patterns read by the finger pads, the abilities of participants to perceive gradients lying between known maxima and minima were assessed. Experiment 1 involved blindfolded sighted participants making verbal magnitude estimations of texture-gradient magnitudes corresponding to plane surfaces at different slants. In experiment 2 the participants' task was to orient a surface at a slant corresponding to the texture gradients depicted tactually, and experiment 3 required early-blind participants to attempt the same task. The results revealed that participants can scale the magnitudes of texture gradients with high precision and that they can also accurately produce surface slants from depictions, providing the extreme conditions are clearly defined and there are opportunities for learning. Texture gradients appear as informative to the blind as they do to the sighted. To what extent these data can be generalised to other gradients and textures or to other projections of 3-D scenes remains to be investigated.     

The display and animation of full-color images in real time on the Macintosh computer

Techniques for displaying and animating full-color and gray-scale images in real time are illustrated with Pascal examples. The Palette Manager procedures included in the Macintosh Toolbox are used to circumvent the speed limitations inherent in drawing and redrawing images on the Macintosh’s video display. With the technique of palette animation, images of arbitrary size and complexity can be displayed easily and animated at the scan rate of the video monitor. The routines described here are based on Toolbox procedures available on any Macintosh with color video capabilities.