A Taxonomy of Part-Whole Relations

A taxonomy of part-whole or meronymic relations is developed to explain the ordinary English-speaker's use of the term “part of” and its cognates. The resulting classification yields six types of meronymic relations: 1. component-integral object (pedal-bike), 2. member-collection (ship-fleet), 3. portion-mass (slice-pie), 4. stuff-object (steel-car), 5. feature-activity (paying-shopping), and 6. place-area (Everglades-Florida). Meronymic relations ore further distinguished from other inclusion relations, such as spatial inclusion, and class inclusion, and from several other semantic relations: attribution, attachment, and ownership. This taxonomy is then used to explain cases of apparent intransitivity in merological syllogisms, and standard form syllogisms whose premises express different inclusion relations. The data suggest that intransitivities arise due to equivocations between different types of semantic relations. These results are then explained by means of the relation element theory which accounts for the character and behavior of semantic relations in terms of more primitive relational elements. The inferential phenomena observed are then explained by means of a single principle of element matching.     

Effects of relation similarity on part-whole decisions

Subjects were presented with word pairs (e.g., bed-mattress) and timed as they decided whether one word named part of the item named by the other word. Yes responses were facilitated, and no responses were impeded, by relation similarity (i.e., the similarity of the relation between the two stimulus items to the part-whole relation). Item similarity, the similarity of the two stimulus items to each other, had no effect. The results support the view that similarity effects in semantic decision tasks are due to the comparison of elements of the relation between the two stimulus words against relation elements that serve as criteria for the target relation that the subject has been asked to identify.     

Isolation-dependent enhancement of 2-[14C]deoxyglucose uptake in the forebrain of zebra finch males

In a previous study (H. J. Bischof & K. Herrmann (1986), Behavioral Brain Research, 21, 215-221) we demonstrated that four forebrain areas of the zebra finch male are activated in situations which arouse the animal, for example when the birds are chased around the cage or when they are exposed to a female. These areas, the hyperstriatum accessorium-dorsale (HAD), a part of the medial neo-hyperstriatum (MNH), the lateral neo-hyperstriatum (LNH), and a portion of the caudal archi-neostriatum (ANC), show enhanced 2-[14C]deoxyglucose (2-DG) uptake according to the experimental situation. On the basis of these experiments, we examined whether the activation of the areas is correlated with motor activity and is influenced by different isolation times prior to a 2-DG experiment, where courtship of the male birds is elicited by exposing them to a female zebra finch. For this purpose, we isolated male zebra finches for 1 day, 1 week, or 8 weeks, respectively, before we injected the 2-DG and exposed the birds to a female. During the experiment, besides other activities, the number of song motifs performed by the bird and the frequency of changing perches was recorded. Our experiments demonstrate that there is a weak negative correlation between motor activity and 2-DG uptake, and a positive correlation between isolation time and 2-DG uptake. We suggest that long isolation blocks courtship behavior by some unknown mechanisms, and that the "internal drive" of the animal, which possibly corresponds with the activity of the four forebrain areas, is enhanced by isolation and by the fact that the birds do not perform the consummatory behavior. Our results also demonstrate that the 2-DG method can show up small differences in the internal state of an animal, which cannot easily be detected by behavioral measurements.     

Nonverbal communication as a compensative strategy for severely nonfluent aphasics? A quantitative approach

Seven severely nonfluent aphasics and one relative or close friend were investigated in an interview situation. The conversation was videotaped and analyzed for the use of nonverbal communication between aphasic and partner. The results indicate that the group of aphasics used significantly more frequently and for a significantly longer period of time nonverbal channels of communication than their healthy partners. The aphasic patients also used significantly fewer speech-focused movements and significantly more codified gestures. Nonverbal elements were more frequently used as speech substitutes by the group of aphasics.     

Marriage Guidance Training and the Trainee's Own Marriage: A Prospective Study

Twenty trainees and 18 partners took part in a study of the effects of a marriage guidance training programme on their own marriage. Changes were assessed in two ways: retrospectively ('perceived' changes as assessed following training) and prospectively (changes calculated by comparing scores obtained before training and those obtained after training). For most dimensions there was little correspondence between 'perceived' change and 'calculated' change. This has important methodological implications, which are discussed. The 'calculated' change indicated poorer marital adjustment following training. The trainees' scores suggested that they had become less 'abasing' and less 'nurturant' towards their partners; also that they had more disagreements about 'philosophy of life' and 'dealing with in-laws'. Their comments suggested that a number of the trainees had become more analytical of their own marriages, and that training had heightened their awareness of their own needs and individuality.     

Effects of Fluprazine Hydrochloride on Three Aversively Motivated Tasks

The Psychological Record - Treatment with 8.0 mg/kg fluprazine hydrochloride had no effect on the acquisition of a step-down avoidance response but retarded its extinction. The drug also impaired...     

Gender differences in emotional development: A review of theories and research

Theories, data, methodological and conceptual problems concerning the study of gender differences in the development of defenses, emotional expression, recognition, and experiences are reviewed Data indicate gender differences in several areas of emotional functioning, including nonverbal sensitivity, expressiveness, self-reports of anger, fear, and sadness, the quality of defenses, and cognitive correlates of recognition abilities Studies suggest that with development, boys increasingly inhibit the expression and attribution of most emotions, whereas girls increasingly inhibit the expression and recognition of socially unacceptable emotions, e g, anger These differences may be a function of different socialization processes for males and females, which may be adaptations to innate gender differences in temperament, or adaptations to existing sociocultural pressures The present paper argues that emotions motivate and regulate adaptive behaviors, and that researchers must explore gender differences in emotional development as a function of different familial, sociocultural, and interpersonal roles to which males and females must adapt