Ray A. Craddick

HEIGHT OF CHRISTMAS TREE DRAWINGS AS A FUNCTION OF TIME

Thirty male and 30 female students in Grade 6 of a local public school were asked to draw Christmas Trees on October 31, November 28, December 19, January 13, February 13, and March 13. Analysis of the height (cm.) of these drawings indicated that Christmas Trees drawn in November and December were significantly larger than those at other times (p < .01). There were no over-all sex differences. Sex × Trial interactions indicated that the main trial effect was due to the girls drawing the largest Christmas Tree in December and the boys, the largest in November. A control group drawing only trees other than Christmas Trees, showed no differences in size of drawings as a function of time or sex. Similarly, the experimental groups drawing trees other than Christmas Trees in October and March exhibited no statistically significant differences in size of drawing as a function of either sex or time. Therefore, the hypothesis that the time-object relationship evident in previous studies was effective in this type of task was supported. An interesting finding suggested that the size of Christmas Tree drawings was reduced by boys and increased by girls (both at a statistically significant level) as a function of Valentines Day.

EFFECT OF PRE- AND POST-STRESS UPON HEIGHT OF DRAWINGS IN A PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR TASK

Forty male volunteers were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups (Ns = 10) which received 10, 15, 20, or 25 g, under abrupt deceleration conditions at the end of a 120-ft. sled run. Ss were not aware beforehand of their preassigned groups. A battery of tests, including the Graham-Kendall MFD test was administered to each S during an initial testing period under normal test conditions. About 1 mo. later, each experimental S was given a three-test battery, including the MFD, prior to the sled run (pre-stress period) and about 25 min. after experiencing impact (post-stress period). The same battery of tests was administered to a control group (N = 10) at times comparable to those for the experimental groups, but the control group was tested at all times under standard testing conditions. The mean height of the 15 MFD drawings was analyzed for each S for each group at the three periods. This analysis supported the hypothesis that, although the control group showed essentially no change in height of drawings over the three trials, the experimental groups exhibited a significant decrease (p < .01) in height of drawings during the pre-stress period. The decrease in drawing size was not a function of the number of g experienced but seemed to be a result of the anticipated stress.

VERBAL CONDITIONING: RESISTANCE TO EXTINCTION AS A FUNCTION OF REINFORCEMENT AND NEED FOR SOCIAL APPROVAL

In the present study the effects of 8 reinforcements administered under partial and continuous scheduling, with an additional factor of high and low social approval needs based upon scores of the M-C SDS, were investigated. The results indicated no differences as a function of either treatment or groups. In view of the relatively high rate of resistance to extinction shown by the group receiving no reinforcement, it is suggested that further study be made of the possibility of self-reinforcement and the restriction of range which may be imposed upon Ss who receive reinforcement.

VERBAL CONDITIONING: EXPERIMENTAL EXTINCTION AS A FUNCTION OF THE POSITION OF A SINGLE REINFORCEMENT

Reviews of partial reinforcement (Jenkins & Stanley, 1950; Lewis, 1960) have indicated that. greater resistance to extinction resulted from this type of treatment than from continuous reinforcement. This has been attributed to Ss inability to discriminate the period of reinforcemenc from thac of extinction (Mowrer & Jones, 1945). That is, the experience of non-reinforcement during partial reinforcemenr tends to reduce Ss ability to discriminate this period from a non-reinforcement period (extinccion). Ss under partial reinforcement during training may in fact learn to tolerate non-reinforcement and this is effective in maintaining their response rate during later periods of nonreinforcement. The degree of inabilicy to discriminate reinforcemenc from non-reinforcement periods should then be a direct function of the number of times S responded correctly during training and was not reinforced. This thinking is a t variance with that of Salzinger and Pisoni (1958) , Siege1 and Fosher ( 1953) , and Williams ( 1938) who believed that resistance to extinccion was a function of the number of reinforcements given during training. A major problem encountered in studying the effects of parcial reinforcement upon later resistance to extinction has been in terms of the number of reinforcements given under partial conditions during training. Kanfer (1958) studied the effects of different schedules of reinforcement upon resistance to extinction, using verbal conditioning procedures. H e presented many reinforcements throughout acquisition and found that fixed ratio was superior to either variable or fixed interval scheduling. Another approach to the problem would be to introduce a single reinforcement after varying numbers of non-reinforced responses, and to observe subsequent behavior under conditions of non-reinforcement. A merit of the latter method is that it enables the observer to determine the effecciveness of condirions closely resembling a specific type of partial reinforcement (i.e., fixed ratio) upon later resistance to extinction,

Relation between the Wais and the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement

Forty Ss participating in a biodynamic stress study were administered the WAIS and KTSA. Ss were further divided into two groups of 21 and 19 on the basis of their achieving a numerical score on the KTSA above or below 90. Kahn had hypothesized earlier that 90 may be considered the cut-off point between “normal” and “abnormal” Ss. Correlations between the Verbal Performance, Full Scale IQs, and weighted scores of the 11 WAIS subtests and the KTSA numerical score failed to reach the .05 level except in the case of Comprehension for the Above-90 Group (r = .41) and of Information for the Below-90 Group (r = –.57). It was concluded that, since these correlations could have been chance ones in view of the number of correlations, there is no significant relationship between the KTSA numerical score and the WAIS IQs or subtests.

VERBAL CONDITIONING: RESISTANCE TO EXTINCTION USING ONE OR TWO REINFORCEMENTS UNDER PARTIAL VERSUS CONTINUOUS SCHEDULING

Using a single reinforcement ( r f ) after a 3-min. period of continuous reinforcemenc (crf ) under conditions simulating partial reinforcemenc (prf ) , and crf in a continuous free word emission setcing, Craddick and Leipold (1962) found the former group the most resistant to extinction, regardless of whether or not S was told the desired operant (verbs) prior to rf. This study, using 1 or 2 rf, investigated the effects of prf versus crf when no prior crf existed, but when S was told the desired operant (verbs) prior to rf. When 1 rf was given to one group for the first verb and to the other group for the fifth verb, analysis of variance of number of verbs emitted during 6 min. of extinction failed to indicate significant differences between the groups. However, both showed a significant decrease in number of verbs over time during extinction. Since it could be argued that neither of the above groups really experienced non-reinforcement prior to extinction (both receiving 1 rf, then extinction), a second part of the srudy used 1 rf for the first verb for both groups, an additional rf for the second verb for one group, and a second rf after the sixth verb for the ocher group. Analysis of number of verbs during extinction again failed to show any significant differences berween the groups, but a significance in decrease of verbs over time was again noted. These results suggesc that differences found by Craddick and Leipold were due in part to the level of conditioning which cook place prior co the incroduction of the treatment conditions with the single rf. While ic is still possible that the position of the rf given after a crf period is a major factor in maintaining more resistance to extinction, the data support Salzinger and Pisonis (1960) hypothesis that a minimal number of rfs may be required for conditioning to take place. The period of training used in this study (using 1 or 2 r f ) was insufficient to establish any conditioning, and subsequently the effect of the partial versus concin~lo~ls treatments was negligible.