Attentional biases and the right-ear effect in dichotic listening

Most dichotic listening experiments permit subjects to deploy attention in any way they choose. We argue that this adds uncontrolled variance to the observed right-ear advantage. In the first experiment, more robust laterality effects were obtained in an identification task with focused than with divided attention. Such differences were not found in the second experiment, when a detection procedure was used. Virtually all the laterality effect observed in the second study could be attributed to subjects who were biased attenders, in the sense that they exhibited more intrusions from the right ear to the left than vice versa. However, rather than indicating that laterality effects are simply attentional bias, this effect can be attributed to an asymmetry of perceptual discrimination.     

Symbol complexity and symbol identification with rotated symbols

Previous studies of the identification of rotated symbols have been restricted to either alphanumeric characters or symbols designed to be similar in complexity and type to alphanumerics. These researches have found identification response times to be independent of the magnitude of a symbol's angular displacement from a standard upright position, such findings being typically interpreted as supporting a feature extraction model of identification. In the present experiment complex Japanese characters were used to assess whether such a feature extraction interpretation could be generalized to identifying complex rotated symbols. Identification response times were also found to be constant across all non-standard orientations of the characters, supporting a feature extraction interpretation, but quicker times for standard cases suggested that some qualifications might be necessary.     

Sex differences in the levels of generality of values/preferences related to work

The current literature on sex differences in values/preferences related to work appears polarized around two apparently contradictory sets of findings and conclusions. One set of studies fails to detect sex differences. The other set of studies indicates that males are more concerned about money, independence, security, and career goals, while females appear more concerned about people and environmental issues at work. Following W. D. Siegfried, I. MacFarlane, D. B. Graham, N. A. Moore, and P. L. Young (Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1981, 18, 30–42) it is suggested that level of analysis may be a crucial factor accounting for much of the prevailing confusion in the literature. This study investigated sex differences in values/preferences related to work at various levels of generality. A sample of 1081 senior high school students was administered the Work Aspect Preference Scale (WAPS). Complete-link cluster analyses were performed for males and females separately. Comparison of the two dendrograms reveals the substantial similarity of the preference patterns of males and females. However, the basic difference in the patterns focused on the Altruism and Physical Activity subscales. Females appeared more likely to associate helping others with personal achievement whereas males tended to see helping people in terms of controlling and organizing them. Females also linked physical activity with helping others and self-development whereas males tended to associate physical activity with extrinsic rewards of work. It is concluded that the use of cluster analysis techniques may provide the best procedure to effect an adequate reconciliation of the conflicting results to be found in the current literature.     

Evidence for the self as an imaginal prototype

This study investigated recognition memory of self-photographs which had been previously rated by subjects for their degree of reference to an imaginal prototype of “real self.” The number of false alarms to NEW photographs was found to increase with degree of self-reference to the imaginal prototype with the exception of photographs rated highest in self-reference. Females were reliably superior to males in self-recognition. Males and females also differed in nonverbal behaviors reflecting differences in their image of real self. Results were interpreted as supporting an hypothesis that the self functions as a cognitive prototype which has both imaginal and verbal characteristics.     

The problem of relapse in stuttering: Some thoughts on what might cause it and how to deal with it

Bloodstein recently wrote that “the most vital part of science is not accurate measurement or the insistence on empiricism. It is an attitude of inquiry into the how and why of things” [Bloodstein, O. Foreword. In: Maintenance of Fluency (E. Boberg ed.). New York: Elsevier, 1981, p. vii]. In the paper below, I present some unsubstantiated and no doubt controversial thoughts on the how and why of relapse in stuttering. The overall thrust of these thoughts is that stutterers have different propensities to stutter because of the inherent variability in their speech production systems. For this reason, for therapy to have long-range success, stutterers must learn to accept and deal with the inherent variability in their speech production mechanisms.     

Influence of a televised model's vocalization pattern on infants

To assess the influence of a televised model's vocalizations on the vocal patterns of infant viewers, 32 infants at 6 months of age were presented either a televised adult model repeating a novel phoneme pattern (/ba/ba/ba/ba) or a control televised presentation of adult conversation selected from typical daytime programming. Sequential analyses of infant vocalizations revealed that infants exposed to the televised model altered their vocalization pattern, as indicated by a significant increase over base line levels in their production of a patterned series of discrete vocalizations. Infants exposed to the televised conversation showned no increase in this pattern of vocalization, and none of the infants in the study produced the novel phoneme (/ba/). The results indicate that televised presentation of discrete, repeated vocalizations can have an influence on the vocalization pattern of infants. The potential role of television in infant development is discussed.     

Values,preferences, needs,work ethics,and orientations to work: Toward a conceptual and empirical integration

There have been comparatively few attempts on either the conceptual or empirical level to integrate values, preferences, needs, work ethics, and orientations to work. A rationale outlining the way these concepts can be related to each other, is presented. It is maintained that these concepts are categories of relations between humans and work. These categories are qualitatively similar and differ principally in the level of generality of the characteristics of work considered. Complete-link cluster analysis is suggested as a method of analysis compatible with the proffered rationale. Two studies are presented with data gathered during the development of two versions of Work Aspect Preference Scale (WAPS). The samples for the two studies both comprised senior high school students, controlled for sex and age, who were administered the WAPS. Study 1 had a sample of 532 while Study 2 had a sample size of 482. Both sets of data were cluster analyzed. Results indicated a very substantial amount of agreement between the two samples, particularly at the more general levels of clustering. The bipartite and tripartite groupings of vocational needs suggested by L. H. Lofquist and R. V. Dawis (Journal of Vocational Behavior, 1978, 12, 12–19) were confirmed as were the findings of J. Mortimer (Sociology of Work and Occupations, 1975, 2, 29–53). Other clusters were also identified with findings from previous research. It is concluded that the investigation of preferences at different levels of generality and the interrelation between these levels shows great promise for both the researcher and the counselor and therefore merits more research effort.     

Semantic focus and sentence comprehension.

Reaction time to detect a phoneme target in a sentence was found to be faster when the word in which the target occurred formed part of the semantic focus of the sentence. Focus was determined by asking a question before the sentence; that part of the sentence which comprised the answer to the sentence was assumed to be focussed. This procedure made it possible to vary position of focus within the sentence while holding all acoustic aspects of the sentence itself constant. It is argued that sentence understanding is facilitated by rapid identification of focussed information. Since focussed words are usually accented, it is further argued that the active search for accented words demonstrated in previous research should be interpreted as a search for semantic focus.