Hemispheric specialization in learning disabled readers' recall as a function of age and level of processing

This study was designed to test the inadequacy of two theoretical accounts of learning disabled readers' memory deficiencies. Two age groups of learning disabled and nondisabled readers were compared on diotic and dichotic listening recall tasks for semantically organized, phonemically organized, and categorically unrelated word lists presented in either the left, right, or both ears. Dependent measures were free recall, serial recall, recall organization, and hierarchical organization. As expected, recall increases were a function of age, group, and level of word processing. However, the results clearly demonstrated that age and group recall differences were an interaction of both mode of presentation and level of processing. The recall differences between reading groups were attributed to word knowledge (superordinate categorization) rather than recall organization within cerebral hemispheres or differences in hemispheric capacity, per se.     

Prevalence of maladaptive behavior in retarded children as a function of IQ and age

One hundred and twentyeight mentally retarded children, ages 6 to 14, from a special school were assessed by teachers in terms of nine maladaptive behaviors. The results indicated that the prevalence of some maladaptive behaviors changed as a function of IQ and age, and that there were splits of such changes as IQ-dependent and as age-dependent by maladaptive behavior.     

Leftists’ and rightists’ IQ as a function of stereotype salience

This study examined the intellectual performance of leftists (or liberals) and rightists (or conservatives) when a stereotype about members of a disadvantaged outgroup (immigrants) is salient. Building on system-justification theory (SJT) and the motivated social cognition approach of political conservatism, it was predicted that when the stereotype about immigrant students’ underachievement is salient in academic settings, leftist students would perform worse, whereas rightist students would perform better than in a control condition. In two samples, Swiss native students were first reminded (or not) of the stereotype and then performed a difficult intellectual test. The results yielded support for the predictions. These findings illustrate how different ideological motives (system-challenging vs. system-justifying) might influence performance among leftist and rightist students.     

Own- and other-race categorization of faces by race,gender, and age

We investigated how visual experience with faces of a particular race affects subordinate group-level categorizations in Chinese and Israeli participants living in the respective countries. Categorization of faces by race, gender, and age was examined within subjects with participants who had only minimal experience with the other-race faces. As would be predicted by the previously documented other-race advantage effect, both Chinese and Israeli participants classified the race of the face more quickly and more accurately for other-race than for own-race faces. In contrast, the observers’ race did not interact with the race of the rated face either for gender or for age categorization. The absence of these interactions suggests that the physiognomic characteristics that determine the gender and age of a face are universal, rather than race specific. Furthermore, these data suggest that determining the race of a face is not imposed as a first step in face processing, preempting the perception of other category-defining physiognomic characteristics.     

The approach‐avoidance framework for identifying athletes’ coping style as a function of gender and race

Anshel, M.H., Kang, M. & Miesner, M. (2010). The approach‐avoidance framework for identifying athletes’ coping style as a function of gender and race. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The purpose of this study was to identify the coping styles of competitive athletes as a function of gender and race in response to events experienced during the contest perceived as highly stressful using the approach and avoidance coping framework. Participants (N = 218) consisted of 111 males (48 African American and 63 Caucasian) and 107 females (41 African American and 66 Caucasian), and ranged in age from 18 to 54 yrs (M ± SD; 22.29 ± 3.9 yrs). They attended a university in the southeastern US, and were considered highly skilled athletes based on their current or former participation as competitive athletes. A 12‐item inventory was completed consisting of six approach coping and six avoidance coping strategy items. Confirmatory factor analysis, composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha indicated acceptable model‐data fit and internal scale consistency. The results suggested the athletes’ preferred coping style was avoidance, rather than approach. A 2 × 2 ANOVA showed significant main effects for gender (p = 0.003) and race (p < 0.01); males used more approach coping than females, while Caucasians applied more approach coping than African Americans. No significant interaction was found. The results indicated the need for future study on examining gender and race as moderating variables in examining athletes’ coping styles.     

Adult age, gender, and race group differences in images of aging

Younger and older African American and Caucasian American adults, who were matched by age (M age = 40.63 years), completed a survey on perceptions of aging and subjective age. The 2 groups did not differ in the age they considered someone to be old (M age = 74.5 years). However, when asked which age was the happiest age, African Americans chose a significantly younger age (M age = 18.26 years) than did Caucasian Americans (M age = 31.32 years), and this racial group difference interacted with age differences such that older Caucasian Americans named an older age than did younger Caucasian Americans. The authors found no such age difference for African Americans. When asked if old age was a happy time, 60% of Caucasian Americans answered yes, whereas only 2% of African Americans answered yes. These and other differences in images and concerns of old age and subjective age suggest a far more negative view of aging for African Americans and a need for changes in the provision of positive information about aging for this group.     

Psychophysiological and subjective indices of emotion as a function of age and gender

Old, middle-aged and young persons of both genders were presented with slides containing pictorial stimuli that varied in emotional content. Each picture was rated on three dimensions: (1) valence; (2) arousal; and (3) dominance, using a 25-point scale. Heart rate, skin conductance, and forehead and cheek EMG were recorded during each slide presentation. The old and middle-aged groups showed greatly attenuated psychophysiological responses, compared to the young group. However, the old and middle-aged subjects used more extreme ratings than the young subjects on both the valence and arousal dimensions. Females were more valence-sensitive than males, but males in general used more extreme ratings of arousal than females. These results suggest a tendency to report increased felt emotion but decreased physiological response to emotional stimuli across the life span.     

Effects of reinforcer delays on choice as a function of income level

Three rats earned their daily food ration by responding during individual trials either on a lever that delivered one food pellet immediately or on a second lever that delivered three pellets after a delay that was continuously adjusted to ensure substantial responding to both alternatives. Choice of the delayed reinforcer increased when the number of trials per session was reduced. This result suggests that models seeking closure on choice effects must include a parameter reflecting how preference changes with sessionwide income. Moreover, models positing that reinforcer probability and immediacy (1/delay) function equivalently in choice are called into question by the finding that probability and immediacy produce opposing effects when income level is changed.     

Differences in spatial-temporal parameters and arm-leg coordination in butterfly stroke as a function of race pace, skill and gender

Spatial-temporal parameters (velocity, stroke rate, stroke length) and arm-leg coordination in the butterfly stroke were studied as a function of race pace, skill (due to technical level, age, and experience) and gender. Forty swimmers (ten elite men, ten elite women, ten less-skilled men, and ten less-skilled women) performed the butterfly stroke at four velocities corresponding to the appropriate paces for the 400-m, 200-m, 100-m, and 50-m, respectively. Arm and leg stroke phases were identified by video analysis and used to calculate four time gaps (T1: the time difference between the start of the arms' catch phase and the start of the legs' downward phase of the first leg kick; T2: the time difference between the start of the arms' pull phase and the start of the legs' upward phase of the first leg kick; T3: the time difference between the start of the arms' push phase and the start of the legs' downward phase of the second leg kick; and T4: the time difference between the start of the arms' recovery and the start of the legs' upward phase of the second leg kick) and the total time gap (TTG), i.e., the sum of the four discrete time gaps. These values described the changing coupling of arm to leg actions over an entire stroke cycle. A significant race pace effect indicated that the synchronization between the key motor points of the arms and legs, which determine the starts and ends of the arm and leg stroke phases, increased with pace for all participants. A significant skill effect indicated that the elite swimmers had greater velocity, stroke length, and stroke rate and stronger synchronization of the arm and leg stroke phases than the less-skilled swimmers, due to smaller T2 and T3 and greater T1. A significant gender effect revealed greater velocity and stroke length for the men, and smaller T1 for the less-skilled women. These time gap differences between skill levels were related to the capacity of elite swimmers to assume a more streamlined position of trunk, head and upper limbs during leg actions, adopt a shorter glide and higher stroke rate to overcome great forward resistance, and generate higher forces and use better technique during the arm pull. Thus, coaches are advised to begin monitoring arm-leg coordination earlier in swimmers' careers to ensure that they attain their highest possible skill levels.     

Resistance to punishment as a function of intensity and frequency of prior punishment experience

Rats with a history of intermittent punishment have been found to persist in the face of continuous punishment. It was predicted from an extension of frustration theory to punishment that increasing the intensity or frequency of intermittent punishment would increase persistence to high fear elicited by continuous punishment. Two experiments, employing 310 rats, verified this prediction for both intensity and frequency manipulations but indicated rather narrow boundary conditions for their effects.     

Parent's report of stress and articulation oscillation as factors in a preschooler's dysfluencies

Recently, one focus of research on dysfluency and stuttering seems to be on the preschooler. One goal of such research should be to determine what factors in the child's language system and what factors in the social environment may put the child at risk for developing dysfluencies and stuttering. The following is a parent's account of the occurrence of dysfluencies in a preschooler. Emphasis is on a language phenomenon that might be labeled “articulation oscillation” and on apparent social environmental stress.     

Restle's choice model: A reconceptualization for a special case

A reconceptualization of the choice model developed by Restle is proposed which involves a reformulation of the choice situation, consideration of absolute constraints, and a distinction between positively and negatively valued aspects of alternatives. Incorporation of these features results in four different models which are found to combine some characteristics of other choice models as well. It is felt that these models might be particularly appropriate for both general and specialized vocational choices.     

Imitation as a function of response commonality,serial order,and vicarious punishment

The effects of response commonality, serial order of modeled responses, and vicarious punishment on young boys' recall and acceptance of 20 commodity prefereces of an adult were examined in a 2 (common dimension vs no-common dimension) × 2 (vicarious punishment vs no-vicarious consequences) × 2 (recall or acceptance test) × 5 (response-block) factorial experiment. As predicted, the presence of a common dimension resulted in improved recall of the modeled responses, vicarious punishment was more effective under common dimension than no-common dimension conditions, and a serial order effect for recall of the modeled responses was obtained. The overall pattern of results is discussed in terms of the conceptualization that imitation requires both that the observer (1) has acquired and retained the model's responses and (2) has been placed in circumstances which favor activating this learning into overt performance.     

Memory for event frequency as a function of depression, age, intentionality, and level of processing

In two experiments, we examined memory for event frequency among depressed and/or elderly subjects (depression was either naturally occurring or induced by the Velten technique). We also manipulated level of processing and instructional set to test the notion that memory for event frequency is relatively invariant across a variety of tasks. Results supported the proposal that memory for frequency is robust in the face of depression and old age. Memory for frequency was enhanced, however, by semantic processing and by an intentional learning instructional set. Finally, the results suggest that the Velten technique not only induced variation in mood but also may have induced a semantic processing strategy in our depressed and elated subjects.     

Correlates of children's television viewing: Expectancies,age, and sex

The relationship of interpersonal trust and locus of control expectancies to amounts of television viewing and viewing preferences were examined among children in grades five through eight. Age and sex differences in viewing times, preferences, and viewing habits, as well as children's scores on the Children's Interpersonal Trust Scale and the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale were assessed. Several findings suggested that heavy viewing is associated with less trusting perceptions of others and less belief in controlling one's academic successes and failures, although the pattern found does not suggest so specific an effect of viewing television violence as Gerbner's cultivation hypothesis might suggest. Age and sex differences found were largely consistent with those reported in the previous literature.