Showing papers by "Wichita State University published in 1986"

Rule-governed behavior and sensitivity to changing consequences of responding.

Abstract: Humans were presented with a task that required moving a light through a matrix. Button presses could produce light movements according to a multiple fixed-ratio 18/differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 6-s schedule, with components alternating every 2 min. Moving the light through the maze earned points worth chances on money prizes. In Experiment 1 four conditions were assessed through between-subject comparisons: minimal instructions, instructions to press rapidly, instructions to press slowly, and instructions that sometimes rapid responding would work while at other times a slow rate would work best. Subjects responded in three successive sessions of 32 min each. The results suggested that instructions affected the nature of the contact made with the programmed consequences and thus subsequent performance. In some cases, responding seemed to result from added contingencies introduced by stating rules. In Experiment 2 the relative contribution of these two effects was assessed by presenting and then withdrawing two lights that had been paired with two specific instructions: “Go Fast” or “Go Slow.” There were three conditions. In one condition, only the Go Fast light was on; in a second, only the Go Slow light was on; and in a third, the lights alternated each minute. In each condition, half the subjects had all instruction lights turned off after the first session. The results once again showed an effect of instructions on contact with the programmed consequences. However, responding sometimes continued in a manner consistent with added contingencies for rule-following even when the programmed consequences had been contacted and would have controlled a different type of responding in the absence of instructions. The relevance of added contingencies for rule-following in determining the effects of explicitly programmed consequences is emphasized.

Dysfunctional control by client verbal behavior: The context of reason-giving.

Abstract: Dysfunctional control exerted by reason-giving in adult psychopathology is interpreted from a radical behavioral perspective. Verbal-social contingencies which support the establishment of reason-giving and its control over maladaptive actions are reviewed. A contextual approach to psychotherapy, comprehensive distancing, which attempts to weaken dysfunctional verbal control is described briefly. Data relevant to therapeutic process are presented. The overall results suggest that comprehensive distancing facilitates therapeutic change through a process consistent with a behavioral analysis of reason-giving. Suggestions for further research and radical behavioral approaches to psychotherapy are discussed.

A Theory of Historical Discovery: The Construction of Componential Models

Abstract: One of the major goals of 18th century chemistry was to determine the components of substances. In this paper we describe STAHL, a system that models significant portions of 18th century reasoning about compositional models. The system includes a number of heuristics for generating componential models from reactions, as well as error recovery mechanisms for dealing with inconsistent results. STAHL processes chemical reactions incrementally, and is therefore capable of reconstructing extended historic episodes, such as the century-long development of the phlogiston theory. We evaluate STAHL's heuristics in the light of historical data, and conclude that the same reasoning mechanisms account for a variety of historical achievements, including Black's models of mild alkali and Lavoisier's oxygen theory. STAHL explains the generation of competing accounts of the same reactions, since the system's reasoning chain depends on knowledge it has accumulated at earlier stages.

Adaptive Counseling and Therapy An Integrative, Eclectic Model

Abstract: This article presents an integrative model for selecting a progression of therapist styles as clients move through developmental stages during the course of counseling and psychotherapy. The model, Adaptive Counseling and Therapy (ACT), suggests an eclectic approach to the utilization of techniques in therapy. The ACT approach is compared and contrasted with other integrative models that suggest an eclectic practice of therapy, with both similarities and divergent recommendations being noted. ACT is intended to be useful to practitioners in case conceptualization and in the application of effective treatment planning. The assessment instruments required to operationalize the central constructs of ACT theory are presented and described, and data on both the instruments' psychometric adequacy and the relationship of ACT constructs to therapy outcome are reviewed. Finally, the ways in which ACT can serve as a rich heuristic device for counseling practice, research, and supervision are delineated.

Emics, Etics, and Social Objectivity

Abstract: Emic analysis, whether seen as opposed or as complementary to etic modes, is regarded as essential for ensuring that culture-specific particularities are not suppressed in efforts to subsume social phenomena under cross-culturally valid generalizations. Particularly, there is concern that the aim of providing an account of the concepts and principles subjects use to organize reality will be frustrated if alien etic notions function in ethnographic systematization where emic ones should. This paper examines this and other aspects of the emics/etics problem, with particular emphasis on the ostensible function of emic analysis to avoid interpreter imposition of etic categories. It is argued that ethnographic objectivity must acknowledge some degree of imposition but that this does not render emic analysis pointless. Particular emphasis is given to W. V. Quine's idea of the indeterminacy of translation, which seems antithetical to emics but which, with some reconstruction, provides a basis for a viable emic mode.

The effects of consequences on patterns of social interaction: a quasi-experimental approach to reinforcement in natural interaction.

Abstract: Research on social interaction has consistently documented the existence of mutual interdependencies between the behavior of 1 person and reactions to that behavior by others in the social environment. The concept of social reinforcement, although often used to explain acquisition and change in interaction patterns defined by such interdependencies, is difficult to apply to interaction observed in natural settings. On the basis of extended observation of the interaction of 2 mother-child dyads, the procedures needed to assess the effects of naturally occurring consequences on interactional patterns are detailed in this study. Reliable mother action-child reaction patterns were first identified, and the effect of maternal consequences for those patterns on the probability of their subsequent occurrence was assessed. Positive consequences were associated with increases, and negative consequences with decreases, in the probability of a child reacting to the next occurrence of the maternal action when compared to the base-rate probability of that action-reaction pattern. Thus consequences affect momentary shifts around the baseline probability of interactional patterns. Positive consequences were also associated with short-term increases, and negative consequences with short-term decreases, in the base-rate probability of interactional patterns.

Measuring Student's Perceptions of Teaching: Dimensions of Evaluation:

Abstract: Results from application of the SPTE Questionnaire from 2,115 classes were factor analyzed to oblique simple structure. A first-order solution with six factors resulted: 1) Attitude Toward Students...

Experimenting and theorizing in theory formation

Abstract: The BACON system, developed by Langley, Simon and Bradshaw, has shown the utility of a data driven discovery system. A new system, called FAHRENHEIT, has been built which extends BACON, making it more robust and allowing it perform a wider range of discovery activity. The new system extends BACON in several ways: 1) It determines the scope of a law by making simulated experiments, and by searching for regularities that describe the scope boundaries. 2) The world model in which the experiments are performed is more sophisticated. 3) The order in which the data are considered is placed under the control of FAHRENHEIT so that the system continues the discovery process even if no regularity is found for a particular variable.

Cohesion and predication in child narrative.

Abstract: This study traces the development of predicate use for genre and cohesion in the narratives of children aged 2 to 5, examining predicate structures and types and their linkages via three types of parallelism and by means of explicit connectives. After age 2, bivalent (transitive) active verbs were dominant; semantically, verbs of the DO and then GO categories dominated until age 5, when BE verbs ranked second. The dominant type of parallelism was reiteration of grammatical structure alone; reiteration of both predicate structure and lexical content decreased with age. Concerning connectives, 2-year-olds used the smallest number – primarily ‘and’ – while 5-year-olds used the greatest variety. However, by age 5, children used parallelism as the second most common connective device after ‘and’.

Dental caries, enamel composition, and subsistence among prehistoric Amerindians of Ohio.

Abstract: Six populations of prehistoric Amerindians from Ohio are sampled to establish the relationship of enamel composition and dental caries experience. The populations used included groups practicing hunting-gathering-fishing and maize horticulture, and they represent at least two major cultural traditions, the Late Archaic/Glacial Kame (1000-500 BC) and the Fort Ancient and Sandusky Bay Traditions (AD) 1200-1600). Characterization of enamel composition is achieved using scanning electron microscopy energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Thirteen elements present are quantified, and they are analyzed with respect to each population's subsistence base using correspondence analysis. Evaluations of cariogenic and cariostatic effects of elements are made on the basis of caries frequency comparisons among the populations. Results indicate that zinc, copper, iron, nickel, and calcium-phosphorus ratio distinguish populations exhibiting high, moderate, and low caries frequency as well as discriminate hunter-gathers from maize horticulturalists.

Behaviors Used in Peer Tutoring

Abstract: Specific learning behaviors used during peer tutoring and the relationship of those behaviors to the degree of learning achieved were examined. Audiotape recordings of 20 tutoring pairs were analyzed for behaviors exhibited by tutors and tutees. Three stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to determine which behaviors were significantly related to the test scores of the tutor, the tutee, and the total score of the pair, respectively. There was only partial overlap between the most frequently used behaviors and the behaviors found to be predictive of achievement. The possible relationships between the predictive behaviors and learning processes during tutoring are discussed.

On the representations of the full matrix semigroup on homogeneous polynomials

Abstract: Five pipestone specimens from the Wittrock Mill Creek culture site were evaluated by x-ray powder diffraction analysis. While their mineral compositions were very similar to one another, they are not among the varieties of “catlinite” pipestone types occurring at Pipestone National Monument, a commonly assumed source of all pipestone. Pipestone types like the Wittrock specimens were found in outcrop and cores from south central Minnesota.Because several pipestone samples from abandoned river-terrace gravel quarries and gravel bars immediately adjacent to the site produced the same kaolinite-rich quartzose variety of pipestone materials recovered archaeologically, the conclusion is that the Wittrock Village inhabitants obtained pipestone raw materials locally.These results are discussed with respect to resolution of archaeological problems not the least being when prehistoric groups abandoned the use of local source materials in favor of “catlinite” materials now exposed at Pipestone National Monument.

Nature and Provenance of Red Pipestone from the Wittrock Site (130B4), Northwest Iowa

Abstract: Five pipestone specimens from the Wittrock Mill Creek culture site were evaluated by x-ray powder diffraction analysis. While their mineral compositions were very similar to one another, they are not among the varieties of “catlinite” pipestone types occurring at Pipestone National Monument, a commonly assumed source of all pipestone. Pipestone types like the Wittrock specimens were found in outcrop and cores from south central Minnesota.Because several pipestone samples from abandoned river-terrace gravel quarries and gravel bars immediately adjacent to the site produced the same kaolinite-rich quartzose variety of pipestone materials recovered archaeologically, the conclusion is that the Wittrock Village inhabitants obtained pipestone raw materials locally.These results are discussed with respect to resolution of archaeological problems not the least being when prehistoric groups abandoned the use of local source materials in favor of “catlinite” materials now exposed at Pipestone National Monument.

The Public School: A Source of Stress and Alienation Among Female Teachers.

Abstract: Female teachers report greater stress than male teachers, young teachers greater stress than old. A relationship to alienation is not demonstrated.

Designing an electro-impulse de-icing system

Abstract: Basic principles and parameters for a system to deice aircraft with electromagnetic impulses are described. The physical basis for deicing by such impulses is explained, and the requirements involved in the electrodynamic design, structural dynamic design, and system design are discussed. Some manufacturing and testing problems and techniques are described.

Fundamental problems associated with “eigenshape analysis” and similar “factor” analysis procedures

Abstract: Recent advances in image analysis techniques have allowed rapid generation of peripheral points of two-dimensional objects. Such points, defining overall shape of an object, have been analyzed using several techniques including geometric shape analysis, Fourier analysis, and, more recently, by “eigenshape” analysis. The latter technique purports to represent a general, optimal, and universally best technique to analyze shapes of fossils. Such a technique was devised allegedly due to failure of exisiting techniques. We seriously question the validity of the eigenshape technique and discuss limitations of such an approach. Objections presented in this paper are applicable to a variety of other multivariable data reduction techniques as well.

Depth perception in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) and spiny mice (Acomys russatus and A. cahirinus).

Abstract: Depth perception in gerbils and spiny mice was studied with a modified visual cliff which varied the height of a platform from 5.08 cm to 25.4 cm and presented animals with an apparent drop-off to a patterned or a white field. Time to descend from the platform and orienting response frequency were recorded. For gerbils neither measure varied significantly between the platforms. Both Acomys species increased descent time and orienting response frequency as platform height increased. The results suggest that both gerbils and spiny mice can perceive depth, though there appears to be a difference between the species' use of sensory cues in descending from a visual cliff. The spiny mice appear to rely more on visual cues than do the gerbils. The data also reveal subtle behavioral differences between the Acomys species that may relate to their successful sympatry. The results are discussed by alluding to ecological differences between these species in their natural habitats.

MTV: The 24 Hour Commercial

Abstract: The emergence of new communicative technologies generates speculation regarding their probable impact on individuals and society. At one time or another, the telegraph, telephone, radio, and television, have been feared and revered for their inherent capability to alter fundamentally the communicative possibilities of a society. Though proponents and critics offer vastly divergent claims, each shares the belief that there is something intrinsic within the novel technology itself which will create new forms of expression,