Context specificity of latent inhibition in taste aversion learning

In three experiments rats were given injections of LiCl after consuming distinctively flavoured water. The rats developed an aversion to the flavour and in all experiments the magnitude of the aversion was found to be reduced in subjects that had received pre-exposure to the flavour without aversive consequences. Experiment 1 demonstrated this pre-exposure effect to be a case of latent inhibition. The remaining experiments investigated the effects of pre-exposing the flavour in a context different from that used for conditioning. It was found (Experiment 2) diat latent inhibition transferred perfectly when the context change consisted of a move from one home cage to another. Context specificity of latent inhibition was found (Experiment 3) only when the subjects were given daily sessions in die experimental contexts, these being cages different from the home cage.     

Life strains,coping, and emotional well-being: A longitudinal study of recently separated and married women

The stress and coping paradigm was used as the framework for a longitudinal study of recently separated and married women. Data were gathered at three different interviews over a period of 18 months. Comparing the two groups of women, it was found that life strains in the areas of financial concerns and spouse relations were related to both income level and marital status, with low-income and separated women experiencing the highest levels of these strains. Also, the separated women used coping strategies emphasizing personal change and reported more positive changes related to their family, work, and material conditions. Regression analyses on the entire sample showed that life strains were inversely related to emotional well-being and that coping served a stress-buffering function. It was concluded that the emotional well-being of separated and married women must be considered in the context of stress, coping, and change processes.     

Origins of the misplaced confidence effect in collaborative recall

Studies have shown that dyads and groups place significantly more confidence in wrong answers to questions about a jointly witnessed event than do individuals. This experiment was designed to discover whether this misplaced confidence is influenced by prior free collaborative recall of the events in question. The results clearly indicated that prior group remembering lessens the effect, and improves the testimonial validity of both individual and group answers to questions about a jointly witnessed event. Taken in conjunction with other studies, the results imply that two or more witnesses of an event may profitably discuss what happened, but that they may best be interrogated separately in order to maximize the information available to the interrogator and to minimize misplaced confidence.     

Anger and irrational thought: Questionnaire and interview ratings

From an initial pool of 96 students, 36 subjects were selected based on Novaco Anger Scale scores to form high-, moderate-, and low-anger groups (n=12). They completed self-report questionnaires and participated in a structured interview designed to elicit cognitive and affective responses to hypothetical situations involving interpersonal conflict. High- and moderate-anger groups scored significantly higher than low-anger subjects on a questionnaire measure of irrational thinking. High-anger subjects scored higher than low-anger subjects on general anxiety, suspiciousness, fear of negative evaluation, hostility, and criticism of themselves and others. Interview ratings showed that there were no group differences in self-reports of anger or ability to cope with conflict, yet raters judged high-anger subjects to display more anger than low-anger subjects in their stated response actions. Estimates of coping ability varied inversely with reports of anger experienced. Generally, results support a relationship between irrational thinking patterns and anger in feeling and action. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

Girls and Engineering: Perceived Influences on Career Choice amongst Female Craft and Technician Engineers and Non-Engineers

There are very few women who take up careers as engineers - especially at the non-professional level. The present research attempts to throw some light on this issue, examining by means of a postal questionnaire the educational experiences of 22 young women craft and technician apprentices in a variety of engineering jobs. Comparisons are made with 33 similar young women who have chosen more traditional 'female' occupations. The results show significant differences between engineers and non-engineers in terms of their subject choices and curriculum opportunities at school and their perceptions of the attitudes of parents to wards their careers. Possible implications of the findings for developments in curriculum planning and careers guidance are explored.     

Building higher-order units in tachistoscopic identification: A test of two models

Summary Subjects were shown eight-letter pseudowords tachistoscopically and were asked to report as many letters as possible. The pseudowords, examples of either first- or fourth-order approximation to English, were printed in normal or reversed spelling and were presented in either normal of mirror-imaged letters. Finally subjects were either free to report in any order they wished, or they were instructed to report from left to right or from right to left. With normal letters, the familiarity effect was controlled by the spelling direction, not by the direction of report or the match between direction of report and spelling direction. With mirrored letters, however, order of approximation to English had no effect. The results contradict two existing theories: Mewhort's theory claims that the familiarity of fourth-order materials aids processing at a postcategorical level; it has trouble explaining why the familiarity effect disappeared with mirrored letters and normal spelling. Wolff's theory claims that familiarity aids processing at the feature level; it has trouble explaining why the familiarity effect disappeared with mirrored letters and reversed spelling.