Visual and verbal modes of information processing and their relation to the effectiveness of cognitively-based anxiety-reduction techniques

This study examined the interaction between preferred modes of information processing (visual and verbal) and two cognitively-based anxiety-reduction techniques. One technique was based on the use of images as a coping strategy while the other employed a self-instructional approach. Thirty-six subjects reporting high levels of dental fear were assigned to one of three groups (two types of treatment and a no-treatment control). One-half of the subjects in each group had been identified as preferring the visual mode of information processing while for the other half the verbal mode was preferred. After treatment, subjects viewed an anxiety-inducing videotape depicting a visit to the dentist. Results indicated that, while both treatments were significantly effective in reducing self-reports of discomfort while viewing the videotape, there was no significant interaction between the type of treatment and preferred cognitive mode. The results were interpreted as indicating that treatment may override individual cognitive styles. Furthermore, the data suggested that the normal individual has the ability to adapt to divergent and non-preferred forms of information processing.     

Scene perception: Detecting and judging objects undergoing relational violations

Five classes of relations between an object and its setting can characterize the organization of objects into real-world scenes. The relations are (1) Interposition (objects interrupt their background), (2) Support (objects tend to rest on surfaces), (3) Probability (objects tend to be found in some scenes but not others), (4) Position (given an object is probable in a scene, it often is found in some positions and not others), and (5) familiar Size (objects have a limited set of size relations with other objects). In two experiments subjects viewed brief (150 msec) presentations of slides of scenes in which an object in a cued location in the scene was either in a normal relation to its background or violated from one to three of the relations. Such objects appear to (1) have the background pass through them, (2) float in air, (3) be unlikely in that particular scene, (4) be in an inappropriate position, and (5) be too large or too small relative to the other objects in the scene. In Experiment I, subjects attempted to determine whether the cued object corresponded to a target object which had been specified in advance by name. With the exception of the Interposition violation, violation costs were incurred in that the detection of objects undergoing violations was less accurate and slower than when those same objects were in normal relations to their setting. However, the detection of objects in normal relations to their setting (innocent bystanders) was unaffected by the presence of another object undergoing a violation in that same setting. This indicates that the violation costs were incurred not because of an unsuccessful elicitation of a frame or schema for the scene but because properly formed frames interfered with (or did not facilitate) the perceptibility of objects undergoing violations. As the number of violations increased, target detectability generally decreased. Thus, the relations were accessed from the results of a single fixation and were available sufficiently early during the time course of scene perception to affect the perception of the objects in the scene. Contrary to expectations from a bottom-up account of scene perception, violations of the pervasive physical relations of Support and Interposition were not more disruptive on object detection than the semantic violations of Probability, Position and Size. These are termed semantic because they require access to the referential meaning of the object. In Experiment II, subjects attempted to detect the presence of the violations themselves. Violations of the semantic relations were detected more accurately than violations of Interposition and at least as accurately as violations of Support. As the number of violations increased, the detectability of the incongruities between an object and its setting increased. These results provide converging evidence that semantic relations can be accessed from the results of a single fixation. In both experiments information about Position was accessed at least as quickly as information on Probability. Thus in Experiment I, the interference that resulted from placing a fire hydrant in a kitchen was not greater than the interference from placing it on top of a mail ? in a street scene. Similarly, violations of Probability in Experiment II were not more detectable than violations of Position. Thus, the semantic relations which were accessed included information about the detailed interactions among the objects—information which is more specific than what can be inferred from the general setting. Access to the semantic relations among the entities in a scene is not deferred until the completion of spatial and depth processing and object identification. Instead, an object's semantic relations are accessed simultaneously with its physical relations as well as with its own identification.     

Memory development in adolescence: Relationships between metamemory,strategy use,and performance

Eighth and tenth grade students were asked to study and recall a list of paired associates. The word pairs were available either throughout an 8 sec per word study period or only at the beginning and were composed of either high frequency or low frequency words. After recall, students were asked to indicate which of several study strategies they had used with each word pair (read pair carefully, rehearsal, visual elaboration, verbal elaboration). In addition, they were asked which of these strategies would have had the best effect on recall. Knowledge of appropriate memory strategies (metamemory) was positively related to strategy use, and strategy use was positively related to recall performance at both ages. Improved performance with materials available throughout study and with high frequency word pairs was explained by increased use of elaborative strategies. Age differences in performance were explained by increased strategy effectiveness. These results are discussed in relation to changing relationships among metamemory, strategy use, and performance with age.     

Structural models for the mediation of salience effects on attribution

Previous research has demonstrated that salient information is overrepresented in causal attributions. Two experiments were conducted to investigate potential mediators for this effect and to make a case for the use of structural models in explanations of process. Two mediators were considered: enhanced visual recall of salient stimuli and exaggerated schema-relevant recall of salient stimuli. Although analyses of variance supported the visual recall model, structural analyses demonstrated its implausibility. Analyses of variance and structural models revealed that schema-relevant recall, that is, information seen as representative of causal influence, is a plausible mediator; this was particularly true of relevant visual information. Results suggest that salience effects (S. E. Taylor & S. T. Fiske in L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 11). New York: Academic Press, 1978) are due to: (a) the attentional advantage of inherently salient visual events and (b) the influence of stored visual and nonvisual schema-relevant information on causal judgments.     

The self-serving attributional bias: Beyond self-presentation

An experiment was conducted to provide empirical support for the notion that asymmetrical causal attributions for favorable and unfavorable outcomes result from a self-serving attributional bias that occurs independently of self-presentational concerns. Subjects did either well or poorly on an ego-involving test for which their performance, attributions, and evaluations of the test were either public or private. A pattern of self-serving responses for subjects' attributions and evaluations of the test was found in the private conditions, thus providing evidence of the influence of outcome favorability on individuals' perceptions of causality. Theoretical and practical implications of these finding are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.     

On comprehending idioms: Do children get the picture?

This study examines children's comprehension of idioms. First, third, and fifth grade children (6, 8, and 10 years old) and college adults were read short stories containing contextual information and a key terminal sentence. The contextual information biased either an idiomatic, a literal, or am ambiguous (neutral) interpretation of the terminal sentence. The terminal sentence contained either an idiom (“fix his wagon”) or a changed form (“repair his wagon”) of the idiom. These manipulations were used to determine the role of contextual information and the conventional forms of idioms in idiom comprehension. After each story, the subjects were asked to explain the terminal sentence and to answer a “yes-no” question about the action described in the story. The results showed that idiomatic explanations and interpretations occurred more frequently for the idiom than the changed forms, and that there were strong developmental increases in making idiomatic interpretations of both forms. The results are discussed in terms of two current models of idiom comprehension.     

The use of structured learning therapy and transfer programming with disruptive adolescents in a school setting

In behavior change literature, little attention has been paid to the systematic study of variables affecting transfer of training. The present study employed a skill-training method known as Structured Learning Therapy (SLT) for the dual purpose of testing the effectiveness of this method and to identify variables that will promote transfer of training. Forty-three disruptive male adolescents were assigned to three experimental and two control conditions. One experimental group received SLT plus an additional transfer-enhancing procedure referred to as Transfer Programming (TP) which consisted of in vivo practice of treatment gains and peer reinforcement. Another group received only SLT, and a third group received only TP. One control group received only brief instructions pertaining to the nature of the skill, while the second group served as an attention control. Consistent with predictions, the results were that the two groups receiving the SLT performed significantly better than the three groups not receiving SLT on all dependent measures at posttest. These differences generally maintained at follow-up. Contrary to expectations, the implementation of TP did not prove to promote transfer of training beyond that found with SLT alone.     

Counting eliminates the repetition effect in judgments of temporal duration.

College student subjects estimated the duration of time intervals (8–54 sec) by counting or not (N=35 per group). Counting eliminated the repetition effect (a decline in the magnitude of estimations across trials), and resulted in a truncation of the psychophysical function. The former result was interpreted as contrary to Treisman's (1963) model. The latter result was attributed to the effortfulness of counting, which was established in a subsequent experiment.     

Autonomic responsivity of subjects with body boundary differences during white noise stimulation

A white noise stimulus (85 dB) was used to investigate differences in heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) responsivity of 32 male subjects. The subjects were divided into high and low body boundary (HB and LB) groups, according to Fisher's (1970) revised scoring system of Holtzman Inkblot responses. The hypothesis predicting a significantly larger HR response, that is resistant to habituation, for the LB group, was confirmed. The prediction that the HB group would reveal a larger SC amplitude response accompanied by a shorter recovery time, was supported for the latter. The results confirmed the hypothesis, based on behavioral observations, that the HB individual experiences stress less intensely than the LB person. It also points to individual differences as an important variable in evaluating noise as a stressor.