The effect of context during word perception in schizophrenic patients

Hospitalized chronic and acute schizophrenics were compared with age- and social-status-matched controls on word perception tests to measure the effect of context on recognition thresholds. In Experiment 1 the method of J. Morton (1964, British Journal of Psychology, 55, 165-180) was adopted to see how related and unrelated contexts influenced word recognition thresholds when both context and stimulus word were presented visually. Experiment 2 was an auditory analog of Experiment 1 and in addition the chronic schizophrenics were selected on the basis of a presence or absence of auditory hallucinations. The influence of context on perceptual thresholds was quite normal in all schizophrenics. However, analysis of the incorrect responses elicited showed that some schizophrenic subjects do produce bizarre or irrelevant responses or perseveration to a greater extent than their controls. These results are explained in terms of automatic and strategic modes of information processing. The automatic processes responsible for the adjustment of perceptual thresholds operate normally in schizophrenics but response production which demands strategic selection and editing of responses is prone to malfunction which results in the observed deviations in the normal use of language.     

Asymmetry of perception in free viewing of chimeric faces

We have devised a new free-vision task to index functional cerebral asymmetry for processing facial characteristics. Confirming its sensitivity to properties of lateralized hemispheric functions, left- and right-handers were clearly differentiated on this task with respect to several aspects of performance that conform with known differences between handedness groups in hemispheric asymmetry. Additionally, there were highly reliable and stable individual differences in perceptual asymmetries within handedness. Analyses of items in the task revealed that most of the differences between items in the asymmetries they elicited were random.     

Facing up to the issues: Reply to Hellige (1983)

In a recent article in this journal, Hellige (Brain and Cognition, 2, 199-203, 1983) presented a critique of the chimeric-face technique that was used by us to validate a hand preference questionnaire. Data were presented by Hellige to show that the left visual field (LVF) bias that occurs on this task is due primarily to differences in detail in the features of the two faces and not because of right hemisphere dominance for face perception. In our rebuttal, we acknowledge that the two faces are not mirror-image duplicates of each other, but contend that this fact does not explain why differences between left-handers and right-handers have been observed on this task. Further data on the role of handedness as well as other variables impacting on this task are presented. A possible explanation is also offered for the rather small extent of LVF bias that Hellige obtained when he used corrected (i.e., true mirror-image) versions of Jaynes' chimeric faces.     

Generalized and lateralized effects of concurrent verbal rehearsal upon performance of sequential movements of the fingers by the left and right hands.

College student subjects performed a sequential typing task requiring bilaterally synchronized movements (Experiment 1) or unilaterally synchronized movements (Experiment 2) singly, and concurrently with silent and vocal rehearsal of verbal lists varying in redundancy. Rehearsal interfered with bilaterally synchronized movements more when the right hand was leading the sequence than when the left hand led, and with movements of the right more than the left hand in unilaterally synchronized movements. Results are interpreted in terms of intrahemispheric and general capacity competition between the concurrent performances.     

The Vocational Exploration Group and minority youth: An experimental outcome study

This study was designed to investigate experimentally the effectiveness of the Vocational Exploration Group in assisting students to become more aware of the world of work and its relevance for them. Sixty male, Mexican-American, junior high students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) Vocational Exploration Group, (2) VEG without interaction, or (3) Control. Upon completion of treatments subjects were post-tested with an instrument designed to assess knowledge of factors such as differing functions of jobs, interests and skills needed in different jobs and satisfactions available from work. Analyses revealed no statistically significant differences (a = .05) among groups.     

Job satisfaction among students in work education programs

Data were collected from 1016 students in grades 9–14 from 50 work education programs. Data were also collected from 696 similar students who held part-time jobs but were not participating in work education programs. Participating students were significantly more satisfied with their jobs than were the nonparticipating students. Group atmosphere, availability of adult role models, meaningfulness of work roles, and availability of feedback accounted for much of the variation in job satisfaction among students.     

Cardiac orienting responses of 6- and 16-week-old infants

Since previous data suggested that the magnitude of orienting evidenced by cardiac deceleration increased over the first 16 weeks of life, 6- and 16-week-old infants were compared on various characteristics of orienting: habituation, dishabituation, and magnitude of deceleration to stimulus offset as well as to stimulus onset. Neither the change in stimulus following habituation trials nor the stimulus offset produced a large enough response to confidently evaluate age differences suggested by the data. Stimulus onset elicited a pronounced deceleration which for the two age groups was of equivalent magnitude on initial trials and declined similarly with stimulus repetition. It was suggested that similarity of the two age groups on these parameters was due to control of state within a narrow alert range, and that, in general, younger infants are less likely than older infants to show orienting when conditions for orienting are marginal.     

On signalling that it's your turn to speak

The operation of a “speaker-state signal” in two-person, face-to-face conversations is hypothesized. Display of this signal by an auditor appears to indicate, among other things, that he is claiming the speaking turn, differentiating this action from a “back-channel behavior” by which he merely acknowledges some portion of the speaker's message. The signal also appears to play a part in the resolution of situations in which both participants simultaneously claim the speaking turn. The signal is defined as the display of at least one of a set of four behavioral cues, two in paralanguage and two in body motion.     

Threats and promises: Reputational consequences and transfer of credibility

This study was designed to investigate the reputational consequences of making threats and promises and how they affect subsequent credibility. Eighty-eight high school girls were given predetermined information about the past behavior of their pairmates prior to receiving influence attempts from them. Each first learned that her pairmate had (1) threatened or promised in the past and then learned whether she had (2) fulfilled or failed to fulfill her threat or promise. The subject herself then received a threat or promise from her pairmate. As anticipated, threateners were viewed less favorably than promisers. These impressions were maintained when it was learned that commitments had been fulfilled, but altered decidedly when it was learned that they had not. Credibility or lack of it was found to generalize from threats to promises and from promises to threats only under some conditions. It was concluded that the fit between existing impressions and proclaimed future activity, not a person's record for past reliability, is often the critical determinant of whether or not she is judged to be credible.