Showing papers in "Psychological Review in 1994"
TL;DR: The law of comparative judgment as mentioned in this paper is applicable not only to the comparison of physical stimulus intensities but also to qualitative comparative judgments such as those of excellence of specimens in an educational scale.
Abstract: This chapter describes a new psychophysical law which may be called the law of comparative judgment and to show some of its special applications in the measurement of psychological values. The law of comparative judgment is applicable not only to the comparison of physical stimulus intensities but also to qualitative comparative judgments such as those of excellence of specimens in an educational scale. The scale difference between the discriminal processes of two specimens which are involved in the same judgment will be called the discriminal difference on that occasion. The law of comparative judgment is basic for all experimental work on Weber's law, Fechner's law, and for all educational and psychological scales in which comparative judgments are involved. The formulation of the law of comparative judgment involves the use of a new psychophysical concept, namely, the discriminal dispersion.
4,929 citations
TL;DR: The authors propose an empirically testable theoretical model that goes beyond and qualifies the established behavioral genetics paradigm by allowing for nonadditive synergistic effects, direct measures of the environment, and mechanisms of organism-environment interaction through which genotypes are transformed into phenotypes.
Abstract: In response to Anastasi's (1958) long-standing challenge, the authors propose an empirically testable theoretical model that (a) goes beyond and qualifies the established behavioral genetics paradigm by allowing for nonadditive synergistic effects, direct measures of the environment, and mechanisms of organism-environment interaction, called proximal processes, through which genotypes are transformed into phenotypes; (b) hypothesizes that estimates of heritability (e.g., h2) increase markedly with the magnitude of proximal processes; (c) demonstrates that heritability measures the proportion of variation in individual differences attributable only to actualized genetic potential, with the degree of nonactualized potential remaining unknown; (d) proposes that, by enhancing proximal processes and environments, it is possible to increase the extent of actualized genetic potentials for developmental competence.
2,609 citations
TL;DR: A theory of ironic processes of mental control is proposed to account for the intentional and counterintentional effects that result from efforts at self-control of mental states.
Abstract: A theory of ironic processes of mental control is proposed to account for the intentional and counterintentional effects that result from efforts at self-control of mental states. The theory holds that an attempt to control the mind introduces 2 processes: (a) an operating process that promotes the intended change by searching for mental contents consistent with the intended state and (b) a monitoring process that tests whether the operating process is needed by searching for mental contents inconsistent with the intended state. The operating process requires greater cognitive capacity and normally has more pronounced cognitive effects than the monitoring process, and the 2 working together thus promote whatever degree of mental control is enjoyed. Under conditions that reduce capacity, however, the monitoring process may supersede the operating process and thus enhance the person's sensitivity to mental contents that are the ironic opposite of those that are intended.
2,348 citations
TL;DR: The authors describe a constructionist theory that accounts for the knowledge-based inferences that are constructed when readers comprehend narrative text, and present empirical evidence that addresses this theory and contrasts it with alternative theoretical frameworks.
Abstract: The authors describe a constructionist theory that accounts for the knowledge-based inferences that are constructed when readers comprehend narrative text. Readers potentially generate a rich variety of inferences when they construct a referential situation model of what the text is about. The proposed constructionist theory specifies that some, but not all, of this information is constructed under most conditions of comprehension. The distinctive assumptions of the constructionist theory embrace a principle of search (or effort) after meaning. According to this principle, readers attempt to construct a meaning representation that addresses the reader's goals, that is coherent at both local and global levels, and that explains why actions, events, and states are mentioned in the text. This study reviews empirical evidence that addresses this theory and contrasts it with alternative theoretical frameworks.
2,070 citations
TL;DR: Reinterpreting syntactic ambiguity resolution as a form of lexical ambiguity resolution obviates the need for special parsing principles to account for syntactic interpretation preferences, and provides a more unified account of language comprehension than was previously available.
Abstract: Ambiguity resolution is a central problem in language comprehension. Lexical and syntactic ambiguities are standardly assumed to involve different types of knowledge representations and be resolved by different mechanisms. An alternative account is provided in which both types of ambiguity derive from aspects of lexical representation and are resolved by the same processing mechanisms. Reinterpreting syntactic ambiguity resolution as a form of lexical ambiguity resolution obviates the need for special parsing principles to account for syntactic interpretation preferences, reconciles a number of apparently conflicting results concerning the roles of lexical and contextual information in sentence processing, explains differences among ambiguities in terms of ease of resolution, and provides a more unified account of language comprehension than was previously available.
1,892 citations
TL;DR: This paper presented a new theory of subjective probability according to which different descriptions of the same event can give rise to different judgments and provided a unified treatment of a wide range of empirical findings.
Abstract: This article presents a new theory of subjective probability according to which different descriptions of the same event can give rise to different judgments. The experimental evidence confirms the major predictions of the theory. First, judged probability increases by unpacking the focal hypothesis and decreases by unpacking the alternative hypothesis. Second, judged probabilities are complementary in the binary case and subadditive in the general case, contrary to both classical and revisionist models of belief. Third, subadditivity is more pronounced for probability judgments than for frequency judgments and is enhanced by compatible evidence. The theory provides a unified treatment of a wide range of empirical findings. It is extended to ordinal judgments and to the assessment of upper and lower probabilities. Both laypeople and experts are often called upon to evaluate the probability of uncertain events such as the outcome of a trial, the result of a medical operation, the success of a business venture, or the winner of a football game. Such assessments play an important role in deciding, respectively, whether to go to court, undergo surgery, invest in the venture, or bet on the home team. Uncertainty is usually expressed in verbal terms (e.g., unlikely or probable), but numerical estimates are also common. Weather forecasters, for example, often report the probability of rain (Murphy, 1985), and economists are sometimes required to estimate the chances of recession (Zarnowitz, 1985). The theoretical and practical significance of subjective probability has inspired psychologists, philosophers, and statisticians to investigate this notion from both descriptive and prescriptive standpoints.
1,095 citations
TL;DR: The possibility of agreement on a theoretical framework, at least in certain intensively studied areas, may be maximized by defining concepts in terms of experimentally manipulable variables and developing the consequences of assumptions by strict mathematical reasoning as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Improved experimental techniques for the study of conditioning and simple discrimination learning enable the present day investigator to obtain data which are sufficiently orderly and reproducible to support exact quantitative predictions of behavior. Analogy with other sciences suggests that full utilization of these techniques in the analysis of learning processes will depend to some extent upon a comparable refinement of theoretical concepts and methods. The necessary interplay between theory and experiment has been hindered, however, by the fact that none of the many current theories of learning commands general agreement among researchers. It seems likely that progress toward a common frame of reference will be slow so long as most theories are built around verbally defined hypothetical constructs which are not susceptible to unequivocal verification. While awaiting resolution of the many apparent disparities among competing theories, it may be advantageous to systematize well established empirical relationships at a peripheral, statistical level of analysis. The possibility of agreement on a theoretical framework, at least in certain intensively studied areas, may be maximized by defining concepts in terms of experimentally manipulable variables, and developing the consequences of assumptions by strict mathematical reasoning. This essay will introduce a series of
908 citations
TL;DR: The experimental data is reassessed in the light of a Bayesian model of optimal data selection in inductive hypothesis testing that suggests that reasoning in hypothesis-testing tasks may be rational rather than subject to systematic bias.
Abstract: Human reasoning in hypothesis-testing tasks like P. C. Wason's (1968) selection task has been depicted as prone to systematic biases. However, performance on this task has been assessed against a now outmoded falsificationist philosophy of science. Therefore, the experimental data is reassessed in the light of a Bayesian model of optimal data selection in inductive hypothesis testing. The model provides a rational analysis (J. R. Anderson, 1990) of the selection task that fits well with people's performance on both abstract and thematic versions of the task. The model suggests that reasoning in these tasks may be rational rather than subject to systematic bias.
876 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that subitizing exploits a limited capacity parallel mechanism for item individuation, the FINST mechanism, associated with the multiple target tracking task, and that the position of the attentional focus, as manipulated by cue validity, has a greater effect on counting.
Abstract: "Subitizing," the process of enumeration when there are fewer than 4 items, is rapid (40-100 ms/item), effortless, and accurate. "Counting," the process of enumeration when there are more than 4 items, is slow (250-350 ms/item), effortful, and error-prone. Why is there a difference in the way the small and large numbers of items are enumerated? A theory of enumeration is proposed that emerges from a general theory of vision, yet explains the numeric abilities of preverbal infants, children, and adults. We argue that subitizing exploits a limited-capacity parallel mechanism for item individuation, the FINST mechanism, associated with the multiple target tracking task (Pylyshyn, 1989; Pylyshyn & Storm, 1988). Two kinds of evidence support the claim that subitizing relies on preattentive information, whereas counting requires spatial attention. First, whenever spatial attention is needed to compute a spatial relation (cf. Ullman, 1984) or to perform feature integration (cf. Treisman & Gelade, 1980), subitizing does not occur (Trick & Pylyshyn, 1993a). Second, the position of the attentional focus, as manipulated by cue validity, has a greater effect on counting than subitizing latencies (Trick & Pylyshyn, 1993b).
874 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the lexical entry for morphologically complex words in English using a cross-modal repetition priming task and found that morphological decomposition of semantically transparent forms is independent of phonological transparency, suggesting that morphemic representations are phonologically abstract.
Abstract: The authors investigated the lexical entry for morphologically complex words in English. Six experiments, using a cross-modal repetition priming task, asked whether the lexical entry for derivationally suffixed and prefixed words is morphologically structured and how this relates to the semantic and phonological transparency of the surface relationship between stem and affix. There was clear evidence for morphological decomposition of semantically transparent forms. This was independent of phonological transparency, suggesting that morphemic representations are phonologically abstract. Semantically opaque forms, in contrast, behave like monomorphemic words. Overall, suffixed and prefixed derived words and their stems prime each other through shared morphemes in the lexical entry, except for pairs of suffixed forms, which show a cohort-based interference effect
811 citations
TL;DR: The interactionist alternative, which focuses on processes of agent-situation interactions, is taken in ecological psychology as well as in recent research on conversational communication, research on complex, socially organized activity, and philosophical situation theory.
Abstract: Gibson developed an interactionist view of perception and action that focused on information that is available in the environment. He thereby rejected the still-prevalent framing assumption of factoring external-physical and internal-mental processes. The interactionist alternative, which focuses on processes of agent-situation interactions, is taken in ecological psychology as well as in recent research on conversational communication, research on complex, socially organized activity, and philosophical situation theory. The concepts of qffordance and ability are key ideas in an interactionist account. In situation theory, abilities in activity depend on attunements to constraints, and affordances for an agent can be understood as conditions in the environment for constraints to which the agent is attuned. This broad view of affordances includes affordances that are recognized as well as affordances that are perceived directly.
TL;DR: The authors propose a rule-plus-exception model (RULEX) of classification learning, which accounts for numerous fundamental classification phenomena, including prototype and specific exemplar effects, sensitivity to correlational information, difficulty of learning linearly separables versus nonlinearly separable categories, selective attention effects, and difficulty oflearning concepts with rules of differing complexity.
Abstract: The authors propose a rule-plus-exception model (RULEX) of classification learning. According to RULEX, people learn to classify objects by forming simple logical rules and remembering occasional exceptions to those rules. Because the learning process in RULEX is stochastic, the model predicts that individual Ss will vary greatly in the particular rules that are formed and the exceptions that are stored. Averaged classification data are presumed to represent mixtures of these highly idiosyncratic rules and exceptions. RULEX accounts for numerous fundamental classification phenomena, including prototype and specific exemplar effects, sensitivity to correlational information, difficulty of learning linearly separable versus nonlinearly separable categories, selective attention effects, and difficulty of learning concepts with rules of differing complexity. RULEX also predicts distributions of generalization patterns observed at the individual subject level.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the extent to which two elemental theories of conditioning, stimulus sampling theory and the Rescorla-Wagner (1972) theory, are able to account for the influence of similarity on discrimination learning.
Abstract: The 1st part of this article evaluates the extent to which 2 elemental theories of conditioning, stimulus sampling theory and the Rescorla-Wagner (1972) theory, are able to account for the influence of similarity on discrimination learning. A number of findings are reviewed that are inconsistent with predictions derived from these theories, either in their present form or in various modified forms. The 2nd part of the article is concerned with developing an alternative, configural account for discrimination learning. In contrast to previous configural theories, the present version is set within the framework of a connectionist network. The studies of stimulus generalization by Pavlov (1927) provided the first demonstration of the influence of similarity on conditioning. Once a dog had been trained to salivate to a tone of a given frequency, it was found that tones of other frequencies would also elicit this response but to a lesser degree. The magnitude of this generalization decrement was directly related to the extent of the difference between the training and the test stimuli. Pavlov's findings have been replicated on many occasions with a wide range of species. There have also been a number of attempts to understand these findings.
TL;DR: The model clarifies prior multiple meanings of responsibility and provides a coherent framework for understanding social judgment.
Abstract: Responsibility acts as a psychological adhesive that connects an actor to an event and to relevant prescriptions that should govern conduct. People are held responsible to the extent that (a) a clear, well-defined set of prescriptions is applicable to an event (prescription-event link); (b) the actor is perceived to be bound by the prescriptions by virtue of his or her identity (prescription-identity link); and (c) the actor is connected to the event, especially by virtue of appearing to have personal control over it (identity-event link). Studies supported the model, showing that attributions of responsibility are a direct function of the combined strengths of the 3 linkages (Study 1) and that, when judging responsibility, people seek out information that is relevant to the linkages (Study 2). The model clarifies prior multiple meanings of responsibility and provides a coherent framework for understanding social judgment.
TL;DR: The authors argue instead for a direct access featural model, based on a distributed computational substrate, where featural information is mapped directly onto lexical representations.
Abstract: Three experiments and a simulation study investigate competing featural and phonemic views of the representation of the speech input in access to the mental lexicon. Auditory lexical decision and gating tasks show that the processing consequences of subcategorical mismatches (conflicts between phonetic cues to speech segment identity) depend on the lexical status of the conflicting cues, such that conflicts that only involve nonwords do not disrupt performance. A further study, using a phonetic-decision task with the same stimuli, found the same pattern. A simulation study shows that the interactive activation model TRACE, with top-down feedback to a prelexical phonemic level, does not model these effects successfully. The authors argue instead for a direct access featural model, based on a distributed computational substrate, where featural information is mapped directly onto lexical representations.
TL;DR: The theory's origins in philosophical psychology are traced, differences in the thinking of James and Lange are considered, and Cannon's early critique and the resulting debate are assessed.
Abstract: James-Lange theory influenced a century of emotion research. This article traces the theory's origins in philosophical psychology, considers differences in the thinking of James and Lange, and assesses Cannon's early critique and the resulting debate. Research is reviewed evaluating physiological patterns in emotion, the discordance of reported feelings and visceral reactivity, and the role of generalized arousal. NeoJamesian theories of attribution and appraisal--and alternative views based on dynamic psychology--are critically examined. A conception of emotion is presented, on the basis of developments unknown to James in conditioning theory, information processing, and neuroscience. Computational models of mentation are discussed, and implications are drawn for the classical debate on cognition and emotion. In concluding, new paths for emotion research are outlined and homage paid to the inspiration of William James.
TL;DR: This article found that developmental processes are nearly identical for U.S. Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian ethnic and racial groups using diverse and representative data sources, covariance matrices were computed for these ethnic groups and then compared by using a LISREL goodness-offit test.
Abstract: Many studies adduce evidence of ethnic or racial dissimilarities in developmental outcomes (e.g., delinguency and achievement). Many researchers fail to distinguish between group average levels and developmental processes (correlations). Evidence is reviewed that developmental processes are nearly identical for U.S. Black, Hispanic, White, and Asian ethnic and racial groups. Using diverse and representative data sources, covariance matrices were computed for these ethnic groups and then compared by using a LISREL goodness-of-fit test. Not only were these matrices nearly identical but they also were no less alike than covariance matrices computed from random halves within 1 ethnic or racial group. This article documents the importance of accepting ethnic and racial similarity of developmental processes. Thus, group average level differences may result from different levels of developmental antecedents working through common developmental pathways.
TL;DR: These findings falsify a general auditory account of auditory perceptual organization, showing that phonetic perceptual organization is achieved by specific sensitivity to the acoustic modulations characteristic of speech signals.
Abstract: A general account of auditory perceptual organization has developed in the past 2 decades It relies on primitive devices akin to the Gestalt principles of organization to assign sensory elements to probable groupings and invokes secondary schematic processes to confirm or to repair the possible organization Although this conceptualization is intended to apply universally, the variety and arrangement of acoustic constituents of speech violate Gestalt principles at numerous junctures, cohering perceptually, nonetheless The authors report 3 experiments on organization in phonetic perception, using sine wave synthesis to evade the Gestalt rules and the schematic processes alike These findings falsify a general auditory account, showing that phonetic perceptual organization is achieved by specific sensitivity to the acoustic modulations characteristic of speech signals
TL;DR: Visual search data are given a unified quantitative explanation by a model of how spatial maps in the parietal cortex and object recognition categories in the inferotemporal cortex deploy attentional resources as they reciprocally interact with visual representations in the prestriate cortex.
Abstract: Visual search data are given a unified quantitative explanation by a model of how spatial maps in the parietal cortex and object recognition categories in the inferotemporal cortex deploy attentional resources as they reciprocally interact with visual representations in the prestriate cortex The model visual representations are organized into multiple boundary and surface representations Visual search in the model is initiated by organizing multiple items that lie within a given boundary or surface representation into a candidate search grouping These items are compared with object recognition categories to test for matches or mismatches Mismatches can trigger deeper searches and recursive selection of new groupings until a target object is identified The model provides an alternative to Feature Integration and Guided Search models
TL;DR: The authors conclude, as Miller did, by noting the probable lack of connection between the limitations observed in these 2 areas of inquiry.
Abstract: Miller's classic 1956 article is best known today for its discussion of capacity limitations in short-term memory, but the bulk of the article dealt with capacity limitations in absolute judgment tasks and the relation of such limitations to information theory. Many of the puzzles of absolute judgment first raised by Miller remain a puzzle today. The authors review some of the literature directed toward this issue and discuss a few models that attempt to elucidate the phenomena. Since 1956 there has been an enormous research effort aimed at understanding the mechanisms and limitations of short-term memory, resulting in considerable progress. The authors briefly discuss some of these advances. The authors conclude, as Miller did, by noting the probable lack of connection between the limitations observed in these 2 areas of inquiry.
TL;DR: In fact, the interpretation of the stimulus was an essential feature of James's ideas, but one that seemed so obvious that it did not require explanation as mentioned in this paper, and for the next half century scientific research on emotion was driven by the oversimplified version of emotion by the idea that emotions are merely the sensation of bodily changes.
Abstract: During his lifetime William James's complex ideas about emotion were oversimplified to the point of caricature, and for the next half century scientific research on emotion was driven by the oversimplified version—by the idea that emotions are merely the sensation of bodily changes. In fact, the interpretation of the stimulus was an essential feature of James's ideas, but one that seemed so obvious that it did not require explanation. Three damaging scientific consequences of the mischaracterization of James's views were (a) the nearly exclusive focus on bodily process, (b) the reification of emotions as entities rather than processes, and (c) the linear thinking produced by the concern with the sequence of affect, interpretation, and bodily response. Ask anyone about William James's theory of emotion and you will almost certainly hear about the bear. James wrote a great deal about emotion, reviewing the available evidence; puzzling over the role of situational appraisals, feelings, bodily sensations, and actions; modifying and refining his ideas; defending himself against his critics; expressing ambivalence about the value of emotions; occasionally seeming to contradict himself; and never fully resolving the thornier issues in his own mind.1 Yet almost from the first, it was the bear that was noticed, and a hundred years later it is the bear that is remembered. Read any account of James's theory of emotion and you will almost certainly read about the bear:
TL;DR: In this article, a contrast-weighting theory of choice is presented to account for strong stochastic transitivity violations in decision-making, where binary choices are represented as a monotonic function of the difference between the utilities of the options.
Abstract: This article examined choices between alternatives when the options confronting the decision maker have similar levels on an attribute. In these situations, 2 empirical phenomena often occur. First, differences on other attributes are enhanced. Similarity along 1 attribute magnifies differences on others. Second, violations of strong stochastic transitivity often occur. A contrast-weighting theory of choice is presented that can account for these puzzling phenomena. Binary choices are represented as a monotonic function of the difference between the utilities of the options. Furthermore, the utilities of any given attribute are weighted according to the similarity of the levels along the other attribute. Small contrasts along 1 dimension result in greater weight for the other dimension. This contrast-weighting theory is consistent with empirical results in several domains, including psychophysics, social judgement, and risky decision making
TL;DR: The authors' cued-recall model uses an architecture similar to that of the recognition model and where applicable the same parameters, and analysis reveals an output competition process that relies on distributed representations and has not been proposed before.
Abstract: The authors present the results of their analysis of an auto-associator for use with sparse representations. Their recognition model using it exhibits a list-length effect but no list-strength effect, a dissociation that current models have difficulty producing. Data on the effects of similarity and strengthening that indicate a dissociation between recognition and frequency judgments are also addressed. Receiver operating characteristic curves for the model have slopes between 0.5 and 1.0 and achieve this ratio in a novel way. The model can also predict latencies naturally. The authors' cued-recall model uses an architecture similar to that of the recognition model and where applicable the same parameters. It predicts appropriate amounts of retroactive interference, and analysis reveals an output competition process that relies on distributed representations and has not been proposed before.
TL;DR: The authors hypothesize the existence of receptive field structures that sense the local structure of stereoscopic occlusion relationships to account for these findings and present a simple theoretical framework in which fusion, stereopsis, and Occlusion are unified.
Abstract: Models of stereopsis have focused on developing strategies for identifying common features in the 2 half-images so that disparity may be computed. This emphasis ignores the unpairable features that arise at occluding contours (half-occlusions). Most models treat half-occlusions as noise or outliers that are interpreted after disparity processing is completed. A series of experiments reveal that occlusion relationships are sensed during the earliest stages of binocular processing. The authors hypothesize the existence of receptive field structures that sense the local structure of stereoscopic occlusion relationships to account for these findings. Finally, a simple theoretical framework is presented in which fusion, stereopsis, and occlusion are unified. This theory explains the co-occurrence of stereopsis and diplopia and how half-occlusions escape the suppression characteristic of binocular rivalry.
TL;DR: The authors presented a stochastic judgment model (SJM) as a framework for addressing a wide range of issues in statement verification and probability judgment, distinguishing between covert confidence in the truth of a proposition and the selection of an overt response.
Abstract: This article presents a stochastic judgment model (SJM) as a framework for addressing a wide range of issues in statement verification and probability judgment. The SJM distinguishes between covert confidence in the truth of a proposition and the selection of an overt response. A series of experiments demonstrated the model's validity and yielded new results: Binary true-false responses were biased toward true relative to underlying judgment. Underlying judgment was also biased in that direction. Also, in a domain about which Ss had some knowledge, they discriminated true and false statements better when they compared complementary pairs before judging individual statements than when they performed those tasks in the opposite order