Tinnitus and short-term serial recall in stable versus intermittent masking conditions

The relation between tinnitus and short-term memory performance in varying background sounds is not well understood. In the present study a sample of 18 persons with tinnitus completed a serial recall test in three conditions, silence, masking and intermittent masking. The performance of a matched control group without tinnitus was also investigated. Based on the literature on the "irrelevant sound effect" we expected that the tinnitus group would perform worse during intermittent masking and that they would score lower overall compared to the control group. Results revealed no statistically significant differences between the groups, nor any group interaction within sound conditions for the serial recall test. Groups did however differ regarding subjective measures of concentration problems, anxiety and depression. Results are discussed in relation to thought suppression and distraction from tinnitus.     

中文阅读的副中央凹-中央凹效应：词n的语义透明度对词n-1的影响

研究探讨中文阅读中的副中央凹-中央凹效应。副中央凹-中央凹效应是指副中央凹处词的特性对中央凹处词汇加工的影响。实验以27名大学生为被试,采用句子阅读材料,考察词n的语义透明度特性对词n-1（高频、低频）加工的影响。结果表明,词n的语义透明度的高低对词n-1（高频、低频）的加工没有影响,没有出现副中央凹-中央凹效应。实验结果支持E-Z读者模型的假设。     

中文阅读中副中央凹与中央凹相互影响的眼动实验

采用眼动轨迹记录法结合边界呈现的实验范式, 当注视点越过特定位置时, 预视字则变为另一目标字, 从而保证预视字只呈现在副中央凹区域。实验1自变量为预视字频率, 预视字与目标字均与当前句子具有语义连贯性。实验发现, 当预视字是低频时, 中央凹的首次注视时间和凝视时间更短。实验2在预视字与当前句子语义不连贯的情况下进一步探讨预视字的字频对中央凹加工的效应。实验发现, 预视字是高频时, 中央凹的首次注视时间和凝视时间更短。然而在以区域作为数据分析的单位时, 副中央凹-中央凹效应仅在首次注视时间上呈现显著。上述结果表明, 副中央凹的词汇属性会对中央凹的加工产生一定的影响, 但这种影响比较微弱, 该结果为阅读加工理论中的并行加工理论提供了一定的支持。     

Simple additivity of stochastic psychological processes: Tests and measures

In this article, some additive models of behavioral measures are defined, and distributional tests of them are proposed. Major theoretical results include (a) conditions for additivity of components to predict the highest level of dominance in a model-free stochastic dominance hierarchy, (b) methods of identifying the shape of the hazard rate function of an added component from certain relationships among the observable density and distribution functions, and (c) effects of stochastic dependence between components on the distributional tests. Feasibility and usefulness of the methods are demonstrated by application to choice RT and ratings experiments.The author was supported by grants MH44640 to Roger Ratcliff and AFOSR 90-0246 (jointly funded by NSF) to Gail McCoon. Parts of this work were presented at the European Mathematical Psychology meetings of 1991. My thanks to F. Gregory Ashby, Bruce Bloxom, Roger Ratcliff, W. Schwarz, Jim Townsend, and an anonymous reviewer for their many helpful suggestions.     

Treatment of urethral catheter dependence: A case study of intervention in the interdisciplinary geriatric setting

This case report describes the assessment and treatment of a 69-year-old male medical patient with urethral catheter dependence. Assessment revealed an anxiety/phobic component to the dependence and hypothesized detrusor muscle deconditioning. Retraining of the bladder and desensitization to the anxiety-provoking situation were achieved by exposure to decatheterization in the context of a supportive adult day health care setting. Interdisciplinary collaboration between nursing and psychology were associated with successful functional, social, and psychological outcomes.A psychology intern at the Portland VA Medical Center at the time the study was conducted.     

The Psychology of Dependence Between Landlord and Sharecropper in Northeastern Brazil

Contrasting beliefs and attitudes held by sharecroppers and their landlord on a fazenda in Northeastern Brazil reveal a tendency to split one another into positively and negatively idealized images. Sharecroppers who ambivalently seek patronage construct good vs. bad landlords/patrons. The landlord, defensive about envy and hostility among sharecroppers, constructs good vs. bad tenants/workers. Theory from the Kleinian school of psychoanalysis concerning envy, splitting, and idealization provides a framework for interpreting ethnographic case materials.     

Micro-position effects in visual short term memory

Short-term memory for visually presented eight-digit numbers was tested in a forced recall, read-and-dial task. The digits were presented non-grouped or grouped in 2+2+2+2 or 2+3+3 digit formats. Spatial grouping enhanced memory performance and produced local discontinuities in the serial position curves related to grouping format. These micro-position effects are explained in terms of the relative spatial distinctiveness of individual digits.     

An integrative model for the study of behavioral momentum.

Behavioral momentum is the product of response rate and resistance to change. The data on relative resistance to change are summarized for pigeons responding on single-key two-component multiple schedules, in the initial links of two-key multiple chained schedules, and in equivalent components of two-key serial schedules. For single-key procedures, the ratio of resistance to change in two schedule components is shown to depend on the ratio of reinforcer rates obtained in the presence of the component stimuli. For two-key procedures, the ratio of resistance to change in equivalent components is shown to depend on the ratio of reinforcer rates correlated with key locations. A model based on stimulus-reinforcer contingencies that combines the reinforcer rates in schedule components summed over key locations and reinforcer rates correlated with key locations summed over components, each expressed relative to the session average reinforcer rate, gives a good account of the data. An extension of the relative law of effect for multiple schedules fails to provide a complete account of resistance to change, but both approaches are needed for a comprehensive understanding of behavioral momentum.     

自我报告测量中项目前后关系效应的研究

本文指出了自我报告法中项目前后关系效应的普遍存在性及其危害性。讨论了用信息加工的观点对项目前后关系效应所作的认知上的理论解释,以及测量工具中促使产生这种项目前后关系效应的关键特征。同时也讨论了项目序列位置的作用。     

非常短暂呈现时间过程中的系列位置效应

以中国汉字为材料,考察不同系列项目呈现时间范式中的系列位置效应,并验证Ｎｅａｔｈ提出的区辨理论公式对中文材料的适用性。结果表明,在非常短暂的系列项目呈现时间,并且项目之间的时间间隔按不同中数比率变化的实验条件中．均存在明显的系列位置效应;但是Ｎｅａｔｈ提出的区辨理论的公式,不能预测本实验结果,从另一个方面说明汉字不同于拼音文字的特点。