Showing papers in "Psychological Review in 1959"

Toward empirical behavior laws. I. positive reinforcement.

Abstract: This account of reinforcement is based upon a generalization, not a theory. Few cases underly the generalization, but that which is generalized to are measurable properties of behavior. If accurate, the present generalization will provide: first, an explanation of reinforcement; second, a criterion for evaluating the logical need for motivation constructs; and third, a possible basis for an empirical quantitative account of learning. This first paper, however, deals mainly with positive reinforcement. Learning, motivation, and the aversive case require independent treatment, though some reference to these topics will occur here.

The relational determination of perceived size.

Abstract: One generalization that is now rather widely accepted in the field of perception is that perceptual qualities are often determined by relational rather than by absolute characteristics of the stimulus. Of the many examples that could be given to illustrate the point we will restrict ourselves to two which have certain formal similarities to the problem we wish to discuss in this paper. The first example is concerned with the problem of neutral or achromatic color. One might ask, what is the stimulus for the experience of a given shade of gray? In the achromatic series it would seem there is no simple stimulus for neutral color corresponding to the role that wave length plays in accounting for chromatic color. Intensity of stimulation is inadequate because this changes with every change in illumination whereas the particular gray perceived remains constant. It is true that the albedo or reflectance property of an object is fixed (i.e. a white surface is one that reflects roughly 80% of the light it receives, a black, one that reflects roughly 5%), but this is a statement about the external object. The problem remains of uncovering the invariant characteristic of the stimulus that makes possible the invariant perceptual experi-

A possible artifact in electroencephalography.

Abstract: Although it is now well established that the brain does produce a great variety of electrical patterns, the oscillating potentials/ such as the alpha rhythm, have been given particular prominence as examples of some special kind of electrical activity of neurons. The proposal has been entertained, for example, that brain waves may be produced by summation of action potential spikes. In 1948, Jasper suggested that these \"waves\" indicate spontaneous rhythmic fluctuations in the local excitability of groups of neurons in the cerebral cortex. He further suspected that there may be certain specialized cells in the cortex that produce these rhythmic oscillations in potential. In a later paper (Li, McLennan, & Jasper, 1952) it was clearly demonstrated by simultaneous recording that the action potential spikes of neuronal activity and the slower oscillations of \"brain waves\" were quite uncorrelated. The authors conclude, \"Brain waves do seem to be phenom-