Accuracy of brightness discrimination as measured by concurrent verbal responses and GSRs.

"In… subliminal perception experiments some response shows discriminative accuracy at stimulus values below the threshold of awareness determined by classical psychophysical techniques. The procedure is objectionable because the threshold measure admits extraneous variance that the measure of 'subliminal accuracy' does not… . This experiment compares the discriminative accuracy of GSR and verbal response when assessed by the same forced-choice psychophysical technique." Results indicated "the verbal response showed significantly higher correlation with the stimulus than did the GSR… neither response was significantly more accurate than the other." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On consciousness in syntactic learning and judgment: A reply to Reber, Allen, and Regan.

Responds to comments by A. S. Reber et al (see record 1986-03030-001) on the present authors' (see record 1985-29949-001) analysis of consciousness and abstraction in the case of syntactical learning and judgment. The methodological criticism of Reber et al is rejected, and it is asserted that assessment at the moment of judgment rather than recall maximizes the validity of reports of rules in consciousness at many moments of judgment. Broader issues discussed include judgment after early learning and after automatization, correlated grammars and consciousness, the scope and mental abstractness of rules, conscious and unconscious control, and intuition. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A case of syntactical learning and judgment: How conscious and how abstract?

Examined 2 possible bases for grammatical judgments following syntactical learning: unconscious representations of a formal grammar, as in A. S. Reber's (see record 1976-21811-001) hypothesis of implicit learning, and conscious rules within information grammars. 50 undergraduates inspected strings generated by a finite-state grammar, viewed either one at a time or all at a time, with implicit or explicit learning instructions. 15 undergraduates served as controls. In a transfer test, Ss and controls judged the grammaticality of grammatical and nongrammatical strings and reported the bases for their judgments. Concurrent with previous results, Ss correctly classified a significant number of novel strings, indicating the operation of grammatical abstraction. However, reported rules predicted those grammatical judgments without significant residual. Ss acquired correlated grammars—personal sets of conscious rules, each of limited scope and many of imperfect validity. The rules embodied abstractions, consciously represented novelty that could account for abstraction embodied in judgments. It is argued that a better explanation of these results credits grammatical judgments to conscious rules within informal grammars rather than to unconscious representations of a formal grammar. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypotheses and habits in verbal "operant conditioning.'

The traditional explanation of experiments related to conditioning of verbal behavior in terms of operant conditioning, i.e., learning without awareness, was questioned. It was hypothesized that such conditioning to cues given by E might be based on S's awareness of the cue and assumed meaning of such a stimulus. 2 experiments were performed, 1 where plural nouns were reinforced, and a 2nd to test the generalization of this acquired pattern on a word association test. The usual findings re: conditioning of plural nouns was replicated and there seemed to be a carry-over of the set to the word association test. However, some Ss seemed to be aware of the meaning of such a reinforcer as "um-hm." Moreover, response set was also seen to affect conditionability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Objectives of the general psychology course.

A discussion of the manner in which objectives for the instructor of general psychology may be arrived at: the objectives of the college and the place of this course in the curriculum, job analysis of the role of college students as citizens, the student's needs and expectations, the function of the course in the eyes of the profession as a whole, etc. An outline of the general objectives for the elementary psychology course at the University of Michigan is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance learning of perceptual defense and vigilance.

Thirty-two undergraduates were randomly assigned to defense and vigilance training groups. "This study supports the view that perceptual defense and vigilance are learned reactions to anxiety arousing stimuli." A behavior theory analysis of the learning process is proposed. "According to this analysis, perceptual defense is learned when the perceptual response to a threatening stimulus is punished and competing perceptual responses are instrumental to anxiety reduction. Competing perceptual responses when reinforced are strengthened at the expense of the critical perceptual response. Perceptual vigilance is learned when the perceptual response to a threatening stimulus is reinforced by anxiety reduction and competing perceptual responses are punished." Learning for both groups "proceeded in the absence of awareness." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)