Noun and adjective imagery and order in paired-associate learning by French and English subjects.

Varied rated noun imagery (I), rated adjective I, and noun-adjective order in a paired-associate (PA) learning task. 98 10th graders learned 2 PA lists, 1 with noun-adjective (N-A) pairs and 1 with adjective-noun (A-N) pairs. Within each list rated I of both nouns and adjectives was varied factorially. Both English- and French-speaking Ss learned the lists in their own languages. Results support the predictions from an hypothesis based on mediating imagery. N-A recall was superior to A-N recall for all combinations of word I, except when nouns were low and adjectives high in I. In the latter case, A-N recall was higher. This pattern was the same for both English- and French-speaking Ss. Results are interpreted as further evidence of the important role played by imagery in verbal learning. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Noun imagery and frequency in paired-associate and free-recall learning.

Investigates the effects of rated imagery (I) and Thorndike-Lorge frequency (F) of nouns in paired-associate (PA) and free-recall (FR) learning. In the PA task, I and F were factorially varied on the stimulus and response sides of 16-pair mixed lists. Ss (77 male high school graduates) had 4 PA study and recall trials with each of 2 such lists. In agreement with previous findings, I was strongly related to learning, more so on the stimulus than on the response side of pairs. Weaker effects of F were positive on the response side but negative on the stimulus side under certain combinations of stimulus and response I revealed by interaction effects. The FR task involved factorial variation of I and F in 32-item lists. 52 undergraduates were presented 10 trials with 2 such lists. Recall was consistently better for high-I than for low-I nouns. Frequency had a consistent positive effect when the nouns were high in I, but its effect was negative on early trials when the nouns were abstract. I and F therefore were clearly differentiated empirically in both tasks. Findings are discussed in terms of such factors as stimulus-evoked mediating imagery and response availability. (French summary) (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recherches sur la morphologie lexicale: Les transformations relatives au nombre.

Studied inflections relative to the number of common nouns in 2 recognition experiments based on models of morphological patterning. In Exp I the 3 processes of pluralization in French were employed in a list of 108 nouns. Ss were asked to recognize and recall singular and plural words on the basis of the phonetic-lexical endings. In Exp II the same nouns, number markers, and combinations were used with Ss being asked if they were the same, another form of the same word, or an entirely different word. Results were assessed by age and school level variables. It is concluded that short-term recall uses episodic memory function based on perception of characteristics, such as graphic or phonetic, of words presented, while number processing occurs at different processing levels. (English abstract) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypotheses and habits in verbal "operant conditioning.'

The traditional explanation of experiments related to conditioning of verbal behavior in terms of operant conditioning, i.e., learning without awareness, was questioned. It was hypothesized that such conditioning to cues given by E might be based on S's awareness of the cue and assumed meaning of such a stimulus. 2 experiments were performed, 1 where plural nouns were reinforced, and a 2nd to test the generalization of this acquired pattern on a word association test. The usual findings re: conditioning of plural nouns was replicated and there seemed to be a carry-over of the set to the word association test. However, some Ss seemed to be aware of the meaning of such a reinforcer as "um-hm." Moreover, response set was also seen to affect conditionability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal conditioning of two response classes: Some methodological considerations.

The capacity to condition verbalizations of an interviewee was seen to be related to S's awareness of what was going on but independent of such variables as the age, sex, vocabulary level, (Taylor) anxiety level, and word rate of Ss. Specific content could be successfully conditioned, particularly those words which related to people; such words as plural nouns were unaffected by the reinforcement procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of affective meaningfulness and self-concept in the verbal learning styles of White and Black children.

White and Black 5th graders, representing 2 social class and 2 self-concept (Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale) levels, recalled nouns which they had prerated for likability in a multitrial free recall format. While self-concept failed to have any noticeable influence on the total sample, it interacted significantly with race. As predicted, the high self-concept White Ss recalled positively rated words more readily than negatively rated words, while their low self-concept peers showed no memory predilection. Although the low self-concept Black Ss also reflected no preference for their affective evaluations, the high self-concept Black Ss showed a greater propensity to recall their negatively rated words. Social class had a negligible effect on affective learning styles. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention-related effects on somatosensory evoked potentials in college students at high risk for psychopathology.

Determined whether a deviation from normal amplitude in the evoked potential in response to attention directed to a stimulus would occur in 10 undergraduates with high scores on a measure of physical anhedonia (AN) and 9 undergraduates with a high score on a measure of perceptual aberration (PA). Ss were compared with 10 control undergraduates and 7 schizophrenics (mean age 25.6 yrs). Previous studies have shown low amplitudes for schizophrenics. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded from 5 scalp locations while Ss counted stimuli to 1 of 4 randomly stimulated fingers; SEPs to counted stimuli contained the attention-related late positive wave (P400). P400 amplitudes of AN Ss were lower than those of normal controls, whereas P400 amplitudes of PA Ss and their matched controls did not differ. P400 amplitudes of AN Ss did not differ significantly from those of schizophrenics, although AN means were somewhat higher. P400 amplitude may provide information that is different from the associated behavioral response and a more sensitive indication of central mechanism dysfunction. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scales for physical and social anhedonia

Devised 2 true–false scales to measure anhedonia, the lowered ability to experience pleasure: a 40-item Physical Anhedonia (PA) scale and a 48-item Social Anhedonia (SA) scale. After scale development using 371 college students, the final version was given to 505 normal adults stratified by social class, age (18–45), and sex, and to 123 male schizophrenics. The potential artifacts of social desirability, acquiescence, and random responding were ruled out. Coefficient alpha values for PA and for SA were .74 and .85 for male normal Ss and .82 and .85 for male schizophrenics. Schizophrenics scored more anhedonic than normal Ss on both PA and SA. Schizophrenics' scores on PA fell into 2 clusters of scores, one resembling the total distribution of the normal Ss, and a 2nd cluster consisting of scores that were more anhedonic than those of the normal Ss. Anhedonics were more often poor premorbid and hedonics more often good premorbid. The PA scale may be useful for testing the hypotheses, advanced by several theorists, that anhedonia is genetically transmitted and that nonpsychotic anhedonics are at high risk for schizophrenia. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continual association as a function of level of creativity and type of verbal stimulus.

Continual word association was studied as a function of Remote Associates Test (RAT) performance, form class, associative hierarchy, and Thorndike-Lorge word frequency. Ss were selected as high creative (HC), low creative (LC), and medium creative (MC) on the basis of their RAT scores. It was found that HC Ss give the greatest number of associations and maintain a relatively higher speed of association throughout a 2-min. period. More responses were elicited by nouns than adjectives, flat hierarchy words than steep, and high frequency words than low. The S and stimulus variable did not interact. Relevance to an associative theory of creative thinking is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimenter approval, social desirability, and statements of self-reference.

Using 40 undergraduate Ss high or low on a social desirability scale, a verbal conditioning attempt was made to alter the relative frequency of self-referent statements that were either positive or negative. Before reinforcement, high and low social desirability Ss responded very similarly, and used more positive than negative self-references. High social desirability Ss responded to reinforcement by increasing equally the frequency of both positive and negative self-referent statements. Low social desirability Ss did not condition, but continued to make more positive than negative self-references. Although high and low social desirability Ss both have the need to impress others favorably, the high social desirability person is apparently more dependent on the overt, evaluative behavior of others, and for this reason he can be manipulated more easily than low social desirability Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black children's use of nonstandard grammar: Two years later.

A Berko-type task requiring Ss to derive the present, plural, possessive, and time extension forms of nonsense syllables was administered to 115 Black and White 2nd graders and readministered to a subsample of these same children upon their reaching the 4th grade. At both 2nd- and 4th-grade levels, White Ss supplied significantly more standard English responses and Black Ss significantly more hypothesized nonstandard English responses to each of the 4 tasks. Additionally, Ss of both races showed significant increases in standard English usage and significant decreases in nonstandard English usage over the 2-yr period. The possibility that grammatical differences between Black Ss and White Ss might disappear given more time is discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Should WAIS subjects explain picture arrangement stories?

To determine whether requiring 16-65 yr. old WAIS Ss to explain their Picture Arrangement (PA) sequences affects PA scores, 56 Ss were given the WAIS and asked to tell PA stories, and 102 Ss were given the WAIS under standard instructions. 37 pairs of Ss were matched for age, Full Scale IQ, and reason for referral. No significant differences were found between Ss who told PA stories and those who did not. Findings were contrasted with those of J. Herrell and J. Golland, who found a 2-point scaled score increment on PA for WISC Ss who explained their sequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level of processing as a determinant of hypnotic hypermnesia.

Reconceptualized the distinction between those situations in which one can and cannot expect to observe hypnotic hypermnesia using the levels-of-processing theory of memory, as proposed by F. I. Craik and R. S. Lockhart (see record 1973-20189-001). In Study 1, 20 hypnotized Ss (high hypnotizables), relaxed/motivated Ss (high hypnotizables), and 20 simulating Ss (low hypnotizables) processed lists of words matched for meaningfulness and imagery value at "deep" or "shallow" levels. As predicted, the hypnotized group recalled more deeply but not more shallowly processed stimuli than the control groups. In Study 2, these findings were replicated with 30 undergraduates using improved experimental procedures and were extended to a recognition situation. In neither study was the observed hypnotic enhancement accompanied by an increment in errors. It is concluded that cognition at the time of processing is critical in rendering a stimulus amenable to hypnotic hypermnesia. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and the priming of newly learned associations.

In each of 2 experiments, 32 young (aged 18–25 yrs) and 32 elderly (aged 63–79 yrs) adults studied 36 sentences of the form NOUN1-VERB-NOUN2. They then made item-recognition judgments regarding whether single nouns had occurred in the sentences. After 2 or more presentations of each sentence, both young and elderly Ss showed equivalent priming between the nouns within the sentences; a noun was recognized faster when it was tested immediately after the other noun from the same sentence than when it was tested following a noun from a different sentence. After only 1 presentation of each sentence, young Ss showed priming but elderly Ss did not. Under all study conditions, young Ss were superior to the elderly in cued recall of the same sentences. It is argued that priming provides a sensitive measure of what is stored in memory and so will be useful for studies of aging. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determiner selection in noun phrase production.

In 3 experiments, native speakers of German named pictures of 1 or 2 objects by producing singular or plural noun phrases consisting of a definite gender-marked determiner and a noun. When singular and plural determiners differed (masculine and neuter gender), naming latencies were longer for plural utterances than for singular utterances. By contrast, when singular and plural determiners were identical (feminine gender), no such effect was obtained. When participants produced bare nouns, the Gender x Number interaction disappeared. This pattern indicates that during the production of plural definite-determiner noun phrases, singular and plural determiners compete for selection. The resulting constraints on number and gender processing in noun phrase production are discussed in the framework of models of language production. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

L'effet de la fréquence d'usage des noms inanimés et de la valeur prédictive de leur terminaison sur l'identification du genre grammatical.

Studied the effects of the frequency of use of inanimate nouns and the predictive value of noun endings relative to gender classes on the speed and accuracy of grammatical gender identification. The effects of category labels used to express choice of gender class, and the role of lexical and postlexical processes in identification of noun gender were also addressed. Human subjects: 60 male and female Canadian adults (university students) (French-speaking). Ss were presented with a training list of 24 nouns and a test list of 80 different nouns. All words began with a consonant. 20 Ss were tested orally, and the effects of high-frequency or low-frequency stimuli presentation were examined. 40 Ss were asked to write their responses, indicating gender using masculine or feminine articles (un/une) or using the words masculine or feminine. Ss' percentages of errors and reaction time (RT) were determined and analyzed using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). (English abstract) Developmental. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy, alcohol, and sex guilt as determinants of interest in and reaction to sexual stimuli.

Selected 72 male undergraduate social drinkers from high, moderate, and low scorers on the Sex Guilt subscale of the Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Scale. Ss were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions in a balanced-placebo design utilized to control for psychological as well as physiological factors determining the effects of drinking on behavior. After consuming beverages, Ss viewed and evaluated photographic slides of erotic content and then reported on their sexual arousal. The time Ss spent viewing each slide was unobtrusively recorded. Overall, greater sexual arousal was indicated by Ss who thought they had received alcoholic beverages, regardless of actual drink content. In all conditions except the high sex guilt/expect tonic groups, viewing times increased as a positive linear function of pornography ratings of the slides. Results demonstrate that psychological aspects of individual differences can mediate expectancy effects in research on alcohol and social behavior. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Should WISC subjects explain pitcure arrangement stories?

Administered the WISC to 78 6-15 yr. old Ss asked to tell picture arrangement (PA) stories, and to 57 Ss under standard instructions. 42 pairs of Ss were matched for age, Full Scale IQ, and reason for referral. Ss who told PA stories had an average PA score 2.12 scaled score points higher than Ss who did not tell stories (p 100. No significant difference was found for Ss > 9 yr. old. Awareness of facilitating effects of Ss explaining PA stories when interpreting the WISC is urged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between self-esteem and response style.

Response preferences of 30 high, 30 middle, and 30 low self-esteem undergraduate Ss on the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were analyzed to examine relationships between sex, self-esteem, and response style. Based on discriminant analyses, significant results indicated that like and dislike preferences discriminated between self-esteem groups but not between sex groups. Ss of high and middle self-esteem groups responded more often with like preferences, while Ss of the low self-esteem group responded more often with dislike preferences across all sections of the SCII. Inspection of the Your Characteristics section revealed that high and middle self-esteem Ss attributed strengths to themselves more frequently than did low self-esteem Ss. Two-way ANOVAs of Ss' profile scores revealed significant self-esteem effects but not significant sex and interaction effects. Compared with test profiles of low self-esteem Ss, test profiles of high and middle self-esteem Ss exhibited greater differentiation and provided more helpful information regarding particular interests and occupational areas for further vocational exploration. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black and White children's use of standard English at 7, 9, and 12 years of age.

A Berko-type task, requiring an S to derive the present, plural, possessive, and time extension forms of nonsense syllables, was re-administered to 64 Black and White 7th graders previously tested in Grades 2 and 4. Results indicate (a) linguistic convergence for all Ss between 4th and 7th grades on possessive, time extension, and plural tasks and (b) linguistic divergence between Black and White Ss over time on the present tense task. It is emphasized that findings be interpreted with caution because of the effect of nonrandom attrition (44%) on the longitudinally collected data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)