A FEW LAST WORDS—UNTIL THE NEXT TIME!

Abstract. Appreciative as I am of my critics'comments, I find, to no one's surprise, that I can bear them with equanimity, even complacency. The wide spread of opinions surely justifies my intellectual composure.     

FROM BELIEF TO UNBELIEF–AND HALFWAY BACK

Abstract. Through autobiography, I explain why I cannot accept conventional Christianity or any other form of religious belief. I sketch how, through modern evolutionary theory, I try to find an alternative world-picture, one which is, however, essentially agnostic about ultimate meanings. I characterize my position as being that of "David Hume brought up-to-date by Charles Darwin." I express sad skepticism about ever realizing the hopes on which Zygon was founded.     

Rule learning in children: Multiple-set training and intermediate-size transposition

Two experiments were conducted in which the subjects were trained to choose the middle-size stimulus in either a single stimulus set or in each of two nonoverlapping stimulus sets. Following criterion, each subject was presented with a series of 12 test trials involving a new stimulus set. In Experiment 1, kindergarten children tended to choose the middle-size test stimulus if the test set consisted of stimuli intermediate in size to the stimuli in the smaller and larger training sets. When the test stimuli were all larger than any of the training stimuli, the probability of choosing the middle-size stimulus increased as the distance between the two training sets increased. Three groups of children participated in Experiment 2: a kindergarten group, a first-grade group, and a first-grade group that experienced middle-size training a year earlier. The distance between training sets and two training procedures affected the three groups in a similar manner during acquisition, but several interactions were obtained during the test. The findings were discussed in terms of the Lane and Rabinowitz (D. M. Lane & F. M. Rabinowitz, Child Development, 1977, 48, 412–426) rule based theory of intermediate-size transposition and suggestions were made as to how children acquire the concept of middle.     

Dimensional separability or flexibility of attention? Age trends in perceiving configural stimuli

The hypothesis that perceptual development proceeds from less to greater dimensional separability was tested by giving a speeded classification task to first and fouth graders. In Experiment 1, children sorted line drawings of a cartoon figure into two piles according to his eyes (open or closed) or his mouth (smiling or frowning). First graders exhibited the pattern characteristic of integral dimensions: An interference effect was found when dimensions were combined orthogonally and a facilitation effect when dimensions were correlated, relative to a condition in which only one dimension varied. Fourth graders exhibited an optional separable pattern: There was facilitation in the correlated condition but no interference in the orthogonal condition. These results support the hypothesis that development proceeds toward greater flexibility of attention rather than simply toward increasing separability. A flexible field hypothesis of visual attention was suggested to explain how older children can exercise such optional separability. This hypothesis correctly predicted the asymmetrical relation between dimensions found in Experiments 2 and 3: For both first and fourth graders, the eyes of a cartoon figure (open or closed) and his location (right or left) were nonseparable when the eyes were relevant and separable (or optional separable) when location was relevant.     

Measuring the importance of cues in judgment for individuals: Subjective theories of IQ as a function of heredity and environment

To measure the relative subjective importance attached to heredity and environment, undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty were asked to predict the IQ scores of hypothetical adopted children based on the IQs of the biological mother and father, the IQs of the adoptive parents, and the socioeconomic status of the adoptive parents. Intuitive predictions of IQ were inconsistent with additive, multiple regression models. Rather, the data for individual subjects were consistent with a configural-weight averaging model. Weights derived from this model were correlated with ratings of the relative importance of cues. Judges who rated the environment more important not only had greater weights for the environmental variables, but also placed greater weight on high rather than low scores. The judges who rated heredity more important than environment had greater estimated weights for heredity information and for lower-valued information. Results were thus consistent with the hypothesis that model-derived relative weights and individuals ratings of the relative importance of cues are both measures of the importance that individuals attach to these cues.     

Self-focused attention and reactions to fear

Two studies were conducted to study the effect of self-focused attention on behavioral responses to fear. In Experiment 1, phobics and nonphobics were asked to approach and hold a snake either in the presence of a mirror or with no mirror. In Experiment 2, high and low private self-conscious subjects were asked to submit to a series of either mild or strong electric shock for humanitarian reasons. In each case, self-directed attention caused increased responsivity to the fearful affect and made subjects more likely to withdraw from the situation, regardless of the fact that a behavioral standard existed which called for an opposite response. The theoretical and behavioral implications of the findings were discussed.     

A comparison of two methods for the administration of paradoxical intention

Recent research in the treatment of insomnia by paradoxical intention has utilized two different methods of instruction. Studies utilizing the random assignment of subjects to treatment groups employ a procedure in which clients are provided with a straight-forward explanation based on the present authors' understanding of the use of paradoxical intention with insomnia (type A administration). In contrast, controlled case studies have employed reframing, a procedure which explains the need for the paradoxical intention in a manner which best suits the specific understanding of the individual client (type B administration). The present study employed the type B method in a design employing the random assignment of clients to groups. Three additional groups (type A administration, placebo control, no-treatment control) completed the design. The results indicated that the type A method was superior to the type B procedure when the same method for administering paradoxical intention was applied to a randomized group of individuals.     

Person-environment congruence and employee job satisfaction: a test of Holland's theory

Person-environment congruence as assessed by Holland's model of vocational preference was tested in a sample of 362 employees from five environmental typologies (Realistic, Investigative, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional). Employees were classified as having congruent or incongruent person/environment pairings according to their occupation and their responses to Holland's Self-Directed Search. It was hypothesized that congruent employees would be significantly more satisfied with their jobs than incongruent employees. The results indicated that congruent employees were significantly more satisfied with the job facet satisfaction measures of work, pay, promotions, supervision, and coworkers as well as overall satisfaction compared to incongruent employees. In addition, the results revealed several Environment × Congruence interactions, indicating that the effects of person-environment congruence vary across different environmental typologies. The results are discussed in the context of establishing a fit between individual attributes and organizational environments.     

The role of perceived physiological activity in affective judgments

This study assessed the physiological and cognitive effects of Valins' (Valins, S. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 4, 400–408) false heart rate procedure. Twenty-two male subjects were exposed to two feedback conditions during which measures of actual heart rate and skin conductance were obtained. In each condition, eight slides of nude females were presented; some slides were associated with false heart rate increases, while for other slides the feedback remained stable. In one condition, subjects were told that the heart rate was that of another subject; in the other condition, subjects were told that the feedback was their own heart rate. In both conditions, subjects judged the attractiveness of the slides from their own point of view and from the point of view of the other subject. Slides associated with false heart rate increases were rated as more attractive than stable slides when subjects (1) heard their own heart rate and rated their own attraction; (2) heard the other subject's heart rate and rated their own attraction; and (3) heard the other subject's heart rate and rated the other subject's attraction. Skin conductance responses and actual cardiac decelerations were greater when subjects heard what was allegedly their own heart rate and when the slides were accompanied by apparent cardiac acceleration. However, these actual physiological responses did not play a causal role in relation to the affective judgments. Instead, the relationship between perceived physiological changes and feelings of attractiveness was mediated by cognitive processes associated with informational and directive influences of the feedback.