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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Re-Interpreting Melton’S Study Of Gallery Density And Visitor Attention, Stephen Bitgood, Todd Mckerchar, Stephany Dukes
Re-Interpreting Melton’S Study Of Gallery Density And Visitor Attention, Stephen Bitgood, Todd Mckerchar, Stephany Dukes
Research, Publications & Creative Work
The works of Edward Robinson and Arthur Melton conducted in the 1920s and 1930s are often cited, but rarely read. The focus of this article is on one of Melton’s (1935) classic visitor studies, re-examined in terms of several explanatory mechanisms including a decision-making model of visitor attention. Melton varied the number of paintings in a gallery from 6 to 36 in increments of 6. As the number of paintings increased, the proportion of paintings actually viewed decreased; however, the average viewing time per painting remained constant. Melton’s findings of decreased attention are discussed in terms of four possible explanations: …
Hyperboloid Discounting Of Delayed Outcomes: Magnitude Effects And The Gain-Loss Asymmetry, Todd Mckerchar, Stephen Pickford, Shannon R. Robertson
Hyperboloid Discounting Of Delayed Outcomes: Magnitude Effects And The Gain-Loss Asymmetry, Todd Mckerchar, Stephen Pickford, Shannon R. Robertson
Research, Publications & Creative Work
For more than 20 years, a plethora of research has been conducted on the discounting of delayed rewards. In contrast, there has been relatively little research on the discounting of delayed aversive outcomes (e.g., monetary losses). The present study examined the discounting of delayed hypothetical gains and losses by 55 college undergraduates at two monetary amounts, $1,000 and $25,000. A simple hyperbola generally provided very poor fits to the data. In contrast, a hyperboloid provided much better fits to the discounting of all outcomes, and its exponent was frequently less than unity. Although the rate of discounting was greater for …