bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chromatic induction as a function of luminance relations
Authors: BERGSTRÖM STEN STURE , DEREFELDT GUNILLA , HOLMGREN SVEN
Published: May 2008

Chromatic induction by red, green, and blue surround was studied as a function of surround/test field luminance ratio using a compensation method. Luminance ratios from 0.01 to 28.7 were used. The number of subjects was 8–10 in the three experiments. The results show maximum induction to appear at a luminance ratio around 1.0 when varying the test field luminance (Experiment 1) and at higher ratios when varying the surrounding luminance (Experiments 2 and 3). This difference is discussed in relation to the Kirschmann‐Kinney controversy (Kirschmann, 1890; Kinney, 1962) and in relation to an earlier study using a magnitude estimation method (Bergström & Derefeldt, 1975).
Presence and absence of serial position effects in short‐term memory
Authors: HELSTRUP TORE
Published: May 2008

The nature of serial position effects was examined with a method based on pooled observations. With standard list presentation procedures, primacy and recency effects in short and long‐term memory were observed. When learning operations were directed away from end positions, by changes in presentation rate, by within‐list repetitions, by focusing instructions, and by differential grouping of list items, the usual serial position pattern was found to be affected in several ways, primacy and recency effects often being absent. Attempts to create anchor points and to ascribe serial positions verbally, were generally found to favour recency over primacy effects. Taken as a whole, the results, all of them based on recall of lits given a single presentation, indicated that position phenomena are more easily influenced by functional than by structural factors. The findings were explained in terms of a two‐stage conception of serial learning, doing without specific storage assumptions.
Evaluation of two factor‐analytically derived subclasses of schizophrenia
Authors: JONSSON HENRIK , FRANZÉ GÖRAN
Published: May 2008

Continued study of stability and descriptive usefulness of two factors of schizophrenia. The factors were isolated by means of inverted factor technique and tentatively evaluated on a second sample of persons. In the present study 18 new subjects were added to a validation group. One of the factors was found to be an appropriate concept in describing the validation cases. This factor was interpreted as early or non‐regressive shizophrenia.
Task predictability and performance as determinants of confidence in multiple‐cue judgments
Authors: ARMELIUS KERSTIN
Published: May 2008

Two experiments were performed in order to study judges' confidence in their judgments. Experiment I showed that judges' confidence is a direct function of the cue intercorrelation. rij in a pure judgmental task. When judges recieved feedback, the effect of rij on confidence was, as predicted, reduced. Confidence was, however, systematically related to neither R2c nor performance in the feedback condition. Experiment II was a further study of the effect of feedback on confidence. In addition, the hypothesis that the lack of relation between performance and confidence is due to judges' poor knowledge of how they actually perform in probabilistic inference tasks was tested. The experiment showed that differences among judges' confidence is a direct function of task predictability and that judges' confidence is related to how they believe that they perform rather than to how they actually perform. The theoretical as well as the practical importance of studies of confidence in probabilistic inference tasks was discussed.
Heart‐rate and electrodermal orienting responses to visual stimuli differing in complexity
Authors: FREDRIKSON MATS , ÖHMAN ARNE
Published: May 2008

Orienting response (OR) theory predicts that amount of information in the stimulus, or stimulus complexity, should be an important determinant of OR elicitation and habituation, more intense and more slowly habituating ORs being expected to complex than to simple stimuli. This prediction was tested in an experiment where subjects were exposed to simple and complex visual stimuli in randomized order, while heart‐rate and skin conductance were measured. Complex stimuli evoked a more pronounced deceleratory heartrate response than did simple stimuli. However, the two conditions did not differ in rate of habituation of this response. For skin conductance responses, on the other hand, the complex stimulus took more trials than the simple stimulus to reach habituation, whereas the two conditions did not differ in response magnitude. Thus, the hypothesis of more intense orienting to complex stimuli was supported by the heart‐rate data, and that of slower habituation to complex stimuli, of the skin conductance data.
An analysis of behavioural effects produced by drug‐induced changes of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the brain
Authors: AHLENIUS SVEN
Published: May 2008

An excessive activation of postsynaptic dopamine receptors as induced by the administration of L‐dopa, d‐amphetamine or apomorphine produce an abnormal behaviour characterized by a loss of inhibitory control over behaviour and an impairment of associative mechanisms. This is in contrast to the modulation of components of normal behaviour by the administration of lower doses of these drugs. It is further concluded that the administration of drugs which inhibit brain dopamine neurotransmission results in an inability to initiate voluntary movements without effects on associative mechanisms.
Language strategies in mixed nationality families
Authors: ARNBERG LENORE
Published: May 2008

The literature has indicated that the way in which a bilingual child learns his two languages may influence cognitive and language development. Twenty Swedish–English‐speaking families (including 18 children) were interviewed with regard to the types of strategies used in raising the child bilingually. The children were also given a short word recognition test in both languages. Four main strategies were observed, differing with regard to whether the languages had been introduced simultaneously or consecutively and whether the sources of the languages had been distinct or mixed. The paper discusses the families' selection and evaluation of strategy as well as the role of strategy in influencing degree of bilingualism as seen from the literature as well as from the present results.
Introspection, consciousness, and human information processing
Authors: LUNDH LARS‐GUNNAR
Published: May 2008

The paper tries, on rational and empirical grounds, to sketch a theory of introspective awareness, considered as an essential aspect of what is usually talked about in terms of “consciousness”. The main thesis is that introspective awareness has an important role of play in human information processing. An attempt is made to clarify the connections between introspective awareness, selective attention, and short‐term memory. A lot of human information processing goes on pre‐attentively, “automatically”, without the involvement of introspective awareness. What is introspectively attended to enters short‐term memory, where it remains available for various kinds of mental operations; certain kinds of such operations are themselves introspectively accessible, and may become contents of short‐term memory, where they in turn can be operated upon, and hence be modified voluntarily by the subject. Finally, various kinds of limitations to introspective awareness are discussed.
The perception of flicker: Theoretical note on the relation between brightness and darkness enhancement
Authors: MAGNUSSEN SVEIN , BJØRKLUND ROALD A. , KRÜGER JÜRGEN
Published: May 2008

A reexamination of experiments on the brightness and darkness enhancement of flickering lights suggests that the mechanism responsible for the asymmetry of the effects (darkness enhancement being a stronger effect than brightness enhancement) is independent and central to the mechanism responsible for the frequency‐dependent brightness and darkness variations.
A longitudinal study of the psychological aspects of myelomeningocele
Authors: NIELSEN HELLE H.
Published: May 2008

The psychological effects on child and family of myelomeningocele, a severe multihandicapping, congenital malformation of the spinal cord, is being followed in a longitudinal, interdisciplinary investigation. The first unselected sample of 30 children has been tested at regular intervals up till school age and their parents interviewed. Results indicate that the condition is often associated with psychomotor retardation in various degrees, depending on the seriousness of neurological complications. An unexpected finding was that performance level tended to improve with increasing age, mean IQ being lowest in the first couple of years approaching normal in the preschool years. After a crisis period from the last part of the child's first year till approximately 2 years, the strain on the family seems to lessen considerably and an improvement of psychological functioning and well‐being can be observed. In the preschool years relatively few emotional and behavioral difficulties were registered.
Interactive effects of noise and neuroticism on recall from semantic memory
Authors: von WRIGHT JOHAN , VAURAS MARJA
Published: May 2008

Subjects recalled names of countries during 8 or 5 min. (Experiments 1 and 2) or performed a set of brief (40 sec) tasks recalling items from semantic or factual memory (Experiment 3), either in silence or in intermittent white noise (95 dB (A)). Noise interfered consistently with the performance of “neurotic” subjects (i.e., subjects scoring above the median on the EPI scale of neuroticism) but had little effect on that of “stable” ones. Performance was not significantly related to extraversion, nor to self‐rated activation, and it was uncorrelated with neuroticism in the no‐noise condition. An interpretation of the results emphasizing the distracting effects of noise is discussed.
Learning a two‐cue inference task when one of the cue‐criterion relations is known
Authors: LINDBERG LARS‐ÅKE , BREHMER BERNDT
Published: May 2008

Learning two‐cue probability learning (MPL) tasks when the functional relation between the first cue and the criterion was known to the subject was studied in a factorial experiment. Contrary to the predictions from a hypothesis sampling model assuming independent learning of each cue in MPL, the function form for the first cue was found to affect learning of the second cue, facilitating it when the functional relations were the same for both cues and inhibiting it when the functions were different. These results suggest that it is not possible to extrapolate findings from single‐cue probability learning directly to MPL.
Thinking aloud during reading: A descriptive model and its application
Authors: WAERN YVONNE
Published: May 2008

The problem‐solving aspect of reading was studied by a thinking‐aloud procedure. A model was developed, describing the information attended to, the thought operation used, and the result derived. Four main operations were identified: Reading, Evoking, Interpreting, and Comparing. A coding system, based upon this model, was developed. Its interrater reliability was between 0.86 and 0.92. This system was used to study the effect of reading purpose. An experimental group was instructed to apply a text concerning creativity to the problem of inducing constructive learning at the university. A control group was assigned reading with no particular purpose in mind. The experimental group used the Interpreting operation more often. Also, the Comparing operation, applied to a comparison between the text and the subjects' own knowledge, less often resulted in disagreement. Thus, the coding system is detailed enough to reflect differences in thought processes.
Several types of learning increase open field activity in mice
Authors: LAGERSPETZ KARI Y. H. , KVIST BÉATRICE , LAGERSPETZ KIRSTI M. J.
Published: May 2008

Experimental and control groups of mice were initially matched on the basis of their open field activity. Experimental groups were trained in one of six types of learning tasks: (1) active avoidance conditioning with light and sound signals as conditioned stimuli and electric shocks as uncoditioned stimulus, (2) learning of a linear 5‐point maze, (3) learning of a T‐maze, (4) passive avoidance conditioning, (5) learning of non‐aggressive behavior, and (6) learning of aggressive behavior. In all cases, learning was associated with a significant increase of the open field activity over that of the untrained but otherwise similarly treated control mice. This effect was most marked during the learning phase and disappeared when the acquired behavior had become firmly established. It is suggested that several types of learning are associated with an increase of arousal level, possibly mediated by the activation of central catecholamine neurons.
The effects of bilateral ECT on primary memory
Authors: MORTENSEN ERIK LYKKE
Published: May 2008

Sixteen patients treated with bilateral ECT and sixteen students were tested with single‐trial free recall. Testing was carried out at both a fast and a slow rate of presentation, and recall was either immediate or delayed for 30 sec. The primary memory component was estimated with five different methods, and it is concluded that this memory component is essentially unaffected by ECT. The results are discussed in relation to other studies showing that individual differences in memory capacity are primarily related to the secondary memory component. It is argued that the results obtained in studies of memory functions in ECT patients and in patients with chronic amnesic syndromes are similar. The normal primary memory component in ECT patients is not considered conclusive evidence of two storage systems.
“Knowledge by acquaintance” and “Knowledge‐about”: A psychometrical demonstration
Authors: TEIGEN KARL HALVOR
Published: May 2008

In two studies, students were asked to rate their knowledge of a number of different topics, extracurricular as well as drawn from their textbooks of the history of psychology and philosophy. The score distributions on a scale from “unknown” to “well known” were in all cases distinctly U‐formed, as if knowledge were a question of either/or, rather than one of degree. However, when knowledge was rated on a scale from “know nothing about” to “know much about”, the U‐pattern failed to appear, and the students tended generally to give more cautious ratings. The differences are interpreted as evidence for the philosophical and linguistic distinction between “knowledge by acquaintance” (German: “kennen”, French: “connaître”) and “knowledge‐about” (German: “wissen”, French: “savoir”).
The logic of psychological treatment
Authors: SMEDSLUND JAN
Published: May 2008

Empirical studies of technical and therapist variables in treatment cannot yield valid generalizations because of the uniqueness of each case. Professional practice must, instead, be seen as an application of a psychological “calculus”, which follows logically from definitions of given concepts. Seven necessary rules are suggested for psychological treatment: 1. Regard the client‐in‐her/his‐surroundings‐system (cs‐system) as your unit of reference and get to know this system. 2. Tolerate initial ambiguity and do not generalize from other persons in other life situations. 3. In matters relevant for treatment, do not objectivize, i.e. pronounce something to be true or false, good or bad, right or wrong, but always subjectivize, i.e. emphasize that FOR P something is true or false, etc. 4. Maintain your independence relative to the cs‐system you work with. 5. Understand the persons in the cs‐system. 6. Respect the persons in the cs‐system. 7. Care for the persons in the cs‐system.
Toward a quantitative theory for performance differences between anticipation and study‐test procedures: The retention interval model
Authors: IZAWA CHIZUKO
Published: May 2008

In an effort to account quantitatively for performance differences between study‐test and anticipation methods, a rudimentary theory, the retention interval model, is proposed. This model postulates three different theoretical functions for the three operationally distinguishable and qualitatively different events in the retention interval: intercycle rest, intervening‐study‐events and intervening‐test‐events intervals. The retention interval model satisfactorily accounted for 144 data points based on 35, 136 observations (164 subjects) by using only 30 estimated parameters in three experiments (48 points via 10 parameters per experiment), with massed as well as spaced practice, under both anticipation and study‐test (RT) methods. In spite of a restrictive parameter estimation mode, close agreements were achieved between the model and data. The retention interval appears to generate powerful effects in determining the absolute performance levels for both anticipation and study‐test learning procedures in the various intercycle intervals.
Invariants in auditory frequency relations
Authors: HAHN JUNE , JONES MARI RIESS
Published: May 2008

A group theoretic description of auditory frequency is shown to have important implications for understanding invariants in sound patterns. Frequency can be mathematically conceived in terms of a logarithmic spiral which involves two generative group parameters. The spiral representation not only underlies the logarithmic relationship between the frequency of a tone and its stated musical pitch but it affords an objective basis for invariants that summarize other well‐known auditory relationships including distinctions which involve different tuning systems. The spiral analysis represents a new and potentially useful tool for describing auditory invariants with important implications for emerging theories of music perception and issues in psychophysical scaling of tonal patterns.
Assessment of the effects of brief separation from parent on infants
Authors: SMØRVIK DAG , SMITH LARS
Published: May 2008

The purpose of the study was to answer 2 questions: (1) are children 12 to 24 months old able to interpret their parents' accessibility on the basis of previous separation, and (2) how long do the effects of a brief, experimental separation last? 20 children were observed with their parents for 3 min, were then left alone for 3 min, and were observed for 3 min following reunion; as controls 19 children stayed with their parents for 9 min. The children were later observed after 1 or 2 weeks, this time they were free to separate themselves from their parents in order to explore an adjoining room. Observations were made by scoring predefined behavior measures from videotape. Results showed effects 1, but not 2 weeks after separation, and suggest that separation chiefly affects behaviors which involve confidence in parents' physical accessibility.
Age and brief separation: Note on children's distress reactions
Authors: SMITH LARS , SMØRVIK DAG
Published: May 2008

26 children, one to three years old, were briefly separated from their parents in a strange situation in order to investigate the relation of age to children's crying and manipulation behavior. A significant negative correaltion was found between age and crying (r=÷0.51), while no relation was observed between age and manipulation. The results support Bowlby's (1973) view that the peak of separation distress occurs during the child's second year of life.
Operational interpretations for the G and Gm indexes of agreement
Authors: STAVIG GORDON R.
Published: May 2008

Operational proportional increase in agreement (PIA) and proportional reduction in error (PRE) interpretations are given for Holley and Guilford's G index of agreement and Holley and Lienert's Gm index of agreement.
How to avoid developmental effects in free recall
Authors: COHEN RONALD L. , STEWART MARY
Published: May 2008

Immediate and final free recall was tested in children from grades 4, 6, and 8, using lists of words and lists of tasks which the children performed. The expected developmental effect was found in both the immediate and the final free recall of the words, but there were no significant differences in the recall of the tasks as a function of age. These data are discussed within the Flavell‐Brown framework of strategic and nonstrategic memory tasks.
Common sense and psychological phenomena: A reply to Smedslund
Authors: SJÖBERG LENNART
Published: May 2008

Smedslund's argument that psycho‐social reality is revealed by common sense is shown to be based on a confusion between logical inference and psychological induction. Common sense has no privileged access to psychological reality and is affected profoundly by reasoning errors. Its structure is loose, allowing for post hoc“explanations” of everything and clear‐cut predictions of nothing.
How does the expectancy‐value model in psychology explain human action?
Authors: VOLLMER FRED
Published: May 2008

The topic discussed is how the expectancy‐value model in psychology can be interpreted. A causal interpretation of the model implies that intentions, wants, and beliefs are independent mental causes of human action. A number of arguments against this way of conceptualizing mental events in relation to action are presented. On the basis of these arguments it is concluded that the concepts of ‘intention’, ‘want’, ‘belief’, and the like, cannot be thought of as referring to events that are extrinsic to, and independent of, action and linguistic usage. Intending, wanting, believing, comprise saying and doing things in certain ways and contexts, as well as other events (imagery, feeling, experience) with which action and language belong and are intrinsically related. Relating what people say and do to intentions, wants, beliefs, serves to illuminate or interpret words and deeds, not to point out their independent, extrinisic causes. A causal interpretation of the expectancy‐value model, it is concluded, is not tenable.
Serial position effects; the influence of operation shift, ascribed position and spatial presentation order
Authors: HELSTRUP TORE
Published: May 2008

Seven experiments, all focused on serial position phenomena, showed the usual primacyrecency pattern to be easily disrupted. The theoretical assumption that learning operations lose power as a function of continuous use was refuted on empirical grounds. Repeated observations revealed how difficult it is to represent spatial series on the basis of randomized temporal inputs. A two‐stage interpretation of serial learning was claimed to be compatible with the experimental findings: Stage I involves item differentiation, Stage II integration of the differentiated items.
Detection of errors in statistical problem solving
Authors: ALLWOOD CARL MARTIN , MONTGOMERY HENRY
Published: May 2008

Ten subjects were asked to think aloud while solving two statistical problems. The subjects were instructed after each substep of his/her problem solving, to check in various ways the solution of the previous substep. The subjects detected 25 out of a total of 56 errors when they solved the problems. About half of the detected errors were computational errors. Nine errors were eliminated in response to the checking instructions. The think aloud data indicated that subjects' most common way of detecting their own errors was by noting that computations resulted in extreme values. Subjects also detected errors by (a) “spontaneous discovery”; (b) discontent with other aspects of a solution than the numerical value of the answer; (c) repeating a solution. The last mentioned type of error detection only occurred when subjects responded to the checking instructions. Finally it was found that subjects had a strong tendency to respond to the checking instructions either in a routinized or in a non‐elaborated way. It was discussed how the formulation of checking instructions can be improved in order to avoid this effect.
Self‐image and predictions about future events
Authors: WENGLERT LEIF , SVENSON OLA
Published: May 2008

This study inquires the relation between a person's attitude towards himself and his way of predicting his own and the future of the world, respectively. Estimates of probabilities and utilities were made for 20 personal events and 20 general events. The attitude towards oneself was measured on bipolar Osgood type scales where the subject was asked to judge his or her self and the ideal self. A correlation was found between a person's attitude towards himself and his way of predicting the future. The more positive a person's self‐image, the higher was the correlation between probability and utility estimates for a set of future events. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the conclusions which may be drawn from data of the type presented in this study and in earlier studies.
Item recognition with automatized performance
Authors: BUNDESEN CLAUS
Published: May 2008

A theory for automatized performance in item recognition tasks is outlined. Automation occurs during practice with consistent mappings of stimuli to responses. Automatized processing at stages of pattern recognition, binary coding, and response evocation is described in sufficient detail to provide a qualitative explanation for (a) extant data on transfer of training (where previous theories fail), (b) known effects of visual confusability and positive set size, and (c) null effect of negative set size (demonstrated in Experiment 1). The effects of visual confusability and positive set size are ascribed to the stage of pattern recognition; it is suggested that their joint effects on reaction times and error rates (measured in Experiment 2) be explained at a quantitative level by a parallel random walk recognition model.
Life values of Finnish adolescents and their beliefs about the values of peers and adults
Authors: WRIGHT MAIJALIISA RAUSTE‐von
Published: May 2008

In the context of a longitudinal developmental study, 182 girls and boys (90 from Helsinki, 92 from North Karelia) were asked, at the ages of 15 and 18, about their life values and their beliefs about the values of their peers and of adults. The pattern of their own values, which were mainly concerned with human relations, self‐actualization, and economic matters (at 15) or health (at 18), differed from those they believed to be characteristic of their peers and, especially, of adults. At 15, peers were often seen to value social success and to be comparatively tough; adults were considered to be oriented towards economic values. The differences between own values and beliefs about the values of others are discussed with reference to the pattern of communication between adolescents and their peers and adults; experienced expectations of peer groups; and adolescents' motivation to grow up into an adult world the (judged) values of which they only partly share.
Acquisition of locational information about reference points during locomotion: The role of central information processing
Authors: LINDBERG ERIK , GÄRLING TOMMY
Published: May 2008

The role of central information processing for the acquisition of information about locations in a large‐scale environment was investigated in two experiments. Subjects with and without a concurrent backwards counting task traversed a locomotion path repeatedly attempting to learn the locations of six reference points designated along the path, then estimated direction and distance numerically to these reference points when traversing the same path further times in a subsequent test phase. The main dependent measures were the latencies and the constant and variable errors of the estimates. The results indicated that acquisition of information about the locations was disrupted when central information processing was interfered with. However, central processing seemed to be less critical for long‐term storage of information about the locomotion path. The latter type of information could thus be used by the subjects with the concurrent task when estimating the locations. Finally, the results suggested that information about the path was used also by the subjects without any concurrent task when the test phase required them to remain oriented relative to several reference points at the same time.
Serotonin neurons and aversive conditioning in the rat
Authors: ÖGREN S.‐O. , JOHANSSON C. , JOHANSSON G. , ARCHER T.
Published: May 2008

The acute and long‐term effects of p‐chloroamphetamine (PCA) on one‐way and two‐way active avoidance (AA), passive avoidance (PA) learning, fear retention (FR) and on central monoamine concentrations were examined in the male rat. Acute PCA administration (0.63–5 mg/kg i.p.), which releases presynaptic 5‐HT, produced a dose‐related impairment of both one‐and two‐way AA acquisition, AA retention, PA and fear retention. The selective serotonin (5‐HT) uptake inhibitor zimelidine, but not the noradrenaline (NA) uptake inhibitor desipramine, blocked the avoidance deficit induced by acute PCA. Degeneration of brain 5‐HT neurons by a high neurotoxic dose of PCA (2 × 10 mg/kg i.p.) failed to change AA and PA learning but blocked the avoidance deficit induced by acute PCA. Degeneration of locus coeruleus NA neurones with DSP4 (1 × 50 mg/kg), a selective NA neurotoxin, failed to block the acute PCA action. Thus, the acute avoidance learning impairment appears to be specifically related to the acute release of endogenous 5‐HT. Both acute and long‐term PCA treatment affected 5‐HT neurones preferentially in the forebrain while marginal effects were observed in the midbrain and spinal cord. A marked impairment in the retention and retrieval of fear conditioning in the rat was also observed following acute PCA administration. The serotoninergic mechanisms underlying the retrieval deficit were found to be similar but not identical to those involved in AA acquisition. These results suggest an important role for central 5‐HT neurones in aversive learning processes. The possible involvement of 5‐HT neurones in learning, memorial and/or retrieval processes is discussed.
Neuropeptides and behavior: ACTH
Authors: GISPEN W. H.
Published: May 2008

In the last 25 years, enormous progress has been made in understanding the role that peptides play in regulating complex behaviors. Limiting the discussion to ACTH and congeners, it has been put forward that their effects on adaptive behaviors is due to their enhancement of the motivational or attentional properties of environmental stimuli. The multiplicity of the behavioral effects suggests that ACTH‐like peptides contain more than one bit of behavioral information. It is believed that local, post‐translational processing of neuropeptides is an important control mechanism in the availability and the identity of the active sequences. ACTH‐induced excessive grooming in the rat is discussed in detail as it clearly illustrates some of the specific features of neuropeptide and behavior research, like, structure‐activity, multiple information sites and receptors, restricted neural substrate, dose‐response relation, etc. Furthermore, evidence is accumulating that peptide modulation of membrane properties (protein phosphorylation) in certain synapses may contribute to the behavioral activity of ACTH.
Gastric ulceration and adrenocortical activity after inescapable and escapable pre‐shock in rats
Authors: MURISON R. C. C. , ISAKSEN E.
Published: May 2008

Two experiments are reported which investigated the effects of pre‐shock treatment in rats on adrenocortical activity and susceptibility to later restraint‐induced ulceration. In Experiment I, animals were exposed to a single inescapable 3 minute shock on 5 consecutive days. These shocked animals exhibited sensitisation of the adrenocortical response over days, increased adrenocortical reactivity to open field testing one week later and a trend for more severe ulceration after 20 hours of restraint. In Experiment II, animals were given 20 escapable or yoked pre‐shock trials on 5 consecutive days. No sensitisation of the adrenocortical response was observed. Escape animals however were found to exhibit less gastric ulceration and a reduced adrenocortical responses after 20 hours of restraint 9 days after the last preshock session.
Paradigms in psychosomatic research: a dialectic perspective
Authors: CARLSSON S. G. , JERN S.
Published: May 2008

By tradition, psychosomatic research has relied on a linear causality model where various psychological and social factors have been correlated to organic disorders. It has become increasingly evident, however, that etiological models based on single causal factors are inadequate. Recently, a reorientation has been noted towards system‐oriented multicausality models, which assume that social, psychological, and physiological factors interact in the pathogenesis of a disease. In this review, the limitations and potentials of the linear and system‐oriented paradigms are discussed. It is suggested that these perspectives are complementary, and may be applied simultaneously in an integrated, dialectic approach.
The psychology of the neuron: Freud, Cajal and Golgi
Authors: KφPPE SIMO
Published: May 2008

The interdisciplinary relations between neuroanatomy, philosophy and psychology are discussed in a historical framework‐the period 1880–1900. It is shown that philosophical associationism is an integrated part of the neuroanatomical exploration of the minimal unit in the nervous system, and how these points have significance in some of Freuds earliest works
Studies in subjective probability l: Prediction of random events
Authors: TEIGEN KARL HALVOR
Published: May 2008

When students are asked to predict the outcome of a random event, where all alternatives are equally probable (lotteries), they tend to choose central, “representative” values, and avoid extreme ones. In ten informal experiments, it is shown how this pattern of choices is influenced by various procedural and structural changes in the basic task. The results show that guessing behavior can be described as a kind of absolute judgment, subject to grouping, anchoring and context effects. Of the two general prediction heuristics originally proposed by Kahneman & Tversky (1973), “representativeness” applies better than “availability”. In fact, a major strategy of guessing is apparently to eschew numbers with prominent, “non‐random” properties, which at the same time are highly available to the subjects.
Can phonemic awareness be trained in kindergarten?
Authors: OLOFSSON ÅKE , LUNDBERG INGVAR
Published: May 2008

The effect of a training program designed to develop phonemic awareness skills in kindergarten was assessed in a study involving three experimental groups and two control groups. The degree of structure imposed upon the program was varied in the experimental groups. One control group was trained in non‐verbal auditory discrimination, and the second control group followed the ordinary preschool program during the 6–8 week observational period. A clear improvement in the ability to segment and blend three‐phoneme words was observed in the highly structured training cohdition, especially among the children with poor pre‐test performance, while no clear changes from pre‐ to post‐test were found in the other groups. It was concluded that phonemic awareness can be developed in prereaders outside the context of formal reading instruction.
“Maturity of thinking” of 15‐year‐old girls and boys as assessed from the reasons given for answers to questions about their beliefs
Authors: WRIGHT MAIJALIISA RAUSTE‐von
Published: May 2008

204 Finnish children (98 from the capital, 106 from a rural area) participated in a longitudinal study concerning the development of their world‐view. In interviews carried out at age 15, subjects were asked to give reasons/grounds for their beliefs (attitudes, opinions). The reasons given for answers relating to 17 topics (e.g., life values, vocational intentions, beliefs about important topics in everyday life, global problems, and the experiential character of human life) were rated in terms of maturity of thinking (MOT) about that topic. The relaliability of the MOT sum scale was ≥0.90. MOT was unrelated to most the ability tests included, and to parents' standard of living, but was related to school achievement (including achievement 3 years later), teacher's ratings, subjects' reading and TV‐watching habits and other information‐seeking activities, and acceptance of “untraditional” values. It was also related to self‐image variables in females but not in males. The possible preferability of ecologically valid topic in studies of maturity of thinking is discussed.
Signalled and unsignalled avoidance impairments following noradrenaline depletion with DSP4: An hypothesis incorporating and associative and a non‐associative factor
Authors: ARCHER TREVOR
Published: May 2008

Four experiments were performed to investigate the effect of a single prior administration of the selective noradrenaline neurotoxin, DSP4 (50 md/kg, i.p.), upon signalled and unisgnalled variations of the two‐way active avoidance procedure. Noradrenaline depletio following DSP4 caused a significant impairment in the acquisition but not in the retention of signalled avoidance. Two unsignalled discrete trial avoidance procedures were used, one of which the 50/10 procedure, was designed to be considerably more difficult than the other, the 50/40 procedure. DSP4‐ treated rats were found to be impaired on the difficult 50/10 task but not on the 50/40 task. It was also shown that the DSP4 group in the 50/10 experiment made fewer crossings that did not result in shock postponement (‘nonreinforced’ or intertrial crossings) while in the 50/40 experiment the DSP4 group in the 50/10 experiment made fewer crossings that did not result in shock postponement (‘nonreinforced’ or ‘intertrial’ crossings) while in the 50/40 experiment the DSPS group made more ‘intertrial’ crossings. Response latencies were not significantly altered as a result of the treatment in both instances. The results of the present experiments in conjunction with much accumulate evidence from several other investigations were assimilated in order to develop an hypothesis to account for the consistent signalled two‐way avoidance deficits resulting from DSP4 administration. This hypothesis incorporates two main components: (1) It may be that DSP4‐treated rats are unable to develop the correct coping behaviour required in the stressful task confronting it, i.e. they fail to make the appropriate crossing (running) respose whether an escape or an avoidance response; (2) It is possible that DSP4‐treated rats may fail to associate adequately a successful avoidance response with either the tone that signals shock or the postponement of shock.
On natural and technical knowledge domains
Authors: OHLSSON STELLAN
Published: May 2008

A distinction is introduced between technical and natural knowledge domains. Four criteria by which they can be distinguished are presented, and examples given. The distinction is applied to the study of problem solving. The conclusion is that certain problem solving methods cannot be expected to occur in natural knowledge domains.
Comments on Smedslund's “Revising explications of common sense through dialogue”
Authors: SJÖBERG LENNART
Published: May 2008

Smedslund's attempt to show that common sense is invariant is discussed. It is pointed out that he used a new definition of common sense as well as instructions which maximize invariance. Therefore, the findings demonstrate merely that the subjects utilized well known folk psychological concepts in their inferences. They cannot be generalized to other, real‐life, situations and to the usual meaning of the term common sense. The use of dialogue to increase invariance may work in an artificial setting where little is at stake but may well increase and freeze differences of opinion in real‐life settings. Still, Smedslund should be given credit for initiating work at a conceptual level which is badly needed, as illustrated here with an example from work on intrinsic motivation.
Creativity and anxiety: An experimental study
Authors: SMITH GUDMUND J. W. , CARLSSON INGEGERD
Published: May 2008

Tested a group of 31 psychiatric patients with anxiety as one of their main symptoms using a percept‐genetic (PG) test measuring creativity or willingness to reconstruct subjective interpretations of the stimulus. A control group of 43 from an earlier study was also included. For half of the subjects a threatening motif was presented subliminally during part of the PG series. By means of an interview, an estimation was made of the subjects' urge to create and of the severity of their anxiety. The Meta‐Contrast Technique (MCT) was used to describe defenses in the clinical group. Taking into account their urge to be creative, the clinical subjects received relatively few positive scores on the PG test. The subliminal addition to the anxiety level did not facilitate creative functioning as was the case with the normal subjects. The main obstacles to creative functioning seemed to be grave anxiety and rigid defense mechanisms or, to generalize, low tolorance of the anxiety necessarily associated with creative work.
Intramodal and crolss‐modal verbal communication of forms: A comparison with intraidividual matching
Authors: MOLANDER BO
Published: May 2008

In two experiments interindividual communication of forms in intramodal (visual‐visual, tactual‐tactual) and cross‐modal (visual‐tactual, tactual‐visual) conditions were compared with the corresponding conditions in intraindividual matching. In the first experiment speakers verbally described three‐dimensionakl objects to listeners, who, on the basis of the descriptions, judged the stimuli presented in other modality to be “same” or “different”. The descriptions produced in this experiment were transcribed and use again in the second experiment. In this experiment the listeners judged stimuli on the basis of the descriptions, judged the stimuli on the basis of descriptions originally meant for comparisons in a different modality. In both experiments the communication phase was followed by individual matching. The results are interpreted as showing:first, that verbal communication efficiently reflects the performance in intraindividual matching. Secondly, intramodal descriptions were found to be less useful than cross‐modal descriptions in a modality other than the one in which the descriptions were produced. Contrary ot earlier findings there was no indication of false negative errors beign associated with verbalizatio. The verbal‐perceptual parallellism suggested by these results is discussed.
Value change and relapse following a decision to quit or reduce smoking
Authors: SJÖBERG LENNART
Published: May 2008

Ainslie (1975) suggested a model according to which values change subsequent to decision and in which the value of a smaller, immediately available, reward increases at a faster rate than that of a later reward. The rank orde between the two rewards may therefore become reversed, leading to impulsive behavior. The assumptions of this model as applied to addition are discussed. As an alternative, it is suggested that values and beliefs may be more indicative of stereotypical, biased thinking during the course of an attempt to quit. A study of 23 smokers who tried to quit or reduce smoking supported the latter view rather than the Ainslie model However, neither approach was successful in accounting of relapses. This may be because action is hard to predict from beliefs and values, and it may more suitably be accounted for by desires and emotional states, the latter most importantly because they affect the ability of self‐monitoring.
The canonicality effect in search for the hidden object
Authors: ULVUND STEIN ERIK
Published: May 2008

Infants' success in hiding tasks is influenced by the orientation of the cavities used as concealments. The infants (n=23, aged 11–13 months) performed better than chance when the cavities were upright, and worse than chance when they were inverted. This confirms and extends results by Freeman et al. (1980). Implications for the concept of object permanence are discussed.
Schooling and intelligence: A Methodological and logitudinal study
Authors: LUND THORLEIF , THRANE VIDKUNN COUCHERON
Published: May 2008

A general account of the adjustment problem is given within the frame of pretest‐posttest design, and analysis of covariance, change score analysis and standardized change score analysis are discussed with reference to models of selection and growth. A Norwegian longitudinal investigation of the relationship between schooling and intelligence is described, and the results, generated by several adjustment techniques, showed substantial schooling effects. Thus the difference in estimated effect between a higher and a lower educational group varied from 49 to 73 per cent of the pretest standard deviation. In addition, considerable changes from pretest to posttest were observed, the mean gain amounting to 114 per cent of the pretest standard deviation. A comparison with two Swedish studies yielded similar trends in estimated schooling effect in that one study had higher and the other lower estimates than the present one.
Are my cues better than your cues?| Uniqueness and reconstruction as prerequisites for optimal recall of verbal materials
Authors: MÄntylÄ TIMO , NILSSON LARS‐GÖran
Published: May 2008

Three experiments are presented to demonstrate a striking empirical phenomenon not previously reported in the literature. This new phenomenon is that of perfect recall performance after incidental learning instruction with one trial only. The means taken to establish this effect was to have subjects generate aspects of each item presented at study and then at test to ask subjects to recall these to‐be‐remembered items when the selfgenerated aspects were re‐presented. The phenomenon was first demonstrated in Experiment 1 and then replicated in Experiments 2 and 3. A few critical controls were also employed in these latter experiments. A tentative, theoretical interpretation of these findings reported was proposed. The core concepts of this interpretation are those of uniqueness and reconstruction.
Stimulus conditions affecting rate of acquisition in a computer‐operated version of the two‐way active avoidance procedure
Authors: ARCHER TREVOR , ÖGREN SVEN‐OVE , JOHANSSON GÖRAN
Published: May 2008

Several experiments were performed with rats in order to investigate the stimulus conditions affecting the rate of acquisition of two‐way active avoidance. The number of trials per session, the duration of the Conditioned Stimulus (CS), the intertrial interval (pause time), and the intensity of the shock presentation were each varied in separate experiments. The optimal, yet practicable, conditions required to obtain a fast rate of acquisition included 40 to 60 trials per session, a 40‐sec intertrial interval, a 10‐sec Conditioned Stimulus presentation and a shock intensity of 1.0 mA. These results are discussed with regard to the problem of standardization in behavioral research manipulating biological independent variables.