The Development and Validity of a Chinese Version of the Compound Remote Associates Test
Numerous recent studies have used neuroscientific methods such as event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance imaging to demystify insight and creativity. To do so, 1 key prerequisite is the creation of a large enough number of homogeneous problems that can reliably produce insight-like experiences within a short time window. The Remote Associates Test (RAT) and its variant, the compound remote associate (CRA) problems developed by Bowden and Jung-Beeman (2003), are 2 of the most popular and important instruments for unraveling the behavioral and cognitive, especially electrophysiological and neural, mechanisms of creative thinking and insight. However, little research has examined cognitive, neural, or even behavioral correlates of remote association and creative insight in the Chinese context because of the absence of a Chinese RAT/CRA. The present work, based on Mednick's (1962) associative theory, developed a Chinese version of the CRA test with enough items. The reliability, criterion-related validity, and underlying structure of this test were then further assessed. The results revealed that the test possesses satisfactory psychometric properties and is an appropriate psychometric instrument for uncovering neural correlates of creative thinking, creative insight, and associative thought.
The Cognitive and Perceptual Laws of the Inclined Plane
The study explored whether laypersons correctly tacitly know Galileo's law of the inclined plane and what the basis of such knowledge could be. Participants predicted the time a ball would take to roll down a slope with factorial combination of ball travel distance and slope angle. The resulting pattern of factorial curves relating the square of predicted time to travel distance for each slope angle was identical to that implied by Galileo's law, indicating a correct cognitive representation of this law. Intuitive physics research suggests that this cognitive representation may result from memories of past perceptions of objects rolling down a slope. Such a basis and the correct cognitive representation of Galileo's law led to the hypothesis that Galileo's law is also perceptually represented correctly. To test this hypothesis, participants were asked to judge the perceived travel time of a ball actually rolling down a slope, with perceived travel distance and perceived slope angle varied in a factorial design. The obtained pattern of factorial curves was equal to that implied by Galileo's law, indicating that the functional relationships defined in this law were perceptually represented correctly. The results foster the idea that laypersons may tacitly know both linear and nonlinear multiplicative physical laws of the everyday world. As a practical implication, the awareness of this conclusion may help develop more effective methods for teaching physics and for improving human performance in the physical environment.
The Reactivation of Motion influences Size Categorization in a Visuo-Haptic Illusion
People simulate themselves moving when they view a picture, read a sentence, or simulate a situation that involves motion. The simulation of motion has often been studied in conceptual tasks such as language comprehension. However, most of these studies investigated the direct influence of motion simulation on tasks inducing motion. This article investigates whether a mo- tion induced by the reactivation of a dynamic picture can influence a task that did not require motion processing. In a first phase, a dynamic picture and a static picture were systematically presented with a vibrotactile stimulus (high or low frequency). The second phase of the experiment used a priming paradigm in which a vibrotactile stimulus was presented alone and followed by pictures of objects. Participants had to categorize objects as large or small relative to their typical size (simulated size). Results showed that when the target object was preceded by the vibrotactile stimulus previously associated with the dynamic picture, participants perceived all the objects as larger and categorized them more quickly when the objects were typically "large" and more slowly when the objects were typically "small." In light of embodied cognition theories, this bias in participants' perception is assumed to be caused by an induced forward motion. generated by the reactivated dynamic picture, which affects simulation of the size of the objects.
Adolescent Aggression as Predicted from Parent-Child Relationships and Executive Functions
Previous research has emphasized the role of parent-child relationships (PCRs) in child and adolescent development. The present study extends the previous findings by examining the direct and mediated relationship between PCRs, executive functioning (EF), and adolescent aggression. Five hundred twelve adolescents of South Asian ethnic background, enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary levels (aged 13-19 years; 50% boys), participated in the study. The Parent-Child Relationship Scale (Rao, 2000), Aggression Scale (Mathur & Bhatnagar, 2004), and four tests from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (Delis, Kaplan, & Kramer, 2001) were administered to measure the perceived quality of PCR, level of aggression, and EF, respectively, in participants. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed that perceived PCRs were related to EF and adolescent aggression among South Asian youth. Furthermore, multiple regression analyses using Baron and Kenny's (1986) guidelines showed that the influence of PCRs on aggression was partially mediated by EF The findings suggest that PCRs and EF can be important factors to focus on in interventions aimed at preventing adolescent aggression in society.
Scientific Study of Magic: Binet's Pioneering Approach Based on Observations and Chronophotography
In 1894, French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) published an article titled "The Psychol- ogy of Prestidigitation" that reported the results of a study conducted in collaboration with two of the best magicians of that period. By using a new method and new observation techniques, Binet was able to reveal some of the psychological mechanisms involved in magic tricks. Our article begins by presenting Binet's method and the principal professional magicians who par- ticipated in his studies. Next, we present the main psychological tools of magicians described by Binet and look at some recent studies dealing with those mechanisms. Finally, we take a look at the innovative technique used by Binet for his study on magic: the chronophotograph.
Child and Ancient Man: How to Define Their Commonalities and Differences
Developmental psychology is not only a psychology of development from childhood to old age but a psychology of human development in world history. Eighty years of cross-cultural empirical research findings indicate that the adolescent stage of formal operations evolved late in history and is not a universal development of adult humans across cultures and history. Correspondingly, preoperational or concrete operational stages describe adult psychological stages in past or premodern cultures, as Jean Piaget and some of his followers have mentioned. Developmental psychology is likewise a historical or anthropological psychology capable of describing humans in premodern cultures. The article develops a general anthropological or psychological theory answering the many questions that arise from the correspondences between (modern) children and ancient adults. On this psychological basis, the new structural genetic theory program is capable of explaining, better than previous approaches, the history of humankind from prehistory through ancient to modern societies, the history of economy, society, culture, religion, philosophy, sciences, morals, and everyday life. The accomplishment of this task was once demanded of some classical founders of psychology, sociology, history, and ethnology but was largely avoided by the postwar generations of authors for political and ideological reasons.
The Effect of Collective Transitions on the Organization and Contents of Autobiographical Memory: A Transition Theory Perspective
In this article, we tirst outline a minimalist approach to the organization ot autobiographical memory called transition theory. This theory assumes that the content and organization of autobiographical memory mirror the structure of experience and reflect the operation of basic memory processes. Thus, this approach rests on an analysis of the environment that emphasizes repetition, co-occurrence, change, and distinctiveness. We then report a study that tested a set of predictions derived from transition theory. The predictions concerned both the temporal distribution of memorable personal events and the use of public events and historical periods to date those events. To test these predictions, we collected word-cued memories, event-dating protocols, and historical relatedness ratings from 2 groups of Bosnians; on average, people in the younger group were in their early 40s at the outset of the Siege of Sarajevo (1992); those in the older group were in their mid-50s when they experienced this collective transition. As predicted, participants in both groups produced a robust living-in-history effect, often (-25%) referring to the civil war or the Siege of Sarajevo when dating event memories. They also displayed an upheaval bump, recalling more events from the war years than from prewar and postwar years, and a reminiscence bump, recalling more events from late adolescence and early adulthood than from earlier or later periods. Finally, this study demonstrated, for the first time, the existence of a before/after effect. Specifically, participants often mentioned the war when dating historically unrelated events for the prewar and postwar years. We conclude by considering extensions of transition theory and the significance of our findings for existing models of autobiographical memory.
The Evolution of the American Journal of Psychology, 1904-1918: A Network Investigation
In an earlier article, we used digital historical methods to examine the first 14 volumes (1887-1903) of The American Journal of Psychology (AJP) by creating networks of the vocabularies used in every substantive article the journal published in those years. These networks showed us the major research groups that had been gathered together by the journal's founder-editor, G. Stanley Hall, and how the intellectual composition of the journal (and the discipline) changed over that 17-year period. In the present article we extended that study forward, creating networks for the next 15 volumes (1904-1918), broken into time blocks of 5 years each. Our findings, in brief, were that vision research (especially color) continued to play as consistent and prominent role in the journal as it had since the start; that memory, association, and some higher mental processes were active areas of research throughout; that Hall continued to have an on-again, off-again relationship with theoretical and philosophical psychology; that intelligence-measuring methods, psychoanalysis, and psychophysics were periodically popular enough that they each generated a cluster in 1 of the 3 time blocks; and that Titchener's participation in the editing of AJP led to its becoming the major outlet for his Structuralist research program (an absence that we noted in our earlier studies of the journal Psychological Review).
Margaret F. Washburn in The American Journal of Psychology: A Cognitive Precursor?
In the early 20th century, Margaret F. Washburn (1871-1939) produced numerous studies on perception, affective value of stimulus, memory, emotions, and consciousness. This experimental work was published in The American Journal of Psychology. The purpose of this article is to analyze the temporal evolution of these kinds of experiments and relate them to Washburn's theoretical production. Contrary to other views, Washburn's experimental evolution follows a logical sequence and has a strong inner coherence. Among other reasons, the lack of a scientific and social framework to the study of the mind has tended to overshadow large areas of Washburn's thought. However, both the work published in AJP and the methods used in experiments provide reasons to consider.Washburn one of the precursors of contemporary cognitive psychology.
Category Membership and Semantic Coding in the Cerebral Hemispheres
Although a gradient of category membership seems to form the internal structure of semantic categories, it is unclear whether the 2 hemispheres of the brain differ in terms of this gradient. The 2 experiments reported here examined this empirical question and explored alternative theoretical interpretations. Participants viewed category names centrally and determined whether a closely related or distantly related word presented to either the left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF/RH) or the right visual field/left hemisphere (RVF/LH) was a member of the category. Distantly related words were categorized more slowly in the LVF/RH relative to the RVF/LH, with no difference for words close to the prototype. The finding resolved past mixed results showing an unambiguous typicality effect for both visual field presentations. Furthermore, we examined items near the fuzzy border that were sometimes rejected as nonmembers of the category and found both hemispheres use the same category boundary. In Experiment 2, we presented 2 target words to be categorized, with the expectation of augmenting the speed advantage for the RVF/LH if the 2 hemispheres differ structurally. Instead the results showed a weakening of the hemispheric difference, arguing against a structural in favor of a processing explanation.
Texting Dependence, iPod Dependence, and Delay Discounting
We gave 127 undergraduates questionnaires about their iPod and texting dependence and 2 hypothetical delay discounting scenarios related to free downloaded songs and free texting for life. Using regression analyses we found that when iPod dependence was the dependent variable, Text2-excessive use, Text4-psychological and behavioral symptoms, iPod2-excessive use, and iPod3-relationship disruption were significant predictors of discounting. When texting dependence was the dependent variable, Text4-psychological and behavioral symptoms and iPod3-relationship disruption were significant predictors of discounting. These are the first data to show that delay discounting relates to certain aspects of social media, namely iPod and texting dependence. These data also show that across these 2 dependencies, both psychological and behavioral symptoms and relationship disruptions are affected.
The Effect of Sleep Loss on Dual Time-Based Prospective Memory Tasks
The aim of the present study was to deepen knowledge about the effect of a lowered vigilance state on time-based prospective memory (TBPM) performance. For this purpose 2 TBPM tasks (primary and interpolated), which shared a portion of the retention interval, and 3 reasoning tasks, as ongoing activities, were administered after total sleep deprivation and in a regular sleep condition. The results showed a detrimental effect of sleep deprivation on prospective memory performance and a partial dissociation between clock-checking behavior and time estimation for prospective compliance. This study clearly indicates that total sleep deprivation im- pairs the ability to complete multiple prospective task assignments in a timely fashion. Results are discussed suggesting the existence of different mechanisms involved in time monitoring and other cognitive functions underlying TBPM performance.
Perception of Scenes in Different Sensory Modalities: A Result of Modal Completion
Dynamic perception includes amodal and modal completion, along with apparent movement. It fills temporal gaps for single objects. In 2 experiments, using 6 stimulus presentation conditions involving 3 sensory modalities, participants experienced 8-10 sequential stimuli (200 ms each) with interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 0.25-7.0 s. Experiments focused on spatiotemporal completion (walking), featural completion (object changing), auditory, completion (falling bomb), and haptic changes (insect crawling). After each trial, participants judged whether they experienced the process of "happening " or whether they simply knew that the process must have occurred. The phenomenon was frequency independent, being reported at short ISIs but not at long ISIs. The phenomenon involves dynamic modal completion and possibly also conceptual processes.
The Method of Negative Instruction: Herbert S. Langfeld's and Ludwig R. Geissler's 1910-1913 Insightful Studies
Herbert S. Langfeld and Ludwig R. Geissler published insightful articles during the period of 1910-1913 using what they called the Method of Negative Instruction, which anticipated much current research on action control and the role of instructions. We review their studies and relate the findings to contemporary research and views concerning task-irrelevant congruency effects and deception, concluding that their work has not received the credit it warrants. We also call for contemporary researchers to revisit prior studies, especially ones conducted before the cognitive revolution in psychology, to enrich their knowledge of the field and improve the quality of their research.
Feature-to-Feature Inference Under Conditions of Cue Restriction and Dimensional Correlation
The present study explored feature-to-feature and label-to-feature inference in a category task for different category structures. In the correlated condition, each of the 4 dimensions comprising the category was positively correlated to each other and to the category label. In the uncorrelated condition, no correlation existed between the 4 dimensions comprising the category, although the dimension to category label correlation matched that of the correlated condition. After learning, participants made inference judgments of a missing feature, given 1, 2, or 3 feature cues; on half the trials, the category label was also included as a cue. The results showed superior inference of features following training on the correlated structure, with accurate inference when only a single feature was presented. In contrast, a single-feature cue resulted in chance levels of inference for the uncorrelated structure. Feature inference systematically improved with number of cues after training on the correlated structure. Surprisingly, a similar outcome was obtained for the uncorrelated structure, an outcome that must have reflected mediation via the category label. A descriptive model is briefly introduced to explain the results, with a suggestion that this paradigm might be profitably extended to hierarchical structures where the levels of feature-to-feature inference might vary with the depth of the hierarchy.
Realistic Stimuli Reveal Selective Effects of Motor Expertise During a Mental Body Rotation Task
To investigate the effects of stimulus features on the implementation of motor expertise in body rotations during a mental body rotation task, 2 experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we investigated the mental rotation abilities in 27 male participants: 14 experts in real body rotations (national level gymnasts) and 13 nonexperts (national handball players). The mental rotation task used left-right judgments and involved 3 types of stimuli: images of a stick figure person, images of line drawings of the human body, and photographs of real male persons. In Experiment 2, 10 experts and 11 nonexperts performed a mental body rotation task on the same stimuli as in Experiment 1 using this time a same-different judgment. Results showed that stimulus features had a significant effect on the mental rotation of the participants because the more realistic stimuli resulted in shorter response times. Furthermore, experts outperformed nonexperts when the stimuli were presented in unfamiliar orientations (180* rotation). However, this pattern was significant only during the mental rotation task of photographs with left- right judgments, suggesting that stick figure person and line drawings of the human body did not differentiate experts and nonexperts. In conclusion, results suggest the existence of optimal stimulus features to elicit optimal embodiment and allow revealing selective effects of motor expertise in body rotations.
Reading Aloud to Children: Benefits and Implications for Acquiring Literacy Before Schooling Begins
Extensive experience in written language might provide children the opportunity to learn to read in the same manner they learn spoken language. One potential type of written language immersion is reading aloud to children, which is additionally valuable because the vocabulary in picture books is richer and more extensive than that found in child-directed speech. This study continues a comparison between these 2 communication media by evaluating their relative linguistic and cognitive complexity. Although reading grade level has been used only to assess the complexity of written language, it was also applied to both child-directed and adult-directed speech. Five measures of reading grade level gave an average grade level of 4.2 for picture books, 1.9 for child-directed speech, and 3.0 for adult-directed speech. The language in picture books is more challenging than that found in both child-directed and adult-directed speech. It is proposed that this difference between written and spoken language is the formal versus informal genre of their occurrence rather than their text or oral medium. The value of reading books aloud therefore exposes children to a linguistic and cognitive complexity not typically found in speech to children.
Visual Search Load Effects on Age-Related Cognitive Decline: Evidence From the Yakumo Longitudinal Study
The validity of Bucur and Madden's (2010) proposal that an age-related decline is particularly pronounced in executive function measures rather than in elementary perceptual speed measures was examined via the Yakumo Study longitudinal database. Their proposal suggests that cognitive load differentially affects cognitive abilities in older adults. To address their proposal, linear regression coefficients of 104 participants were calculated individually for the digit cancellation task 1 (D-CAT1), where participants search for a given single digit, and the D-CAT3, where they search for 3 digits simultaneously. Therefore, it can be conjectured that the D-CAT1 represents primarily elementary perceptual speed and low-visual search load task. whereas the D-CAT3 represents primarily executive function and high-visual search load task. Regression coefficients from age 65 to 75 for the D-CAT3 showed a significantly steeper decline than that for the D-CAT1, and a large number of participants showed this tendency. These results support the proposal by Brcur and Madden (2010) and suggest that the degree of cognitive load affects age-related cognitive decline.
Alexithymia and Mood: Recognition of Emotion in Self and Others
The present study explored relationships between alexithymia-a trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings and an external thinking style-and negative moods, negative mood regulation expectancies, facial recognition of emotions, emotional empathy, and alcohol consumption. The sample consisted of 102 university (primarily psychology) students (13 men, 89 women) aged 18 to 50 years (M = 22.18 years). Participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Negative Mood Regulation Scale (NMRS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results were consistent with previous findings of positive relationships of TAS-20 alexithymia scores with both alcohol use (AUDIT) and negative moods (DASS-21) and a negative relationship with emotional self-regulation as indexed by NMRS. Predicted negative associations of both overall TAS-20 alexithymia scores and the externally oriented thinking (EOT) subscale of the TAS-20 with both RMET facial recognition of emotions and the empathic concern (EC) subscale of the IRI were supported. The mood self-regulation index NMRS fully mediated the relationship between alexithymia and negative moods. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that, after other relevant variables were controlled for, the EOT subscale of the TAS-20 predicted RMET and EC. The concrete thinking or EDT facet of alexithymia thus appears to be associated with diminished facial recognition of emotions and reduced emotional empathy. The negative moods associated with alexithymia appear to be linked to subjective difficulties in self-regulation of emotions.
The Synthetic Experiment: E. B. Titchener's Cornell Psychological Laboratory and the Test of Introspective Analysis
Beginning in 1 9a0, a major thread of research was added to E. B. Titchener's Cornell laboratory: the synthetic experiment. Titchener and his graduate students used introspective analysis to reduce a perception, a complex experience, into its simple sensory constituents. To test the validity of that analysis, stimulus patterns were selected to reprodiuce the patterns of sensations found in the introspective analyses. If the original perception can be reconstructed in this way, then the analysis was considered validated. This article reviews development of the synthetic method in E. B. Titchener's laboratory at Cornell University and examines its impact on psychological research.
History of Psychology Publish and Perish: Psychology's Most Prolific Authors Are Not Always the Ones We Remember
What is the relationship between being highly prolific in the realm of publication and being remembered as a great psychologist of the past? In this study, the PsycINFO database was used to identify the historical figures who wrote the most journal articles during the half-century from 1890 to 1939. Although a number of the 10 most prolific authors are widely remembered for their influence on the discipline today-E. L. Thorndike, Karl Pearson, E. B. Titchener, Henri Pi6ron-the majority are mostly forgotten. The data were also separated into the 5 distinct decades. Once again, a mixture of eminent and obscure individuals made appearances. Most striking, perhaps, was the great increase in articles published over the course of the half-century-approximately doubling each decade-and the enormous turnover in who was most prolific, decade over decade. In total, 100 distinct individuals appeared across just 5 lists of about 25 names each.
Parallel Interactive Processing as a Way to Understand Complex Information Processing: The Conjunction Fallacy and Other Examples
Parallel interactive processing (PIP) represents an approach in which specific context generates interactive relationships between general attributes. This article summarizes previous research that demonstrates how such relationships influence inference making in categorization. This is followed by evidence that the approach can be extended to other areas of cognition, including probability judgments. PIP was successful in fitting data that revealed the prevalence of the conjunction fallacy as well as other probability estimation data. PIP provided better fits overall than the signed summation model and the configural weighted average model. The quantum probability model provided good fits for the conjunction fallacy data but not for other probability judgments.
Modern Speed-Reading Apps Do Not Foster Reading Comprehension
New computer apps are gaining popularity by suggesting that reading speeds can be drastically increased when eye movements that normally occur during reading are eliminated. This is done using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), where words are presented 1 at a time, thus preventing natural eye movements such as saccades, fixations, and regressions from occurring. Al- though the companies producing these apps suggest that RSVP reading does not yield comprehension deficits, research investigating the role of eye movements in reading documents shows the necessity of natural eye movements for accurate comprehension. The current study explored variables that may affect reading comprehension during RSVP reading, including text difficulty (6th grade and 12th grade), text presentation speed (static, 700 wpm, and 1,000 wpm), and working memory capacity (WMC). Consistent with recent work showing a tenuous relationship between comprehension and WMC, participants' WMC did not predict comprehension scores. Instead, comprehension was most affected by reading speed: Static text was associated with superior performance, relative to either RSVP reading condition. Furthermore, slower RSVP speeds yielded better verbatim comprehension, and faster speeds benefited inferential comprehension.
Threatening Men's Mate Value Influences Aggression Toward an Intrasexual Rival: The Moderating Role of Narcissism
Correlational research has linked low mate value (MV)--one's worth as a mating partner to members of the opposite sex--with aggression in men. In 2 experiments, we examined the effects of self-perceived MV on men's reported willingness to aggress directly toward a hypothetical mate poacher (Experiment 1, N = 60) and observable aggression toward a same-sex rival in a laboratory paradigm (Experiment 2, N = 54). In both experiments, the roles of narcissism in moderating the effect of MV condition on subsequent aggression were examined. Results of Experiment 1 indicated that men randomly assigned to the low MV condition were significantly more willing to report aggressive intention than men in the high MV condition. This relationship was moderated by narcissism such that men in the low MV condition who were also high in narcissism were the most likely to aggress. Results of Experiment 2 similarly showed that men in the low MV condition relative to the high MV condition aggressed more toward a same-sex rival when they were high in narcissism. These findings support evolutionary hypotheses surrounding the importance of self-perceived MV in directing aggressive mating efforts, as situated in the framework of threatened egotism.
Failures Due to Interruptions or Distractions: A Review and a New Framework
Interruptions of ongoing activities have spread since the development of and global increase in technology use and the general speeding in pace we all experience every day. Their negative effects are well known: decline in performance and emotional distress. However, the literature still needs to shed light on the exact cognitive mechanisms involved in the way users decide to reply to an interruption, on the effects of interruptions of different durations, and on factors influencing reactivation of task schemata and goals at resumption. Therefore, the aim of this article is to review the existing literature and models, uncover unresolved challenges, and propose new ways to confront them. We first review the substantive findings of recent decades from different domains (human-computer interaction, cognitive and experimental psychology, ergonomics), and their respective methodological and theoretical contributions. Then we propose a general and operationalized definition of an interruption; review the different cognitive models of attention, executive control, and working memory that best explain the impact of interruptions; describe current challenges and questions that remain open for future studies; and finally propose an integrative research framework, the DETOUR, which clarifies the cognitive processes at play during interruptions. We believe this work can directly affect the current state of the art, leading to new fundamental studies and applied solutions for the management of interruptions.
Effects of Working Memory Capacity and Domain Knowledge on Recall for Grocery Prices
Hambrick and Engle (2002) proposed 3 models of how domain knowledge and working memory capacity may work together to influence episodic memory: a "rich-get-richer" model, a "building blocks" model, and a "compensatory" model. Their results supported the rich-get-richer model, although later work by Hambrick and Oswald (2005) found support for a building blocks model. We investigated the effects of domain knowledge and working memory on recall of studied grocery prices. Working memory was measured with 3 simple span tasks. A contrast of realistic versus fictitious foods in the episodic memory task served as our manipulation of domain knowledge, because participants could not have domain knowledge of fictitious food prices. There was a strong effect for domain knowledge (realistic food-price pairs were easier to remember) and a moderate effect for working memory capacity (higher working memory capacity produced better recall). Furthermore, the interaction between domain knowledge and working memory produced a small but significant interaction in 1 measure of price recall. This supported the compensatory model and stands in contrast to previous research.
Edwin G. Boring: The Historian's Path in the Pages of The American Journal of Psychology
Although he is best known for his classic textbook, A History of Experimental Psychology, Edwin Garrigues Boring published dozens of articles in The American Journal of Psychology and used its various formats to guide the discipline in the early 20th century. This report reviews a small sample of his publications, including obituaries, notes, and experimental articles, and presents them in historical and biographical context. A central objective is to show how Boring shared the values of his structuralist training with the emerging American schools and how time allowed him to reconsider his approach to history and the legacy of his iconic mentor, Edward Bradford Titchener.
Effects of Music and Tonal Language Experience on Relative Pitch Performance
We examined the interaction between music and tone language experience as related to relative pitch processing by having participants judge the direction and magnitude of pitch changes in a relative pitch task. Participants' performance on this relative pitch task was assessed using the Cochran-Weiss-Shanteau (CWS) index of expertise, based on a ratio of discrimination over consistency in participants' relative pitch judgments. Testing took place in 2 separate sessions on different days to assess the effects of practice on participants' performance. Participants also completed the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), an existing measure comprising subtests aimed at evaluating relative pitch processing abilities. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians on both the relative pitch task, as measured by the CWS index, and the MBEA, but tonal language speakers outperformed non-tonal language speakers only on the MBEA. A closer look at the discrimination and consistency component scores of the CWS index revealed that musicians were better at discriminating different pitches and more consistent in their assessments of the direction and magnitude of relative pitch change.
Attributing social meaning to animated shapes: A new experimental study of apparent behavior
In 1944, Heider and Simmel reported that observers could perceive simple animated geometric shapes as characters with emotions, intentions, and other social attributes. This work has been cited over 3000 times and has had wide and ongoing influence on the study of social cognition and social intelligence. However, many researchers in this area have continued to use the original Heider and Simmel black-and-white video. We asked whether the original findings could be reproduced 75 years later by creating 32 new colored animated shape videos designed to depict various social plots and testing whether they can evoke similar spontaneous social attributions. Participants (N = 66) viewed our videos and were asked to write narratives which we coded for indicia of different types of social attributions. Consistent with Heider and Simmel, we found that participants spontaneously attributed social meaning to the videos. We observed that responses to our videos were also similar to responses to the original video reported by Klin (2000), despite being only 13-23 s and portraying a broader range of social plots. Participants varied in how many social attributions they made in response, and the videos varied in how much they elicited such responses. Our set of animated shape videos is freely available online for all researchers to use and forms the basis of a multiple-choice assessment of social intelligence (Brown et al., 2019).