bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TACHISTOSCOPIC EXPOSURE TIME AND SPATIAL PROXIMITY IN THE ORGANIZATION OF VISUAL PERCEPTION
Authors: KASWAN J. W.
Published: April 2011

This study investigated the temporal sequence of spatial organization, using varying proximity of geometric designs (e.g. (h) … … … and (d) … … …) as the criteria for organization. In addition, the study explored the possible impairment of such space‐time relations in schizophrenics. Perception of groupings evolved in a predictable sequence of differentiation, correct groupings (e.g. pairs of dots) emerging more quickly the better the spatial differentiation. The results were similar for twenty‐four medical‐surgical and twenty‐four schizophrenic hospital patients, except that the latter required more time to see correct groupings in most of the designs.
PSYCHOMOTOR CONTROL IN STAMMERING AND NORMAL SUBJECTS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
Authors: SETH GEORGE
Published: April 2011

Voluntary control of the regularity of a motor performance (finger‐tapping) which does not involve speech or the speech mechanism was investigated in fifteen stammering and fifteen non‐stammering subjects. The results indicate: (i) that in right‐hand finger tapping the stammerers are markedly inferior to normal controls in their ability to maintain voluntarily the rhythm or regularity of the performance; (ii) that this group of ostensibly right‐handed stammerers showed a marked inferiority in right‐handed, as against left‐handed, performance; (iii) that the disorganization of psychomotor performance is not confined to the speech‐function, and may appear in situations where communication by speech is not involved, and in which the influence of personal‐social factors is reduced to a minimum.
EXPERIMENTS ON ‘NEOPHOBIA’ IN WILD AND LABORATORY RATS
Authors: BARNETT S. A.
Published: April 2011

All rata (Rattus norvegicus), wild or tame, have a well‐marked tendency to explore their surroundings. Wild rats, but not tame ones, also tend to avoid unfamiliar objects in a previously explored, and therefore familiar, area. The effect of environmental change on feeding was studied in three groups of wild rats. Bats of Group 1 were accustomed to feeding from a wire basket at the back of the cage; for them the change consisted of transfer of the food to an unfamiliar tin at the front of the cage. Group 2 had food in the basket throughout, and the change consisted only in an empty, unfamiliar tin being put in the front of the cage. The rats of Group 3 fed from a basket in the front of the cage; the change for them was the placing of an unfamiliar empty tin between the back of the cage, where they slept, and the food. In all three groups feeding was interrupted by the change. In the first group, three of the five rats stopped eating completely for one or more days; in the other two groups, food consumption was merely reduced on the first day after the change. The check in eating was not due to exploration: the new object was at first completely avoided by all the rats. Tame albino and hooded rats, subjected to the same procedure as the wild rats of Group 1, investigated the tin and the food in it at once; their food intake during the day after the change was unaffected. The first approach of the hooded rats to the new object was, however, more hesitant than that of the albinos. Investigation of a new object, or new conditions, can sometimes lead to an interruption of feeding in tame rats, but this has nothing in common with avoidance behaviour in wild rats.
EXTREME RESPONSE SETS AS A MEASURE OF INTOLERANCE OF AMBIGUITY
Authors: SOUEIF M. I.
Published: April 2011

A Personal Friends Questionnaire was administered to various groups of Egyptian subjects totalling 1028 in all. This questionnaire is composed of seventy items, each of which is to be checked either + 2, + 1, 0, −1 or −2. Extreme response scores were obtained by counting the number of times +2 or −2 were assigned by each subject. Corrected split‐half reliabilities of the extreme response scores for males and females were 0.92 in both cases. The extreme response set scores are suggested as possible measures of intolerance of ambiguity. A general hypothesis was formulated according to which a social group with a higher tension level would earn a higher extreme response score than a social group with a lower tension level. The theoretical formulation of the problem in this way allowed for four predictions, about the effect on extreme response set scores of age, sex, membership of a religious minority and socio‐economic status. For verification of the predictions, the social groups were matched for age, sex and religion. The four expectations were, on the whole, fulfilled.
DRIVE STRENGTH AND ADAPTATION TO STRESS
Authors: HURWITZ H. M. B. , ROWELL J.
Published: April 2011

Support for the hypothesis that adaptive responses reduce the drive component in behaviour was found in an experiment involving two groups of rats placed, for different periods, in a water tank. After being detained in a delay chamber, the rats were allowed to escape after making a brightness discrimination. A discrimination reversal test was undertaken in order to establish whether the original learning had been affected by the length of the water‐detention period. It was found that a long prediscrimination detention period facilitated reversal learning. This result was taken to support the major contention of the paper, that prolonged exposure to a potential stress situation encouraged the elaboration of drive‐minimizing responses and, in consequence, favoured discrimination learning.
THE MEANING OF ‘INTELLIGENCE’ TO LEBANESE TEACHERS
Authors: KEEHN JACK D. , PROTHRO E. TERRY
Published: April 2011

The question of the meaning of intelligent for English‐speaking Lebanese teachers was explored by having twelve teachers rate students in nine classes on eleven scales, including a scale of intelligence. A factor analysis was made of these ratings. It was found that judgements of intelligence covaried with judgements of conscientiousness, thoughtfulness, persistence, and emotional stability, and that such judgements were relatively independent of judgements of cyclothymia and friendliness. The results of this analysis were similar to the results of comparable American studies. This investigation would seem to point up the value of the factor analytic approach to the problem of meaning.
INCREASE IN PERCEPTUAL SENSITIVITY AS A FUNCTION OF LEARNING IN THE TEST SITUATION
Authors: KEEHN J. D.
Published: April 2011

An experiment in which subjects showed either significantly heightened or significantly lowered recognition thresholds of words previously failed in an anagrams test has been interpreted as demonstrating ‘individual differences in reactions to threats of self‐esteem’. A more specific explanation in terms of learning during the experiment is offered. It is argued that if anagrams constructed from highly familiar words are failed (due to insufficient time) no further learning can occur when the anagram solution is given, and hence no differences in recognition thresholds as between failure and success words will be found. Experimental findings supporting this contention are reported.
FIGURAL AFTER‐EFFECTS, RETINAL SIZE AND APPARENT SIZE
Authors: McEwen PETER
Published: April 2011

Previous work has established that figural after‐effects are determined by the retinal size of the inspection figure, but Sutherland (1954) has argued that the methods used were based on the assumption that retinal and apparent sizes cannot both be determinants. He himself has provided evidence of the effects of apparent size. The present paper reports an experiment intended to confirm Sutherland's findings and to measure the magnitude of the after‐effects, if any. Eleven subjects were required to equate two test‐figures after prolonged fixation of prior inspection figures. One inspection figure was retinally equal, apparently larger, the other, retinally equal, apparently smaller than a test‐figure. In the first case, the test‐figure decreased significantly, in the second it decreased, but not significantly. It is held that these results can be explained by assuming both retinal and apparent sizes to be effective, in the first case acting together and in the second opposing one another.
EYSENCK'S THEORIES OF ANXIETY AND HYSTERIA—A METHODOLOGICAL CRITIQUE
Authors: HAMILTON VERNON
Published: April 2011

An examination is made of the evidence for and the validity of Eysenck's dimension of introversion‐extroversion. The dimension is found to be deficient on both counts, and therefore considered unsuitable as a starting‐point for further hypotheses. Eysenck's postulate and hypotheses linking introversion‐extraversion and anxiety and hysteria with cortical and reactive inhibition and with conditionability, satiation phenomena, reminiscence effects, etc., are discussed in relation to their predictive value and to the sufficiency of the evidence which has led Eysenck to conclude that his hypotheses have been confirmed.

On the basis of a detailed review of Eysenck's findings, it is here concluded that the relationship between the continua of anxiety‐hysteria and of introversion‐extraversion has not been sufficiently demonstrated, and that the relationship between either of these continua and reactive inhibition and cortical inhibition represented by conditionability and satiation effects has not been established. It is further contended that there is insufficient empirical evidence for the identity of the inhibitory concepts used in the theoretical framework.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL DIFFERENCES IN CHILDREN FROM 6 TO 10
Authors: JAHODA GUSTAV
Published: April 2011

A specially devised pictorial technique to test the ability to perceive social differences, requiring a minimum of verbal instruction, was applied to a sample of 179 children systematically distributed according to age, sex and social status of parents. A performance test of intelligence and a vocabulary scale were also administered.

An expected improvement with age was found with the social perception test, and there were significant sex and status differences. Analysis of covariance revealed that, except in the case of lower middle‐class girls, all status differences were in fact a consequence of the association between intelligence level and status, disappearing when the former was held constant.

In discussing the children's responses it is shown that an incipient class concept can exist without the facility for giving it any verbal expression. An examination of the ways in which children build up a conceptual framework regarding social differences indicates that occupational divisions tend to come first with all children; later these are linked with differences in wealth, income and in the case of middle‐class children to some extent style of life. While a cognitive grasp of social differentiation is primarily dependent upon intellectual level, attitudes and feelings are largely determined by influences emanating from the child's particular social environment.
THE SOLVING OF FIVE‐LETTER ANAGRAM PROBLEMS
Authors: HUNTER IAN M. L.
Published: April 2011

An experiment is reported involving 72 student subjects, a population of 144 different five‐letter anagrams and a total of 864 solution times for analysis. Various characteristics of anagram solving are considered leading to a conception of the process as a recurring trial and check activity in which the nature and sequence of the tries are determined jointly by the thinker's set, linguistic knowledge, and preference for certain forms of letter position rearrangement. Regarding this last factor of letter location, solution is attained sooner if the thinker must change the location of a single letter (a) rather than the locations of several letters, (b) to a nearby rather than to a distant location, and (c) from an end to a middle rather than from a middle to an end location: ease of moving a single letter does not depend on the direction of the move. A subsidiary experiment shows that the relative difficulty of complex, as contrasted with simple, moves is less for students than for 15‐year‐olds than for 12‐year‐olds. This finding is interpreted in terms of interaction between letter location factors and varying levels of linguistic knowledge. It is ksuggested that improvement in overall anagram solving performance can be brought about only with learning which extends over a period of months or years.
AN INTERPRETATION OF THE ‘DISPLACEMENT’ PHENOMENON*
Authors: BINDRA DALBIR
Published: April 2011

The observations that animals obstructed in the execution of a particular ongoing or customary activity (e.g. attacking, copulating) tend either to direct the same activity toward another object or to engage in a completely different activity (e.g. doodling, grooming, preening) have traditionally been described as ‘displacement phenomena’. Both psychologists and ethologists currently interpret these phenomena in terms of some kind of displacement mechanism, which is assumed to displace the ‘energy’ or ‘drive’ from one reaction system to another. This type of interpretation is vague and ad hoc, and at best provides only a redundant description of the observed phenomena. The alternative interpretation proposed here looks upon the problem of the occurrence of the so‐called displacement activities as a special case of the general question of the factors determining the occurrence of any activity that exists in an animal's repertoire. In particular, it is suggested that all instances of displacement phenomena can be adequately accounted for in terms of the operation of three factors: (a) an increase in the level of arousal of the animal brought about by the obstructing event, (b) the relative habit strengths of the various activities in the repertoire of the animal, and (c) the nature of the sensory cues provided by the altered stimulus situation. This formulation incorporates the important ethological and psychological findings, and provides an interpretation of displacement phenomena which is not ad hoc and which suggests new lines of experimental work.
THE PAIRED USE OF PROJECTIVE STIMULI*
Authors: LIGGETT JOHN
Published: April 2011

One way of avoiding some of the verbal and other difficulties of projective testing might be to use several stimuli simultaneously. Comparisons of rankings (or other arrangements) would allow inferences to be made about the determinants of judgement. An inquiry is described in which seven vague ‘portraits’ were sorted (by paired comparison) for a number of different personality qualities. Agreements and disagreements between these sortings were then computed by a brief graphical method (which also yielded a measure of the consistency with which choices had been made). Normal and psychiatric subjects appeared to differ in the importance they attached to certain qualities of personality and in the consistence with which they made their judgements.
EXTRAVERSION‐INTROVERSION AND IMPROVEMENT IN AN AUDITORY VIGILANCE TASK*
Authors: BAKAN PAUL
Published: April 2011

The study deals with the effect of a secondary signal‐detection task on performance in a primary signal‐detection task in an auditory vigilance situation. Forty subjects were tested under two conditions. In one condition they listened to an 80‐min. recording of a sequence of digits in order to detect the occurrence of primary signals defined as three successive odd digits which are all different. In another condition they listened for primary signals as described above, but in addition they also had to detect secondary signals defined as the occurrence of the digit68. The primary signals occurred ten times every 16 min.; there were about ten times as many secondary signals (digit 6) as there were primary signals (odd‐odd‐odd).

The over‐all detection of primary signals was better when subjects were listening for both primary and secondary signals than when they listened for primary signals alone. Extraverts benefited more by the secondary task than introverts. No significant relationship was found between either neuroticism or intelligence and vigilance performance. A theoretical account of the events in a vigil is proposed and the difference between introverts and extraverts is considered in terms of this account.
ERRORS OF IMMEDIATE MEMORY
Authors: CONRAD R.
Published: April 2011

Problems of immediate memory have recently come under active consideration both by information theorists and by neurologists. The former have made use of quantitative facts, whilst the latter have based their views on some very general characteristics of forgetting. It is contended that the kind of changes that occur in short‐term forgetting cannot be ignored in any account of immediate memory. Accordingly the main types of immediate memory errors are outlined, and some fresh material relating to known errors is introduced. A discussion is developed which considers the value of information theory and current neurological theories, in accounting for these phenomena.
SOME INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN FIGURAL AFTER‐EFFECTS
Authors: McEWEN PETER , RODGER ROBERT S.
Published: April 2011

Three different hypotheses have been proposed to account for individual differences in figural after‐effects (Klein & Krech, 1952; Wertheimer & Wertheimer, 1954; Eysenck, 1955). Each implies the existence of a positive correlation between the measures of after‐effect in different modalities. The study reported here explored this problem for vision and kinaesthesis. Thirty‐two subjects were used and no significant correlation was found (α = 0·05). Men showed significantly larger visual figural after‐effects than women, a finding analogous to Wertheimer's (1954a) in kinaesthesis. There was no significant rank correlation between either effect and extraversion‐introversion as measured by Heron's (1950) sociability index.
PERIODICITY IN REACTION TIME
Authors: VENABLES P. H.
Published: April 2011

The distribution of visual reaction times made by six normal and six schizophrenic subjects were found to be multi‐modal with peaks in general 0·1 sec. apart. These results are discussed in the light of a cortico‐thalamic reverberatory mechanism whose relevance in the light of other psychological experiments is considered.
SERIAL ORDER INTRUSIONS IN IMMEDIATE MEMORY
Authors: CONRAD R.
Published: April 2011

The theory that serial order intrusions in immediate memory lead to recall errors was tested experimentally. It was found that increasing the time interval between successive 8‐digit messages had no effect on recall performance. Analysis of the response errors showed that with a short interval between messages, serial order intrusions occurred, but they did not occur with long intervals. Thus the amount of error appeared to be independent of the number of intrusions. It is suggested that intrusions occur after recall has failed—there being no causal relationship.
THE EFFECTS OF STIMULANT AND DEPRESSANT DRUGS ON THE BIDWELL PHENOMENON
Authors: AIBA SATORU
Published: April 2011

The effects of amylobarbitone and dexamphetamine on the Bidwell phenomenon were studied. The measure used as the dependent variable was the intensity of the red coloured stimulus which was necessary if it were to become just visible when followed by a fixed white stimulus. It was found that the intensity threshold of the red stimulus was raised under amylobarbitone and lowered under dexamphetamine. There was a difference in the latent period of the action of these drugs, dexamphetamine acting much more quickly than amylobarbitone. Possible physiological mechanisms responsible for the production of the phenomenon are discussed and the results of the present experiment evaluated in the light of available evidence concerning the action of drugs on these processes.
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MUSCULAR TENSION AND WORK OUTPUT*
Authors: FORREST D. W.
Published: April 2011

E.M.G. electrodes were placed on the right forearm and chin of ten subjects while they performed simple addition. It was possible to record from one pair of electrodes the amount of muscular activity in the right forearm while the other pair indicated the moment of speaking and thus the speed of work.

The variations in muscular tension and in speed of work were followed during the course of addition and this intra‐sum analysis revealed a different relationship from that found when larger units of work were taken. In the former case a marked tendency was found for increases in speed to be accompanied by low levels of tension, whereas when sums were taken as units no consistent relationship was apparent between the two variables within any one subject. This and other discrepancies are briefly discussed.
IDENTIFYING THE ACCELERATION OF VISUAL TARGETS
Authors: GOTTSDANKER ROBERT , FRICK JAMES W. , LOCKARD ROBERT B.
Published: April 2011

Subjects were required to distinguish between accelerated and constant‐velocity motion of targets. For different viewing times, ‘group thresholds’ were more nearly the same when relative acceleration was expressed in terms of total change of velocity during the viewing interval (v̇v/v̈) than when in terms of change per unit time (δv/v̈). This suggests that accelerated motion is identified by comparison of early and late velocities rather than by direct sensing. Also it was shown, through reference to other studies, that it is more difficult to identify gradual change of velocity than to identify instantaneous change or to discriminate between two ongoing motions of different constant velocities.
A NOTE ON RADIATION TREATMENT IN RELATION TO PERFORMANCE ON CERTAIN TESTS
Authors: FRISBY C. B.
Published: April 2011

A patient undergoing radiation therapy for a carcinoma in the throat was given five tests during the latter part of the treatment and for a period after its completion. The trends on the different tests suggest the desirability of further work to investigate the effect of exposure to radiation on performance.
SOME STEREOSCOPIC PHENOMENA AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS*
Authors: SPRINGBETT B. M.
Published: April 2011

Stereoscopic observations involving simple contrast, the Wertheimer‐Benussi figure, and some geometrical illusions, lead to the conclusion that these phenomena are produced by processes within the visual system stemming from one eye. Some puzzling features of the phenomena are noted.
AGE AND PERCEPTUAL‐MOTOR TRANSFER IN IMBECILES
Authors: CLARKE A. D. B. , BLAKEMORE C. B.
Published: April 2011

During the last decade, interest in the psychology of imbeciles has been revived. A number of studies have shown that the limits to their learning, though considerable, are by no means so profound as had been estimated, and certain practical and theoretical principles have been formulated; some of these have a bearing on general theories of learning. The present experiment tests a hypothesis, derived from Hebb's theories, that perceptual‐motor transfer would be inversely correlated with age. Using three small matched groups of typical medium‐grade imbeciles averaging 9, 17 and 23 years of age, respectively, the hypothesis was strongly confirmed on four perceptual‐motor tasks, with the youngest group showing very considerable transfer. A second major finding was that from very inferior starting points the performance of the children at the conclusion nearly equalled the end‐levels of those subjects who were 8 and 14 years older, and there was no certainty that any group had reached its limits. Transfer of training probably involved both ‘set’ and a sharpened perceptual discrimination. Implications are discussed.
A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE SELF‐JUDGING VOCABULARY SCALE
Authors: HEIM A. W. , WATTS K. P.
Published: April 2011

An account is given of a new type of vocabulary scale and its use in some preliminary investigations. The new features include a combination of multiple choice with creative answer technique, relevant self‐assessment by the subjects and a width of range which discriminates effectively among highly educated as well as less educated groups. The results suggest that the scale may provide useful criteria, in both verbal and personality fields.
BINOCULAR FIXATION AND IMMEDIATE MEMORY*
Authors: SAMPSON H. , SPONG P.
Published: April 2011

Ten right‐handed, right‐eye dominant subjects memorized conventional digits projected successively in pairs, one digit to each eye. Each worked under five different binocular viewing conditions; two delay periods (rehearsal times) were used between successive pairs of digits. Performance was analysed in terms of speed and accuracy of recall of digits projected to each eye. Results suggest a central integrating mechanism of limited capacity in recall, and that temporal grouping of responses is symptomatic of this limited capacity when the mechanism is taxed.
STUDIES IN PERSPECTIVE
Authors: ZAJA̧C J. L.
Published: April 2011

The laws of central perspective state that in a picture the parallel lines of objects below the eye level converge upwards, while those of objects above the eye level converge downwards, and that those of objects to the right converge to the left, while those of objects to the left converge to the right. Artists, however, have not consistently applied these rules, but they have often used inverse perspective, in which parallel receding lines may diverge in a picture instead of converging. Non‐perspective effects may be actually observed experimentally in binocular vision, as in viewing an object the size of a matchbox at 1–2 ft. from the eyes. This and other examples are discussed, and it is shown that the strict rules of central perspective are not necessarily in accord with the facts and laws of vision. The convergence of parallel lines of objects below eye level should be increased in a picture, while that of parallel lines above the eye level should be decreased, in comparison with strict geometrical perspective.
TWO EXPERIMENTAL TESTS OF A HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE DETERMINANTS OF FUNCTION FLUCTUATION
Authors: ANDERSON C. C. , ZINGLE H. W.
Published: April 2011

The hypothesis tested was that one correlate of cognitive function fluctuation in children was differential fatigue. Two samples of children at the grade eight level (14 years of age), each divided into experimental and control groups, were given parallel cognitive tests on a series of testing occasions. In the study with the first sample of children the experimental group was allowed 45 min. for each test, the control group 22 1/2 min. In the study with the second sample, the experimental group took 5 mg. of amphetamine sulphate 1 hr. before each double testing, the control group taking placebos. The hypothesis was validated in two ways; first, by demonstrating that performance on long tests fluctuates more than performance on short tests, and, secondly, by demonstrating that a stimulant, amphetamine sulphate, markedly reduced the amount of cognitive function fluctuation. The validity of the first demonstration rests on the assumption that a longer test will activate more fatigue in subjects; that of the second on the assumption that the independent variable differentiating between the experimental and control groups is really relative amount of fatigue, and not relative amount of task‐motivation induced by the drug.
THE DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF ATTITUDES IN ADULTS: A DESCRIPTION OF SOME ESTABLISHED FACTORS AND OF THEIR MEASUREMENT BY THE MOTIVATIONAL ANALYSIS TEST
Authors: CATTELL R. B. , HORN J. , BUTCHER H. J.
Published: April 2011

In a systematic programme of research, two sets of factors have been repeatedly confirmed. Those of the first type are referred to as dynamic factors and comprise (a) drives or ‘ergs’ and (b) sentiments. These have been found when a wide range of adult attitudes has been measured by disguised tests and the results inter‐correlated and factor analysed. The factors of the second type are referred to as motivation components and are derived from the measurement of one attitude by many different devices.

The number and nature of both types of factor are reviewed, and an experiment described in which a test battery was assembled so as to represent the principal factors of both types as economically and conveniently as possible. Thus for each expected dynamic factor two or more attitudes were included, all these attitudes being measured by four separate objective devices. The four objective devices were chosen to represent four of the most important components.

From the results of this experiment, the Motivational Analysis Test was constructed, designed to measure, in a short testing time, ten drives and sentiments, each by four devices. The test battery is clinically and experimentally oriented, to cover such drives and sentiments as fear, narcissistic sex, parental sentiment and the self‐sentiment, for each of which a ‘conscious, integrated’ and an ‘unconscious, unintegrated’ score can be obtained, as well as a total score. Other established drives and sentiments with occupational and industrial relevance are included in another test battery still under construction.

Some practical uses of the Motivational Analysis Test are briefly suggested.
THE ABSOLUTE THRESHOLD OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
Authors: GREEN ROBERT T.
Published: April 2011

Thresholds for electric shock were obtained under twelve conditions. Three types of stimulus were used; constant voltage, constant current, and constant power. These, combined with three sizes of electrode, gave nine conditions in all. A further three thresholds were obtained using the three types of stimulus and the medium size electrodes, with the addition of electrode jelly to improve contact.

The results indicated that power is the relevant variable, and that sensitivity to threshold shocks probably depends on the amount of power dissipated in the immediate vicinity of the skin receptors. This view is supported by the observation that skin thickness seems to be of considerable importance—the thicker the skin, the higher the threshold.

The influence of ambient temperature and humidity were found to be inoperative within the limits investigated. A low skin temperature did, however, raise the threshold.

Subjective sensations associated with electric shock are discussed, including an anomalous lowering of the threshold as a result of rapidly repeated strong stimulation.

Implications for the use of electric shock as a negative reinforcer in psychological experiments and as an agent in ‘therapy’ are considered. In both cases there would appear to be sound arguments for using a constant wattage a.c. stimulus to counteract the variations in the impedance of a biological circuit.
IS THE SERIAL‐POSITION CURVE INVARIANT?
Authors: JENSEN ARTHUR R.
Published: April 2011

The evidence presented by McCrary & Hunter and later researchers, which suggests that the form of the serial‐position curve is constant throughout variations in a large number of factors that affect rate of learning, has been found inadequate to answer the question of the curve's invariance. Differences in percentage of total errors in serial learning data obtained under different experimental conditions would lead to the conclusion that the serial‐position curve is not invariant under all the conditions for which invariance has been claimed.

Serial learning data may be analysed into three components—difficulty (number of trials to criterion), efficiency (percentage of errors), and relative difficulty of learning each position, i.e. the so‐called serial‐position effect. The main methodological inadequacy in studies of the serial‐position effect is that the serial‐position curve has always been confounded with either one or two of the other components, making it impossible properly to compare various serial curves based on data which differ either in difficulty or in efficiency. Plotting the serial curves simply in terms of the percentage of total errors at each position does not solve the problem; this method tends to eliminate the difficulty component but still leaves the curves confounded with the efficiency component.

An index of Relative Difficulty was proposed as a method of representing the serial‐position effect. It has the advantages of not being confounded with the other components and of being the same shape whether it is based on errors or on correct responses. It results in what might be called a ‘pure’ serial‐position curve and permits the direct comparison of serial‐position curves obtained under various conditions. The Index is recommended as the only satisfactory method for comparing different serial‐position curves. It is especially important in comparing serial‐position effects in sets of data having different total error percentages. It is urged that future research on the serial‐position effect adopt the proposed Index.
COGNITIVE CONTROLS OF ATTENTION AND INHIBITION: A STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSISTENCIES*
Authors: GARDNER RILEY W. , LONG ROBERT I.
Published: April 2011

Results of a previous study (Gardner, 1961) suggested that independent principles of cognitive control are involved in (a) extensiveness and (b) selectiveness of attention deployment. The present study extends these results by demonstrating that differential predictions can be made even when criterion scores for the two control principles are obtained from a single set of judgements. It is also shown that individual differences in selective attention can be observed whether compelling irrelevant stimuli enclose, are enclosed by, or are interpolated among relevant stimuli, and that two forms of inhibition—extensiveness of scanning and inhibition of irrelevant motoric responses—may be associated.
TRANSFER BETWEEN DIFFICULT AND EASY TASKS*
Authors: HOLDING D. H.
Published: April 2011

The existing literature on unequal transfer between difficult and easy tasks shows that it is impossible to predict the direction of optimum transfer on the basis of the relative difficulty of the two tasks. The first experiment explores an absolute difficulty hypothesis to the effect that transfer might be greater from a point of optimum difficulty, whether to an easier or to a more difficult task; changes in difficulty were achieved by controlled variation of the complication of pursuit tracking courses. However, after a week's practice on the twelve task conditions, it appeared that transfer was consistently most effective in the difficult–easy direction.

In a second experiment, subjects were transferred between tasks with easy and difficult course amplitudes, at both easy and difficult levels of complication. In this case, the easy‐difficult order of practice was better with the simpler courses, while the complex courses favoured difficult‐to‐easy transfer. It is concluded that difficulty is not a useful category for the prediction of transfer efficiency, and that the solution lies in examining the skills involved. Explanations are outlined in terms of inclusion and error size constancy, although it is probable that many other factors play a part.
ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NATURE OF STAGE IMPERSONATION
Authors: NATADZE R.
Published: April 2011

The hypothesis examined in the present paper is that it is fixated set evolved on the basis of picturing to oneself the particular imaginary situation imposed by the play that constitutes the foundation on which stage impersonation rests. Findings are presented of some experiments on the ability to evoke a set on the basis of an imagined situation. The subjects in these experiments were grouped as follows: (a) gifted actors and promising students of the Tbilisi Theatrical Institute; (b) persons unconnected with the theatre; and (c) persons incapable of stage impersonation. The data suggest a high correlation between the ability to evolve a set on the basis of imagination and the capacity for stage impersonation.
BRIGHTNESS JUDGEMENTS AND STIMULUS SIZE AND DISTANCE
Authors: OVER RAY
Published: April 2011

Three groups of subjects were instructed to judge the relative brightness of two stimuli, the sizes and distances of which were varied to allow three visual angle relationships. Testing was carried out under reduced viewing conditions and the groups differed in terms of the criteria subjects were instructed to use in making brightness judgements. For all groups it was found that when the two stimuli were equal in luminous intensity the stimulus subtending the smaller visual angle was consistently judged to be less bright than the stimulus subtending the larger visual angle. Judgements made with ‘projective’ criteria were more a function of stimulus size and distance than were judgements made with either ‘objective’ or ‘apparent’ criteria.
PERCEPTUAL JUDGEMENT AS A FUNCTION OF CONTEXT
Authors: IMMERGLUCK LUDWIG
Published: April 2011

Perceptual contrast has been traditionally demonstrated with stimulus attributes involving size, perspective, or brightness of given stimulus objects. The present investigation aims to examine the operation of perceptual contrast in such qualitative dimensions as geometric stability, symmetry, or general design quality of a stimulus.

The results show that the stimulus figure, a square, was perceived as geometrically more perfect when presented in a disordered and unstable context as compared with an ordered and stable one.
THE VALIDITY OF QUESTIONNAIRE AND RATING ASSESSMENTS OF EXTRAVERSION AND NEUROTICISM, AND THEIR FACTORIAL STABILITY
Authors: EYSENCK SYBIL B. G. , EYSENCK H. J.
Published: April 2011

Groups of nominated extraverts and introverts, and of stable and neurotic subjects were given a 188‐item questionnaire containing questions thought to be relevant to the measurement of these two dimensions of personality. Factor analyses were also carried out for 124 of these items making available factor loadings on these two dimensions. An analysis was carried out of the relationship between rated and self‐rated behaviour, and it was concluded that as far as extraversion was concerned, there was considerable agreement between these two methods of assessment. As regards neuroticism, agreement was much less close, and a theoretical explanation of this fact is given, supported by a special analysis of the empirical data. It was found that the factor analytic method of locating the E and N factors had considerable stability as from one study to another, in spite of considerable differences between the studies in choice of sample, choice of items, and other factors.
BEHAVIOURAL CONSISTENCY IN STRAINS OF RATS SELECTIVELY BRED FOR EMOTIONAL ELIMINATION
Authors: BROADHURST P. L. , LEVINE SEYMOUR
Published: April 2011

An experiment is reported which confirms the difference in escape‐avoidance conditioning between rats of the two Maudsley selected strains. This finding constitutes a second in variance in the behaviour of these strains: the first, with which it is contrasted, related to differences in conditioned emotional responses. It is suggested that the two nevertheless indicate a consistent emotional responsiveness in these strains.
DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS IN READING AND WRITING BACKWARDNESS
Authors: KINSBOURNE M. , WARRINGTON ELIZABETH K.
Published: April 2011

Two groups of patients referred on account of backwardness in reading or writing or both were studied. These were selected on the basis of a discrepancy of more than 20 points between ‘verbal’ and ‘performance’ I.Q.'s on the W.I.S.C. or W.A.I.S., the verbal I.Q. being the lower in group 1 (6 cases) and the performance I.Q. the lower in group 2 (7 cases). Other clinical evidences of language disorder were found in group 1, but were almost completely absent in group 2. A specific difficulty with tests of finger differentiation and order, as well as impairment on constructional tasks and mechanical arithmetic, was found in group 2, but not group 1. These two groups represent syndromes of developmental cerebral deficit based on difficulties in sequential ordering and in the language sphere respectively. Each syndrome may give rise to a characteristic type of delay in learning to read and write. Children with such cerebral cortical deficits probably represent a minority within the population of retarded readers and writers.
THE MAUDSLEY PERSONALITY INVENTORY USED WITH PSYCHIATRIC INPATIENTS
Authors: McGUIRE R. J. , MOWBRAY R. M. , VALLANCE R. C.
Published: April 2011

The Maudsley Personality Inventory was given to an unselected group of psychiatric inpatients. All diagnostic groups were differentiated from normals on the Neuroticism scale but neither this nor the Extraversion scale distinguished between diagnostic groups. Contrary to Eysenck's claim, hysterics and dysthymics were not distinguished on the Extraversion scale.

The negative correlation between Extraversion and Neuroticism in neurotic groups and the use of the short form of the scales are discussed. Because Eysenck's original report is not readily available, some general comments are offered about the methods used to devise and standardize the test.

The results suggest that the test is unlikely to be of value in the individual case.
A FURTHER ATTEMPT AT DELAYED GSR CONDITIONING
Authors: MARTIN IRENE
Published: April 2011

A delayed conditioning schedule was employed so that latency and frequency changes of all GSRs occurring in the CS‐UCS interval could be followed. Two experimental groups received initial (simultaneous) pairings of CS–UCS, and four control groups received initial CS series only, prior to the introduction of the delayed series.

There was no evidence of an increase in latency of GSRs over trials, and only a slight increase in frequency over the first few trials in the control groups; this latter effect was attributed to the disinhibiting or novel effect of changing from one stimulus series to another, and not to acquisition of a conditioned response. It was concluded that no gradual increase of CR strength over trials was demonstrated.

Highly significant correlations were obtained between measures of skin resistance responsiveness, such as spontaneous and orienting responses; this suggests that many so‐called measures of GSR conditioning are probably related to some factor such as response sensitivity.
THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PROACTIVE INHIBITION AND DEGREE OF LEARNING IN RETENTION OF PAIRED ASSOCIATE ITEMS
Authors: WARR PETER B.
Published: April 2011

It has been reported that recall scores tend to decline with increasing numbers of lists learned. This has been attributed to proactive inhibition from the earlier lists. Two experiments are reported which test the hypothesis that this variation in recall score is more dependent on variations in mean degree of learning of items. This more economic explanation is supported by the findings, but analysis of the data indicates that a second factor plays a minor role in determining recall scores. It is suggested that this may be proactive inhibition, but that other interpretations are also possible.
RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS AND THE SPEED OF RELATIVE JUDGEMENTS
Authors: AUDLEY R. J. , WALLIS C. P.
Published: April 2011

It is hypothesized that the speed with which a relative judgement is made between two stimuli on any given dimension depends upon the relation between the general position of the stimuli on the dimension and the direction of the required judgement along this. Experiments involving the discrimination of light patches of different luminance are reported which support this hypothesis. They show that subjects are quicker at choosing the brighter than the darker of two relatively intense stimuli but quicker at choosing the darker of two relatively dark stimuli. A provisional explanation of the phenomenon in terms of a response competition theory of choice behaviour is offered. Some alternative hypotheses are considered and analogies are made with other psychological phenomena. It is concluded that this is a judgemental phenomenon of some considerable generality.
A STUDY OF 200 SCHOOL CHILDREN BY MEANS OF THE TEST OF FAMILY ATTITUDES
Authors: JACKSON LYDIA
Published: April 2011

The original study which served as a basis for ‘a test of family attitudes’ was limited to 110 children between the ages of 6 and 12: 40 normal, 40 neurotic and 30 delinquent. In the present study an attempt is made to give the ‘testq’ a broader basis and to establish norms by testing 200 children from ordinary schools (100 boys and 100 girls between the ages of 8 and 12), who were not known to be disturbed. The responses were analysed in somewhat greater detail than in the previous study. The results showed no discrepancy with the original study and may be considered as confirming it. Tables are offered for use in comparing the responses of children who may be emotionally disturbed and whose family relationships need to be investigated but can be approached only indirectly. Four complete sets of stories, two by normal and two by disturbed children, are attached as illustrations.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF IMAGERY AND ITS RELATION TO ABILITIES AND INTERESTS
Authors: CHOWDHURY K. RAY , VERNON P. E.
Published: April 2011

Student subjects were assessed for four main types of imagery employed in carrying out short mental tasks, on the basis of their introspections. Some relation was found between these categories and regularity‐irregularity of respiration, as claimed by Golla and Short; but no consistent relation was found with ordinary questionnaire self‐reports nor with some of the alleged tests of imagery.

There was slight confirmation only of the supposed relevance of visual imagery to spatial ability. However, a number of associations at moderate to high levels of significance were found with (self‐rating) tests of interests in different fields, and to a lesser extent with information about these fields.
IGNORING IRRELEVANT INFORMATION
Authors: RABBITT P. M. A.
Published: April 2011

The task of scanning a visual display to identify certain symbols may involve ignoring the presence of others, and so may be compared with Donders's 1862 study of the ‘c‐reaction’, in which a response was required to only one of a set of five possible phonemes presented to a subject in random succession. For visual displays of letters of the alphabet the time required to ignore a symbol as irrelevant is shown to depend upon the vocabulary of items for which search is conducted. Incidental learning of irrelevant symbols is shown to be related to the same variable. It is shown that performance in situations of this type is analogous to that in which subjects respond to groups of stimuli rather than to particular items, and stimulus and response entropy are independently varied.
CUES THAT ELICIT ANALYTIC‐DEDUCTIVE METHODS IN CONCEPT ATTAINMENT*
Authors: WICKELGREN WAYNE A.
Published: April 2011

In inference concept attainment some subjects draw conclusions about concepts (global‐hypothesis method) and some subjects draw conclusions about the relevance or irrelevance of dimensions (analytic‐deductive method). Experiments were performed to determine whether the presence or absence of certain cues accompanying inference concept attainment problems would affect the incidence of analytic‐deductive methods in these problems. Two such cues were identified. One effective cue was a series of three ‘informational‐analysis’ questions which asked the subject what information he had, whether he had enough information to guess the concept, and, if not, what information he needed. The other effective cue was the introduction of multiple‐choice answers using only analytic‐deductive terms like ‘relevant’ and ‘irrelevant’, but permitting both global‐hypothesis conclusions and analytic‐deductive conclusions to be drawn using these terms. Both of the cues that elicited analytic‐deductive conclusions to inference problems produced positive transfer to a selection concept attainment problem in which totally different responses were required.