Howard A. Rollins

Storage and verification stages in processing concepts

Abstract A decision-tree analysis of hypothesis testing was studied in 10 experiments. College students verified concepts with different logical structures against instances. A Chronometric analysis indicated that storage and verification stages were separable. In storage, subjects represent content in an affirmative form. Negation is either transformed or used as an indicator to change a response. In verification, subjects are set to make identity matches between the coded representations of the concept and the exemplar. The coding and matching operations are serial and they are either self-terminating or exhaustive depending upon the logical structure of the concept. A general coding and matching operator model for processing successive inputs was developed. The model was generalized to the processing of positive and negative information in problem-solving and language-comprehension tasks.

The effects of instructional variables on young children's organization and free recall

Abstract The relationship between verbal instruction and childrens free recall was examined. Sixty first-grade children (mean age 84 months) were trained to categorize pictures of common objects. Half were given organizational instructions emphasizing categorization, and half were given instructions emphasizing the individual objects. Similarly, half were given detailed verbal instructions and encouraged to listen, and half were taught using a question type format that encouraged participation. Immediately and after a 2- to 3-week delay, children who were shown an organizational strategy categorized the materials during study and attained higher recall scores than children who were shown a specific strategy. After the 2- to 3-week delay, children in the explanation groups out-performed children in the question-asking groups. The childs competence as measured by intelligence and performance in school did not contribute to amount recalled when subjects were given instructions emphasizing the general strategy. However, children of high competence benefited more from specific training by recalling more items than did children of low competence. These findings point to the importance of instructional variables in studying changes in childrens processing capabilities.

Processing of words presented simultaneously to eye and ear.

The simultaneous processing of auditorily and visually presented messages was examined in three experiments. Subjects searched lists of words for a target word while processing auditorily presented information. Across conditions, subjects searched for (a) target words in a list of words presented auditorily, (b) the same target words in lists presented visually, (c) a member of a taxonomic category in a visually presented list, and (d) a rhyme in a list of words presented visually. The level of processing of a simultaneous auditory message varied across experiments. In experiment 1, subjects shadowed lists of digits. In Experiment 2, subjects reported the antonym of each word in a list. In Experiment 3, subjects named the taxonomic category of each word in a list. In all three experiments, subject had high detection rates for target words presented visually and for category targets but low detection rates for target words presented auditorily and for rhyme targets. These results suggest that processing the semantic properties, but not the acoustic properties, of words presented to the visual modality is independent of simultaneous processing in the auditory modality. Implication for models of selective attention are discussed.

Preferred recall order and recall accuracy for two messages presented simultaneously over a single auditory channel

Ss in the dichotic listening task prefer, and are more accurate with, the channel-by-channel order of recall-recalling all information presented to one ear followed by the information presented to the other ear. Current explanations for these effects rely upon the fact that the two messages are presented over separate input channels. The present study tested this hypothesis directly by presenting two messages simultaneously to a single auditory channel. Groups of Ss were instructed to recall two pairs of digits presented simultaneously over a single channel (1) in any order (free recall), (2) in the order received (simultaneous order), or (3) in sequential groups (successive order). Ss in the free recall task preferred recalling items in successive order. However, Ss instructed to recall in simultaneous order were as accurate as those instructed to recall in successive order. These data imply that accuracy with, but not preference for, the successive order of recall depends upon whether input is to one or two channels.

The effects of auditory shadowing on recognition of information received visually

When Ss attend to one auditory message, they have no permanent memory for a second auditory message received simultaneously. Generally, it has been argued that a similar effect would occur crossmodally. This hypothesis was tested in the present experiment for messages presented to visual and auditory modalities. All Ss were tested for recognition of information presented either while shadowing or while hearing but not shadowing a passage of prose presented to one ear. One group heard a list of concrete nouns in their other ear. Three other groups received (1) printed words. (2) pictures of objects easily labeled, or (3) pictures of objects difficult to label. The shadowing task produced a decrement m recognition scores for the first three groups but not for the group receiving pictures of objects difficult to label. Further, the shadowing task interfered more with information received auditorily than with any form of visual information. These results suggest that information received visually is stored in a long-term modality-specific memory that may operate independently of the auditory modality.

Contingency Management in the Schools: How Often and How Well Does it Work?

Studies of the application of behavior modification to the classroom rarely report the failure rate or the degree of success relative to appropriate control groups. In the present study, fourteen teachers were trained to use a contingency management program emphasizing the reinforcement of appropriate conduct while minimizing attention to inappropriate conduct. Changes in teacher and student behaviors from a three week baseline period to a three week period following program implementation were compared with changes in control classes over the same period. Twelve of fourteen experimental classrooms improved dramatically as a result of the program with fewer disruptions and higher task involvement. There were no reliable changes in control classes. These data indicate that contingency management works extremely well for many teachers.

Successive vs simultaneous processing of superimposed visual stimuli

A visual analogue of Savin’s (1967) auditory task was used to examine preferred order of recall and order of recall accuracy for two pairs of visually superimposed digits. Savin (1967) and Rollins, Everson, and Schurman (1972) found that Ss preferred to recall simultaneous auditory information in successive order, even though the information was presented over a single channel. In the present experiments, Ss were found to prefer strongly to recall visual information in simultaneous order. On the other hand, the results of Rollins et al (1972), that Ss are equally accurate when forced to recall simultaneous auditory information in either the preferred or nonpreferred mode, were replicated for this visual task. The results of these experiments, together with the experiment reported by Rollins et al (1972), indicate that verbal information is processed differently by these two sensory systems.

Incidental memory for the color-word association in the Stroop color-word test

Incidental memory for the association between color word and print color in the Stroop color-word test was examined. Subjects received either color or neutral words in various print colors or color words in black with a color patch below. Subjects named the color or the word aspect of each stimulus. For all conditions, the color-word association was held constant across trials. After naming one aspect of each stimulus, subjects were tested for their memory of the association between that aspect and the unnamed one. Subjects required more time to name the print color of color words than to perform the other event-naming tasks, and word naming was faster than color naming. Naming the print color yielded higher incidental retention of the color-word association than did naming the color patch or the word. Slowing the pace for word naming increased retention of the association. These results are discussed in relation to current models of the Stroop effect.

Auditory versus visual processing of three sets of simultaneous digit pairs.

Two experiments were conducted to determine whether the auditory and visual systems process simultaneously presented pairs of alphanumeric information differently. In Experiment 1, different groups of subjects were given extensive practice recalling pairs of superimposed visual or auditory digits in simultaneous order (the order of arrival) or successive order (one member of each digit pair in turn, followed by the other pair member). For auditory input, successive order of recall was more accurate, particularly for the last two of three pairs presented, whereas for visual input, simultaneous order of recall was more accurate. In Experiment 2, subjects were cued to recall in one or the other order either immediately before or after stimulus input. Recall order results were the same as for Experiment 1, and precuing did not facilitate recall in either order for both modalities. These results suggest that processing in the auditory system can only occur successively across time, whereas as in the visual system processing can only occur simultaneously in space.

The effects of visual and verbal feature-emphasis on form discrimination in preschool children ☆

Abstract The present study was designed to investigate the effect of emphasizing relevant stimulus features on the acquisition and transfer of a form discrimination in kindergarten age children. Relevant features of several letter-like forms were emphasized visually by outlining these features in red and/or verbally by supplying S s with verbal descriptions of the features. Independent groups of S s received pretraining with visual emphasis of relevant features, verbal emphasis of the same features, or both visual and verbal emphasis in combination. A fourth group viewed the forms with no emphasis of features and a control group received no pretraining experience. Following differential pretraining, all S s were trained to identify variants of two forms and then tested for transfer to other variants of the same forms. Visual emphasis pretraining facilitated acquisition relative to the no pretraining control. Verbal emphasis produced no effect either alone or in combination with visual emphasis. The visual observation group performed at a level midway between visual emphasis and no pretraining. All pretraining procedures facilitated transfer to new form variants. Several explanations for these findings were offered.