Empirical derivation of SVIB-Holland scales: A brief report

The Strong Vocational Interest Blank responses of 93 students were used to construct six empirical scales similar to the scales of Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory. Scores on the empirical scales were correlated with actual VPI scores. The resulting correlations were compared to coefficients obtained from correlating the intuitive scales designed by Campbell with actual VPI scores. It was concluded that (1) meaningful estimates of VPI profiles can be obtained by scoring selected items from the SVIB and (2) further work with the empirical scales is needed prior to settling on a SVIB scoring procedure for estimating VPI profiles.     

Paradoxical preference for more frequently occurring negative stimuli and for less frequently occurring positive stimuli as a function of amount of training in simultaneous discrimination learning

Development of a preference for more frequently occurring negative stimuli was found in a within-subject design. In this experiment, pigeons learned two simultaneous problems with an unequal number of training trials. At various stages in training, for example, the more-trained negative stimulus was paired with the less-trained negative stimulus for a single preference trial. These probe trials pointed to a swing in stimulus function in negative stimuli which also occurred at an earlier stage in positive (reward-correlated) stimuli. The paradoxical preference for less-trained positive over more-trained positive stimuli was found in this study, confirming the earlier reported phenomenon. The paradoxical preference for more-trained negative stimuli was discussed in terms of a frustration analysis. A symmetrical, albeit positive, emotional factor was discussed with regard to the paradoxical findings with positive probe trials.     

Infants' intermodal perception of events

Four-month-old infants viewed two sound motion picture films of simple, natural events. The films were projected side by side, as one of the two sound tracks was played through a centrally placed speaker. Infants' visual attention to the films was consistently influenced by what they heard: They looked primarily at the event specified by the sound track. The experiment demonstrates that infants are able to perceive relations between sights and sounds in the absence of spatial cues. They respond to a perceived intermodal invariance with increased attention to the event reaching them over two modalities.     

Effects of quantitative shifts in a visual reinforcer on the instrumental response of infants.

Two studies examined the effects of quantitative (“complexity”) differences in a visual reinforcer and subsequent reward shifts, on operant response rates. Footkicks and visual attention of 3-month-old infants were measured across daily sessions with conjugate reinforcement provided by an overhead mobile containing either two, six or ten identical components. In Experiment 1, initial rates to the three mobiles differed. The relation between components and kicking was not linear, but was an inverted U-shaped function of component numerosity. The infant responses as a function of numerosity from Experiment 1 were used to define “complexity” in Experiment 2, and all subjects were switched to an intermediate complexity level (two components) after achieving a criterion of stable responding. Although the number of mobile components did not differentially affect acquisition rates, infants who received a shift from six to two components exhibited a reliable and immediate response increase whereas those experiencing a ten- to two-component shift exhibited negative behaviors. These results imply that infants respond relationally, actively manipulating their visual environments as a function of their previous contextual experiences.     

Psychophysical scaling of stimulus similarity in 3-month-old infants and adults

The ability of 3-month-old infants to discriminate novel components of a prefamiliarized stimulus was assessed using an operant paradigm. Subjects were familiarized with the standard stimulus (five-component mobile) in three daily conditioning sessions and then were exposed to a comparison mobile containing from zero to four novel components substituted for familiar elements at the outset of a fourth daily session. Although a reliable reduction in mean number of footkicks was found only when an extreme number of components was substituted, log-log plots of infant response as a function of degree of novelty indicated that discriminability was described by a power function. Adult judgments of the similarity between the standard mobile and each degree of novelty were also described by a power function, suggesting a common basis may underlie the perception of similarity in the two groups. The finding of a power function for infant response to visual novelty is consistent with reports of similar discriminability functions in infant olfaction and audition. However, duration of visual fixation increased nondifferentially to all test stimuli, irrespective of degree of novelty. The latter finding is inconsistent with predictions arising from the visual attention literature.     

Feedback and fidelity: Effects of contingent consequences on accuracy of imitation

Accuracy of imitation by sixty kindergarten subjects was examined using a task in which a female adult modeled a series of pegboard patterns and delivered accuracy-contingent feedback. Four methods of feedback and a nofeedback control were compared. All four feedback groups were more accurate than the control group. The feedback conditions were: positive only, negative only, positive and negative, and negative with correction. The last condition resulted in greater accuracy than the others, which did not differ. All groups, including the control, improved significantly over trials. Accuracy of performance on interspersed, nonfeedback trials was maintained by feedback to the other patterns. Finally, imitation of repeating stimulus patterns did not differ from performance with nonrepeating patterns.     

Infant responses of ocular fixation to moving visual stimuli

Infants of 1, 2, and 3 months of age were presented with two checkerboard patterns, one stationary and the other moving in a horizontal oscillatory motion at one of eight rates. An observer who could see only the infant's head and eyes recorded, for each 30-sec trial, (a) the position of first fixation, (b) position of fixation at the end of each 5-sec interval, and (c) a final forced-choice judgment of the position of the moving stimulus. Results showed reliable differences in ocular behavior as a function of rate of stimulus motion for all three groups of infants.     

Cognitive tuning and receptivity to novel information

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that cognitive tuning would cause receivers to be more receptive to novel than to familiar information, compared to transmitters. The information receptivity of transmitters and receivers was contrasted against a control group. The influence of the source and audience, possible limits on the influence of the tuning set, was also explored. Finally, amount of variance controlled by cognitive tuning, personality variables and information utility were examined.While the results strongly support the prediction that transmitters prefer familiar information, receivers and control group subjects did not significantly differ in preferences for novel information. The anticipated expertise of source or audience had no influence on information receptivity. Among the three sets of variables used, the greatest amount of variance was explained by information utility, followed by cognitive tuning and personality measures, though all three variables controlled a significant amount of variance.     

Response elimination in concurrent and single operant situations with pigeons

Two experiments compared the efficiency and durability of elimination of a free operant resulting from omission (OM) or extinction (EXT) when an alternative to the response undergoing elimination was available. Pigeons were pretrained on concurrent VI (Expt I) before response elimination, durability testing, and extinction testing. Maintenance of one operant by the adventitious reinforcement for not emitting a second operant subjected to OM was demonstrated. Response elimination effects were more durable after OM than EXT. Experiment II compared concurrent and single operant paradigms in response elimination with OM and EXT. Response elimination was more rapid and more durable in the concurrent situation than in the single operant situation, and OM conditions were more durable than EXT conditions.