Percentile Norms and Accompanying Interval Estimates from an Australian General Adult Population Sample for Self‐Report Mood Scales (BAI,BDI, CRSD,CES‐D,DASS, DASS‐21, STAI‐X,STAI‐Y,SRDS, and SRAS)

Despite their widespread use, many self‐report mood scales have very limited normative data. To rectify this, Crawford et al. have recently provided percentile norms for a series of self‐report scales. The present study aimed to extend the work of Crawford et al. by providing percentile norms for additional mood scales based on samples drawn from the general Australian adult population. Participants completed a series of self‐report mood scales. The resultant normative data were incorporated into a computer programme that provides point and interval estimates of the percentile ranks corresponding to raw scores for each of the scales. The programme can be used to obtain point and interval estimates of the percentile ranks of an individual's raw scores on the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Carroll Rating Scale for Depression, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Rating Scale for Depression, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS), the short‐form version of the DASS (DASS‐21), the Self‐rating Scale for Anxiety, the Self‐rating Scale for Depression, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), form X, and the STAI, form Y, based on normative sample sizes ranging from 497 to 769. The interval estimates can be obtained using either classical or Bayesian methods as preferred. The programme (which can be downloaded at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~psy086/dept/MoodScore_Aus.htm ) provides a convenient and reliable means of obtaining the percentile ranks of individuals' raw scores on self‐report mood scales.     

Demonstrating and eliminating the aggregation effect in physical skill tasks

Confidence judgments can be elicited in multiple ways. One of these procedures is to provide confidence judgments regarding each of a number of cases (individual judgments). A second procedure is to provide confidence judgments about a set of items (an aggregate judgment). Much research has demonstrated an aggregation effect—that individual judgments are more confident than aggregate judgments—within the cognitive knowledge domain. However, this effect has not previously been investigated with physical performance skill tasks. In three experiments, participants gave individual and aggregate judgments regarding the number of successful tosses they would make in either a ring toss, ping‐pong toss, or basketball toss task. In keeping with the aggregation effect, individual judgments were more confident than were aggregate judgments of success. Additionally, we eliminated the aggregation effect in Experiments 2 and 3 by employing a case‐specific base rate manipulation. Consistent with previous research with cognitive tasks, these results suggest that individual confidence judgments for physical skill tasks are determined primarily by characteristics associated with the individual case to be judged, whereas aggregate confidence judgments are determined by a more general evaluation of one's ability in the domain. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The statistical recommendations of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual: Effect sizes,confidence intervals,and meta‐analysis

Estimation based on effect sizes, confidence intervals, and meta‐analysis usually provides a more informative analysis of empirical results than does statistical significance testing, which has long been the conventional choice in psychology. The sixth edition of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual now recommends that psychologists should, wherever possible, use estimation and base their interpretation of research results on point and interval estimates. We outline the Manual's recommendations and suggest how they can be put into practice: adopt an estimation framework, starting with the formulation of research aims as ‘How much?’ or ‘To what extent?’ questions. Calculate from your data effect size estimates and confidence intervals to answer those questions, then interpret. Wherever appropriate, use meta‐analysis to integrate evidence over studies. The Manual's recommendations can assist psychologists improve they way they do their statistics and help build a more quantitative and cumulative discipline.     

COMPARING PLEASURE AND PAIN: THE FUNDAMENTAL MATHEMATICAL EQUIVALENCE OF REWARD GAIN AND SHOCK REDUCTION UNDER VARIABLE INTERVAL SCHEDULES

The relationship between positive and negative reinforcement and the symmetry of Thorndike's law of effect are unresolved issues in operant psychology. Here we show that, for a given pattern of responding on variable interval (VI) schedules with the same programmed rate of food rewards (positive reinforcement VI) or electric shocks (negative reinforcement VI), there is a fundamental mathematical equivalence between reward gain and shock reduction. We also provide the first normative account of how animals should respond on a negative VI schedule, showing that it is better to space responses evenly than to respond with a variable interresponse time (IRT). Published data from rats, however, indicate that these animals respond irregularly, often with a burst of activity immediately following a shock. While this is irrational in the experimental setting, it may represent an appropriate response to the heterogeneity of stimuli commonly encountered in natural environments. We discuss the broader implications of our analysis for understanding how animals evaluate appetitive and aversive stimuli.     

不同时距加工机制的比较:来自ERP的证据(Ⅰ)

采用事件相关电位的方法分析了不同时距加工机制的差异。实验采用时间两分任务,要求被试形成短(400ms)和长(1600ms)的时间判断标准,然后对7个刺激系列进行短、长的判断。结果表明时间知觉过程可以诱发出一种类似于CNV的慢性负波。对于400ms的短时距加工存在显著的半球效应,右半球的波幅显著高于左半球。1600ms的时距加工没有表现出明显的半球效应。不同时距的加工存在显著的差异。1600ms比400ms加工诱发出更大的CNV波幅。     

青年大学生自信的理论建构研究

通过文献分析与实证研究,构建了自信的理论维度,并据此编制了青年大学生自信的测量量表。对量表进行探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析后表明:大学生自信是一个多维度、多层次的心理系统,具有复杂的结构,包含4个层次和13个维度,该研究所构建的理论体系比较合理。量表具有较好的信度和效度,可以作为青年大学生自信研究的测量工具。     

Effects of methadone on alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval performance: latent influences on schedule-controlled responding.

Effects of methadone on pigeons' key pecking were examined under four conditions selected to analyze the control of behavior under alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules. In Condition 1, pigeons pecked under one of three different alternative schedules (alternative fixed-ratio 50 fixed-interval 90 s, alternative fixed-ratio 75 fixed-interval 90 s and alternative fixed-ratio 200 fixed-interval 90 s) each week. In Condition 2, fixed-ratio 50 or fixed-ratio 75 schedules were in effect during baseline sessions, and alternative fixed-ratio 50 fixed-interval 90-s or alternative fixed-ratio 75 fixed-interval 90-s schedules were in effect during sessions in which methadone was administered. In Condition 3, effects of methadone on key pecking maintained under fixed-ratio 50 and fixed-ratio 75 schedules were examined, whereas in Condition 4 the effects of methadone on key pecking under a fixed-interval 90-s schedule as well as fixed-ratio 50 and fixed-ratio 75 schedules were investigated. Control by the fixed-interval contingency was assessed by computing the proportion of total session reinforcers delivered under the fixed-interval schedule. Methadone administration (0.5-4.0 mg/kg) shifted the predominant source of schedule control under the alternative schedule from the fixed-ratio schedule to the fixed-interval contingency. This shift was dependent on methadone dose and fixed-ratio size. Control by the fixed-interval contingency was greatest following extensive exposure to the interval component embedded within the alternative schedule (Condition 1), but was apparent to a lesser degree with even very limited exposure to the alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedule (Condition 2). Interreinforcement intervals comparable to those under fixed-interval schedule were not observed under the fixed-ratio schedules presented alone (Condition 3). Repeated exposure to the fixed-interval contingency outside the context of the alternative fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedule did not engender performance changes under a fixed-ratio schedule which would mimic those of increased fixed-interval contingency control (Condition 4). These data suggest that drug administration can be used to unmask the influence of contingencies that are latent under baseline conditions and reveal influences of both past and present environmental variables.     

Performance of children under a multiple random-ratio random-interval schedule of reinforcement

Three children, aged 1.5, 2.5, and 4.5 years, pressed telegraph keys under a two-component multiple random-ratio random-interval schedule of reinforcement. In the first condition, responses on the left key were reinforced under a random-interval schedule and responses on the right key were reinforced under a random-ratio schedule. In the second condition, the schedule components were reversed. In the third condition, the original arrangement was reinstated. For all subjects, rates of responding were higher in the random-ratio component despite higher rates of reinforcement in the random-interval component. The average interreinforcement interval of the random-interval component was increased in the fourth condition, resulting in more similar rates of reinforcement for both schedule components, and then returned to its original value in the fifth condition. In both conditions, all subjects continued to exhibit higher rates of responding in the ratio component than in the interval component. Although these observations are consistent with results from studies with pigeons, it is argued that the response-rate differences between the interval and ratio schedule components are sufficient to demonstrate schedule sensitivity.     

Maximizing present value: A model to explain why moderate response rates obtain on variable-interval schedules

In Phases 1 and 3, two Japanese monkeys responded on a multiple variable-ratio 80 variable-interval X schedule, where the value of X was adjusted to ensure equal between-schedule reinforcement rates. Components strictly alternated following the delivery of a food pellet, and each session ended following 50 components. Phase 2 differed from the others only in that the 50 pellets previously earned during the session were delivered together at session's end. Variable-ratio response rates did not decrease across phases, but variable-interval response rates decreased substantially during the Phase 2 procedure. This rate decrease was attributed to the food-at-session's-end manipulation removing the greater immediacy of reinforcement provided by short interresponse times relative to long interresponse times. Without this time preference for short interresponse times, the variable-interval interresponse-time reinforcement feedback function largely controlled response emission, dictating a response-rate reduction. This result was explained in terms of the economic notion of “maximizing present value.”     

The role of verbal behavior in human learning: III. Instructional effects in children

Lever pressing of children from three age groups (2½ to 4, 5 to 6½, and 7½ to 9 years) could produce reinforcers according to a fixed-interval 40-s schedule: (1) Some were instructed to respond at a high rate, others at a low rate, and (2) they were subsequently taught to provide their own spoken self-instructions consonant with the earlier, experimenter-supplied instructions. All subjects who received high-rate instructions responded at a steady, high rate, which was maintained following self-instructional training. The effects of low-rate instructions were directly related to the age of the children. The two older groups produced low-rate patterns, with the oldest children responding at very low rates; effects were least noticeable in the youngest age group. Following self-instructional training, all three groups showed adult-like low-rate behavior and the oldest children showed an improved ability to estimate the interval length. The results provide further evidence of the importance of language as a determinant of human behavior.