Spatial variables and the feature-positive effect

Pigeons were trained in discriminations where S+ and S? shared common visual elements but were distinguished by the presence or absence of a visual feature. When S+ contained the distinctive feature (the feature-positive condition), the pigeons rapidly learned to withold responses to S?: The learning rate was not markedly affected by changes in the relative size of the feature and the common element. When S? contained the distinctive feature (the feature-negative condition), the pigeons learned to withhold responses to S? more rapidly when the feature was large relative to the common element than when the feature was small relative to the common element. This effect was observed when the stimuli were present at the locus of response and when the stimuli were remote from the locus of response. To explain these results, and the results of generalization tests, it was proposed that the effectiveness of the feature in suppressing responding to the common element during feature-negative training depended on the relative size of the feature and the common element.     

The cognitive basis of the comprehension and production of relational terminology

The comprehension of big, little, and same number and the productio of relational terminology was assessed in 168 preschool children. Stimuli were used which varied the relationships of length, number, and density. Language comprehension and production were related to the complexity of cognitive operations required by the task. Specifically, comprehension was easier in the situations in which length and number were positively correlated than when length provided no cue to number. Comprehension was most difficult when length and number were negatively correlated. There was asymmetry in language comprehension such that the positive term big, was comprehended earlier than little in some tasks; there was also asymmetry in production in that the child was more likely to use language related to the positive pole than to the negative pole. These data were interpreted as providing support for theories of the cognitive basis of language acquisition.     

Task parameters affecting the efficacy of a visual imagery learning strategy in younger and older children

Second- and sixth-grade children were presented a list of paired associates (concrete nouns) either at a faster (6-second) or a slower (12-second) presentation rate, under either an instruction to generate an interactive image for the pairs or a no strategy, control instruction. The list was composed of two pair types: easy-to-imaginally relate and difficult-to-imaginally relate pairs, as determined from a prior norming study. At the faster presentation rate, 2nd graders were able to benefit from the imagery strategy with easy pairs, but not with difficult pairs. At the slower rate, however, they applied the imagery strategy equally well to both pair types. Older children benefited from the imagery strategy with both pair types at both rates.     

Age and overt verbalization in delay-maintenance behavior in children

The influence of overt self-verbalization on the maintenance of self-imposed delay of gratification was investigated in a task in which the child's possession of accumulating candy rewards was made contingent upon the child stopping further accumulation. Preschool girls who verbalized about the goodness of waiting and preschool girls who uttered an irrelevant verbalization waited longer before terminating their delay than did preschool girls who verbalized about the delayed reward or were silent. Second- and third-grade girls who verbalized about the goodness of waiting or who were silent waited longer than girls of the same age who verbalized about the delayed reward.     

Young children's use of temporal and spatial order information in short-term memory

Encoding and retrieval of temporal and spatial order information was investigated in the free recall and probed recognition performance of 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds. In both tasks, three line drawings of familiar objects were presented successively in different spatial locations, so that temporal order was not confounded with spatial order. Subjects of all ages revealed an organization for the stimulus display based on the temporal sequence of presentation. With increasing age, subjects began recall more often with the first item so as to take advantage of this sequential organization. In the probed recognition task, subjects were asked questions requiring the use of temporal or spatial order information. Performance by the older subjects indicated that information about temporal and spatial order could be simultaneously encoded. The results are discussed in terms of a context theory derived from Estes's hierarchical association model.     

A self-fulfilling prophecy in a competitive psychomotor task

Fifty-six pairs of male college students competed in games of electronic table tennis. The participants were led to expect a bias in the game equipment, such that one player would have an advantage and the other a disadvantage. All participants recorded levels of aspiration both before and after being informed of the alleged bias. Upon completion of the game, the subjects made ratings of causal attribution to five factors: ability, task difficulty, effort, luck, and equipment bias. The results showed that the students with the putative disadvantage set significantly lower aspiration levels and performed at a significantly lower level than those students with the supposed advantage. Thus the putative bias became a real bias, although a psychological rather than a physical one. It is suggested that the source of the bias and the performance differences was a self-fulfilling prophecy. In contrast to the results of earlier studies, there were no meaningful differences in ratings of causal attribution.     

Causes of racial and socioeconomic differences in cognitive tests

Correlations among profiles of means based upon 75 cognitive variables from Project TALENT are presented for groups defined by race, socioeconomic status, sex, area of the country, and grade in high school. Sex makes by far the largest contribution to differences in shape of profiles. Race and socioenconomic status, in turn, make much larger contributions to differences than grade and area. Sex differences in shapes of profiles are a function primarily of race and, to a lesser extent, of social class. Race differences are larger than socioeconomic differences and the former, in particular, are also a function of sex. Black males differ more from white patterns than black females. There is lack of substantial overlap in the causes of race and socioeconomic differences in shape of cognitive profiles.