A Test of Learning with Responses Minimized by the Use of a Movable Maze

Several experiments have investigated the possibility of learning when their subjects have been either restricted in their movements or proprioceptive cues have been reduced. A number, as Harlow and Stagner (1), have restricted movement by the use of drugs (as curare). Thorndike (2) suggests a series of experiments which aim to provide opportunities to acquire expectations with a minimum of helpful association of accompanying impulses. Typical of these suggested studies was the following: A rat might be placed in a cage which was mounted on wheels. The cage would then be pushed through a simple maze and the animal rewarded at the correct end and not rewarded at incorrect end. Learning would then be tested by observing the performance of the animal on free runs. Waters (3) reports a study based on one of Thorndike\u27s suggestions. He placed two boxes on a table. One contained food. The other was empty. He carried his rats alternately to each box for twenty trials and then set them free to observe their behavior. He concluded that learning did occur, and that expectancy does operate as a factor influencing the direction and character of behavior. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possibility of learning in physically intact and properly functioning animals when presented with distinctive stimuli which were consistently followed by reward or non-reward but when responses on the part of the animal were greatly reduced

The Generality of Level of Aspiration in Three Areas of Endeavor

A number of studies, Frank (2), Gardner (3) and Gould (4), have been concerned with the generality of level of aspiration. In these investigations the subject\u27s level of aspiration on several tasks was measured and various indicies of generality computed. Correlations of aspiration scores ranged from .04 to 70. The primary considerations involved in selecting the tasks the subject performed in these investigations were that they be relatively independent of each other and provide for reliable measurement. Most of them were motor or speed of reaction tasks as card sorting, throwing quoits, cancellation, and digit symbols. Different response measures were thus necessitated-time, points, number done, etc

An Experimental Study of Repression

The concept of repression is commonly referred to in terms of pleasant and unpleasant material. We say that an individual will tend to remember pleasant experiences and will tend to forget or repress unpleasant experiences. Many of the investigators doing research in this field have failed to look into the meaning of the word unpleasant as it is used by Freud, and have mistakenly used affective tone as a criterion. The present study has been conducted on the basis of this interpretation of the term repression, with the emphasis on first determining the frame of reference of the subject, rather than assuming that a given experience by its affective tone will lead to repression

Wonderlic, Wesman P.C.T., and A.C.E.: A Comparison of Three Group Intelligence Tests

There are many tests on the market purporting to measure general intelligence. They are used for a variety of purposes with many differing groups. Examination of them reveals so much diversity in the sorts of items they contain that one wonders how the tests can be measuring the same thing, i.e. general intelligence. Several tests have purported to break general intelligence into a verbal and a numerical factor. The ACE has long yielded such scores. More recently the Wesman PCT has found use in industry as a short intelligence test giving both a verbal and numerical score. Gerken (3), noting frequent disparity of PCT and ACE scores in a group of male college students, undertook a study which showed the relationship between these two tests to be, in fact, fairly low despite the similar nature of the scores claimed by the authors

A Forced-Choice Rating Scale for College Instructors

The purpose of this study was to construct a forced-choice rating scale for evaluating students\u27 opinions of college instructors. The scale constructed consists of 20 tetrads, or groups of 4 statements descriptive of instructors. These statements were chosen so that a pair of favorable items, both appearing to be equally favorable, and a pair of unfavorable items, both appearing to be equally unfavorable, make up each tetrad. From each tetrad the rater must choose the item most characteristic and the item least characteristic of the ratee. The reason for choosing items in this manner can be seen in Sisson\u27s statement of the basic assumptions underlying the forced-choice method, which was used in rating Army officers

Quantification of the Wechsler-Bellevue Vocabulary

The importance of the vocabulary test in mental testing is unquestioned. Such tests have been evaluated and used as the best single index of general intelligence when only one measure can be used. The inclusion of the vocabulary test in a general intelligence test is almost a foregone conclusion. In addition the vocabulary test has been extensively used in studying mental deterioration. Consideri.ng the importance of the vocabulary test it is surprising that so little attention has been given to scoring problems involved. Yacorzynski (1941) has suggested that the vocabulary score used in the deterioration ratio may obscure real deterioration in vocabulary fw1ctioning due to the gross scoring method now employed. One of Terman\u27s students, Helen Green (1931) attempted to quantify qualitative differences in definitions by establishing categories of responses and giving differential credit for these categories. She was able to distinguish clearly between CA levels with this method, but it was considered impractical for purely administrative work

MMPI Profiles of a College Faculty Group

The present investigation undertook to assess the personality characteristics of a group of experienced college teachers as measured by the MMPI. The aim was to determine if characteristic profiles existed which would supplement existing data on population sub-groups and which might serve as an aid in vocational guidance. Break-downs by sex and college division or department were planned

A Comparison of Absolute Overlearning on the Retention of Fast and Slow Learners

Various studies on the relation of speed of learning to retention have been reported (2) (3) (4). Many such studies are subject to the criticism that the degree of learning of fast and slow learners was not equated. Gillette (1), using the method of adjusted learning , found that fast learners retained more than slow learners as measured by both recall and relearning. Her study has set the pattern for subsequent investigation. A question may be raised, however, as to whether the degree of learning is actually equated by the method of adjusted learning. The acquisition curve for the fast learner rises at a more rapid rate than for the slow learner. Hence, when a criterion of learning is established, the training trial that achieves the criterion will carry the fast learners more above the criterion than it will the slow learners. The fast group then actually has a greater response tendency than the slow group, or the degree of learning is not equal. The present paper reports a preliminary study of an investigation designed to test the above reasoning and the further deduction that the effectiveness of overlearning on retention should vary depending on the speed of learning and should be of most value for the fast learner