A processing division on the recency axis: The selective effects of visual field,match type,and direction of reading on terminal and pre-terminal items in a letter matching task

Four experiments were conducted to evaluate the hypothesis that different processes are involved in decisions about terminal and pre-terminal items in a sequential item recognition task. The impetus for the investigation was previous findings that the matching of terminal and pre-terminal items to simultaneously presented bilateral probes yielded a right visual field (RVF) and left visual field (LVF) advantage respectively.Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that the interaction between match type and visual field, generally attributed to hemispheric specialization, is restricted to decisions about terminal items, while the left visual field advantage found for pre-terminal items was dependent on a left-to-right scanning strategy. Experiments 3 and 4 provided further evidence that a serial search through the probe set determined responses to pre-terminal items by showing that the effect was dependent on a varied mapping between stimuli and targets. When target items could be identified without a serial search through the memory set, the left visual field advantage for pre-terminal items was abolished.The results confirm that distinct processing principles are involved in decisions about terminal and pre-terminal items in recognition memory. They suggest that the process responsible for decisions about pre-terminal items involves a habit-controlled scanning mechanism operating serially on spatially distributed information. The process responsible for decisions about terminal items may be based on either: (a) hemispheric principles, or (b) a link between the content of attention and spatially distributed expectations.     

Completeness of instruction and strategy transfer

Three experiments assessed the effects on strategy transfer of supplements to keyword method instruction. One supplement consisted of more comprehensive instructions regarding how, when, why, and where to apply the strategy. A second supplement involved additional practice with the strategy during instruction. The combined effects of more elaborate directions and practice were also examined. With grade-school children, the supplements generally increased transfer of the keyword strategy, but transfer was most successful when training included comprehensive information about the strategy. In contrast, with adults high transfer was obtained regardless of keyword instructional variation. The results are related to other developmental data and are particularly germane to claims that with more complete instruction younger children are capable of intellectual feats carried out by older individuals given minimal prompting.     

Perceived qualifications,resource abundance,and resentment about deprivation

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that perceptions of being well qualified for a desired object will decrease individuals' resentment about deprivation when opportunities for obtaining the object are good (i.e., when the resource is abundant), but increase resentment when the resource is scarce. In the first experiment, unemployed nurses participated in a survey of the job situation for nurses. The initial questions in the survey were designed to manipulate respondents' perceptions of (a) their qualifications for employment, by affecting their perceived similarity to employed nurses (similar vs different), and (b) the job potential for unemployed nurses (improve vs worsen). In the second experiment, subjects competed over a number of trials with other participants for money that they had previously been promised. Some of the subjects had practiced the task ahead of time (qualified subjects), whereas others had not (unqualified subjects). In addition, the number of payments that were allegedly available was varied (many vs few). In both experiments, the manipulation of good qualifications reduced resentment when the resource was abundant, but did not significantly affect resentment when the resource was scarce. The implications of these results for understanding the determinants of resentment about deprivation are discussed.     

Authoritarianism and recall of evidence about criminal behavior

Research by Marshall (1966) suggested that high authoritarian persons might be more accurate at recalling evidence about criminal behavior than low authoritarian persons. Drawing on other research findings, Marshall's hypothesis was expanded to predict that high authoritarians would recall more about evidence relating to defendant character and low authoritarians would recall more about situational evidence. In two jury-simulation experiments the new hypothesis was confirmed.     

Social skills training for juvenile delinquents

Twenty-seven incarcerated juvenile delinquents matched on the number of previous offenses, age, WISC-R IQ, and locus of control were assigned to a Social Skills. Discussion or Control group. Social skills training consisted of instruction, feedback, modeling, behavior rehearsal, social reinforcement and graduated homework assignments. All subjects were assessed before and after treatment on a variety of self-report, role-play and behavioral measures. Analyses of variance for difference scores indicated that the Social Skills group improved significantly more than the Discussion and Control groups, which did not differ. Appropriate interpersonal skills were learned, state anxiety was reduced, internal locus of control was increased, and significant shifts in adjustment to the institutional program were evidenced for the Social Skills group.     

Social skill assessment and training for children: an evaluative review

Techniques employed in the behavioral assessment and treatment of socially deficient children are reviewed. General definitions and components of assertion and social skill in children are presented. While considerable data attest to the potential efficiency of behavioral approaches with this population, several methodological problems prevent any definitive conclusions from being drawn at this time. Some of these include: (1) lack of an accurate classification system of socially isolated children, (2) need for an empirical determination of skill components, and (3) the paucity of data concerning generalization and maintenance of treatment effects. The utility of incorporating developmental and social psychological methods into behavioral programs also is discussed. Suggestions for future directions of research are offered.     

Behavioral treatment of obsessive-compulsive neurosis

Three chronic and severe obsessive-compulsive neurotics were treated with behavioral intervention strategies and psychotropic medication. The effects of treatment were evaluated in three separate experiments with single case experimental designs. The results suggest that response prevention was effective in reducing ritualistic behavior while the effects of flooding and antidepressant medication added little to outcome. The results also suggest that strategies aimed only at reducing compulsive behavior per se are insufficient in eliminating other associated difficulties (e.g., depressive symptoms, interpersonal problems) and that a comprehensive approach to treatment is needed.     

Personal deserving versus justice for others: An exploration of the justice motive

Two expriments were conducted to test implications derived from Lerner's formulation of the “justice motive.” The experimental paradigm provided subjects with an opportunity to earn money in exchange for participation in future experimental sessions. Subjects who were offered “just” pay for their efforts volunteered significantly more of their time when their efforts would help a needy victim than when they would not. Moreover, when subjects were left with just pay, they offered more of their time when a portion of their pay was to go to a victim than when they received the entire wage themselves. When the pay subjects were to receive was less than deserved, however, the opportunity to help a victim did not affect their response level. The importance of these results for understanding helping behavior is considered, as is the compatibility of these results with other theoretical models.     

The effect of Pavlovian stimuli on the acquisition of a new response

Three experiments explored the effects of response dependent stimuli which have had different types of contingent relationships with positive reinforcement. Results showed consistent differences in the effects of response dependent appetitive Pavlovian CS + s, CS ? s, and truly random control (TRC) stimuli on the acquisition of a new response. These differences were shown in both a free operant and a discrete-trial learning situation. Appetitive Pavlovian CS?s consistently produced lower levels of responding than did TRC stimuli, even in an experimental situation free of possible contrast effects. The results of these experiments extended a contingency analysis of acquired associations to appetitive conditioning and provided a clear demonstration of a conditioned reinforcement effect against a variety of control procedures.