Three studies which test an associative account of repetition priming in a size comparison task are reported. Congruence of decision between priming and test affected performance when the priming task and test tasks were the same but not when they differed. This congruence effect was unaffected by the proportion of trials with congruent responses. Same-task priming exceeded cross-task priming even when both tasks required the same aspect of semantic knowledge. The results indicate that a component of priming is due to associations which are formed during priming and automatically activated when stimuli are repeated at test. Stimuli do not become associated with motor responses but are associated with the results of processing at a number of other levels.
Despite widespread use the cognitive demands of the five-disc Tower of London (TOL) are unknown. Research suggests that conflict moves (those that are essential to the solution but do not place a disc in its final position) are a key aspect of performance. These were examined in three studies via a verification paradigm, in which normal participants were asked to decide whether a demonstrated move was correct. Experiment 1 showed that individual move latencies increase with the number of intermediate moves until the disc is placed in its goal position (resolution). Post hoc tests suggested that the number of alternative moves and moves to resolve a disc were independent predictors of performance. Experiment 2 successfully manipulated these factors in an experimental design. Experiment 3 showed that they remain determinants of performance as familiarity increased. Overall, errors on the task were significantly correlated with spatial memory. The implications of these findings for the use of the TOLin cognitive psychology and as an assessment tool are discussed.
A large body of literature on physical aggression focuses on its maladaptive nature and causes. The current study of 335 children (209 boys, 126 girls), aged 4-, 5-, 6-, and 9-years, examined a different facet of harmful physical aggression-the development of the pleasure it provides to boys. Two samples of children were included, first 89 boys, then an additional 120 boys and 126 girls. For the first two free response measures, all 209 boys and 126 girls were asked to describe how they played with their three favorite toys and their three favorite playmates, and these descriptions were coded for the presence of physical aggression. Twelve additional structured measures were administered to the second sample of 120 boys and 126 girls. These children were asked to rate how much they enjoyed enacting and viewing on television physical aggression, non-physically aggressive male sex-typed roles, and ambiguously sex-typed roles. Results demonstrated that approximately 50% of boys at all four age levels (and less than 10% of girls) reported that at least one of their three favorite toys was used for inflicting harm through physical aggression on an animate being. Further, with increasing age, boys rated physical aggression in play activities and on television as more enjoyable than alternative male sex-typed play and television content. Results suggest that advancing understanding of the development of physical aggression requires acknowledging the pleasure it provides to males.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.