Showing papers by "Douglass Residential College published in 1977"
TL;DR: The model presented describes an optimal way to allocate a limited quantity of "cognitive resources," "attention" or "mental effort" for maximizing the probability of finding a target.
Abstract: From experiments showing that subjects differentially attend to parts of the visual field, psychologists have inferred a limitation on human visual information processing capacity. The model presented describes an optimal way to allocate a limited quantity of "cognitive resources," "attention" or "mental effort". For this model, the sense of optimality is maximizing the probability of finding a target. In an experiment to test the model, subjects searched for a single target letter in an otherwise blank field. Two probability distributions were used to select a target location for a trial, but only one distribution was used for a session. For both distributions, the fit of the model was quite good. It is suggested that the model provides a promising way to test the assumption limited visual processing capacity.
296 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A methodology for assessing symbolic maturity or mental representation as evidenced in symbolic play was developed from stage-specific behavior described by Piaget (1962), which develops between approxi mately nine and twenty-four months of age as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This paper demonstrates methodology for assessing symbolic maturity or mental representation as evidenced in symbolic play. The system was developed from stage-specific behavior described by Piaget (1962). The behavior described develops between approxi mately nine and twenty-four months of age. The levels of play de scribed by Piaget are derived from the child's actions with respect to objects and people in the environment. Development proceeds from initial realistic treatment of objects through pretended activities which are increasingly abstract and complex, to the beginning of pretend activities that are planned, and thus mentally represented in advance of performance. The following describes the place of symbolic play stages in de velopmental theory, makes reference to current research on cognitive aspects of pretend play, and refers to research undertaken with the symbolic assessment instrument. However, the major focus of this presentation is description of procedures for assessing symbolic maturity through analysis of pretend play. Symbolic development was treated by Piaget (1962) but the proposed stages have not been fully replicated. A system for assessing symbolic development in the second year of life should prove important on theoretical grounds because it opens the path to evaluating empirically the assumption of Piaget (1962) and Werner and Kaplan (1963) that language is a manifestation of a general symbolizing function, evolving from earlier cognitive developments. Several authors have suggested that cognitive development is expressed in play (Bruner, Olver, & Greenfield, 1966; Piaget, 1962; Sinclair, 1970; Fein, 1974; and Lowe, 1975). In studying play be havior of children between 12 and 26 months of age, Sinclair (1970) reported a developmental sequence in the children's actions with a standard group of play objects which was consistent with the levels
277 citations
66 citations
TL;DR: The behavior of a small group (varying from five to seven members) of domesticated rats was observed for 11 weeks in an enclosure (171 × 183 cm) which allowed the viewing of animals above and below ground as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The behavior of a small group (varying from five to seven members) of domesticated rats was observed for 11 wk. in an enclosure (171 × 183 cm) which allowed the viewing of animals above and below ground. Comparisons of the development and structure of the burrow system constructed by these animals with burrows built by a group of wild-trapped rats and a pair of devibrissaed laboratory rats revealed no marked differences between the excavation activities of wild and domesticated rats in this context. The excavation, dimensions, and utilization of burrows are described, as well as the social and agonistic interactions of group members in relation to underground habitation.
49 citations
TL;DR: The present experiments were concerned with subsyllabic units in word recognition, and suggested that a variety of spelling patterns, as well as the whole word, served as units of processing.
Abstract: The present experiments were concerned with subsyllabic units in word recognition. The studies employed a same-different RT task. A one-syllable word and a probe were presented simultaneously, and subjects responded “same” if the probe was an integral subset of the word (BLAST:BL), and “different” otherwise (BLAST:BC). Probes included single letters (BLAST:L), doublets (BLAST:LA), triplets (BLAST:LAS), and the whole word (BLAST: BLAST). The first experiment suggested that a variety of spelling patterns, as well as the whole word, served as units of processing. In particular, initial consonant clusters were processed as quickly as single letters, and only slightly faster than the whole words. Consonant strings were used in the second experiment, which demonstrated spelling pattern effects with permissible strings (BLGST:BL) as compared to nonpermissable strings (BXJPK:BX). A third experiment demonstrated that the particular effective units depend on task demands.
27 citations
TL;DR: This attack stress is the first example of social behavior inducing the physiologic and/or psychologic precursors of gastrointestinal pathology in animals.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, He, Ne and Ar isotopes have been measured in six diogenites, and Al-26 in two diogenite species, implying that two collisions may have produced 8 of the 9 diogenitites.
17 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that consistence with past experience affects the integration of the representation, and that the stronger the integration, the more difficult it is to recognize the target in a new context.
Abstract: Context effects in recognition memory were examined by manipulating the semantic integration of sentential contexts. Subjects studied words embedded in congruous, incongruous, and anomalous sentences and were tested for recognition of the targets in either the same or changed contexts. Recognition was impaired if the test item appeared in a new sentence, and the extent of the decrement was greatest for congrous sentences. The results suggest that consistence with past experience affects the integration of the representation, and that the stronger the integration, the more difficult it is to recognize the target in a new context. The data are discussed in terms of a relative specificity of encoding effect.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured reaction times in a task which requires the subject to search a brief visual array for a critical letter embedded in a row of background letters, and found that reaction times increased monotonically with distance of the critical letter from the beginning of the instructed reading path in the display.
Abstract: Reaction times were measured in a task which requires the subject to search a brief visual array for a critical letter embedded in a row of background letters. In Experiment 1, the position of a critical letter in an instructed reading order and the size of a set of memorized letters were varied. Mean reaction time increased monotonically with distance of the critical letter from the beginning of the instructed reading path in the display. The variables reading position and memory set size were additive in their effect on mean reaction time. Data from a second experiment in which the retinal location of the critical letter and its reading position were varied showed that both reading position and retinal location influenced mean reaction time, but the effect of reading position on reaction time was greater. These variables interacted.
7 citations
TL;DR: The authors assessed attributes of verbal units of topics of factual information and found that ratings of age (A), familiarity (F), imagery (I), pronunciability (P), and meaningfulness (m) of these units and of 24 nouns from Paivio, Yuille, and Madigan's (1968) list.
Abstract: Limitations of available norms of attributes of verbal stimuli initiated this assessment of attributes of verbal units of topics of factual information. The attributes were ratings of age (A), familiarity (F), imagery (I), pronunciability (P), and meaningfulness (m’), and produced meaningfulness (m) of these units and of 24 nouns from Paivio, Yuille, and Madigan’s (1968) list. The rs between means for A, F, I, m’ and m ranged from.87 to.97 for 64 units that served as responses in verbal learning, from.61 to.92 for 32 units that served as stimuli, and from.72 to 92 for the 24 nouns. The rs that involved P were somewhat lower.
3 citations
TL;DR: Inconspicuous convulsive activity can cause severe disruption of learning as discussed by the authors, however, the seizures may be so subtle in occurrence as to be ignored, and professionals and parents were not sufficiently sensitive to the subtle cues of seizure activity.
Abstract: Inconspicuous convulsive activity can cause severe disruption of learning. However, the seizures may be so subtle in occurrence as to be ignored. Case histories of two boys with severe but occult epilepsy are presented. In both instances professionals and parents were not sufficiently sensitive to the subtle cues of seizure activity. Effective psychological treatment may hinge upon recognition and control of epileptic activity.