Factors in the motor behavior of functional psychotics.

The author presents a continuation of a research project (see 32: 1873) which suggested that reactive inhibition developed to a greater extent in schizophrenics than normals. The initial task (depressing a key in response to the appearance of a light on a panel) was altered to permit the possibility of quicker response rates, and a group of depressives was added for comparison. The results of the follow-up study are shown to continue to support the theory re: reactive inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic performance in a word-communication task.

Speaker and listener skills in schizophrenic and in normal Ss were studied using a communication task in which the speaker provides clue words to distinguish referent from nonreferent stimuli, and the listener chooses the speaker's referent from each stimulus array on the basis of the speaker's clue words. 4 groups of 18 speaker-listener pairs were used: schizophrenic speakers-schizophrenic listeners; schizophrenic speakers-normal listeners; normal speakers-schizophrenic listeners; normal speakers-normal listeners. Analysis of accuracy scores (proportion correct referent choices) showed that schizophrenic speakers were inferior to normals (p     

The duration of movement components in a repetitive task as a function of the locus of a perceptual cue.

A simplified pins-into-holes assembly task was used to study the interrelation of perceptual processes and work movements, by varying the locus of a perceptual cue within a repetitive patterned motion. "First, it is apparent that a perceptually loaded component takes significantly longer than its counterpart which involves less perceptual load. Secondly, placing a perceptual cue in one part of a work cycle not only affects the duration of that part of the cycle, but also significantly affects the durations of certain other parts of the movement." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of the spatial positioning of stimulus and response components on performance of a repetitive key-pressing task.

Operator efficiency in a key-pressing task was studied as a function of the positioning of the stimulus panel and response keyboard. Self-and automatic-pacing modes of presentation were used with the nine panel-keyboard combinations. Response time, error index, and latency (for automatic pacing only) measures were collected. No significant error differences were observed, but for each time measure the different treatments differed significantly. Location of the response keyboard was generally more important than location of the stimulus panel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral variability of process and reactive schizophrenics in a binary guessing task.

Process and reactive schizophrenics differ in run producing behavior when attempting to generate a random binary series of heads and tails. Reactive schizophrenics manifest more response variability than process schizophrenics. Evidence for this is a lower correlation for reactives between number of runs in the 1st and 2nd ? of a series of 300 binary responses. It is of interest to note that reactives are more variable than a normal undergraduate sample whereas process schizophrenics are not (see 34: 7320). The process group produced significantly more runs than the reactive group. This difference appears due to a greater tendency for process schizophrenics to produce runs of 1 (simple alternations), a form of response stereotypy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analysis of interperson correlations among thirty psychotics.

"A matrix of interperson correlations among 30 subjects based on above-median scores on 66 psychological test measures was factor analyzed by Thurstone's complete centroid method." It was concluded that "among chronic psychotics there exists a 'psychometric type' with a better-than-chance probability of recovery. This type is not distinguished by age, sex, or duration of illness… but… is characterized by generally poor performance on intellectual tasks, long reaction times, and poor time estimation." 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two types of conditioning in psychotics and normals.

The conditionality of 2 groups of schizophrenics (chronic paranoids and chronic nonparanoids) and a normal (male nurses) was tested via 2 methods of conditioning: visual (stimulus)—eyelid (response), and auditory (stimulus)—handpress (response). The results indicated no difference between the groups re: eyelid conditioning, but the paranoid group took significantly longer to condition on the verbal procedure. Suggested reasons for the results are discussed, and the results are compared with that of previous research. 18 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting the outcome of social therapy with chronic psychotics.

A group of 69 male, long-hospitalized chronic psychotics in an experimental rehabilitation unit was tested on a new device, the Hunter problem box, prior to their treatment by 1 or 3 variants of social therapy. A summary score, the Hunter Process Index, was developed to relate to patients' postprogram adjustment on completion of a social therapy program. The index reflects changes in the degree of problem solving rigidity displayed by the patient as he moves from a simple, 2-light, single alternation problem to a more complex, 4-light, double alternation problem. The Hunter Process Index was validated with a group of 71 long-hospitalized, female psychotics who also had been exposed to the social therapy approach of the rehabilitation unit, and again with a group of 48 male chronic psychotics who had received some slight variation in the program. The index scores were predictive of the outcome of patients in these groups. Clinical judgments failed to predict outcomes. A normal control group in a separate study earned better Hunter index scores than did either the released or hospitalized groups of male chronic psychotics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of good and poor premorbid male schizophrenics as a function of paternal vs. maternal censure.

The hypothesis that interference in schizophrenic performance depends on an interaction between level of premorbid adjustment, paternal vs. maternal source of stimulation, and censuring vs. approval content was tested. 4 tape recordings were played for 80 good and 80 poor premorbid adjustment schizophrenics—father-son censure, father-son approval, mother-son censure, and mother-son approval. Performance was measured by a change from a pre- to post-Digit-Symbol test. The hypothesis was confirmed—good premorbids show interference with paternal censure and poor premorbids with maternal censure. A comparison group of 80 normals did not show this kind of interaction. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsiveness of chronic schizophrenics to the social behavior of others in a meaningful task situation.

In this experiment 60 schizophrenics were given the task of stamping a number of greetings to accompany gifts. Instructions to hurray or to be cautious induced reliably differing rates of responding. In order to test the hypotheses concerning the social behavior of the schizophrenic, pairs of Ss were brought together to work in the same room—1 responding slowly and the other rapidly. As a consequence of being in the presence of another patient working at the same task both partners increased their rote of responding, indicating the effect of social facilitation. When the patients were given role instructions with relation to one another their rates of responding converged. Although these changes in behavior took place none of the 22 pairs of Ss (11 in co-working, 11 in role-related conditions) discussed the discrepancy or change in behavior. These results confirmed the hypothesis that schizophrenics will exhibit appropriate social motivation and responsiveness when behaving in a meaningful situation which does not depend on the use of language or complex cognitive skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group performance in a cognitive task.

On a cross-word puzzle task performed by 60 pairs of male Ss, correlations between group performance and performance of the individuals (independently determined) were calculated. 82% of the true group performance variance on the task could be predicted from the individual performance scores. "It is suggested that the nature of the task is important in studies of group performance, and that the existence of 'group' phenomena should be empirically demonstrated rather than assumed." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of reinforcement and imitation to reinstate verbal behavior in mute psychotics.

Verbal behavior was reinstated in 3 long-term, mute psychotics using reinforcement procedures. For 2 Ss, shaping and fading techniques were used to establish limited verbal repertoires. Wtih a 3rd S, the shaping technique was ineffective; however, a reinforced imtiation technique succeeded in developing imitative vocalizations which were then established as verbal responses. For all Ss, the functional role of contingent reinforcement in maintaining the recently developed verbal behavior was demonstrated: when Ss received reinforcement only when they were not responding verbally, their rates of verbal responding showed marked decreases, but recovered when contingent reinforcement for verbal behavior was resumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of two methods of training in a complex task by means of task stimulation.

"Improvement in performance with training in a complex task of radar air traffic control was compared under a condition of constant high input load during training vs. a condition of graduated input load during training… . The test performance of Ss trained under constant high input load was significantly superior on several criteria to that of Ss trained under the graduated input load condition." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LE65K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction time, distractibility, and overinclusive thinking in psychotics.

Fifteen paranoid schizophrenics, 15 nonparanoid schizophrenics, and 15 nonschizophrenic psychiatric inpatients were given 3 of Babcock's tests of psychomotor retardation, and a test of overinclusive thinking based on Benjamin's proverbs. In addition, they took part in a simple and multiple-choice auditory reactiontime experiment in which the presence and number of distracting stimuli were varied. As predicted, the reaction times of the overinclusive patients were initially significantly slower. Overinclusive patients were also significantly more affected by the distraction, presumably because they are less able to filter out these irrelevant stimuli. A similar performance characterized those diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, as contrasted to those with other diagnoses, probably because of the significant relationship between paranoia and overinclusive thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variability of performance in a vigilance task.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of signal pattern and frequency on the variability of S's performance in a vigilance task. Ss were 12 male college students who watched 3 dials during 3 consecutive 27-min. periods. Real signals occurred alone in 1 period while 2 different patterns of dummy signals were added in the other 2 periods. It was found that dummy signals which occurred at semiregular intervals were more effective in reducing S's variability than those which occurred at nonregular intervals. It was also found that variability increased with time. It is concluded that use of a semiregular pattern of dummy signals would be one way of improving performance on a vigilance task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of immediately preceding task brightness on visual performance.

To determine how visual performance at low photopic brightness levels is affected by the brightness of an immediately preceding visual task, Ss were required to read photographs of banks of instrument dials (a near-vision task) and banks of Landolt rings (a far-vision task) after adaptation to the brightness level of the first task, under speed and accuracy instructions. The Ss performed both the near and far tasks. Within the brightness ranges used, performance was related to the brightness of the task but not to the brightness of the immediately preceding task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional task aptitude and performance anxiety.

Anxious responding (trait, state, and test anxiety) has a negative impact on overt performance. Researchers have used a unidimensional method of assessing anxiety and performance, although a more informative approach would involve a comprehensive assessment battery and multiple performance tasks. Incorporating this strategy, the authors measured the impact of anxiety on 4 attentional processing tasks. Results revealed that "types" of anxiety symptoms were differentially related to attentional task performance; test anxiety accounted for the most variance in predicting performance on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (D. Wechsler, 1997) letter-number sequencing and digit-span subtests, trait anxiety and fear of negative evaluation were more significant in predicting Stroop performance, and math anxiety accounted for the largest variance toward understanding Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (C. W. Lejuez, C. W. Kahler, & R. A. Brown, 2003) scores. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anticipatory alerting signals and a compatible secondary task on vigilance performance.

This visual vigilance study simulated an industrial inspection task in which Ss were alerted to possible targets by a semiautomatic detection device. 1 experimental group was forewarned of possible targets by a buzzer with 1-sec foreperiod and rested between alerting signals. A 2nd experimental group worked on a problem-solving secondary task instead of resting between buzzes. A control group observed the display continuously. Other variables of interest were sex of O, target type, and size of display window. It was found that: (1) performance by alerted groups was far superior to that of controls and continued to improve throughout the task, (2) a vigilance decrement was not in evidence in any condition, (3) the problem-solving task did not interfere with detection performance, (4) male and female Ss performed equally well, and (5) Ss engaged in the problem-solving task greatly underestimated the duration of the detection task and reported it "interesting" while the other groups estimated duration accurately and indicated boredom. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of degree of expertise and objective task complexity on perceived task complexity and performance.

Research on expertise has shown that nonexperts may sometimes outperform experts. Some researchers have suggested that superior performance by experts depends on the match between the experts' cognition and the demands of the task. The authors explored this issue using a quasi-experiment set in an organization. They examined how 3 sets of similar tasks that differ in their type of complexity can lead to differences in task perceptions and performance among experts, intermediates, and novices. The results suggest that experts and novices pay attention to different aspects of a task and that this affects both their perceptions of task complexity (i.e., task analyzability and variability) and their performance on the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)