Language and reasoning: a study of temporal factors

The paper is concerned with the testing of psycholinguistic hypotheses by the use of deductive reasoning tasks. After reviewing some of the problems of interpretation which have arisen with particular reference to conditional rules, an experiment is presented which measures comprehension and verification latencies in addition to response frequencies in a truth table evaluation task.The experiment tests a psycholinguistic hypothesis concerning the different usage of the logically equivalent forms of sentence: If p then q and p only if q with respect to the temporal order of the events p and q. It is proposed that the former sentence is more natural when the event p precedes the event q in time, and the latter more natural when the opposite temporal relation holds.Although significant support is found for the hypothesis in the analysis of the latency data, it is only distinguished from an alternative explanation by detailed analysis of response frequencies, thus indicating the general usefulness of the paradigm adopted.     

Place versus response as the basis of spatial errors made by young infants

Nine-month-old infants search successfully for an object which they have seen hidden in one position, but they frequently continue to search for it there after observing it being hidden in a new position. This error can be explained in terms either of egocentric response perseveration or of perseveration to a particular place in space. In order to distinguish between these hypotheses, 80 infants were presented with a problem consisting of several different conditions which separated response, position on a table, and absolute spatial position as factors leading to errors in search for hidden objects. The results strongly support the egocentric response hypothesis. The reason for this response perseveration strategy is discussed in terms of the lack of active experience of spatial displacements among 9-month-old infants.     

Social enhancement of laughter: an experimental analysis of some companion variables.

Three experiments, investigate companion influences on humorous laughter and smiling. Boys and girls, aged 7 to 9 years, were played humorous recordings through headphones in dyadic and solitary conditions. Experiment I demonstrates that social facilitation effects in laughter and smiling reported in Chapman (1973) generalize to cases where a 2-year age/status difference exists between naturalistic coactors. In Experiments II and III companions were confederates, 2 years senior to subjects. They responded to directions relayed through headphones (coaction conditions) or a concealed speaker (audience conditions). It is shown in Experiment II that subjects' laughter, smiling, and looking are facilitated by increases in the laughter and smiling of coactors and, in Experiment III, that audiences are less effective in promoting high levels of responses. While increments in the coactor's looking enhance smiling and looking, corresponding increases in laughter are not statistically significant. Humor-ratings are associated with behavioral responses in Experiment II, but not Experiment III. Interaction data and results from subsidiary conditions are discussed.     

A theory of careers encounters sex: Reply to Holland (1976)

This paper is the third in a series beginning with a report (by the authors) of research on the application of Holland's theory of careers to women and men. Holland's response, “The Virtues of the SDS …” is considered, in particular, research he cites on the effect of the Self-Directed Search (SDS) on counselees and his advocacy of raw score reports of personality patterns. The widely divergent career options suggested to men and women by SDS raw scores are noted and misunderstandings concerning the implications of Holland's assessment procedures for his theory are discussed. Holland's defense of raw score reports of personality characteristics is found wanting, especially in light of the support provided for his theory by normed scores.     

Stimulus control of generalized imitation in subnormal children

Generalized imitation was established in three young subnormal children by reinforcing their imitations of a limited set of modeled actions in the presence of a large ball. A discrimination was then established by training nonimitation in the presence of a small ball. Imitation was then tested for various other ball sizes. Rate of imitation decreased as the test stimuli increasingly differed in size from the large ball. Imitations that were never reinforced occurred at about the same rate as those that were reinforced when in the presence of the large ball in training.     

Learning on a response continuum: Comparison of a linear change and a functional learning model

Two reinforcement schedules were used to compare the predictive validity of a linear change model with a functional learning model. In one schedule, termed “convergent,” the linear change model predicts convergence to the optimum response, while in the other, termed “divergent,” this model predicts that a subject's response will not converge. The functional learning model predicts convergence in both cases. Another factor that was varied was presence or absence of random error or “noise” in the relationship between response and outcome. In the “noiseless” condition, in which no noise is added, a subject could discover the optimum response by chance, so that some subjects could appear to have converged fortuitously. In the “noisy” conditions such chance apparent convergence could not occur.The results did not unequivocally favor either model. While the linear change model's prediction of nonconvergence in the divergent conditions (particularly the “noisy” divergent condition) was not sustained, there was a clear difference in speed of convergence, counter to the prediction inferred from the functional learning model. Evidence that at least some subjects were utilizing a functional learning strategy was adduced from the fact that subjects were able to “map out” the relation between response and outcome quite accurately in a follow-up task. Almost all subjects in the “noisy” conditions had evidently “learned” a strong linear relation, with slope closely matching the veridical one.The data were consistent with a hybrid model assuming a “hierarchy of cognitive strategies” in which more complex strategies (e.g., functional learning) are utilized only when the simpler ones (e.g., a linear change strategy) fail to solve the problem.     

Choice of extinction-signalling stimuli by rats

Rats in a two-lever situation were exposed to alternating periods of intermittent reinforcement and extinction. Extinction periods were either unsignalled or were signalled by a response-produced stimulus. The signal was sometimes a stimulus paired with food delivery in the reinforcement periods and sometimes a stimulus that occurred only in extinction periods. Both kinds of signal accelerated extinction relative to the unsignalled condition. When the signal was the stimulus paired with food in reinforcement periods, the rats tended to prefer the lever that gave that signal even though the signal accelerated extinction. There was no comparable effect for the stimulus that occurred only in extinction periods; when this signal was contingent on only one of the two levers, the rats either avoided it (Experiment 3) or were indifferent (Experiment 4). It is concluded that a stimulus can be a “secondary reinforcer” as measured by preference, even though it decreases resistance to extinction; the implications are discussed with reference to formal theories of choice behavior.     

Some effects of attitudinal similarity and exposure on attraction and aggression

Previous research investigating the relationship of attraction and aggression has yielded somewhat equivocal results. The present study investigated the influence of two variables, attitudinal similarity and exposure, on interpersonal attraction and physical aggression. Fifty-four subjects received differential exposure to another individual and were later given information concerning this individual's attitudes. The subject's attraction toward the stimulus person was assessed followed by measures of aggression toward the stimulus person. Analysis of variance indicated that an attitudinally similar other was liked significantly more (p < .01) and aggressed against significantly less (p < .05) than an attitudinally dissimilar other. The exposure variable had no main effect on either attraction or aggression but interacted significantly (p < .05) with the attitudinal variable in producing differential attraction.