Semantic distance in memory structure: The retrieval of conceptual relationships

Four experiments are described which aim to distinguish the relative contributions of measures of semantic distance based on formal and normative criteria. Experiment I replicates a previous finding by Collins and Quillian (1969) that sentence confirmation RTs support a hierarchically-organised memory model. Experiments II and III minimised the role of syntactic processes and examined the times taken to “see the relationship” between pairs of concepts. The results also supported a hierarchical model but cast doubt upon the formal distinction between superset and property relationships. Experiment IV showed similar results using only property relationships of the “has” form. Multiple regression analyses of the data indicate that “number of intervening links” is a more consistent predictor of RT than “associative” measures of semantic relatendness and confirm strong linearity effects consistent with a hierarchical model of storage.     

Problem solving and the search for crucial evidence

Summary Four experiments are reported that examine performance on a complex reasoning task. Subjects have to determine which factory has polluted a river by ordering a series of tests for the presence or absence of various pollutants. Previous research has shown that people typically employ a non-optimal exhaustive search stragegy on this task. Experiments 1 and 2 attempt to identify some of the boundary conditions of this strategy. It is found that the order in which pollutants appear on the matrix list does not seem to be a critical factor, whereas the overall size of the factory-pollutant matrix is. Experiments 3 and 4 attempt to deter people directly from adopting the exhaustive strategy. The results show that even when people are deterred from using the exhaustive method, this will not necessarily result in their adopting a more efficient strategy.     

ECOLOGY AND SOCIALIZATION AS FACTORS IN FIGURAL ASSIMILATION AND THE RESOLUTION OF BINOCULAR RIVALRY1

L'étude des facteurs culturels en matière de perception et L'étude des facteurs culturels en matière de personnalité ont été, jusqu' à présent, relativement séparées. L'A. propose un modèle qui permet d'intégrer les deux domaines en faisant L'hypothèse d'une relation indirecte entre L'ecologie et les réponses perceptives et d'une relation directe qui correspondrait à celle mise en évidence par les études de laboratoires classiques entre fréquence de L'expérience passée et réponse perceptive. Pour valider le modèle, L'A. utilise les données de deux expériences qui ont été réalisées avec des sujets Temne et Esquimaux et qui portent L'une sur la reproduction de figures ambiguës présentées au tachistoscope et L'autre sur la résolution de rivalités binoculaires.     

The Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor on Mental Patient Treatment Teams

This study asked the question: What are the role expectancies of treatment personnel in the treatment community and are they consistent across patients' emotional condition? An 83-item inventory was developed and administered under three different sets of instructions, each characterizing a different patient condition. Treatment staff and administrators were asked to rate items on the basis of the level of expectancy they held for their team vocational rehabilitation counselor. The analyses suggest that treatment staff and counselors do not agree on role expectations and that patient condition is a significant mediating variable.     

Letter identification declines with increasing retinal eccentricity at the same rate for normal and dyslexic readers

It has recently been claimed (Geiger & Lettvin, 1987; Perry, Dember, Warm, & Sacks, 1989) that the acuity/eccentricity function is flatter in dyslexics than in normal subjects, with dyslexics showing better performance in the periphery and worse performance at fixation. In these studies, all target letters were presented to the right of fixation, a procedural flaw inviting subjects to optimize performance by directing attention and/or gaze to the right of the designated fixation point. It is suggested that dyslexic and normal readers may differ in the degree to which they might adopt the optimal strategy in this situation. To overcome this problem, target letters were briefly presented at 16 randomly intermixed locations derived from the orthogonal combination of four eccentricities and four directions from fixation (above, below, right, left). The accuracy of letter identification declined with increasing eccentricity at the same rate for good and poor adult readers and dyslexic teenagers. This finding provides no support for the view that the acuity/eccentricity function might vary with and possibly cause differences in reading level.     

Implicit learning: Below the subjective threshold

In this review, we consider three possible criteria by which knowledge might be regarded as implicit or inaccessible: It might be implicit only in the sense that it is difficult to articulate freely, or it might be implicit according to either an objective threshold or a subjective threshold. We evaluate evidence for these criteria in relation to artificial grammar learning, the control of complex systems, and sequence learning, respectively. We argue that the convincing evidence is not yet in, but construing the implicit nature of implicit learning in terms of a subjective threshold is most likely to prove fruitful for future research. Furthermore, the subjective threshold criterion may demarcate qualitatively different types of knowledge. We argue that (1) implicit, rather than explicit, knowledge is often relatively inflexible in transfer to different domains, (2) implicit, rather than explicit, learning occurs when attention is focused on specific items and not underlying rules, and (3) implicit learning and the resulting knowledge are often relatively robust.     

Detection of a Cry for Help on the MMPI-2: an analog investigation

We compared Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) results from 2 groups of mildly to moderately disturbed psychiatric outpatients (N=60) answering under either Standard or Cry for Help instructions. Results from previously completed intake MMPI-2 protocols were obtained for each participant. The two groups were comparable on intake MMPI-2 variables and demographic characteristics. Analysis of feedback data from the second, experimental observation indicated that the two groups had equivalent self-estimates of understanding of their role and success in simulating their role. Significant differences were found between the two groups on their experimental MMPI-2 protocols. The Cry for Help group had significantly higher scores on F, F-K, Fb, Ds2, and Fp scales as well as significantly lower scorns on the K scale. The Cry for Help group also had significantly higher scores on all clinical scales with the exception of 5, which was not tested. Cutting scores derived by Rogers, Sewell, and Ustad (1995) for the detection of a Cry for Help in outpatients were cross-validated with fairly positive results. Although these results are promising, particularly in light of the shrinkage expected on cross-validation, further research is needed in this area.     

Stress for families today

Rapid changes in family life have created enormous challenges and pressures on developing families - divorce, two working parents, disappearance of the extended family, unclear cultural values for our children's future, poorly defined support systems for stressed families, inadequate substitute care when both parents work-all contribute to an anxious atmosphere for young families. Parents who must return to work „too early”︁ (and we have no established standards yet for what this means to either child or adult development) seem to grieve about the loss of the relationship with the developing child. They may even set up defenses against making a strong and painful attachment. They may not become involved in the child's development in a way that will foster their own development as nurturing adults. The grieving and the necessary defenses against it are predictable and must be mitigated in order to foster nurturing adults within the family. Children must be provided with caring, intensely involved adults in order to assure their optimal future development. We must provide them and their parents with adequate substitute care. This paper suggests adjustments at the industrial level that must be made to foster parental involvement and to assure positive outcomes for future generations.