Psychological Review

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.203pmid: 9577237

The notion that inhibitory processes play a critical role in selective attention has gained wide support. Much of this support derives from studies of negative priming. The authors note that the attribution of negative priming to an inhibitory mechanism of attention draws its support from a common assumption underlying priming procedures,together with the procedure that has been used to measure negative priming. The results from a series of experiments demonstrate that selection between 2 competing prime items is not required to observe negative priming. This result is demonstrated across several experiments in which participants named 1 of 2 items in a second display following presentation of a single-item prime. The implications of these results for existing theories of negative priming are discussed,and a theoretical framework for interpreting negative priming and several related phenomena is forwarded.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.230pmid: 9577238

After reviewing classic and current conceptions of trait(as measured by questionnaires) and motive(as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT] or other imaginative verbal behavior),the authors suggest that these 2 concepts reflect 2 fundamentally different elements of personality—conceptually distinct and empirically unrelated. The authors propose that traits and motives interactin the prediction of behavior: Traits channel the behavioral expression of motives throughout the life course. The authors illustrate this interactive hypothesis in 2 longitudinal studies,focusing on the broad trait of extraversion and the 2 social motives of affiliation and power. In interaction with extraversion,both motives show predicted and replicated relations to independently measured life outcomes in the domains of relationships and careers. Extraversion facilitates unconflicted motive expression,whereas introversion deflects social motives away from their characteristic goals and creates difficulties in goal attainment.

Goldinger, Stephen D.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.251pmid: 9577239

In this article the author proposes an episodic theory of spoken word representation,perception,and production. By most theories,idiosyncratic aspects of speech (voice details,ambient noise,etc.) are considered noise and are filtered in perception. However,episodic theories suggest that perceptual details are stored in memory and are integral to later perception. In this research the author tested an episodic model (MINERVA 2; D. L. Hintzman,1986)against speech production data from a word-shadowing task. The model predicted the shadowing-response-time patterns,and it correctly predicted a tendency for shadowers to spontaneously imitate the acoustic patterns of words and nonwords. It also correctly predicted imitation strength as a function of “abstract” stimulus properties,such as word frequency. Taken together,the data and theory suggest that detailed episodes constitute the basic substrate of the mental lexicon.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.251pmid: 9577239

In this article the author proposes an episodic theory of spoken word representation,perception,and production. By most theories,idiosyncratic aspects of speech (voice details,ambient noise,etc.) are considered noise and are filtered in perception. However,episodic theories suggest that perceptual details are stored in memory and are integral to later perception. In this research the author tested an episodic model (MINERVA 2; D. L. Hintzman,1986)against speech production data from a word-shadowing task. The model predicted the shadowing-response-time patterns,and it correctly predicted a tendency for shadowers to spontaneously imitate the acoustic patterns of words and nonwords. It also correctly predicted imitation strength as a function of “abstract” stimulus properties,such as word frequency. Taken together,the data and theory suggest that detailed episodes constitute the basic substrate of the mental lexicon.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.280pmid: 9669925

Previous experimental examinations of binary categorization decisions have documented robust behavioral regularities that cannot be predicted by signal detection theory (D. M. Green & J. A. Swets,1966/1988).The present article reviews the known regularities and demonstrates that they can be accounted for by a minimal modification of signal detection theory: the replacement of the “ideal observer” cutoff placement rule with a cutoff reinforcement learning rule. This modification is derived from a cognitive game theoretic analysis (A. E. Roth & I. Erev,1995).The modified model reproduces all 19 experimental regularities that have been considered. In all cases,it outperforms the original explanations. Some of these previous explanations are based on important concepts such as conservatism,probability matching,and “the gambler's fallacy” that receive new meanings given the current results. Implications for decision-making research and for applications of traditional signal detection theory are discussed.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.299pmid: 9577240

A model concerning the influence of implicitly activated information on cued recall and recognition is presented. The model assumes that studying a familiar word activates its associates and creates an implicit representation in long-term working memory. Test cues also activate their associates,with memory performance determined by a sampling process that operates on the intersection of information activated by the test cue with information previously activated by the studied word. Successful sampling is enhanced by preexisting connections among the associates of the studied word and by preexisting connections between it and the retrieval cue. However,the usefulness of the implicit representation is reduced by the activation of competing associates and by shifts of attention before testing. Experiments designed to test predictions of the model indicate that the associates of a familiar word can exert a powerful effect on its cued recall and recognition.

Rosen, Jeffrey B.; Schulkin, Jay

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.325pmid: 9577241

In this article the authors address how pathological anxiety may develop from adaptive fear states. Fear responses (e.g.,freezing,startle,heart rate and blood pressure changes,and increased vigilance) are functionally adaptive behavioral and perceptual responses elicited during danger to facilitate appropriate defensive responses that can reduce danger or injury (e.g.,escape and avoidance). Fear is a central motive state of action tendencies subserved by fear circuits,with the amygdala playing a central role. Pathological anxiety is conceptualized as an exaggerated fear state in which hyperexcitability of fear circuits that include the amygdala and extended amygdala (i.e.,bed nucleus of the stria terminalis) is expressed as hypervigilance and increased behavioral responsivity to fearful stimuli. Reduced thresholds for activation and hyperexcitability in fear circuits develop through sensitization- or kindling-like processes that involve neuropeptides,hormones,and other proteins. Hyperexcitability in fear circuits is expressed as pathological anxiety that is manifested in the various anxiety disorders.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.351pmid: 9577242

A model for recall of location is presented that postulates 2 encoding processes: 1 producing exact (all-or-none) recall,the other resulting in inexact recall. Exact recall is modeled as the outcome of a perceptual discrimination process,and inexact recall is modeled as the incomplete outcome of a Poisson process of information gain. The model accurately predicts levels of recall and patterns of errors in a number of experiments and articulates a lawful relationship between recall and elements of picture composition,such as the dimensions of the to-be-recalled attributes and the configuration of anchor points in the picture. This model enables a reappraisal of previous theoretical approaches to memory for location and of related studies concerned with automaticity in memory. The significance of this model as a general analytical device for the study of continuous attributes in memory is discussed.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.379pmid: N/A

D. C. Rubin and A. E. Wenzel (1996)fitted many simple functions to a large collection of retention data sets. Their search for the mathematical form of the retention function can be simplified by (a) attending to the failures of simple functions,(b) considering the constraints and process assumptions that any psychological theory must obey,and (c) drawing on results from survival theory. Three sets of psychologically plausible assumptions to interpret the form of a retention function are described. These representations converge on a single functional form,demonstrating the impossibility of determining process purely from empirical fits. A candidate form for an empirical retention function whose parameters separate the various aspects of retention is proposed. These parameters can be used to compare results from different studies.

doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.105.2.387pmid: 9577243

Two critiques of D. J. Bem's (1996)“Exotic Becomes Erotic” (EBE) theory of sexual orientation are presented. First,the core proposition of EBE theory is considered; that is,the idea that adults are erotically attracted to the gender-based class of peers (males or females) who were dissimilar or unfamiliar to them in childhood. Studies cited by Bem and additional research show that EBE theory is not supported by scientific evidence. Second,Bem's claim that his theory applies equally to both sexes is questioned; instead the argument that it neglects and misrepresents women's experiences is made. Bem's conceptualization of erotic desire and his analysis of gender nonconformity illustrate this problem. It is suggested that different theories may be needed to explain the development of men's and women's sexual orientation.