Within-subject Measures Research Articles

Effects of Role Familiarity on Measures Derived from a Behavioral Decision Theory Method

Using a method of measurement derived from behavioral decision theory, 73 undergraduate students projected themselves alternatively into roles of “hypothetical subordinates” and “hypothetical bosses.” Role familiarity correlated significantly with only one of the focal within-subject measures and the sign of this correlation was opposite to the hypothesis. The results support the robustness of measures generated by this method.

Static acoustic-immittance measurements.

The basic principles of deriving static acoustic-immittance measurements in human ears are presented. Problems caused by differences in instrumentation, computations, and measurement technique are discussed in terms of the utility and comparisons of static acoustic-immittance measurements. Data are provided regarding the short- and long-term variabilities inherent to static measurements. Although our subject pool was relatively small, certain patterns were apparent in the short- and long-term variability inherent to static acoustic-impedance measurements. The intra-event variability about the mean static acoustic impedance was small and varied inversely with probe-tone frequency. Standard deviations were less than 50 acoustic ohms for a 220-Hz probe tone and less than 25 acoustic ohms for a 660-Hz probe tone. Session-to-session variability in static measurements varied little within subjects but varied greatly across subjects. There was little correlation between the mean and standard deviation for within-subject measurements. Standard deviations across subjects approximate a relatively constant proportion (30-40%) of the mean static value. The need for large population studies of static acoustic-immittance measurements is noted.

Duration of Tonic Immobility In Lizards (Anolis Carolinensis) as a Function of Repeated Immobilization, Frequent Handling, and Laboratory Maintenance

Research has shown that chickens given repeated elicitations of the tonic immobility reaction, an habituation procedure, show larger decrements in duration of tonic immobility on a subsequent test trial than do either birds given simple handling or naive animals. The present study attempted to replicate this finding with another animal commonly used in studies of tonic immobility, the anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis). Experiment 1 employed the between-groups design used in previous studies and failed to detect differences among the three treatments (habituated, handled, and naive) in duration of immobility. A second experiment used a within-subjects measure of immobility duration to demonstrate that the habituation procedure and simple handling produce similar decrements in duration of immobility. The final experiment demonstrated that anoles maintained in a group-living situation, with some daily exposure to humans, also show reliable decrements in duration of immobility. These results are congruent with those obtained by Boice and Williams (1971) with frogs (Rana pipiens).

Within-Subject Variation, Measurement Error, and Selection of a Criterion Score

Within-Subject Variation, Measurement Error, and Selection of a Criterion Score

Directional asymmetry in the duration of simple movement aftereffects produced by movement aftereffects contingent on colour.

Movement aftereffects contingent on colour and pattern (CMAEs) were produced. A pattern, illuminated with red light and rotating clockwise, was alternated with its contrast-reversed ‘negative’, illuminated with green light and rotating counterclockwise. Subsequently, when the stationary patterns were presented, subjects reported counterclockwise MAEs on the ‘red’ pattern, and clockwise MAEs on the ‘green’ pattern. It was found that a simple MAE produced by adapting to the ‘red’ pattern and tested on the ‘green’ pattern was greater in duration when the direction of the inducing motion was opposite to that used in the CMAE adaptation procedure. It is suggested that this directional asymmetry in the duration of the simple MAE may be used as a within-subjects measure of the CMAE.