Ethnocentrism and stimulus generalization.

"This study is an attempt to demonstrate that ethnocentrism is related to an 'over-generalization process' as has been postulated by various authors. The performance of a group of student nurses on a stimulus-generalization task was correlated with their scores on the California E scale yielding a significant μ = .44. Some possible theoretical implications are discussed and mention is made of further research which is in progress." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnocentrism and stimulus generalization: A replication and further study.

Data were previously reported giving "support to the hypothesis that ethnocentrism represents an 'overgeneralization phenomena.' " In a study of 60 female student nurses, aged 18 through 22, who were given the MMPI, the CVS Intelligence Scale, and the California Ethnocentrism Scale as well as two stimulus generalization (SG) tasks, significant correlations were not found between E Scale scores and total error scores on each stimulus generalization task. Previous positive finding "must therefore probably be attributed to chance. While present results do not preclude the possibility that ethnocentrism is related to overgeneralization in thinking, the functions involved in performance on the tasks investigated do not appear to be on the same psychological continuum." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of manifest anxiety to stimulus generalization.

This study examined the relationship between anxiety and stimulus generalization in psychiatric patients. The results suggested that "there is no relationship between MAS [Manifest Anxiety Scale] and stimulus generalization in psychiatric Ss. Moreover, situational factors do not seem important in limiting the generality of such an interpretation. Since the relationships between anxiety and learning phenomena are generally well recognized, these negative results presumably reflect the inadequacy of the Taylor scale as a relevant index of anxiety levels in psychiatric subjects." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mediated generalization and the incubation effect as a function of manifest anxiety.

"Two groups of 45 Ss each were chosen on the basis of extreme scores on the MAS [Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale]. A conditioned PGR was first established by repeated pairings of a critical word (CS) with a raucous buzzer. Tests of mediated generalization were made following training, using as generalization stimuli, words to which the CS was associated as determined by free associations of a standardization group. In order to investigate the incubation effect the Ss were divided following training into three subgroups differing in the length of the rest interval between conclusion of training and the institution of extinction trials (immediate extinction, 10-min. interval, and 24-hr. interval). The results indicated heightened responsivity towards words associated with the CS, thus indicating that mediated generalization had taken place. It was also found that extreme MAS scores were directly related to the magnitude of mediated generalization responsivity." Level of manifest anxiety was found to be directly related to conditioning responsivity as well as to resistance to extinction. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in gradients of stimulus generalization as a function of psychiatric disorder.

On the basis of the "Dollard and Miller… principle that 'increasing the strength of the drive raises the entire gradient of generalization… ' [and that]… such emotional states as fear, anxiety, and guilt can acquire the properties of a drive… . The present research investigates the hypotheses that there are differences in the shape of the SG gradients among psychotic, neurotic, and control Ss… . The results indicate that (a) the psychotics showed more generalization than the nonpsychotics; (b) the neurotics showed less… than the psychotics, but did not differ from the controls; and (c) the brain-damaged Ss showed more generalization than the nonpsychotics, but they did not differ from the psychotics." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of social and nonsocial censure on stimulus generalization in neurotics and schizophrenics.

36 schizophrenic and 36 neurotic depressive Ss were given a visual-spatial generalization task under either social or nonsocial (impersonal) censure conditions. The following hypotheses derived from previous investigations were tested: (1) schizophrenics would show higher gradients of generalization than neurotic depressives, and (2) generalization gradients would be higher under conditions of social as opposed to nonsocial censure, especially in schizophrenics. The data supported Hypothesis 1 but not Hypothesis 2. There was no evidence for differential responding between these 2 groups with respect to either stimulus generalization or response to censure. It was suggested that hypotheses concerning the schizophrenic's performance in these 2 situations have been biased and oversimplified by use of normal, rather than patient, control groups in previous investigations. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distortions in the gradient of stimulus generalization related to cortical brain damage and schizophrenia.

Measurement of the gradient of stimulus generalization (GSG) of 60 schizophrenics (S group), 60 medical control patients (C group), and 60 patients with cortical brain damage (O group), by means of an apparatus consisting of a panel of 11 lamps placed in an arc around the subject, showed: "(1) The GSG for both the C and S groups is considerably more elevated than that of the control group (O group). (2) The differences between the S and C groups, while in the main in the predicted direction, are not conclusive. (3) Damage to the cortex of the dominant hemisphere results in considerably more diminution of the elevation of the GSG than damage to the cortex of the non-dominant hemisphere. (4) The number of EST's received by patients in the S group was found to vary inversely with the degree of SG responsivity; but in view of the limitations of the data, no conclusions were drawn." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus generalization as a function of clinical anxiety and direction of generalization.

"This experiment studied stimulus generalization in psychiatric patients as a function of direction of generalization and clinical anxiety. It was found that direction of generalization along the height continuum did not significantly affect the gradient of stimulus generalization. Level of clinical anxiety, as measured by the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, also did not significantly affect the gradient of stimulus generalization. The validity of the Taylor scale with psychiatric patients was discussed briefly." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual modulation of stimulus generalization in rats.

One connectionist analysis of the acquired equivalence/distinctiveness of cues assumes that when similar compounds (e.g., AX and BX) are paired with the same outcome (e.g., food, +; or no food, ?), their components come to activate the same configural unit (ABX). When these compounds are paired with different outcomes, their components will come to address different units. Here, rats received appetitive training with eight compounds (e.g., AX+, BX+, CX?, DX?, AY+, BY?, CY?, DY+) that should generate the following configural units: ABX, CDX, ADY, and BCY. In Experiment 1, rats then received aversive conditioning to A, which should activate and revalue representations ABX and ADY. Subsequently, compounds that provided dual activation (i.e., BX and DY) of one of the revalued configural units (ABX and ADY) were shown to elicit greater fear than those compounds that provided a single source of activation to each unit (i.e., DX and BY). Experiment 2 confirmed and extended these findings. These results provide support for the connectionist analysis outlined above and are consistent with the application of this approach to the acquired equivalence/distinctiveness of cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exemplar and prototype models revisited: Response strategies, selective attention, and stimulus generalization.

J. D. Smith and colleagues (J. P. Minda & J. D. Smith, 2001; J. D. Smith & J. P. Minda, 1998, 2000; J. D. Smith, M. J. Murray, & J. P. Minda, 1997) presented evidence that they claimed challenged the predictions of exemplar models and that supported prototype models. In the authors' view, this evidence confounded the issue of the nature of the category representation with the type of response rule (probabilistic vs deterministic) that was used. Also, their designs did not test whether the prototype models correctly predicted generalization performance. The present work demonstrates that an exemplar model that includes a response-scaling mechanism provides a natural account of all of Smith et al's experimental results. Furthermore, the exemplar model predicts classification performance better than the prototype models when novel transfer stimuli are included in the experimental designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus generalization.

An elaboration and criticism of the immense literature (127 titles) covering the subject. The definition is: when a response, previously trained to be elicited, can also be elicited by test stimuli similar, though with a gradient physically determined. Of course, the response might then also be generalized. Stimulations mentioned are tactual space, light intensity, time, pitch in hearing, loudness, seen angles and other drawings, "drive" intensified by drugs, etc. Theories distinguish irradiation in the cortex and irradiation over neural pathways. Historically, neural science does not seem to be quite ripe for theorizing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of exposure to an extreme stimulus on judgments of some stimulus-related words.

"The study was designed to test the hypothesis that subjects' ratings of cold-toned words would shift away from the cold end of a warm-cold ordinal scale as a consequence of exposing the subjects to extremely cold temperatures. Three groups of subjects were exposed respectively to extremely cold, moderately cold, and warm ambient conditions. Before and after exposure, all subjects rated 13 words describing various degrees of warmth or coldness on a 16-point warm-cold ordinal scale. The results verified the hypothesis; ratings of the 'cold' words for the group exposed to the extreme cold shifted away from the cold end of the scale. The results are consistent with previous research on end-anchoring effects. Implications for the researcher using ordinal scales in situations where subjects are exposed to extreme stimuli with which they have had little experience are discussed." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2BB41F. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus generalization and schizophrenia.

Paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics, on and off drugs, were compared with medical inpatients for stimulus-generalization responsivity. The stimuli were lines differing in length, and the response alternatives differed in amplitude. There were no significant differences in gradients of stimulus generalization among the groups. This finding opposes Mednick's original anxiety-drive theory of schizophrenia, especially his assumption that schizophrenics overgeneralize. The finding does not oppose Mednick's amended theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conditioning and generalization of GSR as a function of awareness.

"This study was essentially a replication of… (an) experiment on the unconscious conditioning of autonomic responses. When… (the previous) methods of data analysis were used, their results in general were confirmed." Limitations and critique of the previous methodology is offered, and its effect on the results obtained is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of concomitant colored and uncolored pictorial representations on the learning of stimulus words.

To study the effect of varying degrees of compounding signs of objects denoted by the words, twenty-five stimulus words were presented under three learning conditions: (a) Words alone, (b) words with their uncolored pictures, (c) words with their colored pictures. It was concluded that support was given the hypothesis that "with the number of presentations… held constant, the number of… words recalled by Ss should vary positively within limits with the number of simultaneously presented additional signs." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in gradients of stimulus generalization as a function of "Abstract" and "Concrete" attitude.

Goldstein's concept of the loss of abstract attitude in psychopathology, was related to stimulus generalization along a visual-spatial dimension, with an apparatus requiring a voluntary response. Measurement was made of the gradient of stimulus generalization (GSG) of 34 "abstract" Ss, and 34 "concrete" Ss. These Ss were selected on the basis of their performance on 2 abstraction tasks (i.e., the Weigl-Goldstein-Scheerer Color Form Sorting Test, and the Wechsler-Bellevue block design subtest). The hypothesis that "concrete" Ss would have a lower GSG than "abstract" Ss, was tested and supported. The prediction that any differences observed would be independent of diagnostic category, was also substantiated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus generalization as a function of clinical anxiety.

"It was hypothesized that the state inferred from manifest clinical symptoms of anxiety would show functionally similar motivational properties to the state of anxiety defined in terms of an implicit response that has been conditioned to situations involving noxious stimulation. It was predicted that both types of anxiety would exhibit the energizing properties of a drive and therefore elevate response gradients of generalization… . The results showed that the groups designated as high in clinical anxiety showed significantly more generalization than the low-clinical anxiety groups under the strong-shock condition. No difference was found between the 2 levels of clinical anxiety for either the weak-shock or buzzer condition." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrality/separability of stimulus dimensions and multidimensional generalization in pigeons.

The authors present a quantitative framework for interpreting the results of multidimensional stimulus generalization experiments in animals using concepts derived from the geometrical approach to human cognition. The authors apply the model to the analysis of stimulus generalization data obtained from pigeons trained with different sets of stimuli varying along two orthogonal dimensions. Separable pigeons were trained with stimuli varying along the dimensions of circle size and line tilt, dimensions found to be separable in previous human research; integral pigeons were trained with stimuli varying along two dimensions of rotation in depth, dimensions that are intuitively integral and which hold special interest for theories of object recognition. The model accurately described the stimulus generalization data, with best fits to the City-Block metric for separable pigeons and to the euclidean metric for integral pigeons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mediated and primary stimulus-generalization bases of sexual symbolism.

Ss were asked to make associations of masculinity or femininity to simple geometric figures reproduced in such a way as to encompass both the primary stimulus-generalization basis of sexual symbolism emphasized by Freud and a mediated basis unrelated directly to psychoanalytic theory--the color dichotomy of black-gray. The materials were constructed so that each response would be scored as consistent with 1 basis of symbolism only. The results showed that both the primary and mediated bases of symbolism were very significantly effective in determining responses (p     

Ecological momentary assessment of mood disorders and mood dysregulation.

In this review, we discuss ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies on mood disorders and mood dysregulation, illustrating 6 major benefits of the EMA approach to clinical assessment: (a) Real-time assessments increase accuracy and minimize retrospective bias; (b) repeated assessments can reveal dynamic processes; (c) multimodal assessments can integrate psychological, physiological, and behavioral data; (d) setting- or context-specific relationships of symptoms or behaviors can be identified; (e) interactive feedback can be provided in real time; and (f) assessments in real-life situations enhance generalizability. In the context of mood disorders and mood dysregulation, we demonstrate that EMA can address specific research questions better than laboratory or questionnaire studies. However, before clinicians and researchers can fully realize these benefits, sets of standardized e-diary questionnaires and time sampling protocols must be developed that are reliable, valid, and sensitive to change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)