Glynn D. Coates

BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES: RESPIRATORY PASTEURELLA TULARENSIS IN MAN

Average efficiency in the work of 8 Ss, as measured with the mean percentage of baseline performance, fell about 25% during the period of their illness (P. tularensis). Recovery 3 days after treatment had begun was incomplete, with performance averaging 10 to 15% below that of controls (2 double-blind hospital control Ss and a separate control group of 10 Ss).

An Extended Study of the Behavioral Effects of Respiratory Pasteurella Tularensis in Man

The mean percentage of baseline performance, a measure of average work efficiency, fell approximately 33% during the period of illness (P. tularensis) of 8 experimental Ss. Four days after treatment, individual performance equaled that of controls (3 double-blind hospital control Ss and a separate control group of 10 Ss), but group-task performances appeared not to have recovered so completely. The findings extend and essentially support those of a previous study (Alluisi, et al., 1971) in which the illness-related decrement in individual performance averaged 25%, with only incomplete recovery 3 days after treatment.

Parameters and Factor Structure of a Three-Phase Code Transformation Task (3P-COTRAN).

In an experimental test of a 3-phase code transformation task, 90 Ss performed under 1 of the 6 combinations of 2 memory-aid and 3 transformation-complexity conditions. A factor analysis of 72 measures of performance led to the identification of 5 factors. Analyses based on 9 selected measures indicated that 2 memory aids were better in the problem-solving third phase of the task.

RELIABILITY AND CORRELATES OF A THREE-PHASE CODE TRANSFORMATION TASK (3P-COTRAN)

In a further experimental test of a three-phase code transformation task, 84 Ss solved 6 blocks of 3 problems, and later spent 6 hr. in responding to paper-and-pencil tests of intelligence and certain personality characteristics. A factor analysis of 75 measures led to the identification of 8 factors, 5 of which represent 3P-COTRAN performances, 1 verbal intelligence, and 2 personality characteristics. Analyses based on 9 selected measures indicated differential practice effects, with the problem-solving third phase of the task being more slowly learned. Reliability of the measures and correlates of the task were computed and discussed.

Trends in Problem-Solving Research: Twelve Recently Described Tasks

Descriptions of the 12 problem-solving tasks developed since the last review (Ray, 1955) of chis topic indicate that the newer tasks are more sophisticated in design and provide for better experimental control than those used prior to 1953. Validity, reliability, sensitivity, trainability, problem structure, and problem difficulty are discussed as criteria for the selection of tasks to be used in studies of skilled problem-solving performance.

Effects of illness (Phlebotomus fever) on sustained performance and muscular output

During a period of illness with Phlebotomus fever, decrements in the performances of eight experimental subjects were found to be approximately 18% in average work efficiency (sustained performance) and 14% in average muscular output. Both aspects of performance had recovered completely four days after the day of peak illness. Analyses of 24 biomedical indices of infection were also computed, and the average biomedical response was found to have decreased approximately 26% during illness without recovery to normal levels at the end of the 15-day study.

Influence of observing strategies and stimulus variables on watchkeeping performances

Experiments were performed to determine whether an observing strategy of gazing straight ahead or scanning the visual field is superior when Ss task involved reacting rapidly to readily observed onsets or offsets of a coloured light. A subsidiary goal of the experiments was to resolve conflicting results of past experiments as to the effects of colour, position, and onset or offset of signal light. The experiments clearly indicated that a strategy of gazing ahead is superior for this kind of signal, but results were still equivocal regarding the other effects. Implications of the data are discussed.