Showing papers in "Psychological Reports in 1962"

The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale

Abstract: The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was developed to provide a rapid assessment technique particularly suited to the evaluation of patient change. Sixteen symptom constructs which have resulted from factor analyses of several larger sets of items, principally Lorr's Multidimensional Scale for Rating Psychiatric Patients (MSRPP) (1953) and Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale (IMPS) (1960), have been included for rating on 7-point ordered category rating scales. The attempt has been to include a single scale to record degree of symptomacology in each of the relatively independent symptom areas which have been identified. Some of the preliminary work which has led to the identification of primary symptom constructs has been published (Gorham & Overall, 1960, 1961, Overall, Gorharn, & Shawver, 1961). While other reports are in preparation, applications of the Brief Scale in both pure and applied research suggest the importance of presenting the basic instrument to the wider scientific audience at this time, together with recommendations for its standard use. The primary purpose in developing the Brief Scale has been the development of a highly efficient, rapid evaluation procedure for use in assessing treatment change in psychiatric patients while at the same time yielding a rather comprehensive description of major symptom characteristics. It is recommended for use where efficiency, speed, and economy are important considerations, while more detailed evaluation procedures, such as those developed by Lorr (1953, 1961) should perhaps be wed in other cases. In order to achieve the maximum effectiveness in use of the Brief Scale, a standard interview procedure and more detailed description of rating concepts are included in this report. In addition, each symptom concept is defined briefly in the rating scale statements themselves. Raters using the scale should become thoroughly familiar with the scale definitions presented herein, after which the rating scale statements should be sufficient to provide recall of the nature and delineation of each symptom area. , To increase the reliability of ratings, it is recommended that patients be interviewed jointly by a team of two clinicians, with the two raters making independent ratings at the completion of the interview. An alternative procedure which has been recommended by some is to have raters discuss and arrive at a

The Quick Test (QT): Provisional manual.

Abstract: A detailed account is given of the development, standardization, and evaluation of The Quick Test, a brief individual intelligence test based on perceptual-verbal performance. Three single forms, e...

The Minimum Residual Method of Factor Analysis

Abstract: Thus, al is a function of the remaining factor loadings, excluding itself, and the correlations which variable i has with the other variables. If an initial estimated factor vector A is assumed, estimates of the 4 values may be obtained by the use of Equations [ 2 ] . This can give rise to a n interative process in which the newly estimated A vector can in turn be substituted in Equations [2] to obtain still another estimate. A n iterative process is of value only if (1) i t converges to an acceptable solution, and ( 2 ) convergence occurs rapidly enough to make the computations reasonable. In extensive applications of this method to date, no difficulry has been encountered i n obtaining satisfactory convergence until after the normal number of factors has been extracted. Convergence does not take place in the typical manner, however. If we substitute an initial trial vector, obtain an iterated vector, substitute the iterated vector to obtain a second iterated vector, and so on, convergence appears to take place about two saddle

Drugs and Placebos: A Model Design:

Abstract: This srudy was planned to cest a model design for the analysis of drug effects on performance and mood measures in human Ss. It represents an extension of studies done previously with the population of aged Ss available at the Domiciliary of the Veterans Administration Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, by Ross, et al. ( 1960) and Krugman, et al. ( 1960). Findings in the previous studies included: ( a ) significant relationships between problem solving and abstracc reasoning abilities; ( b ) little or no effect of single doses of meprobamate (400 mg.), d-ampheramine (5 mg.) and a placebo on problem-solving abilities; ( c ) effects on one measure of mood (clear thinking) produced by either the d-amphetamine and meprobamate in the doses stated as compared with the placebo. In the present study we were concerned with comparing the effects on mood and performance of a single, higher dose level of d-amphetamine (10 mg.) than used in the earlier study, of a placebo (sodium bicarbonate ) , and of the d-amphetamine disguised. One of the research tasks in psychopharmacology is to isolate experimentally and to estimate quantitatively the specific pharmacological effects of the drug on the organism's behavior, separated from effects due to suggestion, expectations, milieu, roles, etc. For some variables it is possible to accomplish this task by using animal Ss or children, where the effects of expectations and suggestions may be minimized or avoided. With adult human Ss, however, the problem is complicated by the interplay of all of these factors. Recent reviews of placebo effects have pointed up some of the difficulties [Wolf ( 1959), Kurland ( 1960), Ross & Cole (1960), Rouche ( 196O)I. Beecher ( 1955) has stressed the placebo concepc, distinguishing between che effects of suggestion and the direct pharmacological effects. Wolf (2959, pp. 689-704) offers the following definition: \"Placebo effects-any effect attributable to a pill, pocion, or procedure, but not to its pharmacodynamic or specific properties.\" Gortschalk (1961 ) has recently analyzed many of these problems under his concept of the silent administmtion of a drug, the unknown administration of a pharmacologicsllly potent substance. With the design used we planned to deal with the question of the separability of the pharmacological and the placebo effects. W e hoped further

Genes, Drives, and Intellect:

Abstract: This review attempts to inregrace the developments which have occurred recently-largely independently-in three areas of psychology: behavior genetics, motivation, and the theory of intelligence. The concept of intelligence occupies a rather paradoxical position in psychology. O n the practical side, Spearman and Jones (1950) have observed that the success of intelligence tests could with little exaggeration, be regarded as amazing, or even alarming. Over and above their attainment of extraordinarily wide acceptance, they threaten to exercise an immediate and revolutional inflcence upon daily life (p. 1). This appears under the heading \"A New Menace,\" and the note of anxiecy -

Role of the CS and of Apparatus Cues in the Measurement of Acquired Fear

Abstract: Several studies have indicated that following forward classical conditioning procedures, in which a neutral CS is paired with inescapable shock as the UCS, the CS can serve to motivate and its termination to reinforce the learning of a new (indicator) response. Typically, chese studies have employed a discrete CS such as a light-buzzer combination (Kalish, 1954) or a n increase in illumination (McAllister & McAllisrer, 1962) . The theoretical explanation has assumed that fear elicited by the CS, and reduced by its offset, is the source of the motivation and reinforcement of such learning. A discussion of these matters is provided by Brown (1961, pp. 138-193). O n the basis of generally accepted principles of conditioning, it would be expected that fear would be conditioned to all the stimuli which are current when the UCS is presented. Thus, fear would be expected t o become conditioned to the visual and tactual stimuli of the conditioning box as well as to the discrete CS. The occurrence of conditioning to these stimuli, hereafter referred t o as apparacus cues, has important implications with respect to ( a ) the learning of an indicator response following backward conditioning procedures and ( b ) the definition of the CS. ( a ) Two recent investigations (Goldstein, 1960; McAllister & McAllister, 1962) report learning of an indicator response following backward conditioning procedures. In these instances the UCS, a high level of shock, was terminated 15 or 20 sec. prior to the onset of the CS. Perhaps the most plausible explanat~on of such learning is that fear was conditioned to the apparatus cues during the conditioning trials and was not extinguished during the intertrial intervals. There are other possible interpretations, however, which, on the basis of present evidence, cannot be dismissed. For instance, it is conceivable that true backward conditioning occurred, that is, that the CS acquired the property of eliciting fear despite the lapse of time between the offset of the shock and the onset of the CS (Razran, 1956). Another possibility is that emotionality elicited by the UCS persisted through the interval before the presentation of the CS and, being present when the CS was administered, allowed for the forward conditioning of fear. I t will be

The difference between statistical hypotheses and scientific hypotheses

Abstract: When a professional stacistician runs a statistical test he is usually concerned only with the mathematical properties of certain sets of numbers, but when a scientist runs a stztistical test he is usually crying to understand some namral phenomenon. The hypotheses the statistician tests exist in a world of black and white, where the alternatives are clear, simple, and few in number, whereas the scientist works in a vast gray area in which the alternative hypotheses are often confusing, complex, and limited in number only by the scientist's ingenuity. The present paper is concerned with just one feature of this distinction, namely, that when a statistician rejects the null hypothesis at a certain level of confidence, say .05, he may then be fairly well assured (p = .95) that the alternative statistical hypothesis is correct. However, when a scientist runs the same rest, using the same numbers, rejecting the same null hypothesis, he cannot in general conclude with p = .95 that his scientific hypothesis is correct. In assessing the probability of his hypothesis he is also obliged to consider the probability char the statistical model he assumed for purposes of the test is really applicable. The staciscician can say "if the distribution is normal," or "zf we assume the parent ppulation is distributed exponentially." These ifs cost the statistician nothing, but they can prove to be quite a burden on the poor E whose numbers represent controlled observations nor just symbols written on paper. The scientist also has che burden of judging whether his hypothesis has a greater probability of being correct than other hypotheses that could also explain his data. The stacistician is confronted with just two hypotheses, and the decision which he makes is only between these two. Suppose he has two samples and is concerned with whether the two means differ. The observed difference can be attributed either to random variation (the null hypothesis) or to the alternative hypochesis that the samples have been drawn from two populations with different means. Ordinarily these two alternatives exhaust the statistician's universe. The scientist, on the other hand, being ultimately concerned with the nature of natural phenomena, has only started his work when he rejects the null hypothesis. An example may help to illustrate these rwo points.

A note on further progress in a psychogenetic selection experiment

Abstract: Two-way selection for emotional defecation in the rat, using a revised and standardized version of Hzll's open-field test, was commenced in 1954 and has resulted in the establishment of the Maudsley Reactive ( R ) and Nonreactive ( r ) Strains, numbered 163f and 163g, respectively, in the (British) Catalogue of Uniform S t ~ i n s (1958). The techniques used and the results achieved through the tenth generation of selection (S l o ) have already been described (Broadhurst, 1960), and i t is the purpose of this note to present the data for the next five generations. Table 1 shows the means and standard deviations for the def-

Some Effects of Negative Instances on the Formation of Simple Concepts

Abstract: Smoke (1933) first suggested that the efficiency of concept formation might be affected by presenting instances of what a concept is not rather than instances of what it is. He did not, however, evaluate the amounts of information transmitted by these "nedative" and "positive" instances. Meaningful comparison of efficiency in dealing with instances must be based on the pocential of each type of instance to transmit information about a concept. If a negative instance provides only a slight amount of information relevanc to a concept, it could not be expected to be as effective for problem solution as a positive instance that provides a great deal of information. Tools for evaluating potential usefulness of different instances were proposed by Hovland (1952). If a problem involves an identifiable number of dimensions which may be relevant to the solution, and each dimension can assume a limited number of values, the number of possible concepts of a particular type can be listed. Each positive or negative instance presented to S eliminates some of these possibilities. The potential usefulness of an instance can be measured by the number of possible conceprs eliminated by its presentation. The positive or negative instances necessary to define a concept exactly and without redundancy can be listed. Hovland and Weiss (1953) compared the effectiveness of different combinations of positive and negarive instances in presentation of conjunctive concepts, using exactly the number of instances necessary to define the concept. They found thar problems defined by all positive inscances were more easily solved than those defined by all negative instances. Problems defined by a mixture of positive and negative instances were intermediate in difficulry. In general, positive instances transmit more information per instance in conjunctive concepts than do negative instances. The greater amount of information transmitted per positive instance may be important in ease of solution. The findings of Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin (1956) with disjunctive concepts suggest thar amount of information per instance is indeed important in ease of problem solution. With disjunctive conceprs, the informational value of positive and negative instances reverses, negative instances generally transmitting more information per instance. Here negative inscances result in more efficient problem solution. There would be no discrepancy between amounts of information trans'This investigation was suppozted by a Public Health Service research fellowship (MF12, 979), from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Modification of the Rat's Saline Intake Gradient by Experience with Specific Concentrations:

Abstract: The amount of sodium chloride solution ingested by racs in an ad libiiu7n test sicuation at first increases with concentration, reaches a maximum with concentrations around ,995, and then decreases (Bare, 1949). In spite of emphasis on physiological explanations (Woodworth & Schlosberg, 1954, p. 662; Deutsch & Jones, 1960), it is quite possible that saline drinking behavior is in part determined by processes dependent upon prior experience, for example, learning (Bare, 1949). A learning explanation would become more plausible if it were demonstrated that the saline intake gradient could be modified by experience. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether raising racs from birth on specific concentrations of saline as their only drinking fluid would alter the gradient of saline intake which is usually found with laboratory rats. METHOD

Differential human handling as reinforcing events and as treatments influencing later social behavior in basenji puppies

Abstract: Perhaps the most important outcome of recent experimental analyses of early social behavior is the discovery of new sources of reinforcement and drive, e.g., the cloth \"mother\" for the infant monkey (Harlow & Zimmermann, 1959) and dog (Igel & Calvin, 1960), imprinting object for the chick (Campbell & Pickleman, 1961), supply of social stimulation from an adult for the child (Gewirtz, Baer, & Roth, 1958), and attempts at conceptual unification, e.g., imprinting (Moltz, 1960). In the present study another class of early social behavior, the approach and interaction responses of puppies to people, was studied. Observation of basenji puppies suggested a 2-min. handling procedure which, it was assumed, might function as a positive reinforcer. To assess the reinforcing value of the handling a control condition was required which included all stimuli associated with the handling except those provided by the handling itself. This requirement was met by allowing puppies contact with a passive, nonhandling person. The first aim of the present experiment therefore was to decermine the relative reinforcing value in the puppy of being handled vs. comhg into contact with Q passive person. The second aim of the experiment was to determine whether a critical period (Scott, 1958 ) existed with regard to the efficacy of any reinforcing effect found. To do this, training was begun at different ages in different Ss who had had different prior interactions with people. The third aim of the experiment was to provide evidence concerning the specificity of the learned social behavior, as to place (apparatus vs. living pen), person (goal person vs. stranger), and response class (running to a person vs. the response class denoted by the phrase, attraction and fear-avoidance to a person). This aim was fulfilled by rating each S's behavior while a person interacted with S in a standardized way. The fourth aim of the experiment was to decermine whether differential

Orthogonal Predictors: A Possible Resolution of the Hoffman-Ward Controversy:

Abstract: A recent difference of opinion (Hoffman, 1960, 1962; Ward, 1962) has arisen over two separate meanings of the term "independent contribution" when applied to the behavior of a separate predictor in a multiple rectilinear prediction context. The meaning used by Hoffman (1960) is that of the proportionate contribution to the squared multiple correlation coefficient in the formula that expresses the squared multiple as a mere sum of contributions from the separate predictors. That proportionate contribution is designated by Hoffman ( 1960) as the "relative weight" of the associated predictor. The other meaning of "independent contribution," as defined by Ward (1962), refers to that component of criterion variance which is statistically independent of all predictors but the separate one in question. These two concepts are generally different, but both Hoffman ( 1960,1962) and Ward ( 1962 ) agree that they are the same for all predictors when those predictors consticute an orthogonal (or mutually uncorrelated) set. The purpose of this note is to provide a method for obtaining an orthogonal set of predictors that is highly related to a given correlated ser, and whose two different kinds of "independent contribution" are the same. Let the original matrix of predictor intercorrelations, with unit diagonals, be designated R. For any such matrix, there exists a decomposition of the following form (cf. Hohn, 1958) :

Nondiscriminated Avoidance Behavior in a Large Sample of Rats

Abstract: Under "nondiscriminated avoidance" S continually forestalls a punishing stimulus by emitting a response; no exteroceptive stimulus precedes the punishing stimulus. Most experiments in this area have studied rats pressing levers to avoid brief electric shocks. During the time since Sidman, using rats, originated the procedure (Sidman, 1953a) several stimulus variables which affecr the avoidance behavior have been investigated (e.g., Sidman, 1953b; Sidman & Boren, 1957; Verhave, 1959a). Moreover, nondiscriminated avoidance in rats has found frequent use as a tool for studying drug effects (e.g., Verhave, 1958; Heise & Boff, 1960; Carlton & Didamo, 1961; Hearst & Szara, 1961). Despite this wide interest, the behavioral characterization of a relatively large sample of rats, trained to stability on nondiscriminated avoidance, has not been reported. The present srudy is addressed to such a characterization.

Effect of Distribution of Practice on the Maze Learning of Descendants of the Tryon Maze Bright and Maze Dull Strains

Abstract: Recently a number of investigations have been undertaken in an attempt to understand the nature of the differences between the descendants of the Tryon maze bright (S1) and maze dull (S3) strains. One generalization derived from this research is that, when training trials are relatively massed, i.e., 1 min. or less between trials on any given day, the performance of Ss of the Sl strain is superior to that of Ss of the S3 strain (Rosenzweig, Krech, & Bennett, 1960; Fehmi & McGaugh, 1961; McGaugh, Westbrook, & Burt, 1961). Other recent studies have found, however, thac the Sls are not superior to the S3s in maze performance when Ss are given only one training trial a day (Breen & McGaugh, 1961; McGaugh, Westbrook, & Thompson, in press). Using a 1-day inter-trial interval, Rowland and Woods ( 1961) recently found Ss from the S3 strain superior to Sls in the learning of a maze highly similar to that used in the original selection study (Tryon, 1940) .4 These findings suggest thac the difference in maze performance of Ss of these strains depends, at least in part, upon the time allowed berween training trials. In view of the increased use of and interest in these strains, as well as the implications of these findings regarding the basis of the differences between these strains, the present study was undertaken to investigate systematically the effect of distribution of practice on the maze learning of Ss from the S1 and S3 strains.

Attitudes of Selected Rehabilitation Workers and other Hospital Employees toward the Physically Disabled

Abstract: As part of [he research program being carried out at Abilities, Inc., Albertson, New York, the Arcitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) was developed as a research tool to measure attitudes toward the handicapped (Yuker, et al., 1960). There is a dual purpose in its design, namely, to measure the attitudes of nondisabled people toward the disabled and to measure the attitudes of disabled persons toward themselves. Underlying the rationale of the ATDP is the assumption that there are at least two views which are held in our culture toward the physically disabled. One of these views is chat the disabled person is "different from" the nondisabled person, suggesting that the disabling effects of the handicapped person pervade the total personality somehow and influence certain characteristics which are separate from the disabiliry. The other view is thac although the disabled person may be limited in certain aspects, in general he does not differ significzntly from the nondisabled. Implicit in the design of the ATDP is the assumed direct relationship between attitudes of "acceptance" of the disabled and attitudes that the disabled person does not differ significantly from the nondisabled persor, (represented by a high score on the ATDP) ; or, in a negative sense, an assumed direct relationship between attitudes of "nonacceptance" of or prejudice toward the disabled and attitudes that the disabled person is different from the nondisabled (represented by a low score on the ATDP). In an attempt to validate the ATDP Scale, Yuker administered the Scale to both a disabled and a nondisabled population. He hypothesized that ( a ) "Disabled persons would tend to have higher scores on the test than physically normal college students" and ( b ) "Among the (physically normal) college students, those with close personal concact with the disabled person would be more accepting of the handicapped and would tend to earn higher scores." Mean differences were found to be significant at the ,001 level and in the predicted direction, hence both of these hypotheses were supported. Since Yuker found thac nondisabled college students, who have had "close personal concact" with the disabled, obtained significantly higher scores on the ATDP than those who have not had "close personal contact,

Some Behavioral Effects of Atropine and Methyl Atropine

Abstract: A rather large number of subscances occur naturally in the central nervous system (see reviews by Crossland, 1957; Giarman, 1959). Since each of these presumably plays some role in the control of nervous activity, each has a potential role in the control of behavior. Evidence in favor of one of these subsrances, acetylcholine, having an important function in nervous activity is especially compelling (cf., Feldberg, 1957; Gaddum, 1961 ) . In addition, acetylcholine is particularly amenable to experimental manipulation with drugs, like atropine, that specifically block the normal actions of acetylcholine. This ancicholinergic property is essentially the only activity evidenced by atropine (e.g., Goodman 8: Gilman, 1955) ; it thus has a specificity of action shared by few other drugs. Acetylcholine has, of course, a conspicuously important function in the peripheral, as well as the central, nervous system. Thus, the behavioral effects of a drug like acropine could be due to either a central or peripheral block of cholinergic function. Fortunately, a second drug, methyl atropine, mimics the peripheral effects of acropine but passes from the bloodstream into the brain only rather poorly. Accordingly, effects of atropine not produced by methyl acropine can most reasonably be referred co a block of cholinergic acciviry in the brain. This report provides, first, a preliminary characterization of the effects of cholinergic blockade by atropine on one variety of learned behavior and, second, comparisons of the effects of atropine and methyl atropine which strongly suggest that these effects were primarily due to changes in the central, as opposed to peripheral, nervous system.

Associative Matching and Intralist Similarity

Abstract: In a recent srudy the present author (1961) analyzed the serial anticipation method into two component tasks, response learning and ordering. As a response learning task, S was presented with 12 randomized 3-consonant (CCC) trigrams, and he recorded as many items as he could remember on each of 10 trials. As an ordering task, S was shown the same items in a standard order of presentation for 10 trials, and after each presentation he received a packet of 12 2X 2-in. cards. Each card contained one item of the list. S re-ordered these cards to reconstruct the original order of presentation. This procedure is a variation of the reconstruction method used by Gamble ( 1909) and by Luh ( 1922). With ir high intralist similarity facilitated response learning early in learning, but uniformly hindered ordering (Horowitz, 1961 ). It was further suggested that the paired-associate method could also be analyzed into at least two component tasks: response learning, when the responses of the paired-associate task become recallable as units, and associative learning, when each response becomes paired with a particular stimulus. Since response learning is facilitated by high incralist similarity (Horowitz, 1961; Underwood, Runquist, & Schulz, 1959), only the influence of intralist similarity on associative learning still needs to be assessed. Associative learning, like ordering, seems to place a premium on the discriminability of items, and it would not be surprising to discover that high intralist similarity hinders associative learning. If so, the response learning component of a paired-associate task would be facilitated by high intralist similarity, while the associative learning component would be hindered. Thus, as a net result, the importance of intralist similarity could be underestimated when the paired-associate method is used. Other authors (e.g., Underwood, et al., 1959) have proposed this kind of analysis, though no technique has been available to study associative learning directly. Bower (1961 ) has minimized the response learning component of paired-associate learning by using a very few well-learned responses (the integers 1 and 2 ) paired repeatedly with different stimuli. In some respects his procedure makes the paired-associate task formally resemble a concept formation task with somewhat unique characteristics (Garner, 1961), and results so obtained may have limited generality. Thus, a technique is needed to srudy associative learning directly in order to understand the role of variables like intralist similarity. The present study

Response to food and praise by emotionally disturbed boys

Abstract: Levin and Simmons (1962) found two modal response patterns when they praised emotionally disturbed boys in an operant conditioning siruation. Seven boys (Group T) terminated response on the marble-dropping task soon after the end of the baseline period and the onset of the period in which praise was contingent upon operant response. The response records for Group T resembled extinction curves. In contrast, 6 other boys (Group C) continued responding at a relatively stable rate, and typically, for twice as long a period as those in Group T. The present study (Exp. B) was conducted to test alternative explanations of the behavior of the boys in Group T in the earlier study (Exp. A). The boys in Group T were similar to each other and to children who have been described as "children who hate" by Red1 and Winernan (1951), or as suffering from a "hyperkinetic impulse disorder" (Laufer, Denhoff, & Solomons, 1957). They were unusually hyperactive and aggressive and represented major management problems to adults who were responsible for their care. They rarely stayed at a task for long; and, thus, their behavior in the operant conditioning experiment seemed typical of their behavior in social situations such as school, psychotherapy, etc. It is noteworthy that explanations of the operant response pattern produced by these boys were in sharp contrast to common, clinical explanations of their similar behavior in everyday situations. Reinforcement theory suggested that the major factor in the boys' rapid cessation of response on the marble-dropping task was that there was no adequate positive reinforcer present in the siruation. In contrast, clinical explanations of similar behavior in these boys typically rested on the concepts of "attention span" or "frustration tolerance." According to explanations based on attention span, these boys were incapable of paying atten[ion to one task for more than a few minutes. According to hypotheses about frustration tolerance, the boys had a generalized inability to tolerate frustrating situations of any kind. The present study was planned to clarify three issues which were basic to the varied explanations of the behavior of these boys in Exp. A: ( 1 ) inadequate 'This study was conducted while the authors were at the New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute.

Effects of Manipulation of Attributes on Efficiency of Concept Formation

Abstract: In the typical concept formation experiment, instances of what a concept is and/or of what it is not are presented to Ss, and Ss' task is to determine the defining attributes of the concept. Ss may be required to make a response after each instance, indicating whether or not the instance represented the concept. Often several concepts are acquired simultaneously and Ss indicate after each instance which of the concepts has been presented by pressing an appropriate button (e.g., Archer, Bourne, & Brown, 1955) or giving an appropriate nonsense syllable (e.g., Heidbreder, 1947). In some studies no responses are made during a series of instances that define a single concept. At the conclusion of the series Ss attempt to define the concept (Hovland & Weiss, 1953; Glanzer & Huctenlocher, 1960). A major variation from these procedures with potential for increasing our understanding of inductive reasoning processes was introduced in a series of experiments carried out by Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin (1956). These authors studied the acquisition of single concepts and used a type of response that differed from those cited above. An entire set of instances containing the permutations of values for the attributes used was displayed to Ss. Ss selected instances and received information as to whether or not these were instances of the concept. Since Ss' responses, i.e., selection of instances, determined the succession of instances presented, their strategies for taking in information could be examined. While using a procedure similar to that of Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin to investigate che development of inductive reasoning in children, the present author noted that Ss of a given age seemed to have more difficulty acquiring a concept if they manipulated the attributes than if they were presented a series of instances. This observation was not made under controlled conditions and was confounded by the fact that manipulations carried out by Ss often involved redundant steps whereas those presented by E did not. The present study is designed to discover whether solution of inductive reasoning problems may be adversely affected when Ss conduct their own "experiment" of locating the defining attributes of concepts. METHOD

Effects of Aging on Open Field Behavior

Abstract: In a recent report by Furchtgott, et al. ( 1961 ), exploratory behavior in an open field situation was found to decrease with increasing age. These investigators used naive animals at each age of testing and terminated their study at 390 days of age. The present investigation confirms some of the findings of the above mentioned report, utilizing a different experimental design with repeated testing of the same animals to demonstrate chat the age factor is more important than the "novelty" of the experience. Additional data on animals tested at an older age and on sex differences are presented for the open field measures. METHOD Sabjects.-Ss were 28 albino rats of the Sprague-Dawley strain purchased from the Holtzman Co. The original group of 12 females and 16 males was reduced by death, disease, and other attrition factors to 12 females and 8 males on whom open field measures at each age were available. Animals were maintained on Purina laboratory chow and water ad libitam throughout their lifetime except for 3 weeks as 100 days of age during which time they were on a 23-hr. water deprivation schedule. Animals arrived in the laboratory at 45 days of age and were routinely weighed and handled at least once a week. At 100 days of age and after the first open field test, they were rested in a maze learning situation. At 360 days of age, attempts were made at macing the animals. Aside from these manipulations, each S received little or no handling and lived his routine life with a same sex cagemate. Apparatzrs and procedure.-The open field test used and the procedure employed was similar to that described by Stern (1956). T he apparatus was 3 by 5 ft., painted black and divided into 15 1-ft. squares marked by a chalk line. Lighting was uniform from overhead and the animals were observed through a one-way vision window. Animals were run for 5 consecutive daily 2-min. trials when 90, 180, 360, and 540 days of age. The number of squares traversed and the number of "emotional" activities such as defecating, urinating, edging, face washing, rearing, crouching, etc. were recorded.

An Automated Discrimination Apparatus for Discrete Trial Analysis (Dadta)

Abstract: The range, precision, and speed of behavioral testing is often facilitated through automation. At present most automatic equipment available is of the operant conditioning type ( 1). S repeatedly moves one or two manipulanda in response to the scheduled appearance of discriminative and reinforcing stimuli. A record of responses and reinforcements is accumulated either on a moving paper roll or on a battery of counters. The rates of responses and the configuration of their temporal distribution thus become the most readily accessible dependent variables for study. However, the results of many experiments depend on a more intimate analysis of changes in the relation between response, discriminative and reinforcing stimulus on successive discrete trials. Also, as task complexity is increased, the operant type of equipment must be considerably modified if it is not to become too cumbersome in construction and operation. To overcome these limitations of operant equipment, the following

Need Affiliation and Initial Communication Behavior in Problem-Solving Groups Characterized by Low Interpersonal Visibility

Abstract: This study represents an exploratory investigation into relationships between interpersonal perception and interpersonal communication in face-toface groups. It is thus a departure from earlier studies of the perception of others in which the focus was upon the relationship between perception and action, particularly with reference to action based on accuracy or perceptualcognitive achievement. Instead of dealing with such questions as whether the perceiver can recognize a given emotion in another (Ruckmick, 1921, p. 30-35; Woodworth, 1938), is aided by personal and/or situational factors co achieve a relatively high degree of accuracy in interpersonal perception (Beri, 1955; Exline, 1957), or is by virtue of such accuracy an effective social operative (Gage & Suci, 1950; Chowdry & Newcornb, 1952; Greer, et dl., 1954; Steiner & Dodge, 1956), this study is directed, in the happy phrase of Tagiuri and Petrullo (1958), to the analysis of the process of perceiving or knowing another. The study assumes that communication linkages are Inherent in the concept of interpersonal perception, that a social percept grows out of a sequence of communications, and that communication may occur, simultaneously, ac several levels. It is argued that a person initiating a communication at any level is able to use the recipient's reaction or lack of reaction as data which are relevant to beliefs or hypotheses which the original communicant holds about other persons, or about himself in relation to other persons, as well as data which bear on the specific topic under consideration. It is further suggested that personal attributes which affect the hypotheses that A holds with reference to a self-other relationship will affect the information which A ( S ) seeks from B (object) as well as che jnformacion about himself which A (as objecc) consciously or unconsciously makes available to B (as s). Motivational concepts perca~ning to basic ways of reacting to one's environment provide one convenient way of organizing the attributes of the objecc to be perceived and of the object as perceiver. Such concepts are of particular interest in that they lend themselves to bridging the gap between studies of perceptual processes and group products based on such processes. If it can be established that n affiliation, for example, is related to specified communi-

Delay of Reinforcement and the Retention of Unfamiliar, Meaningless Material:

Abstract: Recently, Brackbill and Kappy ( 1962 ) and Brackbill, Bravos, and Starr ( in press) have found that delay of reinforcemenc during learning improves rerention. However, in all five of the experiments they report, the learning material was ( a ) the same and ( b ) high on the dimensions of familiarity and meaning ( i n the sense of denotation). Because of the uniformity in material and because familiarity and meaning appear to influence retention, the question arises whether the delay-retention effect may not be restricted in its occurrence to one particular rype of material. T h e purpose of the present study was to test one aspect of the generality of the effecc by using learning material of low familiarity and meaning (nonsense bigrams) rather than names and pictures of common objects. In all other respects (design, apparacus, procedure, and rype of Ss) the present experiment was essentially the same as previous ones. The design of the experiment included two levels of reinforcemenc delay during learning, 0 sec. and 1 0 sec., in combination with two durations of retenrion, 1 day and 8 days. The four experimental groups will be referred to as 01, lo1, OR, and 10\". Ss, 24 third grade boys, were randomly selected and assigned to the four experimental groups. The task was presented as a series of 18 cwochoice discriminations, randomly ordered. The intertrial interval was 20 sec. Acquisition required two sessions, held on consecutive days. Relearning rook place after either one day or eight days, in a single session and under a 0-sec. delay condition for all Ss. For both learning and relearning, the correction and drop-out methods were used; the criterion for each discrimination item was three consecutive correct responses. The material for the learning task consisted of 18 pairs of bigrams (rwoletter combinations) with a mean frequency of occurrence in written English of 2.56 per 15,000 words of running text (Underwood & Schulz, 1960) . O n each trial, S was asked to spell the bigram he thought correcc and then co press the lever adjacent to that stimulus. A correct response brought, after rhe appropriate delay interval, one marble; accumulated marbles were later exchanged for a coy of S's choice. [A detailed sccounc of procedure, apparatus, and S characceriscics is given by Brackbill and Kappy ( 1962 ) .]

Persuasion and the acquisition of attitudes: models from conditioning and selective learning

Abstract: I n recent years there have been a considerable number of experimental studies concerned with the effects of persuasive communication on attitudes and opinions (e.g., Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953; Hovland, et dl., 1957) . These studies have not, for the most part, been conducted under the syscematic guidance of explicit theory, though attempts to develop theories adequate to deal with certain aspects of che persuasion process have now begun to appear (e.g., Festinger, 1957; Osgood & Tannenbaum, 1955). This paper represents a n attempt to develop a theory of the effects of certain persuasion variables upon the learning and motivation of actirudes. While it is a truism to state that human social behavior is learned, relatively few attempts have been made to turn the truism into an explicit theoretical bridge between learning and social psychology. In the following pages, a number of analogies between persuasive communication and learning are developed in a speculative but systematic manner. ( T h e analogizing is n o longer entirely speculative, however, since six predictions from the theory have been tested and confirmed in the writer's laboratory.) Miller (1959) has referred to this kind of enterprise as the extension of liberalized S-R theory. While the present paper employs the quantitative form of Hullian theory (e.g., Hull, 1943, 1952; Spence, 1956), the n a m e of the enterprise implies that liberties will be taken with learning theory. In view of this, it is probably worth emphasizing that research based on this theory of persuasive communication cannot be re-

Emotional behavior in the rat as a function of maternal emotionality

Abstract: Current interest in the effects of early experiences on behavior has prompted this note reporting differences in emotionality in rats as a function of differences in emotionality of their mothers. Method.-Ss were the 31 offspring from the litters of the three most emotional, and the 25 offspring from the litters of the three least emotional, of 11 Long-Evans primiparous females. These were control animals of a different smdy in which emotionality had been tested in an open field and avoidance training given prior to mating. Cross-fostering occurred wichin the original population such that, for those animals abstracted for the present analysis, there was one litter from a low-emotional female that was raised by a high-emotional mother and two litters from high-emotional females that were raised by lowemotional mothers. The remaining litters were raised by their original mothers. Animals were weaned at 21 days, housed in groups, and fed ad libitum. A single l-min. trial in an open field was given ac approximately 38 days of age and again at approximately 136 days. As a measure of "cirnidity," time required for animals to emerge from their home cages was also recorded at these times. Resu1tr.-An analysis of variance was applied to the data on squares transversed in the open field. The cross-fostered and non-cross-fostered offspring were combined within the high-and low-emotion groups since inspection of the means of these subgroups (both male and female) gave no evidence that this manipulation differentially affected open-field behavior. Females were significantly more active than males (F = 6.86, df = 11104, p < .05). The