Semantic encoding deficits in a case of traumatic amnesia

A 33-year-old patient was studied neuropsychologically 19 years after sustaining severe head trauma. A recent CT scan showed lesions in the left frontal and right temporal regions. Performance on standard memory tests, both verbal and visuospatial, was extremely poor, although other intellectual functioning was relatively spared. The patient showed some interesting deficits in semantic processing. In a depth of processing task there was no advantage for words where semantic encoding had been induced. Neither was there any release from proactive interference after shifts in semantic categories. Deficits were also observed in short-term memory distractor tasks as well as in cueing tasks. These findings suggest that the cognitive deficits commonly observed in Korsakoff's disease can also be present in other amnesic disorders and may in part be related to cortical and especially frontal lobe atrophy.     

Is speed of information processing related to fluid or to crystallized intelligence?

Speed of information processing was examined in relation to the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence. Sixty sixth grade children completed the Standard Progressive Matrices test and the Mill Hill Vocabulary scale, both untimed, as measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence, and three RT tasks: Memory Scanning, Picture Identification, and Sentence-Picture Comparison. As predicted, RT parameters, with the exception of slope on two tasks, were negatively correlated with scores on both tests. There were no consistent differences between the two tests in the size of correlations with RT, and partial correlations, eliminating the effects of fluid and crystallized intelligence respectively, failed to support any causal relationship between fluid and crystallized intelligence in either direction. Some limitations of the research, specifically in the possible effect of error rates on the speed-intelligence relationship, and in the application to individuals of task parameters derived from group performance, are noted.     

BEHAVIORAL SELF-CONTROL OF STUTTERING USING TIME-OUT FROM SPEAKING

Research has shown that stuttering may be attenuated by a variety of response-contingent consequences. To date, however, few attempts have been made to develop comprehensive clinical procedures based on the operant manipulation of stuttering. The present research examined the efficacy of self-initiated response-contingent time-out from speaking in two exeperiments involving a single subject. Multiple baseline designs were used in which the subject's speech was monitored in a variety of laboratory and community settings. In Experiment 1, the time-out procedure produced reliable reductions in disfluency across all observational settings. Experiment 2 combined a response-cost contingency with time-out in an attempt to increase the reliability with which the subject timed himself out, and to increase further the effectiveness of the procedure. Increases in reliability were produced, and the associated improvements in fluency were maintained at 6- and 12-months' follow-up.     

Sex differences in retention of verbal and spatial characteristics of stimuli: A cross-cultural replication

This study is a partial (omitting college students) replication of R. V. Kail and A. W. Siegel (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1977, 23, 341–347) in Ghana and Scotland on boys and girls with 4 and 7 years of education. After viewing sets of five or seven letters in a 4 × 4 matrix they remembered either (a) the letters, (b) positions of the letters, or (c) both letters and positions. Contrary to the results of the original study, no sex difference in relative recall of letters and positions was found. There was also evidence that verbal and spatial information is not always processed independently. A prediction that Scottish children would have better recall of positions was supported. The discussion notes the limitations of intracultural research as a basis for generalizations.     

Mental representation of length and weight series and transitive inferences in young children

Forty-eight second graders (8 years of age) were trained on length or weight relationships between adjacent members of a five-term series of colored objects. Feedback was visual and of either minimal or strong salience. Differences in weight were assessed by either a balance scale or a spring scale. Results showed that more salient visual feedback reduced the learning effort for length but not for weight comparisons. After training children were tested on all possible object pairs. Children's comparisons of items by length were very accurate in contrast to their comparisons by weight. An explanation for these findings is suggested by the data from a group of 6-year-olds who were trained on two independent pairs of a four-term series. Test results showed that subjects spontaneously encoded absolute lengths but tended to ignore information about the absolute weight of objects. It is suggested that high test accuracy depends on stimulus material for which the absolute values of the relevant dimension are encoded. The implications for taking test performance as an indicator of “transitive reasoning” ability are discussed.     

Driven by distraction: An integrative review of social facilitation theory and research

Social facilitation refers to the enhancement of an organism's dominant responses by the simple physical presence of species-mates, independent of any informational or interactional influences the others may exert. This phenomenon represents the consequences of the most elementary transition from a nonsocial to a social environment, and is one of the first research areas in experimental social psychology. The present analysis examines the status of three different explanations for socially facilitated behavior. Substantial weaknesses exist in the propositions that the presence of others elicits a reflexive alertness or preparedness response (Mere Presence) and that the presence of others increases drive through classically conditioned anticipations of positive and negative outcomes (Learned Drive). A third proposition argues for increased drive due to response conflict involving incompatible tendencies to attend to others and to ongoing task requirements (Distraction/Conflict). The basic assumptions of the Distraction/Conflict hypothesis are found to have considerable empirical support, and a wide variety of apparently anamolous results are integrated into the attentional conflict framework. Finally, a synthesis of the three approaches is proposed wherein slightly modified versions of the Mere Presence and Learned Drive theories serve to specify two common antecedents for the arousal of attentional conflict (the Attentional Processes model). Connections between the Attentional Processes model and past and future research are explored.     

Keeping track of locations during movement in 8- to 10-month-old infants

Infants of $\text{8}\text{1}\text{2}$ and $\text{9}\text{1}\text{2}$ mo of age were tested for the ability to “keep track,” i.e., to determine the location of an object hidden in one of two covered containers before their left-right positions were reversed. Infants in both age groups for whom the covers were the same color and younger infants for whom the covers were different colors were generally unable to keep track. Only the older infants provided with different colored covers were able to do so. An analysis which separated keeping track from the sensorimotor stage 4 error indicated that (a) there was no contingency between the two and (b) there were developmental differences in the nature of the error.     

Second-order conditioning with diffuse auditory reinforcers in the pigeon

Pigeon subjects were used in five experiments investigating second-order conditioning with visual second-order and diffuse auditory first-order stimuli. Experiment 1 used a discriminative conditioning procedure to demonstrate reliable and substantial second-order conditioning with these stimuli. In Experiments 2 and 3, extinction of the auditory first-order stimulus after second-order conditioning had little effect upon responding to the second-order stimulus, when compared to a stimulus whose reinforcer was maintained. Experiment 4 compared directly the susceptibility of second-order responding to extinction of the first-order reinforcing stimulus as a function of the modality of that reinforcer. When a visual second-order stimulus was paired with a visual reinforcer, and the response to the latter was extinguished, then second-order responding was greatly reduced relative to control levels. In contrast, when that reinforcer was an auditory stimulus, second-order responding was not affected by the current value of the first-order stimulus after conditioning. Finally, in Experiment 5 the auditory stimulus was established as a reinforcer through discriminative-operant training. Following second-order conditioning, extinction of responding to this stimulus again had little impact upon responding to the second-order stimulus with which it had been paired. These results are discussed in terms of previous work on second-order conditioning with rat and pigeon subjects.     

The fantasy-reality distinction in televised violence: Modifying influences on children's aggression

Fifth-grade and kindergarten boys and girls were exposed to a violent televised episode that was introduced as a fictional portrayal (fantasy condition) or as a news broadcast (reality condition). Additional groups were given no information (no-instructional-set condition) about the violent stimulus or were not exposed to the violent episode (no-TV condition). Aggressive responses and helping responses were recorded immediately following exposure. Boys were most aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. They were less aggressive in the noinstructional-set condition and least aggressive in the fantasy condition. In almost direct contrast, girls were most aggressive in the fantasy and no-instructional-set conditions and least aggressive in the reality and no-TV conditions. A posteriori analyses of this interaction effect revealed that girls were less aggressive than boys in the no-TV condition and in the reality condition, but not in the fantasy condition nor the no-instructional-set condition. These effects held for both older and younger children.     

Comprehension of gerundive constructions by Broca's aphasics

Eleven diagnosed Broca's aphasics were tested for comprehension of sentences containing gerundive constructions. Results showed that, as a group, these patients were sensitive to grammatical distinctions signaled by “function” words, contrary to the predictions of some current theories about the specific deficits exhibited in this syndrome. Further analysis showed that the patients fell into two subgroups, one which exhibited sensitivity to the distinctions in normal grammar, and another which exhibited no sensitivity to such distinctions. This suggests that the syndrome may have different manifestations in different populations—patient age is suggested as a possible means for distinguishing the two groups. Suggestions for further research into the nature of the comprehension deficits exhibited by Broca's aphasics are made.