bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Discrimination Based on Punishment
Authors: Dinsmoor James A. 
Published: March 2008

Twelve white rats learned to press a bar or lever when this act was intermittently followed by pellets of food. Once a stable rate of pressing had been established, the animals were subjected to electric shock as a punishment for each response during alternate five minute periods within the experimental session. A difference in rates during the safe and punished phases was manifested both by the experimental group (8 rats), who were provided with a light as a signal when it was safe to respond, and also, contrary to expectation, by the control group (4 rats), who continued in darkness throughout the session. The differential responding by the control group was greatly reduced, however, when the duration of each phase was reduced from five minutes to one. The investigation was then continued to determine the role of some of the other factors in the situation. Increasing the severity of the shock increased the difference between the light and the dark rates. Withholding the pellets of food reduced the overall rates but did not affect the light-dark discrimination. Withholding the shock, on the other hand, permitted an increase in rate and caused the animals to lose their discrimination; when food had previously been withheld, however, so that the rate of response was relatively low, this deterioration in the discrimination was not as rapid as before. Restoration of the discrimination training under a lower hunger drive confirmed the finding that the formation of the discrimination was quite rapid and showed that the level of drive did not affect the proportionality between the rates in the light and in the darkness. These findings were interpreted by comparing the current procedure with those previously used in studies of avoidance reactions and conflict.
A Test of Sensory Pre-Conditioning in Pigeons
Authors: Reid R. L. 
Published: March 2008

Sixteen pigeons were used in an experiment designed to show the sensory preconditioning effect as originally reported by Brogden. An experimental group received 200 simultaneous presentations of a buzzer paired with a light stimulus. They were then trained to respond to one of these stimuli alone and tested for response to the other. A control group received the same treatment except in the initial stage when 200 presentations of the test stimulus only were given. The results provided no evidence that the pairing of stimuli affected behaviour during the critical test. Both groups responded to the test stimulus to a similar degree in this experiment, whereas in Brogden's original study with dogs experimental animals responded significantly more frequently than did their controls. The discrepancy in results can be attributed to the use of different control procedures in the two experiments. Brogden's controls were not exposed to presentations of the test stimulus before training. Differences in familiarity with this stimulus may have produced the differences between the behaviour of his control and experimental animals. This interpretation is supported by the result of a preliminary experiment with pigeons in which Brogden's control procedure was used and his original results confirmed. With human subjects there is some evidence that pairing procedures may result in enhanced generalization, alterations in sensory thresholds or hallucinations. However, these effects are little understood and difficult to predict. Although no functional relationships like those found in ordinary conditioning have yet been shown to apply, the terms “sensory conditioning” and “sensory pre-conditioning” have been widely used and the data have been quoted in support of theories of learning that require the setting up of direct sensory-sensory relationships. Until there is unequivocal evidence of pairing effects with animals or fuller knowledge of the occurrence of such effects with human subjects, it is considered unadvisable to link them even by name with basic learning mechanisms such as conditioning.
Blinking during Visual Tracking
Authors: Poulton E. C. , Gregory R. L. 
Published: March 2008

In order to determine the incidence of blinks during visual tracking, their effect, and the nature of this effect, two experimental arrangements were used. In one the subject had to keep a pen upon a moving line, his blinks being recorded without his knowledge both electronically and by two observers. In the second he had to keep two pointers in line using a positional control, the display being occluded intermittently in one part by a wheel tachistoscope, in another by his own voluntary blinks. It was found that the blink rate was raised when the subject expected the tracking to start, and again after tracking. During tracking it was reduced, particularly initially. The lowest blink rates were recorded during or immediately before the difficult periods of the course. It was not possible to predict the blink rate while tracking from a knowledge of the true “resting” blink rate. Although blinks were Infrequent when the course was difficult, it was here that they caused the largest errors, especially when anticipation was not possible. This effect was due partly to interference with vision, but only temporary inattention could account for the delayed deterioration following blinking. It has been suggested that the blink rate might serve as an index of attention, blinking being one of the earliest signs of inattention.
The Sensibility to Passive Movement of the Human Elbow Joint
Authors: Cleghorn T. E. , Darcus H. D. 
Published: March 2008

The literature on the perception of passive movement is reviewed. A description is given, of an apparatus whereby passive movements may be produced at the human elbow joint with the minimal amount of interference with sensation from extraneous factors. Tested with this apparatus, four human subjects experienced in varying degree false sensations of movement when the arm was at rest. They differed from each other in the direction which they tended to ascribe to the sensations, three of them being strongly influenced by the direction of the preceding movement. Both the perception of movement and identification of its direction were more efficient in extension than in flexion and at larger than at smaller displacements. The duration of movement was an important factor. Tentative estimates of the threshold are: 0·8° for 80 per cent, correct detection of movement and 1·8° for 80 per cent, correct identification of direction at all speeds in the range, 0.10·0.25°/sec.
Phenomenal Causation at a Distance
Authors: Yela Mariano 
Published: March 2008

The aim of this research was to study the finding by Michotte, that a moving object A can apparently produce movement in a projectile B without making contact with it. The experiments confirm the existence of a causal impression of “pushing at a distance,” but they demonstrate that the greater the distance the smaller the chance that this impression will occur. When it does, in fact, occur, it has the same characteristics, and is associated with the same experimental conditions, as the impression of “pushing with contact.” Temporal continuity must obtain between the stopping of the moving object and the starting of the projectile; this refutes any theory positing that there is a “passage” of movement from one object to the other. The effects of differences in speed of movement, whether absolute or relative, are similar in both instances. In general, however, it appears that distance slightly accentuates the segregation of the movements and that the temporal and kinematic conditions of integration require to be more favourable in the case of distance, if an impression of pushing is to be given which is as satisfying as that found in the case of direct contact. The size of the Radius of Action, that is, the extent of the passive phase of the projectile, is of the same order in the two cases. The results bring out the fundamentally temporal-kinematic nature of the perceptual pattern of pushing. They appear difficult to reconcile with an interpretation based on past experience, but tally with the theory of “Ampliation of Movement” put forward by Michotte. According to this theory the essential point lies in the phenomenal transitory belonging to A (the moving object) of the movement performed by B (the projectile).
Relationship of Motivation and Method of Testing to Distribution of Practice Phenomena in Rotary Pursuit
Authors: Ammons Robert B. 
Published: March 2008

Women college students (N = 120) practised 60 r.p.m. rotary pursuit for 12 minutes, rested for approximately 25 minutes and then practised for 12 minutes more. During the initial period, thirty-six 20-second trials were given, 20 subjects each practising with intertrial rests of o seconds, 20 seconds, 50 seconds, 2 minutes and 5 minutes. In the 12-minute post-rest or testing period, 10 subjects in each of these groups practised continuously, and 10 were given 20-second trials separated by 5-minute rests. Greater distribution was found to lead to better performance in the initial period, except that the 5-minute inter-trial-rest group did not perform as well as the 2-minute group. The warm-up decrement was dependent on the degree of distribution of practice in the initial period, being greater with greater massing of trials. As measured by the backward-extrapolation method, less was shown when testing practice was continuous than when it was distributed. The temporary work decrement was far greater in magnitude than the permanent work decrement. If permanent work decrement was present at all, it was small in magnitude; approximately one-half was due to the conditions under which it was tested for, rather than to the degree of distribution in the initial stages of practice.
Variations in Blink Rate during Non-Visual Tasks
Authors: Gregory R. L. 
Published: March 2008

A total of fifty-five subjects were tested in three experimental situations. Blinking was recorded electrically, and related to various features of the three non-visual tasks. A new type of suction electrode was developed for this purpose. It was found that blink rate fell below the normal resting rate during the learning of a stylus maze, and during a special audio-tracking task. During pauses between each trial, blink rate was above the resting rate. There was a significant tendency for those subjects who showed the greatest difference in blink rate during the trials and the pauses between each trial to make the fewest errors per run of the stylus maze. In the audio-tracking task the subjects followed a changing note with a second oscillator. Blink rate was found to be inversely related to the rate of change of the course tone.
The Apparent Length of a Line as a Function of Its Inclination
Authors: Pollock William T. , Chapanis A. 
Published: March 2008

In the first of two experiments reported here, subjects adjusted the length of a variable line until it appeared to be as long as a standard line. There were two sizes of standard line, 3 and 6 inches, and each was shown vertically for some trials and horizontally for others. The variable line was presented in each of the 10° positions from 0° (horizontal), through 90° (vertical), to 170°. The principal results of the first experiment are: (1) Vertical lines look longer than horizontal lines of the same length, but lines tilted 20°-30° to the left of vertical look longer than lines in any other orientation. The results are asymmetrical, because lines tilted to the right of vertical do not look as long as those tilted to the left of vertical. (2) The variability of the settings increases as the angle increases between the standard and variable lines. (3) When they are expressed in percentage terms, the data obtained with the 3-and 6-inch standards are virtually identical, i.e. the data for the 3-inch standard can be made to match those for the 6-inch standard simply by doubling the former. (4) There are enormous differences among subjects in the patterns of settings made at the various angles. A few subjects apparently experienced no illusory effects since they adjusted the variable line to about the same physical length irrespective of its orientation. Other subjects showed exaggerated overestimations of the variable line for vertical and near-vertical positions. In the first experiment, the variable line was always to the left of the standard, and it was natural to assume that this position effect had somehow produced the asymmetry noted in paragraph 1 above. This hypothesis was tested in the second experiment which alternatively showed the variable line above, below, to the right of, and to the left of the standard line. The results of this experiment generally confirm the data of the first experiment in showing that lines tilted 20°-30° to the left of vertical look longer than lines tilted to any other position. In addition, the second experiment shows that this asymmetry in the results is not a function of the relative positions of the variable and standard lines. In general, however, overestimations of length are smaller when the two lines are one above the other, greater when the two lines are side by side.
Subjective Assessments of Firmness: The Use of a Rating Scale
Authors: Sheppard D. 
Published: March 2008

An experiment was carried out to investigate the extent to which an absolute standard for firmness could be held independently of variations occurring within the samples being judged. Although the method gave good results as a whole, it was found that, when correlating the ratings to the objective measurements, the absolute standards were not held independently of the average firmness of the groups being judged. In practice, if a certain sample was judged, within a “soft” series of samples, it would be rated as being firmer than when it was judged among “firm” samples. Certain differences in the effects of these changes were related to the nature of the subjects' previous experience. When the results were considered on a relative comparison basis, it was found that a much lower threshold was achieved than had previously been obtained with judgments for springs using paired comparison methods. There were certain trends in the levels of discrimination with time. These trends are discussed. The strength of grip of the subjects bore some relation to their initial rating values, but apparently was not related to their level of discrimination. Subjects who were able to exert a more constant pressure throughout the test did not seem to be any better at discriminating than were others. Ratings made for a single sample two months after the main experiment were very similar to those previously given for the same sample.
The Interaction of Hunger and Thirst in the Rat
Authors: Danziger K. 
Published: March 2008

Two groups of rats were given a series of trials in an enclosed runway with a food reward at the end, one group being run hungry, the other hungry plus thirsty. Then each group was split into three sub-groups: one run hungry, the second thirsty and the other hungry plus thirsty, in each case without food reward. It was found that, whereas on the rewarded runs the extra, “irrelevant,” thirst increased running speed, on unrewarded runs it had the opposite effect and slowed up performance. Thus on unrewarded runs the two sub-groups running thirsty, and hungry plus thirsty, ran as slowly as those running hungry. Differences were found not to depend on whether the animals had been hungry or hungry plus thirsty on previous rewarded runs. The interaction of primary needs therefore depends on the external situation. This can be accounted for in terms of the Pavlovian theories of mutual induction and conditioning, but not in terms of Hull's theory of “irrelevant drives.”
Fixations, Position Stereotypes and Their Relation to the Degree and Pattern of Stress Part II
Authors: Knöpfelmacher F. 
Published: March 2008

In a group of white rats who developed position stereotypes in a Water discrimination unit under conditions of low punishment, the behaviour of four animals was closely akin to what Maier calls “abnormal fixations.” The stereotype-extinction scores of subgroups containing these animals were distributed in separated clusters. Punishment differentiated response latencies, and this furnished evidence that the fixated animals had mastered the soluble problem in spite of not responding appropriately. These findings and other findings from the same experiment, which were reported previously (Knöpfelmacher 1953), are interpreted as showing that though Maierian behaviour fixations were reproduced in a water discrimination unit, the properties of stereotypes are not compatible with the stress—frustration—fixation theory, at least on a molar level, and that goal—motivational learning theory can account for most though not all the data.
Some Effects of Noise on Visual Performance
Authors: Broadbent D. E. 
Published: March 2008

A group of ten subjects showed impaired performance, when watch-keeping on a display made up of steam-pressure gauges, in 100 db. noise as compared with 70 db. On the easier task of watch-keeping on a display made up of small lights, another group of twenty subjects showed no overall effect of noise. Individual subjects who showed a practice effect on the latter task comparable to that shown by all subjects on the former one, however, also showed a similar effect of noise. In addition, performance on the light-watching became relatively less efficient in noise with continued exposure: and although parts of the task were still adequately carried out, others were not. The fact that noise effects are thus functions of individual differences, of visibility of signal, and of length of performance in noise, allows us to explain the negative findings of many previous workers.
The Influence of Previous Movement and Posture on Subsequent Posture
Authors: Jackson C. V. 
Published: March 2008

An experiment with 21 subjects has confirmed the findings of other investigators that previous posture affects subsequent posture—the phenomenon of postural persistence. There seems also to be a tendency for the arm to be judged horizontal when in fact above the horizon, no matter which posture has been previously adopted—a “constant upwards effect.” It has also been found that the direction of previous movement affects subsequent posture. After movement, an overshooting effect adds to a “constant upwards effect.” Various explanations of the phenomenon are discussed, and persistence is considered as an anomaly of postural recognition.
The Perception of Short Phrases Presented Simultaneously for Visual & Auditory Reception
Authors: Mowbray G. H. 
Published: March 2008

Subjects were provided with outline maps that were incomplete in several details. Brief, simultaneous, visual and auditory instructions were given for completing some of the missing details. Certain items could be completed on the basis of direct information contained in one or other of the sensory modalities. Others, however, could be completed only because of their relation to details capable of location by direct instruction. Information important for the completion of map details was distributed randomly among short passages of unconnected words. All relevant visual and aural clues were presented simultaneously in every case. Opportunities for alternations of attention were curtailed. Thirty-six subjects were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions, and to two groups that were given different instructions. One group was told that relevant information would always appear simultaneously, while the other group was not allowed this information. The number of successfully located simultaneous pairs of items presented for direct location was found to be no greater than could be expected by chance. The total number of correctly located items was less than 50 per cent of the possible items. There was no difference in the number of correctly located simultaneous pairs of items between the “instructed” and the “uninstructed” groups. The “uninstructed” group did not learn in the course of the experiment that all relevant material was presented simultaneously. Significantly more correct completions were made with the visual material than with the auditory. It is concluded that successful division of attention did not occur.
The Impact of Visual Aid Displays Showing a Manipulative Task
Authors: Laner S. 
Published: March 2008

A moving film and a filmstrip, composed of line drawings, were compared in respect of their efficacy in imparting instruction about a manual task. Their respective effects were tested by making the subjects actually perform the task. The chief aims of the experiment were, firstly, to determine the manner in which material presented pictorially is utilized in the approach to and execution of the task and, secondly, to assess the special effects, if any, of motion and photographic realism in the presentation. The approach both to the perception of the material and to the execution of the task was found to be essentially constructive. For this reason much that is usually presented is superfluous while, on the other hand, points of principle necessary to adequate construction are often insufficiently clarified or emphasized. No significant difference between the moving film and the filmstrip presentation was found. It is concluded that aspects of visual aid material, such as motion and photographic realism, which are commonly assumed to be of special cognitive importance, do not themselves play a unique rôle.
A Further Study of the Pendulum Phenomenon
Authors: Hall K. R. L. , Earle A. E. 
Published: March 2008

A first series of experiments had demonstrated certain conditions eliciting or inhibiting a “pendulum” phenomenon in the visual perception of apparent movement. The present study consists of five further variations designed to show more clearly conditions of occurrence and non-occurrence of this type of movement. The main findings are: (1) Altering the axis of display to vertical significantly reduces the frequency of pendular-movement perception; (2) Altering the position of metronome from behind to the side of the visual display, gives results almost identical with those where the metronome was inaudible, but, when the metronome is illuminated in this position, all forms of movement perception are reduced, and no pendular movement is reported. The results for all the ten conditions, including the five of the first series are summarized, and the following possible factors are discussed: past experience, physiological nystagmus, and intervening adaptation. All three may be required to account for the perceptual phenomena under investigation and the dichotomizing of explanations into “experiential,” or “physiological,” appears to be arbitrary and inconsistent with the complexity of the observed facts.
The Nature of Set-to-Learn and of Intra-Material Interference in Immediate Memory
Authors: Brown J. 
Published: March 2008

The influence of set on learning has previously been demonstrated under conditions where set could affect either the selection of stimuli in perception or their subsequent rehearsal. With both these possibilities excluded, set was still found to have a strong influence on learning: this suggests that set can somehow facilitate the formation of the memory trace when a stimulus is perceived. Two forms of intra-material interference were shown to occur during the recall period. The attempt to recall one part of the material presented interfered with, and was itself impaired by, the attempt to retain the part yet to be recalled.