Auditory Long term Memory: Repetition Priming of Voice Recognition

Two experiments examined repetition priming in the recognition of famous voices. In Experiment 1, reaction times for fame decisions to famous voice samples were shorter than in an unprimed condition, when voices were primed by a different voice sample of the same person having been presented in an earlier phase of the experiment. No effect of voice repetition was observed for non-famous voices. In Experiment 2, it was investigated whether this priming effect is voice-specific or whether it is related to post-perceptual processes in person recognition. Recognizing a famous voice was again primed by having earlier heard a different voice sample of that person. Although an earlier exposure to that person's name did not cause any priming, there was some indication of priming following an earlier exposure to that person's face. Finally, earlier exposure to the identical voice sample (as compared to a different voice sample from the same person) caused a considerable bias towards responding 'famous'-i.e. performance benefits for famous but costs for nonfamous voices. The findings suggestthat (1) repetition priming invoice recognition primarily involves the activation of perceptual representations of voices, and (2) it is important to determine the conditions in which priming causes bias effects that need to be disentangled from performance benefits.     

William King’s Influence on Locke’s Second Edition Change of Mind about Human Action and Freedom

ABSTRACT

Locke’s influential discussion of agency in the chapter ‘Of Power’ in the Essay Concerning Human Understanding underwent important changes between the first and second edition. He reconsidered many of his central claims about the mind’s deliberation about actions. Locke’s position in the two editions is not only different but, as he himself points out, sometimes incompatible. This has suggested to some commentators that his change of mind was at least partly due to an external influence. Locke himself gestures towards this conclusion in the new ‘Epistle’ in the second edition Essay. One view is that William Molyneux was a notable influence, while another position is that Ralph Cudworth’s work on free will, either directly or indirectly through the influence of his daughter Damaris Masham, was an important influence. The position I develop in this paper is that the strongest candidate for an important external influence on Locke’s second edition revision is Molyneux’s close associate and friend, Irish philosopher and Archbishop of Dublin, William King. I argue that King’s criticism is a plausible influence on Locke’s reconceptualization of will and desire. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, King’s criticism appears to have been instrumental in Locke’s new emphasis on the agent’s capacity to determine what to value.     

The integration of visual and functional classifications in concept formation

Summary Simple motor responses of different similarity were assigned to geometric figures of different similarity. Subsequently, subjects had to learn hierarchical classifications of visually similar or dissimilar figures which were associated with either similar or dissimilar responses. In this way, the visual and the functional similarity of the conceptually united figures were orthogonally varied. It was found that visually similar figures are conceptually classified fastest regardless of their functional similarity. In contrast, functional similarity has a considerable impact on the hierarchical classification of visually dissimilar figures. Functionally similar figures are conceptually faster classified than dissimilar ones. From the results we conclude that concepts are autonomously formed as mediating representations in stimulus-response coordinations. The hierarchical organization of concepts is thereby based on the sequential organization of both the visual input and the behavioral output. Further consequences of this approach are discussed.Portions of this research were presented at the International Symposium on Structure and Function of Human Memory, in Memoriam Hermann Ebbinghaus, Berlin, July 1985     

Postnatal development of respiratory and vocal responses during aversive classical conditioning in cats

Respiratory rate, respiration amplitude, and vocal responses were recorded in cats of different ages during classic conditioning. Vocal responses to the conditional stimulus (CS) appeared first in 8-week-old kittens, and became prominent at older ages. An increase in respiration rate occurred after the onset of the CS in cats of all ages. Similarly, the decrease of respiration amplitude was observed at all ages, but only in 8-week-old and older subjects did this response resemble an adult pattern. In 4-week-old kittens the response was characterized by an early and brief peak, suggesting an alpha conditional response (CR). Clear and significant discrimination between a warning and a safety signal was present in both respiratory and vocal responses after the age of 8 weeks.     

Updating an object’s orientation and location during nonvisual navigation: A comparison between two processing modes

In the present study, we compared the effects of two processing modes on the updating of the location and orientation of a previously viewed object in space during a guided walk without vision. In Experiment 1, in order to measure the error for initial perception of object’s orientation, 12 subjects rotated a miniature model until it matched the memorized orientation of its counterpart object in space. In Experiment 2, they attempted either to keep track of the object continuously (in the object-centered [OC] task) or to estimate the object’s perspective only at the terminal vantage point given the trajectory they walked (in the trajectory-centered [TC] task). Subjects indicated the location of the object by facing it, and then rotated the model in order to indicate its orientation from the new vantage point. Results showed that, with respect to the TC mode, the OC mode induced a slowdown of the subjects’ self-paced locomotion velocity for both linear and angular movements, and a decrease of the latencies as well as smaller absolute errors for the orientation-of-the-object response. Mean signed errors on object’s orientation were equivalent for both processing modes, suggesting that the latter induced different allocations of processing resources on a common representation of space updated by “path integration.”     

Evaluating pediatric psychology consultation services in a medical setting: An example

We examined the nature of referrals to a health center-based pediatric psychology service from 1990 to 1993 and assessed the satisfaction of health professionals with these services. Archival evaluation of 1467 records showed that over half of the consultation requests came from general pediatrics, pediatric neurology, and surgical services and that 70% of the psychological services were delivered on an outpatient basis. The most frequent referrals were for cognitive/neuropsychological evaluation and externalizing behavior problems. Pediatric psychology trainees were involved in 94% of the consultations. Survey of health professionals (n = 143) indicated very high overall satisfaction with the quality of services delivered. Presenting problems yielding the greatest likelihood for future consultation requests were behavior problems, child abuse, coping with illness, and depression/suicide. Results are discussed in the context of previous evaluations of pediatric psychology services and recommendations for future evaluation research.