Richard Chatham Atkinson: Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards for 1977.

Richard Chatham Atkinson was presented a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award for combining classical methods of mathematics with emerging techniques of computer science, the best traditions of experimental psychology with new concepts of information processing, in the advancement of psychological theory and its applications. His long-term collaboration with Patrick Suppes yielded among its fruits the first extensive application of learning theory to multiperson interactions. With Richard M. Shiffrin, Atkinson developed the model that has set the pace for research on human short-term memory; with James Juola and others he developed an almost equally influential family of models for recognition and search processes. And on a quite different tack, Atkinson anticipated current demands for "relevance" with his pioneering contributions to computer-assisted instruction and optimization of learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral change in a constant environment: Shift to more difficult tasks with constant probability of success.

Tested hypotheses derived from J. Atkinson and D. Birch's (1970, 1974) dynamic theory of action, which proposes a theoretical reorientation from an episodic to a dynamic view of motivation. Traditional episodic theories of achievement motivation predict constant risk preference over a series of free choices from various difficulty levels when the assumed situation-specific determinant (probability of success) remains constant. In contrast to this, dynamic theory predicts a shift to more and more difficult tasks for success-oriented and failure-oriented Ss. Dynamic theory predicts that the initial ambivalence between very easy and very difficult tasks predicted by traditional theory of achievement motivation for failure-oriented Ss, is quickly replaced by a consistent preference for very easy tasks in that motive group. 77 undergraduates were administered a TAT using sex-specific verbal cues, and a short form of the Test Anxiety Questionnaire. 32 males and 32 females were randomly chosen and assigned to experimental or free-choice groups. Results support the predictions. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between n Achievement, Test Anxiety, and curricular choices.

A model of motivation proposed by Atkinson was considered appropriate for the generation of hypotheses about the curricular choices of college students. The selections of areas of concentration by honors and nonhonors students, tested as freshmen, were obtained when the students were seniors. Their choices were related to their n Achievement scores and Test Anxiety scores. The general predictions of the model were borne out for men but not for the women, although this was not unexpected. In regard to the choices of women it was noted that women in the honors program tended to obtain teaching certificates if they had high Test Anxiety scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Francis W. Irwin (1905–1985).

Presents and obituary for Francis Irwin. For almost 60 years, Irwin devoted himself to learning, creating, and transmitting knowledge at the distinguished level worthy of a person of science and integrity. He labored assiduously to fashion a lasting contribution to his field, producing results and ideas which constitute a major addition to the structure required for a genuine science of behavior. His substantive contributions to psychophysics centered on the many changes occurring in subjects due to their experience in making the required judgments. His research also focused on methods in the psychology of motivation, and he developed his own theory of motivation, an elegant and carefully woven structure based on a clear philosophy of the nature of psychological science, relevant experimental results, and persistent confrontation of the complexities of animal and human motivation. Using the established tools of symbolic logic, as well as inventing a new operation required by an empirical science, Irwin built an inclusive theory of motivation solidly based on past data and theory. Among his many professional activities, Irwin served twice on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Psychological Association. He was also a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and served on its Warren Medal Committee. In addition, he had a distinguished career as an editor, editing the Journal of Experimental Psychology from 1942 to 1950 and contributed greatly to the achievement of its eminent status. Irwin died on July 8, 1985. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marion E. Bunch (1902–1995): Obituary.

Memorializes Marion E. Bunch, a capable researcher and psychologist, a superb teacher, and an indefatigable administrator. His early research on learning, memory, motivation, and perception reflected his commitment to the functionalist approach to psychology. His later focus on the adaptive requirements of aging processes emphasized the utilitarian component of functionalism. Bunch played a major role in the establishment and direction of a graduate program in adult development and aging in the psychology department at Washington University. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainty orientation: Implications for affective and cognitive views of achievement behavior.

Three studies, with 734 undergraduates, tested the hypothesis that differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are moderated by individuals' uncertainty orientation—the degree to which situations of certainty vs uncertainty are cognitively relevant. The validity of this hypothesis was investigated for 3 predictions derived from J. W. Atkinson and J. O. Raynor's (1974) theory of achievement motivation: (a) Differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest in situations of intermediate difficulty; (b) differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest on tasks that must be successfully completed in order to move on to further tasks (contingent path tasks); and (c) differences in course grades due to achievement-related motives are greatest among those individuals who perceive the course as instrumental to their future goals. All 3 predictions were confirmed for uncertainty-oriented Ss, but results were actually reversed for certainty-oriented Ss. It is argued that the present formulation subsumes and integrates the existing cognitive and motivational interpretations of achievement behavior. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The achievement motive.

Reviews "The achievement motive," by D. C. McClelland, J. W. Atkinson, R. A. Clark, and E. L. Lowell (see record 2006-09558-000). This book is primarily a progress report on a program of research which thus far has shown very promising results. The authors have worked out a scheme for measuring the achievement motive under standardized conditions, thus making available for controlled study one of the most important human strivings. The device for measuring the achievement motive is derived from the Thematic Apperception Test: subjects are asked to write stories in response to four pictures. The scoring scheme has been worked out with great care and is both efficient and reliable. This basic experiment was repeated with several different groups, including a group of Navaho boys. In their theory of motivation the authors are strongly influenced by Hebb: "our own theory in many respects picks up where he leaves off." Their system, moreover, follows Young's lead in basing motives on affective arousal. All motives are learned; what is unlearned is affect, which occurs whenever stimuli or situations produce a significant change in the organism's adaptation level. Changes in adaptation level, with their accompanying affect, become the basis for learning motives. These few sentences must suffice here to indicate the general nature of the theory, which though still tentative is worked out in considerable detail with abundant reference to current research. To me it seems an important broadening of the concept of motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions: E. Tory Higgins.

E. Tory Higgins received the 2000 award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. The award was given for outstanding theorizing and ingenious experimentation that made landmark contributions to the domains of cognition, motivation, and affect. His work on knowledge activation has had a major impact on several domains of research by modeling the concept of construct accessibility. In motivation, his regulatory focus theory effected significant breakthroughs in understanding classic motivational concepts. In the realm of affect, his self-discrepancy theory has furnished fundamental insights into the origins of major affective classes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ernest Ropiequet Hilgard: Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.

A Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award was given to Ernest Ropienquet Hilgard by the American Psychological Association for his impressive range of experimental and theoretical work on learning, hypnosis, and education. His research on learning has contributed to topics as diverse as eyelid conditioning, motor learning, and the role of understanding in transfer of training. His studies of hypnosis have extended our knowledge, not only of hypnosis itself, but of psychophysics, motivation, and personality. He has been the definitive interpreter of learning theory to a generation of psychologists, and a leader in exploring the relations of the psychology of learning to other fields. His analyses of the relations between psychology and education have contributed importantly to narrowing the gap between the two fields. As researcher, interpreter, and teacher he has been a scholar in the broadest sense. A brief biography is followed by a list of scientific publications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

David C. McClelland.

David C. McClelland is recognized for his achievements in psychology. This article provides a citation explaining his accomplishments, a biography and a selected bibliography. The citation is as follows: "For leading the vanguard of a new motivational psychology bridging the study of personality and society, beginning forty years ago with methodological innovations and empirical discoveries of lasting significance in pioneering studies of the Achievement Motive and the Achieving Society. By experimental arousal of achievement motivation, he established the validity of using a particular kind of imaginative thought content as its measure. Combining bold vision and practicality, he turned traditional arguments into testable hypotheses. His broad and indelible impact on the social sciences is amplified by seminal writings on personality, the power motive, motivation training—and by the productivity he inspired in his students." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Afro-American preferences for counselor characteristics: A replication and extension.

This study replicates and extends the Atkinson, Furlong, and Poston (1986) investigation that examined Black subjects' preferences for salient similar and dissimilar counselor characteristics within a disconfirmatory hypothesis-testing strategy framework. Using a markedly different Black college student sample and replicating the paired-comparison technique of Atkinson et al. (1986), the present study found a generally high rank-order correlation (p?=?.91) between the two respective samples on preferences for counselor characteristics. Despite the global rank-order stability across samples, a number of important rank differentials are noted and discussed. We caution against generalizing the results of cross-cultural studies to geographically displaced samples and highlight suggestions for cross-cultural research using the paired-comparison technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task complexity and verbal evaluation on the learning of normals and schizophrenics.

Tested the relative predictive powers of 3 theories of schizophrenia: S. A. Mednick's (see 33:5) drive theory; E. H. Rodnick and N. Garmezy's censure-deficit theory; and R. Atkinson and N. M. Robinson's (see 36:4) censure-sensitivity theory. 30 normals, 30 process schizophrenics, and 30 reactive schizophrenics were each run in a low- and high-complexity verbal discrimination task. 1/2 of each group was praised for correct responses, 1/2 censured for incorrect ones. While normals did not respond differentially to the reinforcers, schizophrenics tended to learn faster when censured than when praised, supporting Atkinson and Robinson. The performance decrement from the low- to the high-complexity task was equivalent for all groups, which is nonsupportive of Mednick's theory. An alternative explanation of the results is offered and a cautious interpretation of the data is urged due to medication differences between normals and schizophrenics. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Joseph McVicker Hunt (1906–1991): Obituary.

Discusses in memoriam the contributions of J. M. Hunt in the area of experimental psychology. His main interests were in assessing the psychological effects and treatment in psychopathology and studying the long-term effects of early experience. Hunt used rats to pursue the latter interest and demonstrate a conditioned emotionality through food deprivation. Hunt also influenced the domains of modifying intelligent behavior, cognitive development and developmental assessment, intrinsic motivation, neurobehavioral organizations, and social and educational policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

G. Michael Pressley (1951-2006).

Presents an obituary for G. Michael Pressley. Although he was a prolific scholar, George Michael Pressley was not an armchair professor. His favorite place to be was in K-12 schools, working to improve schooling in America by studying outstanding practice. His work in schools served as the catalyst for his most important scholarly contributions. These spanned a broad range of topics, including children's memory development, the characteristics of highly effective students, reading assessment and instruction, the attributes of exemplary teachers and schools, and the interplay between motivation and learning. Michael made basic theoretical contributions in each of these fields, but in keeping with his passion to improve education, he devoted much of his time to identifying effective instructional practices in each area. Many of these practices have been adopted by schools, incorporated into educational materials, and integrated into teacher preparation programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Harry Frederick Harlow (1905-1981).

Obituary for Harry Frederick Harlow (1905-1981). Harlow's research career, spanning a full half century, was notable for its single-minded adherence to the search for understanding of a single species, for the imaginative methods he devised for the study of both cognition and motivation, and for the crucially important findings these methods provided. His careful empirical development of the facts of behavioral development led to prepositional generalizations that have contributed notably to an understanding of human as well as monkey motivational development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between hope of success and fear of failure, anxiety, and need for achievement.

2 previous investigations (Clark, et al, 1956, and Atkinson, 1958) found contradictory results in using degree of aspiration to predict S's response to McClelland's TAT of need for achievement (N Achiev). Clark, et al concluded that degree of aspiration would be negatively related to development of anxiety; that those who hoped for success (HS) and those who feared failure (FF) were genotypically different with regard to anxiety over goal attainment but phenotypically similar in regard to N Achiev. Atkinson concluded the reverse. To settle the dispute, Taylor MA scale was administered along with selected TAT cards to college Ss. No relationship was found between the HS-FF continuum and TAT scores, suggesting that the position of Clark, et al, was more correct. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HJ65R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wallace E. Lambert (1922–2009).

On August 23, 2009, psychology lost an innovative researcher with the passing, at 86, of Wallace E. Lambert. A professor of psychology at McGill University from 1954 until 1990, Wallace (“Wally”) Lambert was among the founders of psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. His highly productive career included contributions to social and cross-cultural psychology (intergroup attitudes, child-rearing values, and psychological consequences of living in multicultural societies), language education (the French immersion program), and bilingualism (measurement of language dominance, attitudes and motivation in second-language learning, and social, cognitive, and neuropsychological consequences of bilingualism). Indeed, because of the scope and influence of his work, Wally Lambert is widely considered the father of the psychological study of bilingualism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Absolute judgment of recency: A reexamination of children's short-term memory data.

The thesis of this article is that the probe-type short-term memory task devised by R. C. Atkinson et al (see record 1965-03907-001) can appropriately be viewed as a discrete-trials absolute-judgment-of-recency task. Judgment-of-recency curves generated from a reanalysis of such retention data are displayed, showing the same overshoot–undershoot effect characteristically exhibited by adult Ss in judgment-of-recency tasks. The remainder of the report is devoted to a detailed analysis of these judgment-of-recency curves as a means of testing hypotheses derived from current theories of recency. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"On WAIS—R difference scores in the standardization sample": Correction.

Reports an error in the original article by L. Atkinson (Psychological Assessment, 1991[Jun], Vol 3[2], 292–294). In Table 1, SEest(d) of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) difference scores for the standardization sample is incorrect; the corrected table is presented. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1991-26153-001.) Prior tables (Atkinson, 1991) describing WAIS and its revision, WAIS-R, subtest scores did not account for the fact that the best estimate of the "true' difference between 2 scores obtained by an individual is not the one actually obtained, but one based on the obtained difference and regressed toward the mean difference. Furthermore, the previously published WAIS-R table is based on a psychiatric sample. This article examined the WAIS-R standardization sample (N?=?1,880) using regressed difference scores to derive statistics describing subtest discrepancies. Results indicated improved difference score reliability in the WAIS-R, as compared with the WAIS, although reliability remained poor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the incentive-sensitization theory with at-risk drinkers: Wanting, liking, and alcohol consumption.

Motivational models of addiction typically propose that alcohol and drugs are desired because of their hedonic effects (i.e., increasing pleasure or reducing distress). In contrast, the incentive-sensitization theory proposes that wanting motivation and liking motivation are separable and that after repeated substance use, motivation shifts from liking to wanting. Using a sample of 85 at-risk drinkers (as defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism), in the current study we examined the separability of liking motivation and wanting motivation for alcohol and whether years of drinking experience was associated with an increased role for wanting motivation and a decreased role for liking motivation. Consumption was measured with a free-drinking task. Wanting motivation was assessed immediately before drinking, and liking was assessed immediately after drinking had begun. The results indicated that (a) wanting motivation predicted variance of consumption unique from that accounted for by liking motivation, (b) longer drinking experience was associated with a decreased relation between liking motivation and consumption, and (c) longer drinking experience was not associated with an increased relation between wanting motivation and consumption. The results provide partial support for the incentive-sensitization theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)