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Modern Psychological Studies

1992

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Event Frequency Estimations For Non-Semantic Items, Max Ingersoll Jan 1992

Event Frequency Estimations For Non-Semantic Items, Max Ingersoll

Modern Psychological Studies

In order to further clarify the roles of labeling and semantic processing in event frequency encoding, fifty-six undergraduate students were tested on their memory for frequency of sounds. One half of the subjects were presented with familiar sounds (i.e. a telephone ring or wind chimes) and the other half with single musical notes or tones. The use of tones was to defeat the attempts at semantic labeling of the stimuli. It was found that subjects in the familiar sounds condition displayed a significant ability at estimating event frequency. Subjects in the pure tones condition, however, displayed no such ability.


The Interaction Of Source And Post-Event Misinformation On The Accuracy Of Eyewitness Testimony, Dirk Dickens, Alice Ishigame, David Subacz, Stephanie Sponsel, Matthew Strader, Judith Foy Jan 1992

The Interaction Of Source And Post-Event Misinformation On The Accuracy Of Eyewitness Testimony, Dirk Dickens, Alice Ishigame, David Subacz, Stephanie Sponsel, Matthew Strader, Judith Foy

Modern Psychological Studies

The recall of an event such as a robbery has been shown to be affected by how closely post-event information corresponds to what the witness actually saw. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the effect of misleading information may be influenced by expertise of the source of the post-event information. Results revealed that subjects recalled less accurately when they received misleading information in the narrative than when the information corresponded with what they had viewed, whereas the accuracy of the recall was unaffected by whether the witness in the narrative was an expert or a non-expert. Subjects …


Subliminal Perception And The Stroop Effect, Sandra Harvey, Shannon Keathley, Delinda Muniz, Ginger Tidmore Jan 1992

Subliminal Perception And The Stroop Effect, Sandra Harvey, Shannon Keathley, Delinda Muniz, Ginger Tidmore

Modern Psychological Studies

The Stroop effect and subliminal perception are two phenomena which have been studied for years. However, the potential relation between the two has not been conclusively explored. This experiment was designed to demonstrate that a relationship between the two may exist. The procedure consisted of subliminally presenting the name of a color written in black letters simultaneously with a colored stimulus. The supraliminal colored stimulus and subliminal word stimulus were presented on a screen by use of a projector and a tachistoscope (t-scope) respectively. It was hypothesized that subliminal perception would create interference on the projected Stroop Test simulating a …


Glucose, Exercise, And Short-Term Memory, Brenda Davidson, Cheryle Sanders, Gwendolyn K. Murdock Jan 1992

Glucose, Exercise, And Short-Term Memory, Brenda Davidson, Cheryle Sanders, Gwendolyn K. Murdock

Modern Psychological Studies

This investigation determined the short-term memory effects of glucose and exercise. It was hypothesized that (a) glucose enhances short-term memory and (b) intense exercise diminishes short-term memory. Subjects were middle-aged volunteers who regularly exercise. Two within-subjects variables were (a) glucose vs. no-glucose, and (b) before- vs. after exercise. A between-subjects variable was no-glucose beverage type: aspartame, saccharin, or water. Performance on Subtest IV of the Wechsler Memory Scale was the dependent variable. A glucose by exercise interaction suggested an influence of fitness level. In a second experiment, short-term memory was assessed before, and at 20-min. intervals after exercise. Weight and …


The Role Of Hair Color In The Perception Of Attractiveness, Pamela R. Hinney Jan 1992

The Role Of Hair Color In The Perception Of Attractiveness, Pamela R. Hinney

Modern Psychological Studies

The concept of attractiveness pervades every aspect of society in the United States. Attractiveness is used to manipulate decisions, desires, and even needs; in turn, society allows itself to be manipulated by the same concept of attractiveness. This study was designed to determine if hair color plays a role in the perception of attractiveness. A questionnaire was administered to 36 West Virginia State College students. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to the data and a significant difference was found among blonde, brunette, and red hair color categories: F (2,99) = 14.92 p< .05. The experimental hypothesis that hair color plays a role in the perception of attractiveness was supported.


Front Matter Jan 1992

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.


The Effect Of Field Dependence And Target Type On Search Time, Joe Buissink Jan 1992

The Effect Of Field Dependence And Target Type On Search Time, Joe Buissink

Modern Psychological Studies

This study investigated search time as a function of field dependence and target type. Thirty-nine students were given the Gropp Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). Two female and two male students each were randomly selected from the first and fourth quartiles. These eight participants were given forty-five sets of background letters in which they were to locate either a specific number, a specific letter, or an any number target. The field independent participants located the embedded targets much more quickly than the field dependent participants. It was expected that the differences in scan times for target types would be significant, however, …


The Effect Of Victim Bias On Length Of Defendant Sentencing, Joanne Economou Jan 1992

The Effect Of Victim Bias On Length Of Defendant Sentencing, Joanne Economou

Modern Psychological Studies

This research examined the effects of victim bias on the determination of the length of prison sentence given to perpetrators convicted of assault and battery. Three victim characteristics (gender, race, and sexual orientation) were targeted to determine whether they would evoke discrimination in sentencing. Forty subjects were asked to read nine brief crime scenarios and impose prison sentences on the convicted perpetrators of each of the crimes. Three target scenarios were intermixed within the nine crime scenarios. They depicted the crimes of assault and battery of a victim who was either black or white or homosexual. The targeted scenarios were …


A Comparison Of Non-Verbal God Concept In United Methodists, Jill Kasserman, Jennifer L. Johnson Jan 1992

A Comparison Of Non-Verbal God Concept In United Methodists, Jill Kasserman, Jennifer L. Johnson

Modern Psychological Studies

The goal of this project was to examine how a person's perception of God changes as a function of age within a Piagetian framework. After 88 United Methodist Sunday School attenders drew a picture of God, the drawings were analyzed in terms of the themes they communicated and the effort put forth. It has been concluded that the subjects did not stay entirely within the Piagetian framework. Furthermore, differences were evident between the United Methodist's perceptions and those of the Free Methodists and Wesleyans in that the United Methodists failed to draw pictures with strong Biblical themes, or abstract ideas.


The Effects Of Modality And Stimilus Type On Memory For Frequency, Kelly Pritchard Jan 1992

The Effects Of Modality And Stimilus Type On Memory For Frequency, Kelly Pritchard

Modern Psychological Studies

The effect of presentation modality and stimulus type on memory for frequency was examined. In Experiment 1, forty undergraduate students viewed or handled 21 three-dimensional items. Items were either (a) geometric shapes, (b) nonsense objects, or (c) familiar items and occurred either 2, 4, or 6 times, creating a randomly ordered list of 72 items. Subjects were tested in the same modality on their memory for frequency of those items. Subjects were able to distinguish between items which occurred less frequently versus those which occurred more often. The average frequency estimates for nonsense and familiar items were closest to the …


The Priming Effects Of Parental Divorce On Relationship Attitudes, Donna Wetzel, Faye D. Plascak-Craig Jan 1992

The Priming Effects Of Parental Divorce On Relationship Attitudes, Donna Wetzel, Faye D. Plascak-Craig

Modern Psychological Studies

Past findings frequently reported that children with divorced parents exhibit negative behaviors at some time following the divorce, however, data have not consistently demonstrated attitudinal effects. In this study, 70 college undergraduates, half with divorced parents and half with intact families, were administered an original survey for recording ratings of relationship attitudes and eight semantic differential scales. Although adult children of divorced parents rated their parents relationships less positively than did those from intact families, there were no differences by parental history in their relationship fears. There were semantic differences in ratings of five constructs (FAMILY, FATHER, MARRIAGE, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, …


Gender And Sterotyping In The United States And Spain, Suzanne Whitmore Jan 1992

Gender And Sterotyping In The United States And Spain, Suzanne Whitmore

Modern Psychological Studies

This study investigated sex-trait stereotypes across two nations, the United States and Spain. Past research by Williams & Best (1990) examined gender-stereotyping within the same countries with children, and a more recent study by Best & Williams (D. L. Best, personal communication, November 25, 1991) surveyed 100 students from each of 25 countries. Male characteristics were found to be more socially desirable than those identified as characteristic of women and were rated higher by both males and females. Although the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) has been widely used in the United States in measuring traits considered either masculine or …