Showing papers in "American Journal of Psychology in 1978"

Perceiving, Acting and Knowing : Toward an Ecological Psychology

Abstract: Originally published in 1977, the chapters in this volume derive from a conference on Perceiving, Acting and Knowing held by the Center for Research in Human Learning at the University of Minnesota in 1973. The volume was intended to appeal, not just to the specialist or the novice, but to anyone sufficiently interested in psychology to have obtained a sense of its history at the time. Through these essays the authors express a collective attitude that a careful scrutiny of the fundamental tenets of contemporary psychology may be needed. In some essays specific faults in the foundations of an area are discussed, and suggestions are made for remedying them. In other essays the authors flirt with more radical solutions, namely, beginning from new foundations altogether. Although the authors do not present a monolithic viewpoint, a careful reading of all their essays under one cover reveals a glimpse of a new framework by which theory and research may be guided.

Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

Abstract: Freud approved the overall editorial plan, specific renderings of key words and phrases, and the addition of valuable notes, from bibliographical and explanatory. Many of the translations were done by Strachey himself; the rest were prepared under his supervision. The result was to place the Standard Edition in a position of unquestioned supremacy over all other existing versions. Newly designed in a uniform format, each new paperback in the Standard Edition opens with a biographical essay on Freud's life and work -along with a note on the individual volume-by Peter Gay, Sterling Professor of History at Yale.

Toward a Psychology of Reading

Abstract: Given the postively accelerating growth of knowledge in the information sciences, such as artificial intelligence and linguistics, experimental psychologists have continued to enlarge their laboratories and theoretical domain. Reading-related research and practice is the theme that unifies the diverse and varied contributions to this volume. The book covers topics as diverse as the history of writing, phonological mediation in reading, eye movements in reading, the representation of meaning, and classroom practice and reading curricula. Examples of research questions are: How does higher-order knowledge contribute to perception of letter sequences, is speech recoding necessary for deriving meaning from print, and to what extent does the processing of information in one fixation control the eye movements necessary for the next fixation? On the heels of laboratory research has been the trend to close the gap between it and educational practice. Not only are researchers directing more of their energy to ecologically valid problems, educators are looking to research and theory for a foundation for practice. This book offers some materials and tools to build the bridge between the two areas. There is a large gap to span, however, and even the scaffolding remains to be built. Over a third of the book belongs to Lila Gleitman and Paul Rozin. Their thesis is unambiguous and is developed in a pleasing pedagogical manner. Reading and writing achievement is qualitatively different from speaking and listening. The latter skills are easily learned without encountering formal instruction and practice, whereas too many individuals fail to learn visible language processing skills even after years of schooling. The difference is not a modality difference per se but occurs because "the eye is not biologically adapted to language" (p. 3). In the authors' opinion, learning to read requires "a rather explicit and conscious discovery" of the structure of one's language. The major implication for teaching reading and writing is that the curriculum should mirror the critical events in the historical development of writing. Ideally, learning to read in Grade 1 should recapitulate the evolution of writing. Gleitman and Rozin provide a nice coverage of the history of writing, based primarily on I. U. Gebb's lovely treatment of this topic in A Study of Writing: The foundations ofgrammatology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952). The authors develop the thesis that the development of orthography followed a very systematic evolution. At every stage of development, the number of symbols in the script was decreased with a concomitant increase in the abstractness of the correspondence between meaning and the written symbols. Although the development was often circuitious, one can order the development of writing systems by semasiography (the writing of concepts or meanings), logography (the writing of words or morphemes), and phonography (the writing of sounds) in such systems as syllabaries and alphabets. The authors follow this history with a comprehensive coverage of modern English orthography. They believe that the difficulty in learning to read English is not due to a poor spelling-to-sound system. According to this view, reading 151

Memory processes among bridge players of differing expertise.

Abstract: An experiment was conducted to study the mnemonic and perceptual abilities of contract-bridge players of differing ability levels. Four subjects (expert, life master, average player, and novice) were administered three tasks designed to explore the possible differences in performance between the players. A tournament-simulation task required subjects to play 10 hands, after which a surprise test was given for the cards in each hand of the 10 deals. A memory task required that subjects reconstruct a briefly presented stimulus containing four bridge hands of either structured or unstructured arrangement. The perception task required that the subjects reconstruct stimuli similar to those used in the memory task after brief glances at the stimulus. The results confirm the findings of research on chess players in that performance in the structured components of each task varied uniformly according to level of expertise but that performance in the unstructured component of each task showed little difference in level of expertise. It was argued that bridge players with "supranormal" memory are able to use their prior experience to configure and chunk information in more efficient ways than players of less expertise.

Cognitive psychology and instruction

Abstract: I. Learning.- A Building Block Model of Cognitive Learning.- Cognition and Instruction: Toward a Cognitive Theory of Learning.- Learning by Example.- Notes Toward a Theory of Complex Learning.- II. Comprehension and Information Structure.- Memory Processes and Instruction.- Schema-Directed Processes in Language Comprehension.- Structurally Integrated Versus Structurally Segregated Memory Representations: Implications for the Design of Instructional Materials.- Knowledge Transfer in Learning from Texts.- On Remembering How to Get There: How We Might Want Something Like a Map.- Some Reflections Concerning the Role of Imagery in Memory and Learning Ill.- III. Perceptual and Memory Processes in Reading.- Speech Processes During Reading.- Assessment of Perceptual, Decoding, and Lexical Skills and Their Relation to Reading Proficiency.- A Functional Analysis of Reading Disability: The Utilization of Intraword Redundancy by Good and Poor Readers.- Learning to Read: Visual Cues to Word Recognition.- Studying Individual Differences in Reading.- Memory for On-Going Spoken Discourse.- Precursors of Reading: Pattern Drawing and Picture Comprehension.- Developmental Changes in Hemispheric Processing for Cognitive Skills and the Relationship to Reading Ability.- IV. Problem Solving and Components of Intelligence.- Theoretical Advances of Cognitive Psychology Relevant to Instruction.- Progress Towards a Taxonomy of Strategy Transformations.- Teaching Problem Solving: The Effect of Algorithmic and Heuristic Problem-Solving Training in Relation to Task Complexity and Relevant Aptitudes.- Componential Investigations of Human Intelligence.- Eye Fixation and Strategy Analyses of Individual Differences in Cognitive Aptitudes.- Hypothesis Testing Strategies and Instruction.- The Characteristic Demands of Intellectual Problems.- Mental Arithmetic: Short-Term Storage and Information Processing in a Cognitive Skill.- Cognitive Styles and Differential Learning Capacities in Paired-Associate Learning.- V. Cognitive Development.- Development of Cognitive Skills.- The Influence of Environmental Structure on Cognitive Development During Adolescence: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Testing.- Cognition, Instruction, Development, and Individual Differences.- On the Meaning of Nonconservation.- Children's Understanding of Measurement.- Teaching Strategies and Conservation Training.- Imagery and Children's Associative Learning.- VI. Approaches to Instruction.- Implications of Developmental Psychology for the Design of Effective Instruction.- On the Reciprocal Relationship Between Previous Experience and Processing in Determining Learning Outcomes.- Cognitive Research Applied to Literacy Training.- Some Directions for a Cognitive Psychology of Instruction.

Perceived numerosity, item arrangement, and expectancy.

Abstract: Ten sets of dots ranging in number from 7 to 91 per set were presented to 54 subjects. Half were arranged regularly and half randomly. The regular sets were overestimated by an average of 22%, while the random were underestimated by 16% compared with the physical number. Evidence was presented showing that subjects expect results in the opposite direction. The findings are discussed in relation to the expectancy-contrast model of Birnbaum and Veit.

Open-Field Behaviors Elicited by Reward Reduction

Abstract: In two experiments rats were placed in an open field for 5 min. per day under three conditions: habituation (4 days); preshift (10 days), in which half of the rats were given access to a 32% sucrose solution and half to a 4% sucrose solution; and postshift (4 days), in which all rats were given 4% sucrose. In addition to lick-rate, data were obtained on the frequencies with which the rats engaged in seven behavioral categories. Shift in sucrose led to a negative contrast effect in lick-rate, and the time previously spent in licking was occupied by increased ambulation, rearing, and, to a lesser extent, stationary behaviors. In Experiment II, novel sources of 4% sucrose were introduced concomitant with the shift. Both shifted and unshifted rats promptly sampled the novel tubes, but the shifted rats tended to engage in less sampling behavior than the unshifted rats.

A theoretical reconciliation of competing views of time perception.

Abstract: The time-perception literature is oriented around two opposing traditions, one of which, set forth by Ornstein in 1970, views time estimation as linearly and positively related to stimulus complexity, while the other, as published by Priestly in 1968, sees time as essentially linearly but negatively associated with the experiential complexity with which given intervals are filled. However, careful reading of the literature suggests that, contrary to the Ornstein and Priestly models, a linear correlation between stimulus complexity and time perception should not be expected to fully describe the range of possible relationships. What researchers appear to have ignored is the interrelated impact on time perception of the widely reported inverted-U effects of stimulus complexity and the conceptually related dimension of extroversion. With these latter considerations, comparative time perception thus becomes not a linear but rather a curvilinear, U-shaped function of both personality and stimulus complexity dimensions. The conceptual reconciliation growing out of the present literature review thus offers an explanation for previously reported empirical inconsistencies and suggests the redirection of future comparative time perception research.

Effects of orienting tasks on recognition of chess positions.

Abstract: Two experiments using a levels-of-processing paradigm were performed to demonstrate the existence and usefulness of a semantic component in chess knowledge. Experiment I compared forced-choice recognition of chess positions after a structural task (piece counting) as opposed to a semantic task (choosing a move). Recognition accuracy, confidence, and familiarity ratings all showed a facilitation effect in the semantic condition. By including an orienting task that did not encourage semantic processing but still allowed pattern-matching operations to occur (copying a board), Experiment II demonstrated that this task effect was a genuine enhancement of memory due to meaningful processing. One again, the processing of meaningful relations in the semantic task (positional evaluation) produced a higher level of recognition performance than did the more structural processing. These results suggest that aspects of meaning have some input into the processes that generate the memory representation of a chess position.

Accuracy of extrapolating a pointer into perceived and imagined space.

Abstract: The authors investigated the ability of people to extrapolate lines in tridimensional space: an experimenter pointed at variously located targets, and the subjects tried to identify them. In an experimental condition, the subjects sat with their backs turned to the target objects, which they had previously inspected during a brief learning period; in two control conditions the targets were in front of the subjects and clearly visible. Overall error (difference in degrees of pointer angle between correct and judged targets) was no worse for objects imagined behind the head than for visible targets, about 2.7 degrees (root-mean-square) in both cases. Variable error was 29% greater for the imagined objects, but constant error was greater on the matched control targets. Some qualitative differences, in constant error patterns, were also found. With due allowance for these differences, the results strongly indicate that imagined space is functionally continuous with perceived space in the representational system.

Distractors in recall, distractor-free recognition, and the word-frequency effect.

Abstract: Two experiments investigated word-frequency effects with modified recall and recognition testing conditions. The procedural modifications included introducing partial copy cues and including irrelevant partial copy cues (distractor cues) in recall, and eliminating distractors from recognition tests. In every comparison, words with high background frequency were better recalled than low-frequency words, and low-frequency words were better recognized than high-frequency words.

Resistance of the Spacing Effect to Variations in Encoding

Abstract: Orienting tasks were employed in two experiments to examine the encoding variability explanation of the spacing effect. Subjects were presented word lists that included items that were repeated with either no items or five items intervening between presentations. In addition, the orienting task required was the same or different on the two presentations. According to the encoding-variability hypothesis, the orienting tasks should tend to override the usual effect of spacing of repetitions by encouraging or discouraging variable encoding. However, free recall of the lists revealed significantly better performance with spaced repetitions, independent of the orienting tasks, thus disconfirming the hypothesis.

Pronounceability and Statistical "Englishness" as Determinants of Letter Identification

Abstract: The statistical "Englishness" of letter strings, assessed by a measure based on letter-cluster frequencies, exerts a significant effect on report accuracy, independent of string pronounceability, despite previous suggestions to the contrary. This claim is supported by an experiment on tachistoscopic recognition of a set of nonword strings for which rated pronounceability and "Englishness" vary orthogonally. Implications for a theory of word recognition are discussed.

Properties of Categories in Semantic Memory.

Abstract: Properties of categories were investigated by analyzing 22 measures of the 56 categories used in the 1969 Battig and Montague norms A factor analysis of the data indicated that categories in semantic memory possess at least four factors that may affect the use and comprehension of categories These factors were tentatively interpreted as reflecting the properties of category familiarity, category size, category-label printed frequency, and a category's semantic complexity Additionally, the correlation matrix and the factorpattern matrix allow many insights into other semantic properties, such as meaningfullness, abstract-concreteness, and homographic characteristics of category labels

Science and Psychology.

Abstract: Psychologists have devoted a great deal of time and energy attempting to make their discipline a rigorous science. It is argued that this endeavor has been both unsuccessful and misguided. A careful examination of the history and current status of psychology shows that it has only a shaky grasp on the most prized characteristics of science. More important, an overidentification with science has led to the use of conceptual frameworks and methodologies that are inappropriate and inadequate for dealing with the subject matter of psychology. The subject matter of psychology places it at the intersection of the sciences and the humanities; it is urged that modes of inquiry be adjusted accordingly. The focus should be on the exploration of significant aspects of thought, behavior, and experience, rather than on allegiance to the scientific method.

Directional effects of size change on the comparison of visual shapes.

Abstract: Recent studies have investigated the effect of an irrelevant size change on reaction time in tasks involving comparison of same or different shapes. In most cases, however, studies have examined simultaneous presentation or else successive presentation where the second stimulus was always larger than the first. In the present study, subjects made same-different shape judgments on successively presented closed geometric forms, where the second form was smaller than, larger than, or the same size as the first. Comparison reaction times were observed to increase with increasing size difference regardless of the direction of size change (i.e., when the second figure was either larger or smaller than the first). In addition, the effects of size change were identical for both "same" and "different" responses. These findings were seen to support an analog normalization process in which subjects mentally equate the figures for size before comparing their shapes. The relation of these results to previous data is discussed.

Decision-Making with Risk and Uncertainty: The Case of Horse Racing

Abstract: Gambling provides valuable data for understanding human decisionmaking under conditions of risk and uncertainty. When decisions depend on elements of risk and uncertainty it is crucial to learn how they influence choice, for otherwise we will continue to misinterpret or at best inadequately evaluate the decision-making process. Horse racing offers a complete and accurately documented example of this type of human behavior. Writing in this JOURNAL, Griffith (1949) and McGlothlin (1956) demonstrated that horse-race betting is "biased," i.e., the amount wagered on favorites is less than proportionate to their real winning chances while the opposite is true for horses with smaller chances of winning. Or, said differently, the ex ante subjective probabilities assigned by bettors to the favorites are less than the ex post objective winning probabilities, and the opposite is true for the other horses where subjective probabilities exceed objective probabilities. Subsequently, several nonpsychologists reconfirmed the bettor bias (Fabricand, 1965; Weitzman, 1965; Seligman, 1975; and Mukhtar, 1977). The analyses of bettor bias have focused uniquely on the public's betting behavior. However, like other professional sports, horse racing has its experts who aspire to outperform the public's predictions

Feature frequency and the acquisition of natural concepts.

Abstract: Subjects were presented with 100 schematic faces that conformed to a particular frequency distribution of features and then were asked to make typicality judgments. Method of acquisition varied across the six conditions tested. Both absolute ratings and paired comparisons of typicality revealed a linear relationship between summed feature frequency and degree of category membership. The relationship was invariant across sequential and paired presentation of training faces as well as instructions to organize the concept. Subjects required to make typicality judgments during acquisition displayed a weak relationship between frequency and category organization unless they were given feedback after each judgment. The results support a feature-frequency interpretation of natural concept learning.

Identification of words and letters within words.

Abstract: Three experiments were designed to examine the way letters are identified when they are presented within the context of a word. The first two experiments demonstrated that identification speed is facilitated if the within-word letter position of the target location. If the locational information is specified before the word is displayed (e.g., it is always the first letter), but if the locational information is presented along with the display (e.g., the target position is underlined) reaction time is considerably slower. A model of the identification process was described which assumed that subjects first identify the word, then analyze the contents of all the letter positions in order to encode each letter. Finally, the identification can occur when subjects shift their attention to the target location. If the locational information is given before the display, the attention shift can occur as the letter positions are being analyzed and encoded, but the shift must be delayed until after the analysis if the locational information is part of the display. An implication of the model is that prior to identifying the contents of the target position, the subject should always have an encoding of all the letters in the word, and the results of the third experiment supported that expectation.