TODAM and the list-strength and list-length effects: Comment on Murdock and Kahana (1993a).

B. B. Murdock and M. J. Kahana (see record 1993-32216-001) presented a continuous memory version of the theory of distributed associative memory (TODAM) model. They claimed that this model predicts list-strength and list-length findings, including those reported by R. Ratcliff (1990) and K. Murnane and R. M. Shiffrin (1991). This model is quite similar to one discussed by Shiffrin et al (1990), who rejected the model on the basis of its inability to predict both an absent or negative list-strength effect (when strength is varied by repetitions) and a present list-length effect. This comment elaborates the earlier discussion and demonstrates that the version of TODAM proposed by Murdock and Kahana indeed fails for this reason. This is shown first for a somewhat simplified version of the model for which derivations are obvious and then in a simulation of the complete version using the parameter values suggested by Murdock and Kahana. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to comments on Lipsey and Wilson (1993).

Replies to comments by H. J. Eysenck, D. Sohn, and H. Cooper et al (see PA, Vol 82:22192, 22208, and 22189, respectively) regarding Lipsey and Wilson's (see record 1994-18340-001) meta-analysis of meta-analyses. Both Sohn and Eysenck seem to be concerned with how theory is developed, but they may be confused about the role of meta-analysis in that process. It is argued that the purpose of meta-analysis is to develop generalizations about research findings across different studies. The extension of the analysis by Cooper et al reminds researchers that meta-analysis can be subject to error and bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conducting and comprehending cross-cultural comparisons: Reply to Stigler and Miller (1993).

J. W. Stigler and K. F. Miller (see record 1994-07531-001) critiqued the matching methodology and theoretical interpretation reported in the R. E. Mayer et al (see record 1991-19796-001) study of mathematical problem solving in Japan and the US. In this reply, the authors explain why they disagree with Stigler and Miller's comments concerning (1) the reliability of the matching methodology used, (2) the correctness of hypotheses concerning the relative effectiveness of US and Japanese schools, (3) reporting of the relative problem-solving performances of US and Japanese students, (4) whether Mayer et al are guilty of drawing causal conclusions from correlational data, and (5) whether the results are best explained by differences in intelligence. Finally, the authors call for recognizing the legitimacy of multiple research perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential power of coding particular experiences: Reply to Mathews and Roussel (1993).

R. C. Mathews and L. G. Roussel (see record 1993-44092-001) argued that it is more fruitful to understand memory as a "conceptualizer," which enables the organism to interact efficiently with its environment, than as a simple "warehouse" for storing the details of past experience. The authors completely agree. However, Mathews and Roussel believe that the human capacity to acquire sensitivity to general properties of the environment requires a memory system that chronically abstracts regular aspects of the general structure of experience. It is argued that such abstraction is unnecessary. Instead, encoding particular experiences of encountering the members of a domain accidentally makes memory sensitive to the general structure of that domain. In effect, simply coding particular experiences grants memory the potential to interact efficiently with complex and unanticipated aspects of its environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association between conscious knowledge and performance in normal subjects: Reply to Cohen and Curran (1993) and Willingham, Greeley, and Bardone (1993).

Several studies (e.g., M. J. Nissen & P. Bullemer, 1987) have claimed that reaction times (RTs) to a repeating sequence may improve although Ss are not aware of the repeating sequence. P. Perruchet and M. A. Amorim (see record 1992-37919-001) pointed out that the measure of awareness involved in these studies was inadequate (e.g., Ss were not even explicitly asked to retrieve the repeating sequence), and they showed that the dissociation in normal Ss no longer held when awareness was assessed by recall or recognition tests. In this reply, it is shown that A. Cohen and T. Curran's (1993) criticisms of the validity of Perruchet and Amorim's tests and of the theoretical implications of their results are either without foundation or unfalsifiable. Further, it is shown that the new experiment by D. B. Willingham et al (1993) does not demonstrate dissociation. Both comments further illustrate the widespread uncritical acceptance of dissociation, which probably originates from, but is not theoretically justified by, evidence available for dissociation in amnesic patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative versus contingency accounts of category learning: Reply to Melz, Cheng, Holyoak, and Waldmann (1993).

E. R. Melz et al (see record 1994-24205-001) argue that the partial blocking of cue A that was previously reported (D. R. Shanks; see record 1991-26433-001) when Ss were presented with intermixed AB?→?1, B?→?1 category learning trials is not consistent with the associative Rescorla-Wagner (R-W; 1972) theory analysis that was offered, given that the theory predicts complete blocking at asymptote. However, this claim assumes that Ss were trained to asymptote in these experiments, and there is no reason to believe this was the case. Melz et al further argue that there has been no reported evidence of complete blocking in associative learning tasks, which is incorrect. It is shown that, on the contrary, there is abundant evidence of it. The R-W theory analysis of the results is therefore sound. The results reported were inconsistent with contingency theories as they are normally formulated. Melz et al propose a revised contingency theory which, they argue, can account for data from a range of learning tasks. In particular, they claim that their theory can accommodate the results. It is shown that the theory can be refuted… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming is not all bias: Commentary on Ratcliff and McKoon (1997).

R. Ratcliff and G. McKoon (see record 1997-03612-005) reported a set of findings they claim is inconsistent with all prior accounts of long-term priming, including (a) a pattern of benefits and costs in an identification task suggestive of a bias interpretation of priming and (b) a restriction on priming such that benefits and costs are obtained only when the alternatives in the forced-choice task are similar. On the basis of these and related findings, Ratcliff and McKoon developed a bias theory of visual word priming that is implemented in a mathematical model. However, the present article shows that their empirical findings are ambiguous and can be explained more parsimoniously within more traditional frameworks. Furthermore, 8 studies are reported that directly contradict their model. On the basis of these and related findings, it is argued that priming is best understood as a by-product of learning within perceptual systems whose main function is to categorize inputs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graded effects in hierarchical figure-ground organization: Reply to Peterson (1999).

An important issue in vision research concerns the order of visual processing. S. P. Vecera and R. C. O'Reilly (1998) presented an interactive, hierarchical model that placed figure-ground segregation prior to object recognition. M. A. Peterson (1999) critiqued this model, arguing that because it used ambiguous stimulus displays, figure-ground processing did not precede object processing. In the current article, the authors respond to Peterson's (1999) interpretation of ambiguity in the model and her interpretation of what it means for figure-ground processing to come before object recognition. The authors argue that complete stimulus ambiguity is not critical to the model and that figure-ground precedes object recognition architecturally in the model. The arguments are supported with additional simulation results and an experiment, demonstrating that top-down inputs can influence figure-ground organization in displays that contain stimulus cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process, not representation: Reply to Radavansky (1999).

The size of fan effects is determined by processes at retrieval, not by whether or not information is represented as situations. Evidence contradicts G. A. Radvansky's (see record 1999-05245-005) claim that time to retrieve information from a situation does not depend on the number of elements in the situation. Moreover, Radvansky's principles for ascribing situational models to experiments appear to be post hoc ways of redescribing the data. On the other hand, the evidence does support the Adaptive Control of Thought—Rational (ACT-R) assumption that participants can adjust their attentional weightings and so produce differential fan effects. Moreover, the ACT-R theory of the fan effect is consistent with many other findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Strain, Patterson, and Seidenberg (2002).

E. Strain, K. E. Patterson, and M. S. Seidenberg (2002) reported an effect of imageability and a Regularity X Imageability interaction in a regression analysis of naming latencies to 120 words. One of their items (couth) was named correctly by just 5 of their 24 participants, and its reaction time was an outlier on their distribution. When that single item is removed, the significant predictors are age of acquisition (AoA), word frequency, regularity, and length. Analyses of the combined data from J. Monaghan and A. W. Ellis's (2002) Experiments 1-3 indicate that AoA predicts naming latencies for exception words but not consistent words. E. Strain et al.'s other points are considered in the light of these observations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affordances, codes, and decision processes: A response to Michaels (1993).

In her commentary on R. W. Proctor et al (see record 1993-20228-001), C. F. Michaels (see record 1994-08287-001) claimed to have demonstrated a destination compatibility effect that cannot be attributed to relative direction coding. She also argued that the concept of "affordance" compatibility is needed to supplement the concept of "coding" compatibility to explain differences in the ease with which people can respond to compatible assignments for different stimulus and response sets. Neither of these assertions is supported by existing evidence. The destination compatibility effect, as well as most other stimulus–response compatibility phenomena, can be attributed to decision processes that operate on stimulus and response codes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding source effects in ADHD rating scales: Reply to DuPaul (2003).

G. J. DuPaul (see record 2003-02033-012) offered two suggestions for additional research to understand the strong source effects reported by R. Gomez, G. L Burns, J. A. Walsh, and M. A. de Moura (see record 2003-02033-001) in attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rating scales. The first suggestion was to determine whether the source effects represent mostly bias or accuracy. The second suggestion was to minimize source effects through the development of better ADHD rating scales. Because source effects can represent bias or accuracy, it is important to minimize the bias aspect through content validation procedures prior to attempts to determine whether source effects better reflect bias or accuracy. This comment offers various suggestions to reduce the bias in ADHD rating scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Alpert (1995).

Replies to J. L. Alpert's (see record 1995-44717-001) comment on Brenneis' (see record 1995-18442-001) article concerning the relation of dreams to early childhood trauma. Brenneis addresses Alpert's (1) dispute of the findings on the relation of dream content to traumatic experience; (2) argument that clinicians, in reconstructing trauma, work from a broader context than dreams; and (3) insistence that clinical findings discrepant from research findings not be summarily dismissed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occlusion, symmetry, and object-based attention: Reply to Saiki (2000).

J. Saiki (see record 2000-13210-027) argued that, because the stimuli used by M. Behrmann, R. S. Zemel, and M. C. Mozer (see record 1998-04674-001) were confounded by symmetry, conclusions about whether amodally completed objects can benefit from object-based attention are unwarranted. Here, the authors, examine J. Saiki's claim further and expand on their view of the mechanisms underlying object-based attention, suggesting that perceptual organization is the process whereby features from a single object are selectively attended. In light of this, they claim that heuristics such as symmetry and collinearity play an important role in the facilitation of features from a single object. In support of this claim, they present data from a further experiment using displays that exploit common fate, another grouping heuristic, and show that, under these conditions, the hallmark of object-based attention, a single-object advantage, is obtained for the occluded (amodally completed) shapes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Shill (2004).

Shill's (see record 2004-11107-008) claim that the intersubjective perspective does not address conflict and defense is glaringly mistaken. In his article on signal anxiety, Shill (2004) declared that "the intersubjectivist approach does not address issues of conflict and defense at all" (p. 119). Astoundingly, he seems to have made this absurd pronouncement without being aware of any of the numerous articles and chapters my collaborators and I have written on the subject of psychological conflict and defense over the past three decades, one of which was published in this very journal (Stolorow & Brandchaft, 1987). Our aim has never been to defocus emotional conflict but rather to contextualize it-that is, to locate it within constitutive intersubjective systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mentalism, mechanisms, and medical analogues: Reply to Wakefield (1998).

J. C. Wakefield's (1998) critique of W. C. Follette and A. C. Houts's (1996) article is addressed by raising questions about (a) mentalism as a framework for studying psychopathology, (b) the nature of inferred mechanisms and the process of making such inferences, and (c) the accuracy of claiming that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association) expansion is analogous to the success of physical medicine. The authors argue that Wakefield's analysis of mental disorders leads to the conclusion that the modern DSMs are not reflective of the progress of physical medicine. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Pariser (2005).

The author responds to Michael Pariser's critique (see record 2005-01622-013) of her original article (see record 2003-99989-005) by distinguishing between reduction and reductionism, by refusing to see philosophy and neuroscience as competitors, by rejecting the call to adapt psychoanalysis to the demands of managed care, and by using the ideas of Wittgenstein to point out the problems of too-facile translation between the languages of neuroscience and of emotional-relational experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress and specificity: Reply to Miller (2009).

T. F. Denson, M. Spanovic, and N. Miller (see record 2009-19763-001) meta-analytically tested the hypotheses that specific appraisals and emotions would predict cortisol and immune responses to laboratory stressors and emotion inductions. Although the cortisol data supported the integrated specificity hypothesis, G. E. Miller (see record 2009-19763-002) raised questions concerning the extent to which the immunity data supported specificity. The authors respond to these concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Small, robust, and important: Reply to Sloan and Bagiella (2001).

Responds to R. P. Sloan and E. Bagiella's (see record 2001-06506-009)comments on the M. E. McCullough, et al (see record 2000-03769-001) article regarding religious involvement and morality. McCullough et al note that Sloan and Bagiella compared their findings with results from individual studies of hopelessness and physical activity that used criteria other than morality. The present authors argue that such comparisons are meaningless. Sloan and Bagiella's questioning of the statistical nonsignificance of the fully adjusted association is addressed. Methodological issues are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mexican Americans' initial preferences for counselors: Research methodologies or researchers' values? Reply to Atkinson and Wampold (1993).

D. R. Atkinson and B. E. Wampold's (see record 1993-26416-001) assessment of the available methods to study counselor preference failed to consider the limitations of the judgment and multidimensional approaches and the strength of the single-dimension choice approach, the method used by S. R. López et al (see record 1992-06260-001) in their research. In recognizing that each method has its respective strengths and weaknesses, it is important that researchers use multiple methods to assess counselor preferences. Naturalistic studies of counseling will ultimately determine which method or methods are most valid. It is suggested that the emphasis placed on a given method and the interpretation of given findings may reflect the degree to which researchers value the role of ethnicity and culture in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)