bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE ROLE OF BLOCKED PRESENTATION IN THE ELICITATION OF A CATEGORICAL STRATEGY OF REMEMBERING WITH RETARDED ADULTS
Authors: McCONKEY ROY , HERRIOT PETER
Published: April 2011

Blocked presentation of categorical material has been found to increase the number of items recalled by retarded subjects. Three experiments are reported, aimed at discovering the reasons for this facilitation. With visually and simultaneously presented items in a multi‐trial free‐recall procedure, it was found that (1) although blocked presentation of categorical material facilitated recall, the provision of category cues did not do so; (2) blocked presentation of ‘unrelated’ items did not facilitate recall; and (3) those subjects who could form their own blocked presentation improved their recall as a result. It was concluded that blocked presentation facilitates recall because it draws attention to previously existing inter‐item associations.
COMBINING THREE ITEMS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Authors: WARR PETER
Published: April 2011

Methods previously employed to investigate the relative importance of cues in two‐item compounds are applied to the three‐item case. Data are analysed in terms of how much the most extreme single inference is pulled‐back by the other two inferences making up a compound. The results closely parallel the previously reported two‐item findings. Evaluative direction of inferences is a significant determinant of importance, the absolute difference between the most and least polarized constituent (where this exceeds 1.00 on an 11‐point scale) has no influence, and the middle item operates in a predictable manner. The generality of and benefits from the analytic procedures employed here are briefly examined.
COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE OF INTROVERTS AND EXTRAVERTS FOLLOWING ACUTE ALCOHOL INGESTION
Authors: JONES BEN M.
Published: April 2011

Forty male medical students were randomly assigned to either an alcohol (1.32 ml/kg) or a placebo group. The 20 subjects in each group were then divided at the median into introverts and extraverts as determined by scores on the Eysenck Personality Inventory. A cognitive test, Raven's Progressive Matrices, was administered to the alcohol subjects at a blood alcohol level of 0.09 per cent and to the placebo subjects at a comparable time after drinking. Alcohol impaired performance on both Sets I and II of Raven's Progressive Matrices. Introverts and extraverts did not differ in performance on Set I administered on the ascending limb of the blood alcohol curve. A significant interaction was found on Set II (administered on the descending limb): extraverts performed more poorly than introverts in the alcohol group while extraverts performed better than introverts in the placebo group. These data support Eysenck's hypothesis that extraverts are more affected by alcohol than introverts. This difference may not become apparent until subjects are on the descending limb of the blood alcohol curve where the depressant‐like effects of alcohol are the greatest.
SELECTIVITY FOR DISTORTIONS AND WORDS IN SPEECH PERCEPTION
Authors: HAGGARD MARK
Published: April 2011

An attempt was made to determine the role of two types of perceptual selectivity in speech perception: (1) selection of a set of acoustical features characterizing one word in a small vocabulary, specially listened for; (2) selection of various acoustical distortions through which the speech stimuli as a whole were passed. Two experiments directed at the first possibility failed to demonstrate tuning, although the selective listening instructions had been obeyed, as indicated by response biases on words listened for. Three subsequent experiments employed various distortions of speech and a redundant carrier phrase in the same distortion or undistorted. All three succeeded in showing higher intelligibility on words where the carrier phrase was also distorted. However, these effects corresponded to differences of only 5–10 per cent correct. They cannot explain active voluntary attention to an expected message, nor the exclusion of one of two competing messages. Rather they reflect autonomous processes of normalization and a perceptual filling out of deficient stimuli. The results are interpreted as favouring passive theories of speech perception at the word level, and the basic types of selective process involved in each type of finding are discussed.
A POSSIBLE BASIS FOR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN MAGNITUDE‐ESTIMATION BEHAVIOUR
Authors: CAVONIUS C. R. , HILZ R. , CHAPMAN R. M.
Published: April 2011

A correlation was found between the amount of kinaesthetic figural after‐effect experienced by individual subjects (which may be related to the sensitivity of the central nervous sytem) and the slopes of their brightness‐estimation functions. These and related data suggest that part of the inter‐subject difference that is found in psychophysical magnitude‐estimation experiments is not random, but is due to differences in the way in which an individual's nervous system processes sensory information. Because the responses in magnitude‐estimation and kinaesthetic after‐effect tasks are different, it is unlikely that individual differences reflect response biases.
EFFECTS OF SYMMETRY UPON REPRODUCTION OF KOHS‐TYPE FIGURES: AN AFRICAN STUDY
Authors: DEREGOWSKI JAN B.
Published: April 2011

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the role of symmetry of stimuli upon responses of relatively unsophisticated subjects performing a Kohs‐type task. The results suggest that the subjects had a tendency to build symmetrical responses to both symmetrical and asymmetrical stimuli, but that this tendency could be changed by altering the stimuli in such a way that their nature, as described in terms of information theory, remained constant. Furthermore, the responses were affected by the way in which subjects were requested to respond, responses performed with the preferred hand only differing from those performed with both hands.
EFFECTS OF A PRE‐REWARD STIMULUS ON A TEMPORAL DISCRIMINATION
Authors: REMINGTON R. E.
Published: April 2011

Pigeons responded in a situation in which a response on key B could be followed by reinforcement if a response on key A preceded it by 10 sec. A‐to‐B responses with intervals of greater than 10 sec. duration were reinforced on a random ratio schedule. The effects of a conditioned stimulus terminating in response‐independent reinforcement were assessed against this baseline. Two levels of response‐independent reinforcement (6 or 10 sec. hopper access) and two conditioned stimulus durations (1.5 min. and 3 min.) were used. Except for the combination of the 3 min. conditioned stimulus with the 6 sec. response‐independent reinforcement, all other combinations produced a suppression of A‐to‐B responding during the conditioned stimulus. Concomitantly, the number of correct (i.e. > 10 sec.) responses, and in some cases the percentage of total responses that were correct, were reduced. All of these effects were seen most clearly using the conditioned stimulus of shorter duration.
AN ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC STUDY OF SOCIAL FACILITATION: A TEST OF THE ‘MERE PRESENCE’ HYPOTHESIS
Authors: CHAPMAN ANTONY J.
Published: April 2011

Integrated muscle action potentials were recorded from frontalis muscles as subjects listened to a tape‐recorded story through headphones. Subjects were tested once only in alone, audience or concealed‐audience situations after a period of relaxation. The three experimental groups contained equal numbers of men and women and were matched for EMG resting levels and EMG gradients obtained in previous experimental sessions. It was found that levels of muscle tension were generally higher in the audience and concealed‐audience conditions than in the alone condition. The group differences did not tend to diminish with time and there were no sex differences. The results are discussed in terms of the ‘mere presence’ theory of social facilitation.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF THE PHOTO‐FIT* TECHNIQUE FOR RECALLING FACES
Authors: ELLIS HADYN , SHEPHERD JOHN , DAVIES GRAHAM
Published: April 2011

Two experiments concerning the efficiency of the Photo‐fit Kit for recalling faces are reported. The first of these tested subjects' ability to reconstruct photographs of faces made up of features randomly selected from the Kit. Two presentation procedures were examined: either the stimulus face was present throughout the reconstruction, or it was reconstructed from memory. The face present condition produced better reconstructions than did the memory condition, though both were far from perfect. Subjects (encoders) who had performed relatively well or badly on the memory condition in Expt. I were used in Expt. II which was concerned with the ease with which Photo‐fit reconstructions of a photographed real face could be identified (decoded) by other subjects. The overall success rate was quite low, but the reconstructions of good encoders were more easily recognized than were those of poor encoder subjects.
THE EFFECTS OF NOISE AND INCENTIVES UPON ATTENTION IN SHORT‐TERM MEMORY
Authors: DAVIES D. R. , JONES D. M.
Published: April 2011

Recent work concerned with task performance under conditions of high arousal has emphasized the changes that appear to occur in the allocation of attention to different components of the task. Hockey (1970a, b), for example, has shown that loud noise, which may be considered to raise arousal level (Broadbent, 1971; Davies, 1968; Hockey, 1969), biases attention towards high‐priority task components and away from low‐priority ones. This result agrees with a suggestion made by Easterbrook (1959), who proposed that an increase in arousal level brings about a restriction of the range of cues that a subject utilizes in performing a task. Easterbrook argued that when arousal level is low, selectivity in the utilization of cues is also low, and irrelevant cues may be accepted uncritically. As arousal level increases, so does selectivity, and attention is diverted away from irrelevant task components. Further increases in arousal diminish still further the range of usable cues, so that eventually some relevant cues are no longer utilized and task performance deteriorates.
TEMPORAL NUMEROSITY DISCRIMINATION: INTERMODAL COMPARISONS REVISITED
Authors: LECHELT EUGENE C.
Published: April 2011

Temporal numerosity discrimination was investigated for visual, auditory and tactile senses. Trains of two to nine signals (flashes, clicks, taps) were presented at rates of from 3 per sec. to 8 per sec. The subjects were instructed specifically to report only the number of signals counted. Significant modality differences were obtained. Auditory counts were almost perfectly accurate under all conditions. Visual judgements of number, which were consistently the least accurate, were underestimated. The error increased appreciably as the rate increased from 3 per sec. to 6 per sec. but decreased with rates of 7 per sec. and 8 per sec. Tactile reports also underestimated the actual number of signals, the underestimation increasing linearly as a function of rate.
STIMULUS GENERALIZATION FOLLOWING EXTRA‐DIMENSIONAL TRAINING IN EDUCATIONALLY SUBNORMAL (SEVERELY) CHILDREN
Authors: HOGG J. , EVANS P. L. C.
Published: April 2011

The use of discrimination learning paradigms in the study of attentional transfer is discussed. The technique of go/no‐go discrimination learning followed by stimulus generalization testing is contrasted with the more familiar simultaneous learning paradigm followed by a shift in the relevant cues. In the former paradigm the effect of training a discrimination on one dimension on the slope of the stimulus generalization gradient on an independent gradient dimension (extra‐dimensional training) is assessed. A steepening of the gradient relative to appropriate control procedures is taken as evidence of positive attentional transfer. The relevance of the technique to the detailed study of attentional transfer in educationally subnormal (severely) (ESN(S)) children is considered. In Expt. I nine ESN(S) children were trained in a go/no‐go discrimination involving stimuli differing in orientation, and were generalization tested on a dimension that was orthogonal, namely hue. Of the six subjects who learnt the discrimination five showed clear decremental gradients on the hue dimension. In contrast a Pseudo‐Discrimination group (PD) of eight subjects matched to those in the TD group showed no gradients. These subjects were not trained in the orientation discrimination, but were reinforced for responding on 50 per cent of each of the S + and S ‐ stimulus presentations. They thus received equal exposure to, but no differential training on, the orientation dimension. An S + only group of four subjects who received no exposure to the orientation stimuli showed no gradients when stimulus generalization testing on the hue continuum was carried out. The result is discussed in terms of transfer deriving from stimulus control by relational aspects of the stimuli; in terms of control by constant irrelevant stimuli; and in terms of the study of stimulus control in ESN(S) children. In Expt. II the influence of the codability of the colours on the location of the peak of the stimulus generalization gradients in the TD group is investigated.
ANXIETY AND RITUALIZED SPEECH
Authors: LALLJEE MANSUR , COOK MARK
Published: April 2011

The experiment examines the effects on a number of words that seem irrevelant to semantic communication. The Units of Ritualized Speech (URSs) considered are: ‘I mean’, ‘in fact’, ‘really’, ‘sort of’, ‘well’ and ‘you know’. Two hypotheses are tested: (i) that URS rate will increase with anxiety; and (ii) that the speaker's preferred URS will increase with anxiety. Subjects were interviewed on topics they had previously rated as anxiety‐provoking and non‐anxiety‐provoking. Hypothesis (i) was supported, but hypothesis (ii) was not. More specifically, the use of ‘I mean’ and ‘well’ increases when the speaker is anxious. Explanation for this is sought in the grammatical location of these two units. Sex differences in the use of URSs, correlations between URSs and their relationship to other forms of disfluency are also considered.
IMAGERY AND DEEP STRUCTURE IN THE RECALL OF ENGLISH NOMINALIZATIONS
Authors: RICHARDSON JOHN T. E.
Published: April 2011

Previous experiments on the effects of imageability and deep‐structure complexity upon the recall of nominalizations are criticized for employing inappropriate statistical techniques and unsuitable experimental material. Two experiments investigated the immediate free recall of homogeneous lists of items, and found that deep‐structure complexity had little effect when imageability was controlled. In a third experiment, subjects were cued with either the participle or the noun belonging to a nominalization, but deep‐structure complexity still had no effect. In all three experiments, however, imageability was an important determiner of recall performance.
CONTEXT, MEANING AND THE VALIDITY OF RESULTS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Authors: KRUGLANSKI ARIE W.
Published: April 2011

This paper attempts to illuminate the problems of outcome validity in psychological inquiry by reference to the two fundamental characterizations of research results: (1) their context of applicability, and (2) their causal meaning. The failure of a research proposition to hold within its intended context of generalization is labelled as context invalidity and is characterized as one sense of a statistical interaction between the treatment and the background of a research. A second sense of such interaction is discussed in relation to the notion of treatment invalidity. Specifically, this sense is defined as the implication that an effect might be causally attributed to some composite of the treatment and background rather than to the treatment as such. The progression of causal explication is characterized as the successive establishment of conclusion, treatment and construct validities. Misclassifications of validity types, the twofold implication of the perils to ‘external validity’, the priority issue between ‘internal’ ‘and external’ validities, and misconstruals of the requirement of representative sampling are discussed in light of the context‐meaning analysis above.
THE SEMANTICS OF LOCATIVE INFORMATION IN PICTURES AND MENTAL IMAGES
Authors: JUST MARCEL ADAM , CARPENTER PATRICIA A.
Published: April 2011

Three experiments examined how people compare sentences about spatial location to pictures and images. Previous investigations have found that people are faster at judging relative location when the description contains the word above or right than when it contains the word below or left. Expt. I showed that this asymmetry persisted when the words were replaced by arrows, indicating that the effect is not specific to particular lexical items. Expt. II showed the asymmetry persisted even when the response latency did not include the time to encode the description, indicating that the asymmetry does not lie in the description‐encoding stage. Finally, Expt. III investigated how people compare sentences to information from a previously memorized picture. In this situation, the usual asymmetry was not present. The three studies suggest that the asymmetry arises from the way descriptions influence the encoding of perceptual events. The results also showed that the information encoded in a mental representation of a picture is ordered such that certain features can be accessed more quickly than others. However, the same features are equally quickly accessed in a picture that is physically present.
HOW REPRESENTATIVE ARE CONCEPT ATTAINMENT EXPERIMENTS?*
Authors: WETHERICK N. E. , DOMINOWSKI R. L.
Published: April 2011

Two experiments are reported which differ from orthodox concept attainment experiments in employing tasks in which the number of attributes exemplified by each instance is clearly larger than the number about which information is available and in which there is no guarantee that a solution will be found in terms of the attributes about which information was presented initially. The results suggest that the orthodox task fails in important respects to represent the corresponding real‐world activity.
COGNITIVE STRATEGIES AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING
Authors: FRASER C. O.
Published: April 2011

The problems involved in equating multidimensional scaling solutions with cognitive strategies are considered. Empirical evidence is presented to suggest that scaling solutions are relatively insensitive to the combination rule used by subjects, and thus may be used as an indication of the basic variables, but not their method of combination, that underlie a cognitive strategy.
STIMULUS PROCESSING AND RECOGNITION MEMORY IN CHILDREN
Authors: SYKES DONALD H.
Published: April 2011

The recognition memory of eight‐, ten‐, and twelve‐year‐old children (n = 108) was tested using an incidental learning technique. The children were required to categorize a set of word stimuli according to either a structural (presence or absence of the letter A in the word) or a semantic (identification of the word as the name of an animal or a country) criterion. Recognition memory strength was similar for the three age groups for the semantically categorized stimuli. There was, however, a highly significant increase in memory strength with age for the structurally analysed stimuli. The results were interpreted as indicating that age‐related differences in memory are a function of age‐related changes in the development of stimulus‐processing mechanisms.
PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING IMAGERY AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEMORY
Authors: RICHARDSON JOHN T. E.
Published: April 2011

Previous research has shown that the imageability of the material affects the secondary memory (SM) component of free recall, but not the primary memory (PM) component. However, other research has shown that imageability affects the recall of items of low concreteness, but not of those of high concreteness. Expt. I related these findings by showing that the effect of imageability on items of low concreteness applied to SM, but not to PM. However, the effect of the imagery ability of the subjects did not accord well with this framework. Subjects of high imagery ability produced a larger recency effect, but a smaller primacy effect. It was suggested that subjects of high imagery ability use imagery in learning, but that they fail to use it in an interactive way. This was supported by the results of Expt. II, which found that subjects given separative imagery instructions produced similar serial position curves to subjects of high imagery ability. On the other hand, interactive imagery instructions produced an increase in performance over all serial positions. It was concluded that separative imagery instructions disrupt performance by interfering with the subject's organization of a list, and that the PM/SM distinction should be extended to take into account the variety of possible strategies employed by subjects in learning.
Hypnotic susceptibility and personality: The consequences of diazepam and the sex of the subjects
Authors: GIBSON H. B. , CORCORAN M. E. , CURRAN J. D.
Published: April 2011

It was suggested by Gibson & Curran (1974) that the rather complex relationships found to obtain between hypnotic susceptibility and the personality parameters of extraversion and neuroticism might be understood by considering neuroticism as a moderator variable (as had been suggested by Furneaux & Gibson, 1961). They made the hypothesis that if a tranquillizing drug were administered the operative level of neuroticism would be decreased, and as a consequence the level of susceptibility of neurotic extraverts would be raised, and that of neurotic introverts lowered.

This study reports the test‐retest data on a sample of 71 subjects on the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scales, half of whom were retested with diazepam and half with nicotinic acid. The hypothesis was confirmed and additional data are given on the drug/placebo effects on each item of the scale. The significance of drugs on different aspects of hypnotic susceptibility in relation to personality is discussed.
The other side of johnson‐laird's interpretation of the passive voice
Authors: COSTERMANS J. , HUPET M.
Published: April 2011

Two studies by Johnson‐Laird (1968 a, b) were guided by the notion that the function of the passive is to emphasize the importance of the logical object (LO) by placing it in the grammatical subject position. However, the a priori meaning assigned to the subjects' responses implied that ‘importance’ attaches to the entity which is represented by the larger area in a coloured strip. It will be shown that this is merely one of two possible interpretations for it may just as easily be argued that importance attaches to the narrower area which might be regarded as representing the focal point of the new information imparted by the sentence. In the present study, subjects were required to refer sentences which involved a clear distinction between given and new information to different types of coloured figures. Pattern of responses clearly shows that subjects were more likely to refer a particular sentence to the figure in which the colour stressed in the assertional focus of the sentence is physically the less important. Present data as well as Johnson‐Laird's are thus interpreted as supporting the recent view according to which the logical subject (LS) is really that which is emphasized in passives as the assertional focus while the LO is presuppositional.
An exceptional memory
Authors: HUNTER IAN M. L.
Published: April 2011

An account is given of the exceptional memory of the late Professor A. C. Aitken who was also a distinguished mathematician and mental calculator. Examples are given of his performance in memory‐span tasks and his recall of artificial materials learnt under experimental conditions 27 years earlier. His memory is stronger than average in all respects but normal in mode of functioning. It relates to his comprehending materials in terms of rich patterns of multiple, often recondite, properties. Compared with Shereshevskii, another man with exceptional memory, he shows the scholar's reliance on conceptual mapping rather than the mnemonist's reliance on perceptual chaining.
Response times to stimuli of increasing complexity as a function of ageing
Authors: JORDAN T. C. , RABBITT P. M. A.
Published: April 2011

Twelve elderly and 12 young subjects were tested on a series of experiments with increasing complexity of perceptual‐response mapping. As task complexity increased the differential slowing in performance between young and old increased and an age × task complexity interaction was observed. However, with practice this phenomenon disappeared leaving an apparent age lag constant. This slowing was due to increased central processing time rather than peripheral factors.

No major differences in strategies were observed between the groups, though the old subjects tended to be less able to extract critical (useful) features from the display. Stimulus repetitions of a new kind were found where all characteristics of the stimulus (relevant and irrelevant) were important. Repetitions of coding rules rather than of particular signals or responses also facilitated RT. It was also found that later in practice old subjects were making fewer errors than the young, reversing earlier observations.
The measurement of imagery vividness: Normative data and their relationship to sex, age, and modality differences
Authors: WHITE K. D. , ASHTON R. , BROWN R. M. D.
Published: April 2011

Over 2000 undergraduate psychology students completed Sheehan's (1967a) revision of Betts' (1909) Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery. Females and older subjects reported significantly more vivid imagery than males or younger subjects. When modalities were ranked in order of evoked imagery vividness the pattern did not agree with previous work and it was suggested that rankings may be test specific rather than universal. Additional data were presented on the test's reliability, and the first set of norms derived taking into account the significant sex and age differences.
Convergence‐divergence and the learning of concrete and abstract sentences
Authors: SACKS H. V. , EYSENCK MICHAEL W.
Published: April 2011

School pupils (mean age 17 years) were classified as convergers or divergers on the basis of their performance on the AH5 Intelligence Test and the Uses of Objects test. They were presented with a set of concrete and abstract sentences, followed immediately by a forced‐choice recognition test. There was a significant interaction between abstractness‐concreteness and convergence‐divergence, in which the effect of the abstractness‐concreteness variable was highly significant for convergers, but was non‐significant for divergers. This interaction was attributed to the superior ability of divergers to discover those different interpretations of a single nominal stimulus held to be inherent in abstract, though not in concrete, sentences. In addition, some evidence against Paivio's (1971) dual‐coding model was presented.
Pattern detection by mongol and non‐mongol subnormals
Authors: McDONALD G. , MACKAY D. N.
Published: April 2011

Ten mongols and ten clinically heterogeneous subnormals matched on chronological age, mental age and digit span took part in an experiment in which tape‐recorded supra‐span digit sequences with different patterns were presented. There were six patterns: random, mirror (e.g. 583385); same‐digit pairs (e.g. 558833), same‐digit throughout (e.g. 333333), couplet repetition (e.g. 585858) and triplet repetition (583583). The numbers of digits correctly recalled in any order by the mongols in the various conditions ranked from least to most were: random, mirror, same‐digit pairs, same‐digit messages, triplet repetition and couplet repetition. The rank order for the non‐mongols was the same except that the positions of couplet and triplet repetition were reversed. Mongols had significantly poorer recall for random, mirror and same‐digit‐pair messages than non‐mongols but were their equals in other conditions. The mongols' performance was more sensitive to pattern than the performance of the other subjects. There was some evidence that, in the messages with same‐digit pairs and the same digit throughout, all subjects (but mongols in particular) tended to insert new digits into the response sequence and that the digit introduced was the next one in simple arithmetic progression. It would appear that the hypothesis about poor auditory‐vocal channelling capacities of mongols needs qualification.
Experimenter bias against subliminal perception? A rejoinder
Authors: Barber Paul J.
Published: April 2011

The basis for Spence & Smith's (1977) critique of three replications of subliminal perception experiments is judged to be conjectural. The case that the replications were less sensitive to subliminal perception effects than the original experiments is evaluated and rebutted.
The influence of secondary depth cues on the understanding by Nigerian schoolboys of spatial relationships in pictures
Authors: Nicholson J. R. , Seddon G. M.
Published: April 2011

The ability of 105 Nigerian schoolboys to interpret pictures three‐dimensionally was studied as a function of changing the number of depth cues on moving from monochrome photographs incorporating the effects of shadow, through fully cued line drawings, to line drawings containing only elevation cues. The experiment also investigated the effects of different amounts of previous formal training in technical drawing on performance in these tasks.

The results showed a significant increase in performance as the number of depth cues increased above that contained in the minimum cued line drawings. However, the difference between the effects of fully cued line drawings and the photographs was not significant. Neither the main nor interaction effects relating to levels of formal training in technical drawing were significant.
Quantitative subjective assessments are almost always biased, sometimes completely misleading*
Authors: Poulton E. C.
Published: April 2011

Subjective assessments are used widely in civilized societies for evaluating people, the work they do, and the stresses they work under. Yet most of the people who use subjective assessments are probably not aware of the pitfalls which they involve.

Range effects introduced by the investigator almost inevitably bias quantitative subjective assessments, unless very special precautions are taken to prevent or eliminate the bias. Stevens' method of direct magnitude estimation is always biased by range effects. The international standard for calculating the loudness of noise corresponds to a 30 decibel range of sound intensity.

When the investigator takes special precautions not to introduce bias, the observers may use their own well‐known standards which they bring with them to the investigation. In a height constancy investigation conducted in a field, the well‐known standard is the height of a hedge or fence. In judging just acceptable noise levels, the well‐known standards used by the observers must depend upon the noise levels which they are accustomed to.

The chief danger of subjective assessments is that they may be based upon a well‐known rule which does not happen to apply in the particular circumstance of the investigation. A result may then be obtained which is the direct opposite of the truth. Examples are the well‐known rules that noise and heat interfere with work. Yet performance can improve in both noise and heat. Results of this kind are revealed by measuring performance, not by asking people how noise or heat affects them. Subjective assessments should be used to complement measures of performance, not to replace them.
Is output order in free recall based on the strength of the memory trace or on the subject strategies and depth of coding employed?
Authors: Morris Peter E.
Published: April 2011

If output in free recall proceeds from items with strong to those with weak memory traces then Craik's (1970) finding is paradoxical. He reported that probability of recall at a later test increases with output position in the first recall attempt. Does recall order depend on depth of encoding and retrieval strategy rather than trace strength? Examination of recall order and the serial position of the first item retrieved in a conventional free recall experiment supported the hypothesis that the Craik effect occurs because on the initial test the items output early are superficially encoded while the last few items are semantically processed. By preventing superficial encoding and encouraging semantic processing the Craik effect was eliminated. There was no evidence for a trace strength explanation of recall order.
Characteristics of items in the Eysenck Personality Inventory which affect responses when students simulate
Authors: Power R. P. , MacRae K. D.
Published: April 2011

A large sample of students completed Form A of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, and four subgroups were later asked to simulate extraversion, introversion, neuroticism or stability. It was found that subjects could simulate these four personalities successfully. The changes in individual item responses were correlated with the items' factor loadings, validity, response bias, and detectability. The different scales and types of item were considered separately. In some cases the changes in item responses when simulating introversion and extraversion were related to the extraversion validities and factor loadings of the items. More often, however, the behaviour of items under simulation was correlated with aspects of the items that made them more like an item from another scale and thus lessened their susceptibility to a particular type of simulation.
Effects of phase‐of‐respiration on GSR detection
Authors: Diekhoff George M.
Published: April 2011

Previous studies of visual and auditory signal detection (Flexman & Demaree, 1972; Flexman, 1974; Flexman, Demaree & Simpson, 1974) have found that signals occurring during exhalation are detected with greater sensitivity than are signals occurring during inhalation. The purpose of the present study was to make use of a signal detection paradigm (Green & Swets, 1966) in extending these phase‐of‐respiration findings to internal event detection, specifically, to the detection of spontaneous galvanic skin responses (GSRs). A secondary purpose of the study was to re‐examine Stern's (1972) finding that high magnitude GSRs were better detected than were low magnitude GSRs. It was found that the phase of respiration during which the GSR reached its peak significantly influenced GSR detection, but that unlike studies of external signal detection, detection was greater for GSRs peaking during inhalation than for GSRs peaking during exhalation. Some possible artifactual sources of this finding are discussed. No significant effect of GSR magnitude on GSR detection was observed although differences were in the expected direction.
The effect of catch‐trials on speed and accuracy among introverts and extraverts in a simple RT task
Authors: Brebner John , Flavel Rosemary
Published: April 2011

Three predictions from the model of extraversion put forward by Brebner & Cooper (1974) were tested in a simple RT task. In line with the model, extraverts were found to make more commissive errors and to be more affected by an increase in the catch‐trial rate. The third prediction‐that extraverts would tend to produce longer runs of decreasing RTs than of increasing RTs in the condition with 10 per cent catch‐trials, was not borne out. This effect was, however, seen in the condition with 40 per cent catch‐trials although it was not statistically significant, P = 0.06.
Short‐term serial tactual recall: Effects of grouping on tactually probed recall of Braille letters and nonsense shapes by blind children
Authors: Millar Susanna
Published: April 2011

The study tested the hypothesis that grouping has adverse effects on the recall of tactual shapes but facilitates the recall of tactual letters on the assumption that this depends on different processes. A further question was the relation of grouping to letter recall span (set‐size).

Tactually probed recall of tactually presented serial nonsense and letter shapes by blind children was tested under grouped and ungrouped conditions.

Results showed a highly significant interaction between list type and grouping, and a (smaller) higher order interaction between set size list type and grouping, in the predicted directions. Grouping had adverse effects on nonsense shape recall. Letter recall was better and was facilitated by grouping, except by subjects with poor letter recall spans who were also slow at letter naming. Mental and chronological age were associated with higher scores, but unlike set size, did not relate differentially to letter grouping. It was argued that the form of coding is a factor in determining the nature of processing and in recall efficiency.
Spatial errors made by infants: Inadequate spatial cues or evidence of egocentrism?
Authors: Bremner J. Gavin
Published: April 2011

Nine month old infants search correctly for an object which they have seen hidden in one position, but cease to do so after they have been moved to the opposite side of the display, searching instead at a position which is apparently defined egocentrically from their experience before movement. This error can be explained on the one hand in terms of response dependence or egocentrism, or on the other hand as due to a lack of adequate spatial cues to allocentric position. In order to distinguish between these hypotheses, 64 nine month old infants were presented with a hidden object problem in which the two alternative positions had covers of different colours. The results show that infants could search correctly for an object in one location although they saw the problem from different sides. This result combines with those of other conditions to indicate that cover colour provides an adequate spatial cue, allowing the infant to specify position allocentrically, provided the correct cover maintains a stable position.
A study of psychological well‐being
Authors: Warr Peter
Published: April 2011

The concept of psychological well‐being is introduced, and scales to measure three of its different facets are described and applied to 1655 British respondents. Results from measures of positive and negative affect are compared with North American findings, and hypotheses are broadly confirmed. Two clusters of specific anxiety items are identified, to do with financial and family anxiety and with health anxiety. The third measure (ratings of present life in general) yields a major cluster of happiness items, but suggests additional dimensions for more detailed investigation. Interrelationships between the several measures and with employment position, motivation to work, job characteristics and age are examined. The study of everyday life as ‘normal psychology’ is advocated.
Evaluating the worth of gambles
Authors: Crozier W. R.
Published: April 2011

The expected value model which includes only the objective pay‐offs and probabilities correlates highly with subjects' bids for gambles but not with decision‐making behaviour when other dependent variables are considered. The correlation is affected by changes in the task which emphasize the riskiness of the gambles. It is argued that these results can be accounted for by assuming that subjects formulate simple decision rules when confronted with a difficult, computational task.
Role of symmetry in pattern reproduction
Authors: Derçgowski J. B.
Published: April 2011

The role of enantiomorphs (mirror images) as units of coding of symmetrical patterns was investigated. Simple symmetrical matrices were presented tachistoscopically for 0·3 sec and were immediately followed by 0·3 sec presentation of the same matrix but with half of its cells occluded. The subjects were required to reproduce the first matrix. Five patterns of occlusion were used: random, lateral, skew, vertical and horizontal. It was found that lateral occlusion (which leads to a display of an enantiomorph) did not differ in its effectiveness from horizontal and vertical occlusions, although it conveyed twice as much information. Lateral, horizontal and vertical occlusions all differed significantly from the other two types which gave inferior results. In another experiment the effects of random and symmetrical occlusions were investigated; it was found that random occlusion was more effective than symmetrical occlusion. The results of the experiments, it is argued, show that information theory and gestalt approaches to the problem of symmetry are to some extent complementary.
A comparison of the implication and repertory grid techniques
Authors: Honess Terry
Published: April 2011

The ‘repertory grid’ and the ‘implication grid’ techniques are compared using criteria based on an indirect measure of construct matching scores. The implication grid proved superior to the repertory grid under conditions designed to compare stability of matching scores and under conditions designed to compare sensitivity to subjects' changes in construing. The significance of a further result, that the implication grid was superior for reflecting construct bipolarity, is considered in the light of conceptual problems with an assumption of bipolarity. The set of results is especially noteworthy since ‘indirect’ measures were formerly the exclusive province of the repertory grid. The discussion raises general issues about the relative utility of two grid formats, and the unique measurement possibilities of the implication grid are illustrated. It is concluded that the’ implication grid deserves careful consideration for use in studies concerned only with construct relationships.
Monitoring the effects of increasing resource demands on the clarity of visual images
Authors: Beech John R. , Leslie Julian C.
Published: April 2011

This paper examines the changes in the clarity of images over time under conditions varying in resource demands. In the experiments, subjects listened to descriptions of arrays of objects and moved a lever according to their assessment of the clarity of their visual images of the whole array. The position of the lever was sampled every half second by computer. The rated clarity of visual image (Y) increased over time (X) and fitted well to the power function Y = aXb for arrays of one to five objects. The increases in set size produced increasing demands on the resources of the limited capacity visual imagery system leading to an exponential‐like decline in the final rating values across set size. In the first two experiments, increasing presentation rate produced a differentiation in the slopes (a) of the power functions fitted to each set size, because visualization is more difficult at the faster rate. As it is relatively more difficult to visualize larger arrays at the faster rate, a relativity hypothesis suggests that visualizing smaller arrays is relatively easier in the fast condition, producing the differentiation in slopes. The last two experiments further confirmed the relativity hypothesis and correspondingly falsified an alternative hypothesis predicting that images decaying over time produced these findings; for instance, in the last experiment, the slope (a) and exponent (b) of the power function were higher under the slow presentation rate indicating that this condition was easier. This was further confirmed by verbal reports and by the final rating values. The image decay hypothesis predicted the contrary result as the possibility of image decay was reduced in the fast condition. These results also elucidate previous experiments that demonstrated an increase in visualization latencies as a function of set size. In such experiments latencies increase as a function of set size because the clarity of the image is slower to reach criterion as the number of objects to be visualized increases.
The horizontal‐vertical illusion and the square
Authors: McManus I. C.
Published: April 2011

The horizontal‐vertical illusion, in which a vertical dimension is overestimated relative to a horizontal one, is usually described in terms of either an L figure or an inverted T (⊥), and as such has been extensively investigated. It is usually claimed (e.g. Robinson, 1972) ‘that a plain square is too stable a configuration perceptually to suffer from the vertical‐horizontal illusion However, the present author has been unable to find any reference to support this assertion, and it has therefore been tested experimentally.
The Dynamic Personality Inventory: What does it measure?
Authors: Kline Paul , Storey Ron
Published: April 2011

The Dynamic Personality Inventory, the 16PF, the EPI, the Gottheil scale, the Lazare scales, Ai30, OPQ and OOQ were administered to 128 subjects and subjected to an oblique Promax factor analysis from which 15 factors emerged. It was established that the DPI scales were independent of extraversion and neuroticism and were measuring variance unaccounted for by the 16PF and EPI. Two factors, masculine and feminine interests were identified as clearly measured by the DPI and the A scales were also found to be consistent. It was concluded that the DPI was a useful test where more orthodox factored personality tests were wanting.
A further test of the golden section hypothesis
Authors: Adams‐Webber J.
Published: April 2011

This research examines further the hypothesis that subjects tend to allot figures to the negative poles of constructs approximately 38 per cent of the time (Benjafield & Adams‐Webber, 1976). Sixty Canadian undergraduates (30 women and 30 men) judged 20 nonsense words (e.g. JOHZAN) as if these were the names of people on 20 bipolar constructs. Ten of these constructs contained positive poles which were E+ and negative poles which were E‐ (e.g. kind‐not kind) and the other ten constructs had positive poles which were E‐ and negative poles which were E+ (e.g. sad‐not sad). These procedures were developed by Eiser & Mower White (1973). The results of this experiment, and a reanalysis of those of Eiser & Mower White, clearly supported the hypothesis.
Measurement of categorical clustering in free recall
Authors: White Richard T. , Kelly Mavis E.
Published: April 2011

The problem of whether one can assume a monotonic relationship between the construct, tendency to organize verbal stimuli in free recall, and current clustering indexes is discussed in the light of Colle's criticism that clustering indexes have no theoretical basis. It is argued that there is a primitive theory which assumes that clustering measures increase as a function of increases in the construct. Consideration is also given to Shuell's claim that choice between indexes depends on the psychological and statistical assumptions one is prepared to accept. This claim is endorsed but it is argued that it is possible to distinguish between indexes which share the same assumptions by consideration of the basic properties which they need to possess in order to be suitable research instruments.
Referential description by children in negative form
Authors: Watson Judith M.
Published: April 2011

Previous experiments indicate that young children have difficulty in describing referents in negative terms. It is suggested that use of negation is unnatural (and therefore difficult) in many descriptive tasks because children tend to focus their attention on referent and to ignore immediate perceptual context. Additionally, negative descriptions are more natural where a referent lacks some feature of a contrasting item in context, than where it differs from it along some attribute dimension.

In a small experiment normal and educationally subnormal children with mental ages from 5 to 7 years were found to have no difficulty in making negative referential descriptions in natural contexts, when their attention was drawn to context by experimenter. degree to which children's descriptions reflected awareness of context was related to their mental maturity, and there was a developmental trend in form of descriptions.