The influence of symbolic and motor rehearsal in observational learning

The experiment investigated the effects of the mode and patterning of rehearsal on the acquisition and retention of modeled activities varying in organizational complexity. Subjects observed a filmed model construct two configurations, containing high or low organizational requirements. Immediately after exposure they rehearsed the modeled activities either mentally, motorically, mentally and then motorically, motorically and then mentally, or engaged in a distracting activity that prevented rehearsal of what they had see. Performance tests were conducted immediately after the rehearsal phase and again 1 week later. Subjects who rehearsed the modeled behaviors symbolically, whether singly or in conjunction with motor practice, reproduced both configurations more accurately than those who rehearsed motorically or not at all. Motor rehearsal increased speed on the organizationally simple task, but did not enhance response acquisition over and above observation alone. The overall results are interpreted as supporting the social learning view that modeled behaviors are best acquired when demonstrated activities are first organized symbolically and then refined on the basis of performance feedback.     

Perceptual asymmetries in face recognition

Four experiments were carried out to investigate perceptual asymmetries in face recognition. Perceptual asymmetries favoring the half-face on the observer's left were found under free viewing conditions for both unfamiliar faces (Experiment 1) and famous faces (Experiment 3). For unfamiliar faces, this asymmetry was not obtained when fixation was controlled by presenting faces tachistoscopically (Experiment 2). For famous faces, the perceptual asymmetry favoring the half-face normally seen on the left did not appear to be retained in memory (Experiments 3 and 4). Asymmetries in face perception have been explained in terms of a direct access model of laterally effects. However, these results raise the possibility that asymmetric scanning or attentional factors may be important.     

Psychological relations and psychophysical scales: On the status of “direct” psychophysical measurement

Arguments, originally developed some fifteen years ago, concerning the sort of “direct” psychophysical measurement advocated by S. S. Stevens are reproduced here in order to facilitate access by a wider audience. Considerations of measurement theory, biological adaptation, perceptual invariance, and neurophysiological noise, as well as various empirical results, suggest (a) that it is primarily the relations—particularly the ratios—between stimulus magnitudes and not the individual magnitudes themselves that are represented within the organism and, accordingly, (b) that “direct” psychophysical measurement, by itself, uniquely determines neither a psychological magnitude of any one stimulus nor a psychophysical law relating such psychological magnitudes to corresponding physical magnitudes. What such measurement can uniquely determine, evidently, is a psychological parameter characterizing each sensory continuum.     

Polite responses to polite requests

Indirect requests vary in politeness; for example, Can you tell me where Jordan Hall is? is more polite than Shouldn't you tell me where Jordan Hall is? By one theory, the more the literal meaning of a request implies personal benefits for the listener, within reason, the more polite is the request. This prediction was confirmed in Experiment 1. Responses to indirect requests also vary in politeness. For Can you tell me where Jordan Hall is?, the response Yes, I can — it's up the street is more polite than It's up the street. By an extension of that theory, the more attentive the responder is to all of the requester's meaning, the more polite is the response. This prediction was confirmed in Experiments 2, 3 and 4. From this evidence, we argued that people ordinarily compute both the literal and the indirect meanings of indirect requests. They must if they are to recognize when the speaker is and isn't being polite, and if they are to respond politely, impolitely, or even neutrally.     

Moral outrage and pragmatism: Explanations for collective action

Two explanations for collective behavior were contrasted. The first, exemplified by relative deprivation theory, stresses the importance of feelings of moral outrage and perceived economic injustice. The second focuses on more pragmatic considerations, such as the availability of resources for mobilization. The present study examines these explanations for collective behavior in a laboratory setting. Subjects were members of a disadvantaged group. In a 3 × 2 factorial design two independent variables were manipulated. The magnitude of pay inequality between the disadvantaged group and a more advantaged group was manipulated to be large, moderate, or small. Mobilization resources available to the disadvantaged group were manipulated to be either present or absent. In accord with predictions based on relative deprivation theory, as the magnitude of the inequality increased, stronger feelings of deprivation were expressed. However, contrary to relative deprivation theory, larger magnitudes of inequality and stronger feelings of deprivation were not associated with greater willingness to engage in legitimate or illegitimate forms of collective behavior. Instead, as predicted by some critics of relative deprivation theory, willinginess to engage in illegitimate forms of collective behavior was affected only by a gragmatic consideration: the presence or absence of mobilization resources.     

Role of referent concreteness in the acquisition of passive sentence comprehension through abstract modeling

The present experiment tested the hypothesis that development of syntactic comprehension through verbal modeling is enhanced by referent concreteness as a contextual influence. Young children heard a model narrate a series of events in passive form while the model either performed the corresponding activities, showed pictures portraying the same activities, or displayed no referential aids. In accord with prediction, verbal modeling with enactive referents produced higher levels of comprehension of passives than modeling with pictorial referents or modeling without referential aids. Modeling with pictorial referents and modeling without referents did not differ in overall efficacy. However, modeling alone produced results that were less consistent across different measures of comprehension. Children who lacked understanding of passives were more dependent on concrete referents than those who had some initial comprehension of the linguistic form. The results suggest that verbal modeling with pictorial referents and verbal modeling alone facilitate comprehension of passives, whereas verbal modeling with enactive referents promotes learning. Findings of a supplemental experiment reveal that the effects of verbal modeling on comprehension are enhanced when syntactic forms occur in a meaningful verbal context.