Differential effects of rule-example order as a function of learner conceptual level.

To test D. E. Hunt's conceptual level matching model, the concept of "cognitive dissonance" was taught to 160 11th grade students, matched for sex and school class, but varying in conceptual level (cl). Each s was given the paragraph completion test. Treatments varied in structure from low (example only) to high (rule-example). It was predicted from the model that low cl ss would profit more from increased structure, while high cl ss would show less effect from treatment variations, but would tend to perform best in low structure. These predictions are clearly supported by a significant cl * treatment interaction and mean scores in the predicted pattern. (french summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of discovery learning as a function of student conceptual level.

Attempted to extend the construct validity of D. E. Hunt's (see record 1971-27828-001) conceptual level (CL) model for matching students' learning style with appropriate teaching methods. 64 11th graders with high or low CL (as measured by Hunt's paragraph completion test) were taught to analyze the components of a famous painting by 1 of 2 teaching methods that varied in degree of structure: discovery (low structure) and lecture (high structure). Ss then completed an art interpretation essay measuring their comprehension, integration, and recall of the theme of the painting. Integration scores support the prediction that low-CL Ss would perform significantly better with the lecture method than with the discovery method. Teaching method was not significant for high-CL Ss. Results are discussed in terms of the role of compensatory factors (i.e., what a student requires) and preferential factors (i.e., what a student likes). (French summary) (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehension of school prose as a function of reasoning level and instructional prompting.

108 6th, 7th, and 9th graders were asked to integrate existing information and initially unknown answers to prose-related questions for answering superordinate questions. The task was modeled after real-life school assignments typical in middle school years with the intent of justifying them as being developmentally appropriate. Results suggest that the grade level development of hypothetico-deductive skills interacts with instructional prompt levels and that these skills are just as critical to successful performance as is the possession of all essential information. Educational implications of skill emergence and prompt explicitness are discussed. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence concerning the construct validity of conceptual level as a personality variable.

100 female 12th graders from Southern Ontario, classified as either high, moderate, or low in conceptual level (CL) by the Paragraph Completion Test, were examined for differences in integrative complexity as well as movement toward interpersonal maturity. Ss completed the Wonderlic Intelligence Test, Rasmussen Ego Identity Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. After controlling for intelligence, the higher CL group exhibited significantly superior performance on the more complex aspects of an impression formation task and higher ego identity and lower anxiety scores. Correlational analysis revealed that CL tended to be related to higher level task measures and to ego identity and anxiety, while intelligence tended to be related to less complex aspects of the impression task. Intelligence itself was unrelated to ego identity and anxiety. Findings support the construct validity of CL as outlined by D. E. Hunt at al (1977). (French summary) (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal mediation as a function of age level.

A variety of experimental paradigms (reversal-nonreversal learning, transposition learning, etc.) indicate that young children evidence less mediational behavior than older children. Many variables have been shown to influence mediation, but it is not yet clear whether the emergence of mediational behavior is a voluntary or involuntary process, i.e., modifiable or unmodifiable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive level as a function of defensive isolation.

Evaluated the possibility that a failure to coordinate perspectives on the role-taking task (RTT) occurs when the TAT figures represent defensively isolated aspects of the self-structure. The Ss were given the RTT under 2 conditions: (1) Ss were assigned defensively isolated attributes, asked to tell a story built around TAT figures endowed with those attributes, and then required to take the perspectives of these figures in their role taking; (2) in the other, the assigned attributes were not defensively isolated. Ss showed more difficulty in coordinating perspectives under the defensive isolation condition than under the nonisolated condition. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size contrast as a function of conceptual similarity between test and inducers

In four experiments, the effect of the semantic relationship between test and inducing stimuli on the magnitude of size contrast in an Ebbinghaus-type illusion was explored. In Experiments 1 and 2, the greatest illusion was found when test and inducing stimuli were identical in shape and differed only in size. Decreased size contrast was found when inducing stimuli were drawn from the same category as the test stimulus, but were not visually identical. Even less size contrast was found when inducing stimuli were from a near conceptual category, with the least effect when they were drawn from a completely different category. In Experiment 3, it was demonstrated that even if test and inducing stimuli are drawn with identical geometric elements, the size contrast illusion is greatly reduced if they represent apparently different conceptual categories (through the manipulation of orientation and perceptual set). In Experiment 4, any geometric or spatial confounds were ruled out. These results suggest that size contrast is strongly influenced by the conceptual similarity between test and inducing stimuli.     

Retention of sequences of responses by very young children as a function of instructional condition.

Eight males and 8 females in each of 3 age-groups (28-31, 34-37, and 42-54 mo) were tested for their ability to process verbal and nonverbal instructional sequences. Each S was presented 3 different lengths of instruction in each of 4 different conditions: In the static condition each test item was prearranged in a receptacle so that during the trial the E told the S where to place the item while pointing to each item in each container; in the verbal instructions condition the S was simply told how to place the items in the containers; in the modeling condition, the S watched the E perform the task first; in the final condition, both modeling and verbal instructions were combined to determine whether adding modeling cues to the verbal instructions improved performance. Statistical analysis showed that performance in the static condition was significantly poorer than the performance in all other conditions. When instructions only indicated the prearranged location of items in containers, completion of the task was impaired relative to performance when modeling cues were added. Very young Ss did as well in the verbal conditioning as in the modeling condition. This experiment fails to support the superiority of visual over verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of conceptual level and group counseling format on adolescent career decision-making processes.

D. E. Hunt's (1971) conceptual level matching model was applied to group career counseling. An experiment studied the interaction effects of conceptual level and group counseling format on adolescents' career decision-making behavior. 26 high school juniors grouped by high and low conceptual level (CL) were randomly assigned to either experimental or simulation counseling groups. Group format varied in degree of structure, with experiential format as low structure. Results show that group format was related to the criteria of choice basis complexity in career decisions for the high CL students only. No significant interaction or main effects were obtained for attitudes toward career decisions and planning activity. High CL Ss in simulation groups scored higher on choice basis complexity than those in the experiential groups. These unexpected findings are interpreted in terms of the conceptual level theory. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousal level in repressors and sensitizers as a function of response context.

Gave 30 male and 30 female undergraduate repressors and sensitizers "noncontextual" and "contextual" tasks, with GSR as a measure of arousal. In the contextual situation, Ss were aware that they would be required to give free associations which might be self-revealing. In the noncontextual situation, Ss were not aware that they would eventually be required to form free associations. Results from the noncontextual task show that repressors had lower arousal levels than sensitizers during perception and verbal report, but higher during free association. Findings were reversed in the contextual condition. Analogies were drawn to the behavior of repressors (hysterics) and sensitizers (obsessive-compulsives) in psychoanalysis: repressors are more easily aroused by the free association condition, whereas sensitizers are able to use free association to diminish emotional reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modifying instructional activities to promote desirable behavior: A conceptual and practical framework.

Summarizes a framework for conceptualizing and implementing a model to improve student behavior through individualized, assessment-based modifications of curricular activities. A summary of research documenting the influence of curricular variables is included, with particular focus on recent research on the assessment and utilization of student preferences. A practical model of functional assessment and curricular revision is presented, with examples to illustrate the process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory colour effects as a function of viewing time.

Instructed 60 Ss to judge the color of 2 objects, an apple, and a circle, relative to the colors of 5 samples. The apple was judged significantly redder than the circle, indicating a memory color effect. There was also an indication that this effect was stronger when the test object was viewed for 300 msec. than when it was seen for either more or less time. These results fit a modified version of J. S. Bruner's model of perceptual processing. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bi-stability of movement coordination as a function of skill level and task difficulty.

This study investigated whether the level of practice interacts with the initial conditions (here manipulated as preparatory movements) and task difficulty (ball angular velocity and friction) in determining the stability of movement coordination for a roller ball motor task. Practice level and task difficulty were manipulated as two control parameters that theoretically were hypothesized to change the threshold for the transition between task success and failure. The findings showed bi-stability and hysteresis in the coordination mode as a manifestation of dependence on the initial conditions. The transition from failure to success in the roller ball task as a function of practice time can be modeled as a saddle-node bifurcation corresponding to a first order phase transition. It is proposed that task difficulty acts as a control parameter that is a dual to skill level and that also effectively compensates for practice time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on conceptual tempo: Relationship between cognitive style and performance as a function of task characteristics.

Reflectives have been shown to outperform impulsives on tasks that require a cautious, systematic approach. A study was conducted to determine whether reflectives, particularly high-anxious reflectives, would show superior performance on speeded tasks; i.e., whether they would exhibit flexibility vs continued caution at the expense of performance. 46 male and 54 female 4th graders, selected by their scores on the Test Anxiety Scale for Children and the Lie Scale for Children as being reflective and impulsive, high and low anxious, were presented with speeded tasks of increasing difficulty. Results reveal that contrary to prediction, high-anxious reflectives performed as well as low-anxious reflectives and both were generally faster and more accurate than impulsives. Only for girls on the most difficult task was there evidence that reflection in combination with high anxiety resulted in overly cautious behavior and impaired performance. Results suggest a definition of cognitive style that stresses the strategy used rather than the disposition for long or short decision times. In addition, a model is proposed to predict the relative speed and accuracy of reflectives and impulsives as a function of the strategy required and the degree of intertrial transfer on the task. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of behaviorally anchored rating scales as a function of organizational level.

2 levels in a large medical center-8 head nurses (supervisory level) and 9 registered nurses (subordinate level)-independently participated in the development of behaviorally anchored rating scales. Although the 2 organizational levels identified similar behavioral dimensions, the behavioral incidents defining the dimensions were valued differently. Alternative explanations for the obtained differences are offered, and a discussion of behavioral expectation scale methodology is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypothesis formation as a facilitator of conceptual development.

Examined the role of hypothesis formation in the development of conceptual understanding of certain geometric principles of block design. 33 4–4? yr old children were instructed in the building of a series of 3-dimensional block designs under conditions which either permitted the use of copying strategies or mitigated against these and demanded hypothesis formation based upon partial information. No differences in error rate were found between conditions during duplication of familiar 3-dimensional block designs on a training test. Differences emerged when Ss were required to reconstruct, in 1 trial, from a photograph, familiar designs previously successfully duplicated from 3-dimensional models. Ss who originally had attempted to reconstruct 3-dimensional models under conditions requiring hypothesis formation, more accurately duplicated the complex, pictorial designs than did Ss who had reconstructed the 3-dimensional models under optimal cue conditions. Hypothesis formation, it is concluded, led to greater conceptual understanding of the geometric principles underlying the block designs. (French summary) (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whole body stiffness as a function of developmental level in children's hopping.

This article proposed that a continuous variable, whole body stiffness, may cause the discontinuous or qualitative change that occurs between two specific developmental levels within the developmental sequence for hopping. Ss were 7 children who hopped at Level 2 on one leg and Level 3 on the other. Force and cinematographic data were collected; from these data, measures of both estimated average and instantaneous whole body stiffness were calculated and compared across developmental levels. Both instantaneous and estimated average whole body stiffness showed dramatic reductions between developmental Levels 2 and 3. It was proposed that stiffness may be a key parameter controlled by the central nervous system as children hop. Children at early developmental levels set this parameter too high. At some critical value of stiffness, in order to continue locomotion, the movement must reorganize, which in turn, lowers the stiffness setting. (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)     

Reinforcing effects of nicotine as a function of smoking status.

The authors compared acute nicotine self-administration among 4 groups varying in current or past dependence: dependent smokers, nondependent smokers, ex-smokers who had quit at least I year ago, and nonsmokers. Nicotine (0 vs. 12 μg/kg/8 sprays) available by nasal spray was self-administered with a choice procedure. Self-administration also was related to participant characteristics (sex, alcohol and caffeine intake, sensation-seeking score) and to subjective responses to initial nicotine spray exposure. Nicotine self-administration was similar between dependent and nondependent smokers but was greater in those groups than in ex-smokers and nonsmokers, who did not differ from each other. Self-administration was unrelated to most other participant characteristics. In nonsmokers, self-administration was related directly to pleasurable effects but inversely to aversive effects. Few effects were related to self-administration in the other groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of informal reasoning fallacies as a function of epistemological level, grade level, and cognitive ability.

Informal reasoning fallacies are violations of critical discussion norms. As epistemological understanding of knowledge justification appears to underlie the informal reasoning skills of argument construction and evaluation, it was hypothesized that adolescents with greater epistemological sophistication would be more able to identify informal reasoning fallacies. It was hypothesized that 11th graders would be more epistemologically sophisticated than 7th or 9th graders and, thus, would more likely identify fallacies. Students responded to questions regarding argument scenarios that did or did not contain fallacies. More 11th graders identified fallacies. Epistemological level predicted only identification of one type of fallacy that might be described as epistemological in nature. Cognitive ability also seemed to contribute to the increased ability with grade to identify fallacies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)