Folded additive structures: A nonpolynomial model of some factorial interactions

A nonpolynomial measurement model for representing nonadditive compositions of stimulus dimensions is presented. This representation, which is referred to as a folded additive structure, permits the decomposition of a behavioral ordering into independent factors in some of the cases where the behavior itself does not directly reflect this independence. Psychologically, this representation corresponds to a model of behavior which assumes that (1) the effect stimulus attributes have on behavior is mediated by a single relevent psychological dimension, (2) the behavioral ordering is single-peaked over this mediating dimension and (3) the mediating dimension has a conjoint additive ordering over a set of relevent stimulus dimensions. Necessary and sufficient tests for folded additive structures are given. In addition, five psychological theories which make these assumptions are discussed.     

Stress-management training: Evaluation of effects on school psychological services

School psychologists participated in a cognitive-behavioral stress-management training program. The data showed decreases in self-reported anxiety and increases in job satisfaction of school psychologists as a result of the training. In addition, teacher satisfaction with school psychological services increased after participation in teacher inservice workshops generated as a result of training the school psychologists.     

Conditioned inhibition of fear: Evidence for a competing response mechanism

In two experiments, inhibitory conditioning was attempted by presenting a discrete CS in a neutral stimulus environment shortly following the termination of either shock (Experiment 1) or a second discrete CS which had been paired in a forward manner with shock (Experiment 2). Evidence of successful inhibitory conditioning was mixed in Experiment 1, where the properties of the CS were assessed within an escape-from-fear procedure. Postresponse presentations of the CS enhanced performance, whereas the presentation of the CS prior to responding did not have the expected degrading effect on performance. In Experiment 2, the inhibitory properties of the CS were assessed by combining this stimulus with an excitatory CS and presenting the compound to rats engaged in a water-reinforced licking response. Less response suppression was found in reaction to this compound relative to three separate comparison conditions, thus witnessing the success of the inhibitory-conditioning procedure used. The common assumption that inhibitory conditioning results from the nonreinforcement of a CS in a situation where reinforcement is expected, i.e., one which contains previously reinforced cues, is not supported by these data, for no previously reinforced cues were simultaneously presented with the CS during inhibitory training. The data are in agreement with a conditioned antagonistic-response interpretation of inhibitory conditioning.     

Blocking acquisition of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response to serial conditioned stimuli

Three experiments demonstrated that prior training with one stimulus (CS1) would block acquisition of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response (NMR) to another stimulus (CS2) which was more contiguous to the US during serial compound training (CS1-CS2-US). Specifically, the CS1-US interval was 800 msec, which produces only a modest rate of CR acquisition, while the CS2-US interval was 400 msec, which is an optimal value for the NMR preparation. Experiment 1 demonstrated blocking when CS1 overlapped CS2, and Experiment 3 demonstrated blocking when CS1 and CS2 were presented in a strictly sequential fashion. Experiment 2 showed that the magnitude of blocking in the serial compound was comparable to that obtained in a simultaneous compound in which both the CS1-US and CS2-US intervals were 800 msec, thus making CS2 less contiguous with the US than in the serial compound. Moreover, the level of responding to CS2 in all serial compound groups (blocking and control) was lower than in the simultaneous compound groups. The present findings provide further evidence that the associative consequences of CS-US contiguity can be highly attenuated by processes of attention or competition for associative strength.     

The relationship of sex and sex role to trait and situationally specific anxiety types

While considerable research has investigated the relationship of sex and/or sex role to general or trait anxiety, little is known about their relationship to more specific anxiety types. Based on the postulate that sex and sex-role differences may depend on the extent to which an anxiety-producing situation represents a sex-stereotypic domain, the present study compared their relationships to four measures of anxiety: Math anxiety, test anxiety, and two measures of trait anxiety. Subjects were 180 undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Although females reported higher levels of anxiety on all four scales than did males, a discriminant function analysis indicated that math anxiety was the strongest contributor to the separation of the sexes. Significant score differences as a function of sex role were found using the STAI A-Trait scale, and a significant sex × sex-role interaction was found for scores on the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness. Feminine-typed males and undifferentiated females reported highest anxiety levels in comparison to same-sex individuals. Implications for the understanding and treatment of both general and situationally specific anxiety are discussed.     

Behavior of depressed subjects in problem solving groups

This study investigated leadership selection in groups in relation to level of depression of group members. On the basis of MMPI-D and DACL scores 66 subjects were organized into groups of six to eight people consisting of all depressed, all nondepressed, or half depressed and half nondepressed subjects. Subjects performed a problem solving task alone and in groups and completed a questionnaire on leadership choice and group performance. Results indicate that nondepressed group members talked more frequently, were rated as more important contributors, and were selected as leaders more frequently than depressed members. In addition, mixed groups were perceived as more efficient and enjoyable by group members than the unmixed groups. There were no significant differences between depressed and nondepressed subjects on performance of the problem solving task whether working alone or in groups. Results were discussed in relation to other literature on the interpersonal behavior of depressed persons.     

Selective involvement of the auditory-verbal modality in an acquired communication disorder: Benefit from sign language therapy

A 39-year-old female suffered bitemporal infarctions and exhibited an unusual behavioral syndrome of muteness and impaired auditory comprehension, with milder aphasic deficits in reading and writing. The anatomic basis of this modality-selective communication disorder appeared to involve both peripheral perceptual and motor as well as “central” language mechanisms. The patient's ability to communicate was greatly aided by instruction in Amerind and Ameslan Sign Language, in which she learned more than 100 signs. Patients whose acquired language deficits spare modalities of input or output may be ideal candidates for sign language therapy.     

The lexicon and sentence generation in aphasia

The experiment tested a prediction, derived from the lexicalist model of grammar (J. Bresnan 1978, in M. Halle, J. Bresnan, & G. A. Miller (Eds.), Linguistic theory and psychological reality, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, pp. 1–59), that difficulty in accessing a verb from the lexicon should impair the generation of the associated to-complement clause while not significantly affecting the generation of word-independent constructions such as questions. Four aphasic subjects with word-finding difficulties but relatively high BDAE ratings on grammatical ability were examined. A modified story completion paradigm was used to elicit the favored constructions. Consistent with the hypothesis, all subjects showed greater difficulty in generating to-complements.     

Stammering: A stress index in Caribbean classrooms

Speech communities in the British West Indies typically include two major dialect or code distinctions: (1) a standard variety of British West Indian English, and (2) a local variety of English-based dialect. Each dialect or code is intimately linked with political, social, racial, and economic class distinctions. In bicultural settings, characterized by diglossia, there are special situations in which loyalty to one's mother tongue conflicts with social, economic, and political expediency. “No win” speech events or contests, the product of conflicting sociocultural values, become salient features of this particular kind of bicultural setting. A comparatively high incidence of teacher-reported stammering found in two British West Indian speech communities supports this notion and suggests that stress, originating at a sociocultural level, is symbolically expressed through attitudes toward and usages of language. These results further suggest that the classroom, now a “battleground”, will suffer as an effective teaching/learning environment. This paper presents arguments for the teaching of Standard English as a second language with an emphasis on giving regional dialects appropriate and long overdue recognition.     

Analysis of variances and covariances is misleading as a guide to a common factor model

The “factor” analyses published by Schultz, Kaye, and Hoyer (1980) confused component and factor analysis and led in this case as in many others to unwarranted conclusions. They used component analysis to develop factor models that were subjected to restricted (confirmatory) maximum likelihood analysis, but the final models for which good fits with the observed correlations were obtained were not common factor models. They were, however, discussed as such and conclusions drawn accordingly. When their correlation matrices are analyzed by the principal factors method, two factors are sufficient to account for the intercorrelations. These two factors generally support the a priori expectation of a difference between intelligence tasks and spontaneous flexibility tasks. They are also quite similar in younger and older subjects, when similarity is judged in terms of factor pattern. Factor loadings for the younger subjects, however, are much smaller than expectations based on the respective ranges of talent in the two groups of subjects or on past experience with similar tests in undergraduate student populations.