The susceptibility of chronic schizophrenics to social influence in the formation of perceptual judgments.

To test the hypothesis that the schizophrenic process may be characterized by a progressive withdrawal from contact with and hence influenced by the social environment, regressed schizophrenics, partially remitted schizophrenics, and a control group of hospitalized TB patients (all VA) were tested in the Asch (1956) conformity-to-group-judgment situation. Schizophrenics were seen to respond to social stimuli, but their responses had little apparent relationship to the physical or social reality of the situation. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2JQ48S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual styles and their correlates among schizophrenic patients.

Replicated the experimental procedures on which a tridimensional model of schizophrenic perceptual functioning was based, other potentially relevant procedures included, and the resultant relationships delineated and tested through multivariate statistical techniques. Factor analysis supported the existence of the 3 dimensions of the original model stimulus intensity control, scanning control, and field articulation. Through cluster analysis there emerged groups of Ss whose differing perceptual styles paralleled the previously reported pattern of differences between paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics. Other results made several major qualifications of the original theory necessary: (1) perceptual inefficiency and anchoring emerge as additional meaningful dimensions of perceptual functioning; (2) behavioral guardedness replaces coherent paranoid delusions as a significant correlate of scanning; and (3) stimulus augmentation is related to strong internal affect only among acute patients; among chronic patients the relationship is reversed. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thoughts beyond words: When language overshadows insight.

Four experiments examined whether verbalization can interfere with insight problem solving. In Exp 1, Ss were interrupted during problem solving and asked either to verbalize their strategies (retrospective verbalization) or engage in an unrelated activity (control). Ss in the retrospective verbalization condition were significantly less successful than control Ss at solving the problems. Exp 2 replicated the finding of Exp 1 and demonstrated that the control Ss' advantage was not due to any beneficial effect of the interruption. In Exp 3, concurrent, nondirective verbalization impaired the solving of insight problems but had no effect on noninsight problems. In Exp 4, the effect of concurrent verbalization on insight was maintained even when Ss were encouraged to consider alternative approaches. Together, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that verbalization can result in the disruption of nonreportable processes that are critical to achieving insight solutions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of scaling on a multimedia connection architecture

As the last two meetings of the Internet Engineering Task Force have shown, the demand for Internet teleconferencing has arrived. Packet audio and video have now been multicast to approximately 170 different hosts in ten countries, and for upcoming meetings the number of remote participants is likely to be substantially larger. Yet the network infrastructure to support wide-scale packet teleconferencing is not in place. These experiments represent a departure from the two- to ten-site telemeetings that are the norm today. They represent an increase in scale of multiple orders of magnitude in several interrelated dimensions.This paper discusses the impact of scaling on our efforts to define a multimedia teleconferencing architecture. Three scaling dimensions of particular interest are: (1) very large numbers of participants per conference, (2) many simultaneous teleconferences, and (3) a widely dispersed user population. Here we present a strawman architecture and describe how conference-specific information is captured, then conveyed among end systems. We provide a comparison of connection models and outline the tradeoffs and requirements that change as we travel along each dimension of scale. In conclusion, we identify five critical needs for a scalable teleconferencing architecture.     

Seeing,wanting, owning: the relationship between receptivity to tobacco marketing and smoking susceptibility in young people

OBJECTIVE—To assess the effect of the tobacco industry''s marketing practices on adolescents by examining the relationship between their receptivity to these practices and their susceptibility to start smoking.DESIGN—Paper-and-pencil surveys measuring association with other smokers, exposure to tobacco industry marketing strategies, experience with smoking, and resolve not to smoke in the future.SETTING—25 randomly selected classrooms in five middle schools in San Jose, California.SUBJECTS—571 seventh graders with an average age of 13 years and 8 months; 57% were female. Forty-five per cent of the students were Asian, 38% were Hispanic, 12% were white, and 5% were black.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES—Exposure to social influences, receptivity to marketing strategies, susceptibility to start smoking.RESULTS—About 70% of the participants indicated at least moderate receptivity to tobacco marketing materials. Children who are more receptive are also more susceptible to start smoking. In addition to demographics and social influences, receptivity to tobacco marketing materials was found to be strongly associated with susceptibility.CONCLUSIONS—Tobacco companies conduct marketing campaigns that effectively capture teenage attention and stimulate desire for their promotional items. These marketing strategies may function to move young teenagers from non-smoking status toward regular use of tobacco. Our results demonstrate that there is a clear association between tobacco marketing practices and youngsters'' susceptibility to smoke. The findings, along with other research, provide compelling support for regulating the manner in which tobacco products are marketed, to protect young people from the tobacco industry''s strategies to reach them.     

Simple predictions fueled by capacity limitations: When are they successful?

Counterintuitively, Y. Kareev, I. Lieberman, and M. Lev (1997) found that a lower short-term memory capacity benefits performance on a correlation detection task. They assumed that people with low short-term memory capacity (low spans) perceived the correlations as more extreme because they relied on smaller samples, which are known to exaggerate correlations. The authors consider, as an alternative hypothesis, that low spans do not perceive exaggerated correlations but make simpler predictions. Modeling both hypotheses in ACT-R demonstrates that simpler predictions impair performance if the environment changes, whereas a more exaggerated perception of correlation is advantageous to detect a change. Congruent with differences in the way participants make predictions, 2 experiments revealed a low capacity advantage before the environment changes but a high capacity advantage afterward, although this pattern of results surprisingly only existed for men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A time course analysis of Stroop interference and facilitation: Comparing normal individuals and individuals with schizophrenia.

Using randomized stimulus onset asynchrony (SOAs), the authors traced the time course of Stroop interference and facilitation in normal participants and participants with schizophrenia. Unlike earlier findings using blocked SOAs, singular peaks in interference, facilitation, or both occurred at particular SOAs. The peaks of normal participants and participants with schizophrenia differed. Findings are congruent with a model of Stroop performance that posits individual differences in processing speeds of target and nontarget stimulus dimensions, coupled with critical points in response selection. Participants with schizophrenia also showed more overall interference than normal control participants. A second experiment that added a temporal gap between the distractor word and target color obliterated Stroop effects only for individuals with schizophrenia. These findings provide a new empirical basis for models of Stroop effects. They are also consistent with hypotheses about the importance of the prefrontal cortex for working memory and prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The fate of memory: Comment on McCloskey and Zaragoza.

M. McCloskey and M. Zaragoza (see record 1986-03053-001) argued that misleading postevent (PE) suggestions do not affect the availability of originally encoded information. Careful consideration of the predictions of their experimental test suggests that it may be insufficiently sensitive to reveal the impact of PE information. A small effect of PE information can be observed when their paradigm is repeated with a more sensitive recognition test. McCloskey and Zaragoza's "no impairment" hypothesis is also difficult to reconcile with numerous reports of "blend" memories that reflect a compromise between the original and PE information. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)