Kenneth L. Higbee

Social Psychology Research during the 1970s Predominance of Experimentation and College Students

Articles published in four mainline social psychology journals in 1978 and 1979 were categorized by research design and subjects, and compared with similar analyses from 1949, 1959, and 1969. The results indicated that research trends previously observed for the 1940s through the 1960s were perpetuated during the 1970s: At the end of the 1970s, experimental research still predominated over correlational research, and college students still predominated over noncollege samples.

Verbal Rehearsal and Visual Imagery: Mnemonic Aids for Learning-Disabled Children.

Investigations were made of the effects of verbal rehearsal, visual imagery, and “unaided” instruction on reading comprehension in learning-disabled children. In the main experiment, 30 learning-disabled children were randomly assigned to verbal rehearsal, visual imagery, and “unaided” instruction groups. Retention was measured immediately after reading the story; after 15 minutes; and one week later. A 3x3 analysis of variance found that verbal rehearsal and visual imagery significantly increased comprehension. A small-N study conducted later to determine the effects of mnemonic instruction over repeated sessions with four learning-disabled children with different WISC-R patterns yielded similar results. These studies support the contention that reading comprehension difficulties among learning-disabled children are partly due to inefficient memorization strategies, and demonstrate the efficacy of practical, cost-effective mnemonic-training procedures which significantly increase reading comprehension in learning-disabled children.

Visual Imagery and Familiarity Ratings for 203 Sayings

Two attributes on which words have been widely scaled are imagery value and familiarity. One reason much memory research has used single words rather than more complex verbal material may be the ready availability of such scaled normative material. The purpose of this study was to provide a list of sentences that have been scaled on visual imagery and familiarity to facilitate the extension of memory research to more complex material. In this study, 203 sayings (e.g., Haste makes waste) were rated on 7-point scales for visual imagery (VI) by 51 students and for familiarity (F) by 50 students. The sayings are listed, with their individual means and standard deviations for VI and F. Also reported are the overall mean and standard deviation for VI and F, the correlation between VI and F, reliability data, and comparisons with studies that have scaled single words for VI and F. These ratings should help researchers extend verbal-learning and memory research beyond single words.

Psychology of the Scientist: XLVIII. Recent Trends in Multiple Authorship in Psychology

Research in the late 1950s showed a trend toward increased multiple authorship, as opposed to single authorship, of research papers in psychology. This study investigated whether the trend has continued to the 1980s. Convention papers presented at the meetings of seven psychological associations, and articles published in nine APA journals, during 1980–81 were categorized by number of authors. Results indicated that the trend towards more multiple-author papers has continued, with 70% of the convention papers and 76% of the journal articles having more than one author.

Experimentation and College Students in Social Psychology Research

In research published in four social psychology journals at the beginning of the 1970s, experimental research predominated over correlational research, and college students predominated over non-college samples. However, there was considerable variation among the different journals. It was suggested that the use of experimentation on college students does not necessarily make research ungeneralizable or irrelevant.

Realism and Risk Taking

Ss made decisions on a questionnaire for real payoffs and for hypothetical payoffs. They tended to be less risky when their decisions were made for real consequences than when their decisions were hypothetical, suggesting that one should be cautious in predicting real risk-taking behavior from measures of hypothetical risk.

Novices, Apprentices, and Mnemonists: Acquiring Expertise with the Phonetic Mnemonic

Three kinds of participants can be identified in research with the phonetic mnemonic—novices, apprentices, and mnemonists, and most research has involved novices. Two experiments investigated whether ordinary college students using the phonetic mnemonic could duplicate two feats of Lurias memorist identified as S: memorizing a 20-digit matrix in 40 seconds, and memorizing a 50-digit matrix in 3 minutes. Experiment 1 was a large-n study in which novices were provided with phonetic keywords along with the matrices; nearly half of the students successfully memorized each matrix with no errors in recall. Experiment 2 was a small-n study in which apprentices were not given the keywords with the matrices; three of the four students also successfully memorized each matrix with perfect recall. The results suggest that ordinary college students are capable of acquiring a level of skilled memory that rivals the abilities that appear to be innate or idiosyncratic in memorists and mnemonists, and that additional research with mnemonic apprentices might be beneficial.

Using The Link Mnemonic to Remember Errands

The link mnemonic has been investigated in several studies on serial learning of word lists. We were interested in some variables affecting its use in a serial learning task with more complexity and ecological validity, remembering a list of everyday errands. Two experiments found that college students using the link mnemonic showed higher recall than control students for lists of 15 and 22 errands, both for free recall and for ordered recall. Delayed recall after 48 hours showed that the mnemonic aided retention as well as acquisition of the errands. The results also indicated that many uninstructed control subjects use mnemonics spontaneously.

Some Motivational Aspects of Imagery Mnemonics

A great amount of research has been conducted on the cognitive aspects of mnemonics. The present research began the exploration of some motivational aspects of mnemonics—factors that can affect how much people might want to use mnemonics. College students used the rhyming Peg mnemonic to learn 12 sayings (e.g., Curiosity killed the cat), or used the Link mnemonic to learn 22 errands (e.g., get a haircut). Under some conditions the mnemonic students rated the two tasks as being less difficult and requiring less effort than did control students. They also rated the tasks as being more interesting and more enjoyable than did control students. The results suggest that mnemonics do have potential motivational properties that may be worth investigating further.

Effects of imagery value and an imagery mnemonic on memory for sayings

A vast amount of research shows that memory for single words is affected by the visual imagery values of the words and by the use of imagery mnemonics. The purpose of this study was to extend this research from single words to more complex verbal material. Ten sayings (e.g., “One bad apple spoils the barrel”) that had been previously scaled for visual imagery were presented to two groups of college students. One group used a visual imagery mnemonic, and the other did not. Five of the sayings were high in imagery value, and the other five were low. The results were consistent with findings for single words: High-imagery sayings were remembered better than low-imagery sayings, and the imagery mnemonic improved memory for the sayings.