James W. Kalat

Biological Significance of Food Aversion Learning

An appropriate subtitle for this chapter might be “De gustibus (sometimes) est disputandum.” Several years ago, Rozin and Kalat (1971) and Shettleworth (1972) used food aversion learning as the primary example to support the contention that learning is a diverse category including several specialized machanisms, each adapted to particular ecological situations and evolutionary pressures. This position has been somewhat controversial; Revusky, for instance (see Chapter 1), has championed the contrary position, that learning is a single, general process which, like gravity, is more or less the same wherever it occurs, except for parametric perturbations. It is now time to re-examine the issue of whether and to what extent learning involves situation-specific evolutionary adaptations. Even if we cannot yet reach full agreement on an answer, we should be able at least to make a little more sense of the question.

The GRE Psychology Test: A Useful but Poorly Understood Test

In this article, we provide an overview of the Graduate Record Examination Psychology test. We describe how the test is constructed and how it is scored. We also discuss the correlation between test scores and first-year grades in graduate school, addressing the issue of the validity of that criterion measure. Finally, we briefly explore some future directions for the test.

Preparing for an Important Event: Demonstrating the Modern View of Classical Conditioning:

A simple classroom demonstration can dramatically illustrate the process of classical conditioning. This demonstration differs from others because it elicits a conditioned response that differs significantly from the unconditioned response. As a result, this demonstration provides an effective introduction to the contemporary notion that the function of classical conditioning is to help an organism prepare itself for an important, upcoming event. The demonstration requires very little preparation and only a few minutes of class time. Data indicated that the procedure produced a conditioned response and that other processes, such as habituation, cannot explain the results.

How Should Textbooks Summarize the Status of Parapsychology? A Reply to Roig, Icochea, and Cuzzucoli (1991)

In contrast to Roig, lcochea, and Cuzzucoli (1991), we argue that textbook authors should maintain their generally skeptical description of parapsychology. We also argue that textbook authors may mislead readers when they say that future research will resolve the controversy.

Introducing Students to Research by Use of Biographical Materials in a Comparative Psychology Course

Students in this course learn not only the major content of the subject, but also the psychology of becoming a major psychologist.