Curtis W. McIntyre

Affect, personality, and social activity.

These studies examined relations between social activity and state and trait measures of Positive and Negative Affect. In Study 1 Ss completed scales relevant to 3-factor models of personality and a weekly mood and social activity questionnaire for 13 weeks. In Study 2 Ss completed measures of the 5-factor model of personality and a daily mood and social activity survey for 6-7 weeks. In within- and between-Ss analyses, socializing correlated significantly with state measures of Positive Affect and with trait measures of Extraversion/Positive Emotionality. These relations were relatively general across various types of positive affect and social events; however, specific types of social events also were differentially related to affect. In contrast, social activity had no consistent association with measures of Negative Affect or the other personality dimensions. The results support a temperamental view of Extraversion.

The content and manipulation of cognitive maps in children and adults.

Comparison of cognitive maps generated by first graders, fifth graders, and college students using a triangulation task revealed that the first graders possessed very accurate, coherent cognitive maps. However, analyses of the cognitive maps generated when Ss were asked to imagine either the room rotating (mental rotation) or themselves moving within the room (perspective-taking) revealed that the accuracy and completeness of the mental manipulation increased dramatically with age. Only the cognitive maps of the college students were coherent and accurate during mental rotation than during perspective-taking. Careful attention was given to the types of errors made, and several systematic error patterns were identified which reflected qualitative differences. These qualitative differences indicated mental manipulation was a two-stage process. In the first stage, a strategy of transformation was applied to the ordinal spatial relationships contained within the cognitive map. First graders evidenced difficulty here. In the second stage, more specific relationships between self and spatial layout were reconstructed. Fifth graders evidenced difficulty here. In contrast, college students were able to complete both stages of the process.

The effect of induced social interaction on positive and negative affect

The effects of two induced social interactions (Getting Acquainted and Lunching Together) on positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) were investigated with the use of the 20-item positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). In two experiments, undergraduate subjects completed two cycles of 9 PANASs. Each cycle contained three sets of three PANASs, which were completed during successive class periods: One set each was completed during the class period preceding, including, and following the social interaction. Within each set of three PANASs, one was completed at the beginning of a 2-h class, a second was completed 1 h into the class (before the social interaction), and a third was completed at the end of class (after the social interaction). One of the two 9-assessment cycles involved getting acquainted with a previously unknown classmate for 20 min; the other involved having lunch with this classmate 2 weeks later. The resulting PA and NA scores were compared separately for each social interaction by using within-subjects analyses of variance and subsequent multiple-comparison tests. These analyses revealed that PA increased significantly after social interaction and returned to normal by the beginning of the next class period and that NA was not changed by social interaction. The implications of these results are discussed.

The effects of social interaction, exercise, and test stress on positive and negative affect

The effects of social interaction, exercise, and test stress on positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) were investigated using the 20-item positive affect and negative affect schedule (PANAS). Eighteen undergraduate subjects completed a PANAS at the beginning of a 1-week period to establish baseline levels of PA and NA. Three other PANASs were completed within the week by each subject: one after social interaction, one after exercise, and one prior to a stressful test. The resulting PA and NA scores were compared with the baseline PA and NA scores obtained for each subject. Within-subjects analyses of variance and subsequent multiple comparison tests revealed that PA was increased significantly by social interaction and exercise, but not affected by test stress, and that NA was not affected by social interaction and exercise, but was increased significantly by test stress. The implications of these results are discussed.

Span of Apprehension in Hyperactive Boys.

The spans of apprehension of hyperactive and normal boys were compared with a forced-choice letter-recognition task developed by Estes (1965). This task provides an estimate of the span which is relatively insensitive to either memory or motivational influences. The span size was the same for both groups when visual “noise” was absent. In the presence of noise, span size for the hyperactive boys decreased. Moreover, as the number of noise letters increased, the reduction in span size observed for the hyperactive boys increased. It is argued that this increasing reduction in span size represents a true deficit in attention.

Span of Apprehension in Learning Disabled Boys

The spans of apprehension of learning disabled and normal boys were compared by means of a forced-choice letter recognition task developed by Estes (1965). This task provides an estimate of the span, which is relatively insensitive to either memory or motivational influences. In experiment 1 the span size was found to be the same for both groups when visual “noise” was absent. In the presence of noise, span size for the learning disabled boys was reduced. It is argued that this reduction in span size represents a true deficit in atrention. In experiment 2, the influence of variations in the amount of physical similarity between signal and noise letters on the spans of both groups were compared to determine whether noise letters act as more potent distractors for the learning disabled boys. The results indicate that the spans of both groups were influenced equivalently No evidence for a distractibility explanation was obtained.

Visual Persistence and Information Pick-up in Learning Disabled Children

Psychophysical tasks were used to test two possible explanations for the lower spans of apprehension observed for learning disabled subjects by McIntyre, Murray, Coronin, and Blackwell (1978). In Experiment 1, the length of visual persistence was found to be less for LD subjects. In Experiment 2, the rate of information pick-up was found to be slower for LD subjects. Clearly, either or both of these explanations may account for the lowered spans of apprehension observed for LD subjects by McIntyre et al. The implications of these results for the reading difficulties encountered by LD children and for remediation techniques involving saccadic eye movement training are discussed.

Effect of noise distractibility on the spans of apprehension of hyperactive boys.

Denton and McIntyre (1978), using a forced-choice letterrecognition procedure, demonstrated increasing reductions in the spans of apprehension of hyperactive as compared to normal boys when a signal letter was embedded within an increasing number of noise letters. In the present study, the effect of variations in the amount of physical signal-noise similarity and noise redundancy upon the spans of apprehension of hyperactive and normal boys was compared to determine whether noise letters act as more potent distractors for the hyperactive boys. Results indicated the spans of both groups were effected equivalently by variations in signal-noise similarity and noise redundancy. No evidence for a distractibility explanation was obtained.

An analysis of visual-motor problems in learning disabled children

The nature of visual-motor problems in learning disabled children was examined in four conditions designed to determine whether more errors were made by learning disabled children, and whether the errors were primarily perceptual, conceptual, motoric, or some combination of these in nature. The same two groups of children were used in each condition. One group contained 20 children (mean age = 10 years, 7 months) who had been diagnosed as learning disabled. The control group contained 20 children who were matched with the learning disabled children on age, sex, IQ, and SES. The learning disabled children evidenced visual-motor problems under a visual-motor condition that was modeled after the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test. In three other conditions, the visual-perceptual, perceptual-conceptual, and motor-coordinative components of the visual-motor condition were examined separately. The results of these conditions indicated that the visual-perceptual and perceptual-conceptual components of the visual-motor system were intact for the learning disabled children; however, both the motor-coordinative component and the integration between the visual-perceptual and the motor-coordinative components were disturbed. The implications of these results for the visual-motor problems of learning disabled children were discussed.

Visual selective attention in learning disabled and normal boys

Learning disabled and normal control boys were compared in a reaction time task that required same-different judgments about the size or shape of visually presented geometric forms. In one condition, the subject was told which aspect (either size or shape) to judge before the presentation of the forms; in the other condition, the subject was told which aspect to judge after the forms were presented. The results indicated that the reaction times of the learning disabled boys were significantly slower than those of the normal controls in both conditions. Evidently, deficits in selectivity are characteristic of learning disabled boys at the levels of both sensory-perceptual input and short-term memory.