Stimulus congruity and S-R compatibility as determinants of interference in a Stroop-like task.

Tested 20 pianists using the Stroop color–word test (J. R. Stroop, 1935) adapted to notes or the names of notes printed in congruent or incongruent positions on the staff. Ss were required to respond verbally by reading the name of the note or by manually pressing the appropriate piano keys. Eight experimental tasks were designed, forming 4 combinations of stimulus–response compatibility and congruity between relevant and irrelevant cues. Results demonstrated that these 2 factors were additive. Highest interference was found when both factors were low, and lowest interference was found when both were high. The findings were interpreted both in terms of a linear-stage model of processing and a notion of multiple processing resources. (French abstract) (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial interactions in binocular rivalry.

Observers tracked binocular rivalry between a pair of small, foveally viewed gratings whose orientation differed between the 2 eyes. In Exp 1, a textured annulus surrounding 1 eye's grating increased the total duration of exclusive visibility of the grating only when the grating-annulus separation was less than 0.5°. In Exp 2, observers tracked the visibility of a monocular annulus that surrounded a foveally viewed grating that was either engaged in rivalry or fused with a grating alone viewed by the other eye. The visibility of the annulus was greater when the grating it surrounded was not undergoing rivalry fluctuations. In Exp 3, the predominance of a rival grating was greater when the contours in the surrounding annulus were orthogonal to those of the rival grating. In Exp 4, total exclusive visibility of a given grating-annulus target was greater when the grating and the annulus contained the same orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's verbal rehearsal in a free-recall task.

Predicted that, while the use of categories in rehearsal would increase with age, organized rehearsal would be related to recall accuracy and recall organization for all ages tested. Data from 20 3rd and 20 6th graders confirm the predictions but are inconclusive for 20 kindergartners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial environments and verbal conditioning in a quasi-counseling interview.

Examined the influence of spatial features of the counseling environment on conditioning of self-reference statements in 2 studies with a total of 68 undergraduates conducted at disparate geographical locations. Factors of room size, distance, and furniture arrangement were systematically manipulated, while interviews were conducted according to a standard, verbal operant-conditioning paradigm. The variable of room size was the most significant variable in both studies. Smaller rooms tended to inhibit the conditioning process. Implications for learning-based counseling are discussed. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and temporal information as cues in a time-sharing task.

Investigated the effects of directional and nondirectional cues on a task where 17 male undergraduates responded to moving visual stimuli that entered critical zones in each of 3 visual displays. Ss given directional cues that supplied spatial and temporal information performed significantly better than ss in the nondirectional group, who received only temporal cues, and a control group that did not receive any experimental cues. Furthermore, ss in the control group performed as well as ss given nondirectional cues. Thus, temporal cues did not lead to enhanced performance unless the display requiring attention was designated by a spatial cue. These data indicate that increased speed stress led to linear decrements in performance. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manual response set in a Stroop-like task involving categorization of English and Japanese words indicates a common semantic representation

The present study examined the semantic representation for English and Japanese words. A previous study using the interlingual word categorization showed Japanese words affected the semantic processing of English words, but English words did not affect the semantic processing of Japanese words. The present study tested the interlingual word categorization by a manual response instead of the vocal response. Analysis showed English words also affected the semantic processing of Japanese words. The common semantic representation for English and Japanese words was discussed.     

Effects of verbal and mathematics task performance on task and career self-efficacy and interest.

To test a hypothesis from self-efficacy theory, we randomly assigned 149 subjects to verbal or mathematics and success or failure conditions in which they attempted to solve easy or difficult anagram or number series tasks. Changes in task self-efficacy and task interest as a result of task success or failure were in accordance with predictions from self-efficacy theory. We also examined the generalizability of the effects of task performance. The results indicated that task performance effects generalized to self-efficacy and interest ratings on an irrelevant task and to global ratings of math and verbal ability. Task performance effects did not generalize to career self-efficacy and career interest measures but consistent gender differences in self-efficacy emerged as a result of both math and verbal task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of fear arousal upon task performance and verbal behavior.

80 undergraduate females were classified as being either high or low in fear of speaking in front of a group. ? were told that they were to speak following a task; the remaining Ss did the task without expecting to speak. All Ss spoke about the task for 1 min. immediately following the task. Experimental Ss took significantly longer to perform the task, and naive judges were able to detect differences in the verbal productions of the groups. Formal aspects of S's verbal productions also discriminated among high- and low-fear Ss. Implications for theory and importance of assessing different types of behavior are briefly discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure to a model and task ambiguity as determinants of verbal behavior in an interview.

16 undergraduates listened to a tape-recorded model discuss personal problems within each of 5 topic areas, while the 16 control Ss did not receive a model. 1/2 the Ss were then told they could talk about anything they wished to in the interview. The remaining Ss were told they could talk about the same 5 topic areas discussed by the model. It was found that significantly more problems in the interview were given by the group receiving the model followed by the ambiguous task instructions. Ss exposed to the same model but who received topic-oriented instructions tended to give fewer problems in the interview. Theoretical similarities between the presentation of a model and the administration of instructions are discussed in the interpretation of the results. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial and verbal components of the act of recall.

Presents research showing that while an S is recalling a line diagram he can more readily signal information about that diagram by speaking than by spatially monitored output (e.g., pointing to correct items in a column of symbols). When recalling a sentence, he can more readily signal information about that sentence by spatially monitored output than by speaking. These results suggest that spatial and verbal information is recalled and processed in a modality-specific manner. Recall of verbal information is most readily disrupted by concurrent vocal activity; recall of spatial information is most readily disrupted by concurrent spatially monitored activity. This differential conflict occurs even though the concurrent activity is a recoding of the information that is being recalled. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial compatibility effects with Hemifield presentation in a unimanual two-finger task.

A unimanual, 2-finger choice RT task was used in conjunction with visual signals presented to either the left or right visual field of 16 right-handed undergraduates. Spatial compatibility effects were noted. Responses were quicker for right-field presentations when the rightmost fingers of either hand made the response, and for the left-field presentation when the leftmost finger responded. This compatibility was observed for easy but not difficult decisions on both perceptually and symbolically based choice tasks. The magnitude of the compatibility effect did not differ as a function of which hand made the response. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in Stroop-like word and picture processing.

Presents a series of 6 experiments in which Stroop-like effects were generated by modally pure color–color, picture–picture, and word–word stimuli instead of the usual modally mixed color–word or picture–word stimuli. Naming, reading, and categorization tasks were applied. The Stroop inhibition was preserved with these stimuli but unexpectedly showed a semantic gradient only in the naming and not in the reading task. Word categorizing was slower and more interference prone than picture categorizing. These and other results can be captured by a model with two main assumptions: (a) semantic memory and the lexicon are separate, and (b) words have privileged access to the lexicon, whereas pictures and colors have privileged access to the semantic network. Such a model is developed and put to an initial test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training and Stroop-like interference: Evidence for a continuum of automaticity.

Three experiments varied the extent of practice in an analog of the Stroop color-word task. The experiments involved 4 phases: baseline naming of 4 familiar colors; training in consistently naming 4 novel shapes by using the names of the same 4 colors; naming the colors when they appeared in the form of the shapes; and naming the shapes when they appeared in color. In Exp 1, with up to 2 hr of training in shape naming, colors were named much faster than shapes. Interference was observed only in Phase 4. In Exp 2 (5 hr of training) shape naming sped up, but was still slower than color naming. There was symmetrical interference in Phases 3 and 4 that persisted 3 mo without further training. Exp 3 extended practice to 20 hr, by which time shape and color naming were equally rapid. After 20 hr, interference appeared only in Phase 3, reversing the original asymmetry. The overall pattern is inconsistent with a simple speed of processing account of interference. Implications of the alternative idea of a continuum of automaticity—a direct consequence of training—are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spatial problem solving in a dual runway task by normal and septal rats.

On the Maier 3-table spatial integration task, the addition of a dual runway configuration did not disrupt the successful performance of 10 normal male Long-Evans hooded rats or improve the deficit of 10 Ss with septal lesions. Both groups displayed a preference for the outside runway configuration during exploration. During testing, however, septal-lesioned Ss retained this preference, whereas normal Ss attempted solution by using the inside runway configuration. This fact, in addition to the apparent lack of habituation during exploration, suggests that septal-lesioned Ss did not acquire a spatial representation of the test situation. It is suggested that the inability of septal-lesioned rats in spatial situations is due to an inability to form rather than to use spatial maps. The cognitive representation of a problem space is considered in relation to route complexity, response biases, and self-corrections. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal-referenced selection of verbal action: Modeling attentional control in the Stroop task.

This article presents a new account of the color-word Stroop phenomenon (J. R. Stroop, 1935) based on an implemented model of word production, WEAVER++ (W. J. M. Levelt, A. Roelofs, & A. S. Meyer, 1999b; A. Roelofs, 1992, 1997c). Stroop effects are claimed to arise from processing interactions within the language-production architecture and explicit goal-referenced control. WEAVER++ successfully simulates 16 classic data sets, mostly taken from the review by C. M. MacLeod (1991), including incongruency, congruency, reverse-Stroop, response-set, semantic-gradient, time-course, stimulus, spatial, multiple-task, manual, bilingual, training, age, and pathological effects. Three new experiments tested the account against alternative explanations. It is shown that WEAVER++ offers a more satisfactory account of the data than other models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereopsis and binocular rivalry.

Proposes that (1) rivalry and stereopsis involve independent and parallel pathways through the early stages of visual processing, (2) rivalry occurs when visual stimuli are present, and (3) binocular perception is a simple combination (probably a weighted average) of the output of the pathways mediating stereopsis and rivalry. Evidence from previous research and from 2 experiments, involving a total of 12 Ss, indicates that (a) the pathways mediating stereopsis are separable from those mediating rivalry; (b) stereopsis and rivalry can coexist at the same point in space and time; (c) rivalry occurs inevitably, whenever visual stimuli are present, even if identical stimuli are presented to both eyes; and (d) stereopsis can be disrupted without disrupting rivalry and vice versa (termed double dissociation). It is concluded that the human visual system has evolved with 2 parallel pathways that between them extract the needed information from the input; binocular single vision arises from the outputs of these 2 pathways. (84 ref) (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)     

Spatial and verbal abilities in children's crossmodal recognition: A dual coding approach.

Conducted 2 experiments to study the relative importance of visuospatial (VSAs) and verbal referential abilities (VRAs) to 184 English-speaking children's (aged 4 yrs 11 mo to 8 yrs) crossmodal performance under imagery, naming, and control instructions. Using the Minnesota Paper Form(s) Board Test Revised, imagery instructions induced Ss to implement a visual imagery strategy that depended primarily on VSA, whereas naming instructions promoted use of a naming strategy that depended relatively more on VRA. No instructions resulted in use of a verbal/naming strategy similar to that used by naming Ss. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnotic susceptibility and verbal automaticity: Automatic and strategic processing differences in the Stroop color-naming task.

The original hypothesis of M. Dixon et al (1990) that highly hypnotizable (HH) Ss process words more automatically than do low hypnotizable (LH) Ss was retested in a paradigm that separated strategic from automatic processes in the Stroop color-naming task. The words red and blue preceded a color patch that was red or blue. Ss were told that the word predicted the opposite color 75% of the time. Automatic and strategic processes were assessed by varying interstimulus interval (ISI) between the word and the color patch. Both HH and LH Ss showed significant strategic effects (faster incongruent-trial, color-naming reaction times [RTs] than congruent-trial RTs at ISIs over 400 msec), but only HH Ss showed significant automaticity (significantly faster congruent-trial RTs than incongruent-trial RTs at 16.7 msec, the lowest ISI). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive categorization and subjective rivalry among retailers in a small city.

Reports the results of 2 studies conducted to measure the cognitive structures underlying perceived competitive relationships among retailing firms in a small city. Drawing from recent research on cognitive categorization, the authors first discuss the theoretical importance of studying subjective rivalry and then explain how categorization processes influence perceived competitive boundaries among firms. Results of Study 1 suggest that cognitive categories of firms are perceived to be largely independent sets of organizations. Results of Study 2 suggest that middle-level categories represent a psychological inflection point differentiating rivals from nonrivals. The authors discuss the implications of these data for studying how managers make sense of competitive structures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)