Showing papers in "American Journal of Psychology in 1964"

Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences

Abstract: MMSS is an adjunct major and must be completed with a standalone major in a social science or other approved area. See the Mathematics Second Major or Minor for MMSS Students (https:// catalogs.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/arts-sciences/mathematics/ mathematics-second-major-minor-mmss-students) for information about the major or the minor in mathematics when combined with the MMSS adjunct major; see the program website (https:// www.mmss.northwestern.edu/undergraduate) and relevant sections of this Catalog for information on adjustments to requirements in other majors for students in MMSS.

Semantic power measured through the interference of words with color-naming.

Abstract: Show the words 'red,' 'green,' 'yellow,' and 'blue,' printed in colored inks but in incongruent combinations of color and word, e.g. the word 'red' printed in the color yellow, the word 'yellow' in the color blue, and so on. The Ss are to name the colors (of the inks) as quickly as possible, ignoring the words. It is not easy to do. Invariably, the colors are harder to name than when they are shown in simple strips uncomplicated by words. The phenomenon was noticed by Jaensch, and was first reported in this country by Stroop.1 To say that the word interferes with the naming of the color is a fair reflection of the S's experience. Volume of voice goes up; reading falters; now and then the words break through abortively; and there are embarrassed giggles. These and other signs of strain and effort are common. The sources of the word's power to interfere with color-naming and the events involved in the interference itself have not received much attention,

Verbal cues, language, and meaning in selective attention.

Abstract: In 1953, Cherry did a series of experiments requiring a selective response to one of two verbal messages presented either binaurally or dichotically.1 While the irrelevant message caused negligible interference with the repeating back or 'shadowing' in the dichotic condition, it made selection extremely difficult when both messages were presented binaurally, at equal intensities and in the same voice. The Ss needed many attempts at the same message and pieced it together only gradually, making errors and transpositions which were influenced by the probability-structure of English. They did eventually, however, succeed in separating out one of the two messages when these were normal prose, but failed when presented with strings of cliches with transitional probabilities which were high within phrases but fell to zero between them. This performance seems qualitatively different from that in the dichotic condition, and may not involve selective attention at all. The Ss might have heard both messages and retrospectively put together what made sense (in fact they did much better if allowed to write), whereas in the dichotic condition they succeeded on the first trial and could report none of the verbal content of the irrelevant message, nor even that in one case it changed to a foreign language. Broadbent put forward a general theory of selective attention which accounts for the finding with dichotic presentation by postulating a filter which selects signals arriving on one of two or more input channels and rejects others before they are fully analyzed.2 The aim of the present experiment was to investigate selective attention when it depends solely on the identification of verbal or linguistic features, using a task where the messages are presented only once and require an immediate and continuous response. In more detail, it was hoped:

Creativity and intelligence : explorations with gifted students

Abstract: From time to time new insights into the nature of man bring increased atten tion to man's greatness, his potential for newness, his capacity for production, his quest for the unusual and the original, and his intriguing disposition toward an interplay of the serious and the playful. Recently the area of creativity, a term that has been defined in a variety of ways, has received rather widespread interest. Possibly this emphasis results because inquiry into the many dimen sions of the creative process now reveals facets of man's being to which in adequate attention has been given. Among the individuals who have been involved in research on creativity are Jacob W. Getzels and Philip W. Jackson, educational psychologists at the Univer sity of Chicago, and E. Paul Torrance, Director of the Bureau of Educational Research at the University of Minnesota. Undoubtedly the research findings of these three scholars are among recent major contributions to the field. Hence, to have accounts of their work readily available is a real boon. Creativity and Intelligence: Explora tions with Gifted Students, by Getzels and Jackson, and Guiding Creative Talent, by Torrance, contain several common elements. The next part of this discussion deals with a few of these parallels, followed by brief summaries of the separate books and suggested uses of the works. What are the common elements in the books? First, the three authors are con cerned about the inadequacy of the pres ent IQ tests in assessing the many dimen sions of man's higher mental processes. More specifically, the writers indicate that processes or traits related to creative thinking are not measured by the tradi tional intelligence tests. These research ers, therefore, sensing the need for the development and refining of tests de signed to measure creative thinking, have made important strides in pushing back the boundaries in an area which has highly significant implications. Second, a large percentage of the re search reported by Getzels and Jackson, and that by Torrance, involved schoolaged children and youth. Getzels and Jackson report one study in detail; Tor rance uses his work and the research studies of others as a basis for recom mendations regarding the assessing and guiding of creative ability. Third, the three authors indicate a wide knowledge about previous research and theory in the area of creativity. They

The verbal-loop hypothesis: conventional figures.

Abstract: A question of continuing practical and theoretical interest is the following: "What makes one stimulus simple, well-organized, easy to handle, while another stimulus is complex, poorly-organized, difficult to handle ?" The verbal-loop hypothesis answers this question by making a specific and simple assertion concerning the S's use of language and then by spelling out the implications of that assertion.' The answer differs markedly from the answers given by gestalt and information-theory approaches to perceptual organization.

Inkblot perception and personality : Holtzman inkblot technique

Abstract: This book reports in detail the administration, scoring, and standardization of a new ink-blot technique devised by Holtzman. Since it contains many of the solutions to problems encountered when one tries to treat Rorschach scores psychometrically, it represents a new era in the use of projective test for research purposes. One of the greatest difficulties in applying an actuarial approach to the Rorschach is the response variability and the complex relationship between individual scores and total number of responses. In this new technique, response number is kept constant, with relatively little sacrifice to the richness of the projective material, by increasing the number of ink blots to 45 and limiting the subject to one response per card.

Spatial localization by the blind.

Abstract: This research is concerned with the ability of blind people to orientate themselves within, and to localize aspects of, their spatial environment. Since vision, the most accurate kind of spatial information, is not available to the blind, they must base their localization-judgments upon information which is relatively less reliable. Nevertheless, the ability of blind people to perceive objects often appears quite uncanny to the sighted observer and it has variously been supposed that they have either developed their remaining senses to a higher degree of acuity than sighted people or have developed an extra sense of some kind with which they are able to localize stimuli in space.1 After vision, the most important of the spatial senses are tactile-kinesthesis (hereafter referred to as 'tactile') and audition.

The relation between introversion and salivation.

Abstract: The neurophysiological correlate of high levels of activation has been considered to be a state of high cortical facilitation.' On the basis of this hypothesis, it is reasonable to expect that the output from an effector of a highly aroused organism would be greater than that of a lesser aroused organism, when both are equally stimulated. It has been suggested by the writer2 that the personality dimension introversion-extraversion, as measured by Heron's scale,3 is related to degree of arousal. If introverts are in general more highly aroused than extraverts, then, assuming that arousal is synonymous with a state of high cortical facilitation, it follows that the output of an effector of an introvert should be greater than that if an extravert when both are equally stimulated. Thus, a few drops of lemon juice applied to the tongue of an introvert should, in a given interval of time, produce a greater output of saliva than from an extravert. Introverts should also be more susceptible to painful stimuli and less susceptible to sensory deprivation-both of which have recently been demonstrated.4