Showing papers in "British Journal of Psychology in 1969"

Regression in reasoning

Abstract: This investigation is concerned with the effects of two kinds of contradiction on the correction of errors in a structurally simple but deceptively difficult logical problem. The task was to choose from partially concealed material those stimuli which were necessary to evaluate the truth or falsity of a general statement. Hypothetical contradiction is assumed to occur when the subject makes an inference which is inconsistent with a previous incorrect choice. Concrete contradiction is assumed to occur when the subject's current choice is shown to be inconsistent with the fully revealed material. Of the 32 subjects, two were substantially correct in their initial choices, 14 were correct after encountering two hypothetical contradictions, 12 were correct after encountering a concrete contradiction, and four failed altogether. The results suggest either that Piaget's theory of ‘formal operations’ requires modification, or that some of the subjects may have temporarily regressed to more primitive modes of thinking.

Five rated characteristics of 650 word association stimuli

Abstract: Ratings are presented for 650 stimuli from word-association lists on each of five scales: good—bad, pleasant—unpleasant, emotional—neutral, concrete—abstract, and easy to associate to—difficult to associate to. The ratings are shown to be highly reliable, and to agree well with previously collected norms of a similar character. The intercorrelations of the five scales with one another and with word frequency are reported.

The consistency of gaze patterns in social interaction.

Abstract: Previous work on gaze direction, in social interaction, is reviewed and suggestions made for further work: (1) study a larger range of gaze and action measures than mutual gaze (eye contact), (2) study subjects' gaze and action patterns over a number of interactions to find how consistent they are, (3) examine the effect of one subject's gaze and action patterns on the gaze and action patterns of the other subject, (4) examine the effect of one subject's gaze and action patterns on the way the other subject perceives him. Sex and personality differences are also studied. An experiment is performed in which 11 subjects interact with each of four other subjects. The subjects have consistent gaze and action patterns, although the person they are interacting with does have some effect. The data on the intercorrelation of the subject's gaze and action patterns show the amount the subject looks, and the length and frequency of his gazes, while speaking and listening, and while meeting the other's gaze, are all related. The correlation data, and the data on the relation of one subject's gaze and action patterns to those of the other subject, contain some complex relations that are interpreted as being concerned with the ‘smoothness’ of the encounter. The data on the perception of gaze patterns show that subjects who look in long gazes are liked more than subjects who look in short frequent gazes. Sex and personality differences are found, but they are not very clear-cut. Suggestions are made for further research to clarify the interrelations of the two subjects' gaze and action patterns.

Categories of interference: verbal mediation and conflict in card sorting.

Abstract: When subjects sort cards by the number of symbols on the cards, the nature of the symbols interferes with the sorting in ways which are similar to those shown by Klein (1964) using a variant of the Stroop test. When the symbols have names, such as letters and words, there is a decrement in performance; when the symbols are digits the decrement is increased. These and related results form the basis of a functional model in which different types of interference between stimuli can be enumerated, and those operating in the sorting task isolated. The features of the final model are: (1) sorting proceeds via a verbal mediation; (2) the process of recognition of familiar named symbols is autonomous and results in the availability of the name of the symbol; (3) this name enters the same store as the mediating response and so can delay it; (4) in the present range of tasks there is no interference prior to the availability of the symbol name; (5) learning to reduce interference does result in a change prior to this stage; (6) the interference effects are analogous to word recognition phenomena.

Handedness in musicians

Abstract: An inquiry by means of a questionnaire which included a ‘handedness inventory’ was made into the prevalence of left-handedness among musicians, and the difficulties, if any, which lefthanders experienced in acquiring executant skills. It was found that left-handedness is neither less nor more common in the group of musicians studied than in a population of psychology undergraduates, and that left-handedness did not in general occasion any special difficulty. The left-handers adapted successfully to the ‘right-handedness’ of their instruments, the only substantial connexion in which left-handed practices were retained being in conducting. It is suggested on the basis of these findings that ‘right-handedness’ is less a matter of superior inherent ‘dexterity’ or the capacity for agility, precision and speed in the right hand than of closer, more immediate, availability of the right hand as the instrument of the individual's conceptions and intentions. It is further suggested that the especial function of the dominant cerebral hemisphere is to mediate between the executive intentions of the individual and his physical means of expressing them, whether through manual or vocal channels.

An achievement motivation questionnaire

Abstract: A questionnaire for the measurement of McClelland's concept of achievement motivation is presented. The scale was derived by factor analysis and shows that most of the components of achievement motivation are loaded on a single factor. Norms for several groups are given. Three criterion groups of successful people scored significantly highly on the scale, namely entrepreneurs, professors and managers. The scale is uncorrelated with neuroticism or extraversion, or with any of Cattell's 16 personality factors with the exception of superego strength and surgency.

The influence of age and temperament on the adult human sleep-wakefulness pattern.

Abstract: Over 600 adult subjects (aged 20–79) were asked to keep a day-by-day record of their hours of sleep on sleep charts for a period of 56 days. When completed the charts gave details of the duration of sleep, the times of falling asleep and awakening, the number and duration of nocturnal disturbances of sleep and the number and duration of mid-day naps. A sample of 240 subjects (20 males and 20 females in each decade from the 20s to the 70s inclusive) was made consisting only of people who recorded for 50 or more days. These subjects were matched, as far as possible, in terms of neuroticism, temperament and intelligence. It was found that although the average amount of sleep taken per day declined slightly from the 20s to the 50s, there was an increase in the 60s. This was partly due to an increase in the number of mid-day naps taken. The extraverts slept longer than the introverts. The incidence of nocturnal disturbances increased with advancing age, especially in females. These and other findings are discussed and it is suggested that in later years, when social and occupational pressures are reduced, there is a tendency for a polycyclic sleep—wakefulness pattern to reappear.

Extraversion-introversion and the EEG.

Abstract: Studies relating measures of the EEG to extraversion—introversion are reviewed and criteria set up for their evaluation. A new measure of mean dominant frequency is proposed. Extravert and introvert EEGs are compared, firstly across the whole frequency range (with eyes closed) and secondly across theta, alpha and beta ranges under alternating conditions of eyes closed/eyes open. With the eyes closed, the extravert EEG is higher in integrated output than the introvert EEG across the whole measured range, the differences in output being greater in the lower alpha range. Such differences in alpha are not so readily apparent with eyes closed when recording with a gross filter which fails to discriminate among within-alpha frequencies. However, with eyes open, and given monotonous visual stimulation, even a gross filter shows differential output. Prolonged recording also reveals differences in theta and beta these differences are stronger when the eyes are shut.

Signal probability and vigilance: a reappraisal of the 'signal-rate' effect.

Abstract: Performance on a 40 min. visual task was studied as a function of signal probability. A separate group was tested at each of five levels of signal probability (0·02, 0·06, 0·18, 0·24 and 0·36). Percent detections increased with signal probability. This increase was accompanied by a rise in the false report rate, and analysis in terms of signal detection theory suggested that signal probability affects the subject's criterion (β) rather than his ability to discriminate (d′).

Subjective estimates of sleep: an eeg evaluation

Abstract: Although there has been a considerable amount of research into sleep using either subjective estimates or objective (EEG) estimates, there has been no attempt to validate the accuracy of subjective estimates of sleep. The present study investigates the relation between subjective estimates of total sleep time, delay to sleep onset and the number of awakenings in eight normal subjects over 116 subject-nights. They were studied before taking drugs, during drug administration and in withdrawal. It was found that they underestimated total sleep time but overestimated the delay to sleep onset and the number of awakenings. There was a significant withdrawal effect. The implications of this withdrawal effect are discussed in relation to the design of hypnotic drug trials. The reliability of norms for sleep are also discussed.

Some variables affecting the vividness of imagery in recall

Abstract: Several variables were studied as they relate to vividness of imagery in recall. Thirty-two subjects, pre-selected for high and low imagery, worked with two types of block designs. With one type they were repeatedly asked either to summon up visual images and copy them, or else to recall the designs with the aid of imagery and other resources of memory. The results showed no differences in accuracy between the two groups of subjects, but the better recalled designs were generally described as being accompanied by more vivid imagery. Reported vividness (but not accuracy) increased after an introspective inquiry. There was a small experimenter effect. The second type of design was presented under incidental learning conditions. The images reported in the subsequent (unexpected) recall were much more vivid than those in the remainder of the experiment. These findings point to the effects of procedural variables on vividness of imagery, and suggest that imagery may play a special role in the recall of incidentally presented material.

Skin conductance changes and word recall.

Abstract: An experiment was carried out to test the hypothesis that size of phasic conductance response to an item is related positively to later recall of that item. Results confirmed the hypothesis with the additional finding that the positive relation increases with increasing delay in recall. Some attempt is made to explain the findings in terms of a simple memory process.

Induced arousal and time of recall as determinants of paired‐associate recall

Abstract: High arousal at the time of verbal learning has previously been shown to result in impaired immediate recall and facilitated delayed recall, while low arousal results in the reverse effect. The present experiments, one involving incidental and the other intentional learning, were designed to see whether or not this phenomenon could be brought under experimental control when arousal was manipulated, independent of the learning material, by means of white noise presented at 85 db. Skin-resistance recordings showed that white noise was effective in inducing arousal. There was a significant interaction between recall interval and arousal, in both types of learning, in the direction predicted by the theory of perseverative consolidation.

Reliability and factorial validity of the Wallach-Kogan creativity tests.

Abstract: The Wallach-Kogan tests of ‘creativity’ and the Primary Mental Abilities test were administered to 207 university students. The creativity tests were scored for originality, and KR20 reliabilities calculated. Intercorrelations among the five creativity tests were also calculated and compared with those among the six ‘intelligence’ tests. Results indicated that the Wallach-Kogan tests were highly reliable, clustered strongly among themselves, and correlated poorly with the intelligence tests. A factor analysis indicated the existence of large loadings of creativity tests on the intelligence factor, and of intelligence tests on the creativity factor.

Age and intelligence differences in coding and retrieval of word lists

Abstract: Word lists of several orders of approximation to English were presented for immediate free recall to young and old adult subjects. The total recall scores were broken down into ‘number of chunks recalled’ and ‘number of words per chunk’. The ‘chunks recalled’ measure is taken here to reflect retrieval efficiency: scores were lower in older subjects but were unaffected by Mill Hill Vocabulary level. The ‘words per chunk’ score is interpreted as a measure of coding efficiency: age had no effect on this measure, but scores were poorer for subjects of lower vocabulary level. The conclusion drawn from a previous study that there is an age decrement in coding efficiency was thus not supported by this analysis. It was concluded, rather, that the main effect of age is on retrieval, while coding is affected by verbal intelligence.

Short-term memory and the limited capacity hypothesis.

Abstract: Murdock has shown that the immediate free recall of a list of words is adversely affected by a concurrent card-sorting task, with degree of impairment increasing with the number of sorting alternatives. He interprets this in terms of a limited capacity STM mechanism. The present study repeats Murdock's study with the addition of an STM control, a condition in which recall was delayed for 30 sec. by a rehearsal-preventing task. Card-sorting load influenced the long-term component (measured by delayed recall), but not the short-term component (measured by subtracting delayed from immediate recall). It is suggested that the limited capacity system affects input into LTM rather than STM.

Visual and speech imagery.

Abstract: Undergraduate subjects processed the alphabet in one of three conditions: Visual Imagery (VI), in which subjects were instructed to visualize letters appearing one at a time, as on a movie screen; Speech Imagery (SI) in which subjects were instructed to say letters implicitly or silently; and a control condition Speech Explicit (SE) in which letters were said aloud. Conditions SE and SI produced virtually identical processing times (about 6·5 letters/sec.) while VI was much slower (about 2·5 letters/sec.). No consistent practice effects were observed over trials. In addition, each subject subjectively localized (in his head) the origin of the letter processing. Some notable differences were obtained, with the VI group indicating a more frontal localization than the others. It is suggested that imagery may follow different laws in different modalities.

Effects of imaging on signal‐to‐noise ratio, with varying signal conditions

Abstract: Perky's finding, that an observer confuses his internal imagery with a normally supraliminal stimulus, has been reinterpreted in signal detection language. Two experiments compared a task where the subject was asked concurrently to image items and discriminate signals from noise to a task where the subject only discriminated signals. The subject's criterion was slightly higher in the imaging task and sensitivity (d′) was significantly lower, whether the imaging task was given before or after the discrimination task. As d′ measures signal-to-noise ratio, it was suggested that imaging alters d′ because it is a source of neural activity. This activity can be conceptualized as internal noise or as another signal. For some subjects, stimuli were gradually brightened; for others, they were presented briefly at full brightness. Mode of onset did not affect d′, rather d′ depended on brightness summed over time.

Social facilitation of locomotion and exploration in rats

Abstract: Male white rats engaged in more locomotion and less defaecation and freezing in an open field when in the company of another male rat than when alone. They also exhibited proportionally more sniffling and less tooth grinding and chattering when in the same square of the aparatus as their partners than when in different squares. It was concluded that the presence of a second rat somehow reduced the aversive nature of the experimental environment.

Perceptual-motor behaviour in infancy as a function of age and stimulus familiarity.

Abstract: Changes in visual and manipulative responses to repeated presentations of a stimulus object were studied in 6- and 12-month-old infants. It was found that the two groups resembled one another with regard to the perceptual measures, indicating that the younger group was as competent as the older in differentiating on the basis of familiarity. Manipulative latency, on the other hand, yielded a different picture, for whereas the older infants behaved differentially in this respect too in relation to the familiarity dimension, the younger infants showed immediate approach responses indiscriminately throughout the series of trials. A period of development extending into the second half-year is thus indicated when approach–avoidance behaviour is as yet not guided by the ability perceptually to discriminate strange and familiar stimuli.

Varied auditory stimulation, temperament differences and vigilance performance.

Abstract: Three experiments are described which investigate the effects of varied auditory stimulation (VAS) on the visual vigilance performance of relatively introverted and relatively extraverted subjects and the preferences of these two groups for such stimulation. In Expt. I, 80 db VAS was found to be associated with a significantly lower commission error rate than was 50 db steady noise, but only in the case of the more extraverted subjects. VAS had no effect upon the detection rate, possibly because the task was too insensitive. In Expt. I1 a preference for VAS was found to a significantly greater extent among more extraverted subjects, while in Expt. I11 a preference for silence was found to a significantly greater extent among more introverted subjects. In a previous study, Davies & Hockey (1966) found that the facilitating effect of high intensity white noise on visual vigilance performance was significantly greater for extraverts than for introverts ; the Maudsley Personality Inventory or MPI (Eysenck, 1959) was used as a criterion of extraversion. This finding was interpreted in terms of differential levels of arousal, extraverts being thought of as chronically less highly aroused than introverts (Broadbent, 1963; Corcoran, 1965). There is evidence which suggests that, with increasing arousal, performance improves up to an optimal point and thereafter declines (Duffy, 1957, 1962; Malmo, 1959). Since noise is generally considered to raise the level of arousal (Broadbent, 1963; Davies, 1968), it was argued that the performance of subjects who enter the task situation at a low level of arousal should improve in noise to a greater extent than that of subjects who commence work at comparatively high arousal levels. It is reasonable to suppose that varied auditory stimulation (VAS) would exert similar effects on performance to those of intense white noise, since an increase in stimulus variety as well as in stimulus intensity can be thought of as arousing (Berlyne, 1960; Hebb, 1955). The first experiment to be described was designed to examine this possibility. Expt. I of the present study investigated the effects of VAS upon indices of vigilance performance, and sought to provide some evidence of the contribution of temperament differences to such effects. Expts. I1 and I11 were intended to examine the function of VAS for different temperament groups, and in particular to determine whether extraverts and introverts would differ systematically in their utilization of VAS when it was optionally available.

Towards a new explanation for the geometrical illusions. I. The properties of contours which induce illusory distortion.

Abstract: This is the first of a series of papers describing the development of a new theoretical account of illusions. The theory invokes the distorting influence exerted by one set of spatial contours upon another. A general case of this effect gives rise to a gradient of apparent distortion in a column of horizontal lines bounded by sets of vertical bars. The magnitude of this gradient is measured in three conditions. The results show that the extent of distortion is influenced directly by inter-contour distance, by the dimensions of the contours which induce the illusion and by their contrast with the background display. It is suggested that failure to control these properties of the patterns used to study illusions may be responsible for considerable variation obtained in the results of previous experiments.

Patterns of rehearsal in immediate memory

Abstract: Ten subjects watched series of eight digits and attempted to recall each series immediately after they had been presented. They were also required to rehearse aloud while the digits were being presented. Recordings from a throat microphone permitted accurate measurement of the timing of rehearsal. Six subjects rehearsed cumulatively, repeating all previous digits each time a new one appeared, at least up until presentation of the sixth. The other four subjects simply called out each digit one at a time in rehearsal; three of these subjects appeared to ‘group’ the digits. These rehearsal strategies are discussed, particularly in relation to serial position effects and to the serial ordering of recall.

Concept—scale interaction in the semantic differential and its implications for factor scores

Abstract: The lack of information on the extent of the concept–scale interaction effect in semantic differentials is pointed out. Some evidence is presented to show the extent of this effect within one concept class and its implications for factor-scoring procedures are discussed. A scoring method is suggested which overcomes the difficulties inherent in the factor-scoring methods generally used.

Paired comparison scaling of brightness judgements: a method for the measurement of perceptual defence.

Abstract: Thirty-two subjects made paired comparison judgements of the relative brightness of stimuli presented 0·1 log ft.-l. below recognition threshold. All stimuli were objectively equal in brightness. Half the subjects made judgements under conditions of simultaneous presentation and half under conditions of successive presentation. The stimuli had previously been scaled for ‘emotionality’ by a sample of subjects drawn from the same population as the subjects who made perceptual judgements. A scale of apparent brightness was derived from the data obtained under the successive condition but the data from the simultaneous condition were not scaleable. The scale for the successive condition was significantly correlated with the ‘emotionality’ scale. These results support an arousal interpretation of perceptual defence and indicate that where appropriate techniques are employed it is possible to measure the perceptual component of perceptual defence. The method described would seem potentially powerful for further investigations in this and related areas.

The Gibson Spiral Maze test: retest data in relation to behavioural disturbance, personality and physical measures.

Abstract: The Gibson Spiral Maze was re-administered to 202 schoolboys approximately 3 yr. after a first test at the age of 8+ yr. The results were examined with respect to: (i) test—retest relationships, (ii) discrimination of disturbed and delinquent individuals by a new system of score interpretation, (iii) the relationship between personal tempo and personality as shown on the New Junior Maudsley Inventory, (iv) arm development related to speed. Scores at the two age levels were significantly related, and the new system of score interpretation was shown to be valid. Predictions by Eysenck about psychomotor performance and personality were supported, but some of the speed variance could be attributed to physical development of the arm.

Reasoning with ambiguous sentences

Abstract: Eight inferences with quantified sentences were judged as valid or invalid. Each inference involved an active and its correlative passive sentence, e.g. ‘Some medicine cures every disease. Therefore: Every disease is cured by some medicine.’ There were four logically distinct pairs of sentences, and each pair was presented twice: once as an inference from active to passive, and once as the converse inference from passive to active. As predicted, what was crucial in evaluating these inferences was not voice but the position of ‘some’. An inference from a premise with ‘some’ in the grammatical subject to a conclusion with ‘some’ in the grammatical object tended to be judged as valid, whereas an inference in the converse direction tended to be judged as invalid. The results of an earlier study of the ambiguity of the sentences provided a good estimate of performance in the present inferential task.

Coding and cognitive behaviour

Abstract: The concept of coding is used to construct a model of cognitive behaviour: particular attention is paid to the potential usefulness of the model in the applied field. Two major meta-rule systems, the receptivity and economy programs, and a finite processing space, are postulated. A flow diagram outlining some important stages in information processing, and their general sequence, is presented. It is argued that the model may account for both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated behaviour and for the fact that the former is usually of a higher quality and complexity than the latter. Some implications of the model are discussed: in particular, its relevance to the question of what-is-learned, to the possible loci of individual differences in complex learning and to the role of these differences in determining the quality of performance, and to mapping the structure of complex behaviour with a view to improving the efficiency of learning.