Multiple meanings,number of related meanings,frequency of occurrence,and the lexicon

A series of experiments was conducted examining lexical access of words with multiple meanings. Words with many meanings were accessed faster than words with few meanings. This effect was obtained independently of word frequency. Furthermore, while words may have several etymological derivations, the number of derivations does not affect access. Finally, among words with an equal number of derivations and an equal number of meanings, those whose meanings tend to be associated with only one derivation are also accessed faster. The relation between number of meanings and word frequency is discussed, especially with respect to the role number of meanings may have played in other research.     

Response deprivation and instrumental performance in the controlled-amount paradigm

The response deprivation analysis, previously applied to a paradigm frequently used in free operant experiments, was applied successfully to another paradigm frequently used in discrete trials experiments. Each trial ended when the rat performed 1 lick at an empty tube (E), and either 10 or 100 licks at a second tube containing either saccharin (S) or water (W). Baseline trials were begun by exposing both tubes. Contigency trials required 1 instrumental E-lick for access to the second tube. Rate of instrumental responding, relative to baseline, was directly proportional to the value required if the subject were to perform the contingent licks at their baseline rates. The results also confirmed the predicted functional relations between the absolute rate of instrumental responding and the number of contingent S-licks, the number of contingent W-licks, and hours of water deprivation. Critical implications for the concept of instrumental reinforcement were discussed.     

Expectancy confirmed again: A computer investigation of expectancy theory

A computerized attempt to replicate Aronson and Carlsmith's test of expectancy theory was conducted. Generally, subjects performed consistent with their expectancy, although the effect of expectancy was strongly attentuated by an overall achievement orientation. The results contradict the hypotheses that experimenter bias, demand characteristics, or differential recall of performance mediate the effects of expectancy upon performance.     

Vocational persistence: An exploration of self-concept and dissonance theories

There is an increasing number of individuals who leave one occupation or profession for another even after many years of investment. This phenomenon is increasingly apparent among religious groups. This study examines the application of dissonance theory to self-concept implementation in an attempt to explain the motivational process of vocational persistence among a group of Catholic seminarians.     

A model of three-choice discrimination learning under complete and incomplete feedback conditions

The Bower and Trabasso model of concept identification was extended to cover problems in which three stimuli were presented simultaneously and S pointed to the one he thought was correct. The E gave complete feedback by indicating the correct stimulus, or incomplete feedback by saying “correct” or “wrong.” The model accurately accounted for the significant difference in total errors between the two feedback conditions by incorporating process assumptions reflecting the logical difference in information content of the two types of feedback. Using a single set of parameter estimates, the model made satisfactory quantitative predictions of several statistics for both feedback conditions. Some deviations from the model's predictions were found in the length of terminal error runs, indicating that Ss were possibly using memory more extensively than posited by the model.     

When three is not always two against one: Coalitions in experimental three-person cooperative games

Four models of coalition formation are tested in a computer-controlled experiment in which three players negotiated to form coalitions in order to gain rewards for themselves. Formation of the grand coalition of all three players as well as any of the three possible 2-person coalitions is permitted. The results indicate that the grand coalition is the most likely to form, followed by the coalition between the two strongest players. The individually rational bargaining set model of coalition formation is supported over an egalitarian model, the Shapley value, and the coalitionally rational bargaining set model. Various measures of the progress of negotiations are introduced, examined, and discussed in an effort to provide an increased data base for the establishment of a behavioral theory of bargaining and coalition formation.     

Nonverbal cues to sex-role attitudes

This study explored the relationship between self-reported attitudes toward “masculinity-femininity” and nonverbal behavior as judged by peers. Subjects (Ss) were preselected using an Mf questionnaire into: high-“feminine” males (N = 16) and females (N = 15) and low-feminine males (N = 16) and females (N = 15). The 62 Ss were videotaped in a 5-min standardized interview. Peer-age judges (Js) then viewed the videotapes without sound and asked to check which of the 170 adjectives describe Ss. Some Js were asked to rate average college male and female. A large number of adjectives discriminated the sexes (91 out of 170). Women were more often seen as warm, affable, oversocialized, emotional, and unstable. Men were seen as forceful, dominant, and detached. Sixty-two adjectives discriminated high- and low-feminine women. Feminine women were seen as warm, affable, oversocialized, and submissive, while low-feminine women were seen as dominant. High-feminine men were described as impulsive, dominant, and socially uneasy, while low-feminine men were seen as oversocialized and conventional.     

Evidence for a three-factor theory of emotions

Two studies provided evidence that three independent and bipolar dimensions, pleasure-displeasure, degree of arousal, and dominance-submissiveness, are both necessary and sufficient to adequately define emotional states. In one study with 200 subjects, 42 verbal-report emotion scales were explored in regression analyses as functions of the three dimensions plus a measure of acquiescence bias. Multiple correlation coefficients showed that almost all of the reliable variance in the 42 scales had been accounted for. The specific definitions provided by these equations were replicated in a second study that employed 300 subjects' ratings of 151 emotion-denoting terms on semantic differential-type scales.