Perceptual experience in learning to read

A group of 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) aged 10 yr. was given the Children's Embedded Figures Test and a Reading Ability Test on Comprehension, Accuracy, and Speed. Only the correlation of CEFT and Accuracy scores was statistically significant, while that for CEFT and Comprehension scores fell just short of significance, and that for CEFT and Speed was nonsignificant. Data are discussed in terms of more holistic and more articulated processes in learning to read, respectively, as adopted by more field-dependent and more field-independent subjects.     

Reflection-Impulsivity in Mexican Children: Cross-Cultural Relationships

Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.     

Cognitive style and moral judgement in mentally handicapped and non-handicapped children of equal mental age*

Forty-seven mentally handicapped and 47 non-handicapped children matched on mental age were assessed with Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) and a Piagetian measure designed to elicit moral judgements. No significant differences were observed in the error and latency scores between the two groups nor in the proportion of reflective, impulsive, fast/accurate or slow/inaccurate individuals. The results also indicated that the subjects did not differ in their level of moral judgement; although reflectives made moral judgements on the basis of intention rather than consequence. Moral judgement was not significantly correlated with performance on the MFFT. The findings were interpreted as being consistent with Zigler's developmental concept of cultural-familial retardation and suggesting that the ability to solve moral dilemmas appears to involve cognitive capacities.     

Emotionality as a Moderator of Cognitive Style on the Matching Familiar Figures Test in Adults

This study examined whether an emotional temperament moderated scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) in adults. It was predicted that people who were high in fear would score in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT, and those who were low in fear would score in the other two quadrants of the MFFT. Eighty-five college students completed the EASI Temperament Survey and later the MFFT. The results supported the prediction. Relative to others, subjects who scored in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT also scored significantly higher on the Fear subscale of the EASI Temperament Survey. Implications for the role of fear in interpreting scores on the MFFT were drawn.     

Emotionality as a moderator of cognitive style on the Matching Familiar Figures Test in adults

This study examined whether an emotional temperament moderated scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) in adults. It was predicted that people who were high in fear would score in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT, and those who were low in fear would score in the other two quadrants of the MFFT. Eighty-five college students completed the EASI Temperament Survey and later the MFFT. The results supported the prediction. Relative to others, subjects who scored in the impulsive and reflective quadrants of the MFFT also scored significantly higher on the Fear subscale of the EASI Temperament Survey. Implications for the role of fear in interpreting scores on the MFFT were drawn.     

The ADHD Response-Inhibition Deficit as Measured by the Stop Task: Replication with DSM–IV Combined Type, Extension, and Qualification

Although response inhibition has been proposed as a core element of child attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the literature is heavily reliant on studies using DSM–III–R diagnostic criteria, older methods of measuring response inhibition, samples of boys, and failing to control thoroughly for comorbid problems—both as diagnoses and as subclinical variation. The present study replicated a deficit in response inhibition in the ADHD combined type (DSM–IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994) using samples matched on age and sex. The study replicated an effect size of approximately d = .6 in boys with ADHD, and observed an even larger effect size for girls, although the Sex × Group interaction was nonsignificant. Children with ADHD also had problems with response output, shown by variable responding. Excluding comorbid conduct disorder, reading disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, major depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder from the sample did not alter the results. Correlations indicated that response inhibition was associated with both attentional problems and reading level. Covarying for reading problems did not eliminate the ADHD group effect, but the association of response inhibition with reading clearly requires further examination. Overall, the study supported the role of response inhibition in the DSM–IV ADHD combined type, but with key qualifications as to degree of specificity in reference both to comorbid problems and other executive functions.     

The measurement of cognitive impulsiveness: Psychometric properties of two automated adult versions of the Matching Familiar Figures Test

An automated version of the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) was administered to undergraduates, along with a parallel from. The latency-errors correlation (–0.61) was higher than that reported for most studies in children and weakly supports the view that the correlation increases with age. Repeated exposure resulted in improved performance, which was faster, more accurate, and more efficient, but there was no effect on impulsiveness. Reliability and internal consistency of both forms were acceptably high and the forms were comparable. Use of the univariate measures (impulsiveness-reflectiveness and efficiency-inefficiency) is superior to other scoring methods.Supported in part by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation, England.     

Reflection-impulsivity in Mexican children: cross-cultural relationships

Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.     

Personality correlates of the Matching Familiar Figures Test in adults

The Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) measures a dimension of cognitive style known as reflection-impulsivity. Interpretations of the MFFT sometimes supplement its cognitive implications with one of two personality models, impulsivity and/or ego-resilience. Both models have received some research support from studies that used preadolescent subjects. The applicability of these two personality models to adults was evaluated in this research. In three studies on college students, one personality characteristic within the ego-resilience position, independent-oriented achievement, was found to differentiate between impulsive and reflective scorers on the MFFT. No support was found for the impulsivity position. Implications were drawn for the influence of personality on the MFFT.     

The relationship of young adolescent Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) scores to their social and cognitive functioning

The relationship of young adolescents' scores on the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to subjective and objective indices of their social and cognitive functioning was examined. Subjects were 89 young adolescents (11–15 years old), their parents, and their social studies teachers. The correlations of adolescents' CDI scores with recent school grades, objective ratings of overt social behavior, and measures of adolescent social and cognitive competence as perceived by the adolescent, both parents, and the teacher were examined. CDI scores were significantly and negatively correlated with school grades, behavioral ratings of positive social communication, and adolescent, mother, father, and teacher perceptions of the adolescents' social and cognitive competence. The relationship of these findings to those of other CDI validity studies is discussed.This research was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Behavioral,psychological, and historical correlates of MacAndrew scale scores among male alcoholics

Male alcoholic veterans (N=194) were divided into four groups on the basis of their scores on the MacAndrew scale (MAC) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and compared on psychological and sociodemographic measures and self-reported alcohol, drug, and legal histories. Nineteen subjects scored in the nonalcoholic (NA) range of the MAC (i.e., false negatives, MAC23). Remaining subjects, scoring in the alcoholic range of the MAC, were divided into thirds by MAC scores (lowest third, L-MAC=24–28,n=53; middle third, M-MAC=29–31,n=63; highest third, H-MAC>31,n=59). Groups did not differ on age, any important sociodemographic variables, or scores on the Profile of Mood States, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Symptom Checklist-90, or Rod and Frame Test. Significant group differences were obtained on several MMPI scales. Lower MAC scores were associated with higher scores onL, K, D, andR, and lower scores onMa. There was also a tendency for subjects with lower MAC scores to score higher onSi. NA subjects began drinking and heavy drinking later than other subjects, although groups did not differ on duration, quantity, or frequency of drinking. Subjects with higher MAC scores more often reported drinking in bars, drinking liquor straight, alcohol-related job disruptions, and previous use of marijuana, hallucinogens, and barbiturates. Subjects with higher MAC scores had more often been arrested, convicted, fined, and jailed for alcohol-related offenses but not for other offenses. Results are examined with respect to MacAndrew's distinction between primary and secondary alcoholics and with respect to the possible relations of MAC to important person variables such as sensation seeking.The authors wish to thank Craig MacAndrew for his helpful critical reading of an early draft of this paper. We also thank Theresa Hilliard, Shirley White, Vicki Brumbelow, and Pam Thompson for editorial assistance and Audrey Jefferson for help with data preparation.     

Brain oscillations during semantic evaluation of speech

Changes in oscillatory brain activity have been related to perceptual and cognitive processes such as selective attention and memory matching. Here we examined brain oscillations, measured with electroencephalography (EEG), during a semantic speech processing task that required both lexically mediated memory matching and selective attention. Participants listened to nouns spoken in male and female voices, and detected an animate target (p = 20%) in a train of inanimate standards or vice versa. For a control task, subjects listened to the same words and detected a target male voice in standards of a female voice or vice versa. The standard trials of the semantic task showed enhanced upper beta (25–30 Hz) and gamma band (GBA, 30–60 Hz) activity compared to the voice task. Upper beta and GBA enhancement was accompanied by a suppression of alpha (8–12 Hz) and lower to mid beta (13–20 Hz) activity mainly localized to posterior electrodes. Enhancement of phase-locked theta activity peaking near 275 ms also occurred over the midline electrodes. Theta, upper beta, and gamma band enhancement may reflect lexically mediated template matching in auditory memory, whereas the alpha and beta suppression likely indicate increased attentional processes and memory demands.     

Biases in Visual Attention in Children and Adolescents With Clinical Anxiety and Mixed Anxiety-Depression

Recent research has indicated that anxious adult and child patients and high trait-anxious adults selectively shift attention toward threatening stimuli. The present study extends this research and investigates the content-specificity of the effects in clinically anxious and mixed anxious–depressed children and adolescents. Twenty four generally anxious patients, aged 9 to 18, 19 mixed anxious–depressed patients, and 24 normal controls were comparable with respect to age, sex, verbal IQ, and vocabulary level. The participants carried out an attentional deployment task in which probe detection latency data were used to determine the distribution of visual attention for threat-related and depression-related material. The results showed that clinically anxious children, relative to controls, selectively allocated processing resources toward threat stimuli. However, mixed anxious–depressed children, relative to controls, did not show any attentional bias towards either threat- or depression-related stimuli. Preliminary data on age and gender differences are also presented. The results of this study are discussed in the light of previous research.     

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.     

The impact of competition on intrinsic motivation and creativity: considering gender, gender segregation and gender role orientation

The present research investigated whether competition influences children's artistic creativity and intrinsic motivation toward an art activity. Study 1 tested the hypothesis that boys' creativity would be enhanced by competition, while girls' creativity would be undermined. Fifty children (aged 6–10) made paper collages in one of two conditions; half competed for prizes and half did not. Results supported our hypotheses, and further showed that when children self-segregated by gender, the impact of competition was much more pronounced. Study 2 was designed to clarify the unexpected gender-segregation finding from Study 1. The Children's Sex Role Inventory [Boldizar, J.P. (1991). Assessing sex typing and androgyny in children: the Children's Sex Role Inventory. Developmental Psychology, 27, 505–515] was administered to 143 children (aged 6–11). One week later, these children made paper collages in one of four conditions; in addition to manipulating competition, assigned seating ensured that half of children were segregated by gender and half were not. Following the collage activity, an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation questionnaire was administered. Masculine children reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation when competing and when segregated by gender; they also reported higher levels of extrinsic motivation, especially when segregated by gender. These findings demonstrate that gender role is an important factor in determining children's responses to competition.     

Patterns of attention to threat across tasks in behaviorally inhibited children at risk for anxiety

Although attention bias towards threat has been causally implicated in the development and maintenance of fear and anxiety, the expected associations do not appear consistently. Reliance on a single task to capture attention bias, in this case overwhelmingly the dot‐probe task, may contribute to this inconsistency. Comparing across attentional bias measures could help capture patterns of behavior that have implications for anxiety. This study examines the patterns of attentional bias across two related measures in a sample of children at temperamental risk for anxiety. Children (Mean_age = 10.19 ± 0.96) characterized as behaviorally inhibited (N = 50) or non‐inhibited (N = 64) via parent‐report completed the dot‐probe and affective Posner tasks to measure attentional bias to threat. Parent‐report diagnostic interviews assessed children's social anxiety. Behavioral inhibition was not associated with performance in the dot‐probe task, but was associated with increased attentional bias to threat in the affective Posner task. Cross‐task convergence was dependent on temperament, such that attention bias across the two tasks was only related in behaviorally inhibited children. Finally, children who were consistently biased across tasks (showing high or low attentional bias scores in both tasks, rather than high in one but low in the other) had higher levels of anxiety. Convergence across attention bias measures may be dependent on individuals' predispositions (e.g. temperament). Moreover, convergence of attention bias across measures may be a stronger marker of information processing patterns that shape socioemotional outcomes than performance in a single task.     

Verbal learning and visuomotor attention in Alzheimer's disease and geriatric depression

We compared the verbal learning and visuomotor attention of 34 Alzheimer's patients and 18 depressive patients. Verbal learning was assessed using The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test--Revised (HVLT--R); visuomotor attention was assessed using the Trail Making Test (TMT). The Alzheimer's patients had significantly lower scores on immediate and delayed recall of a word list. There was a nonsignificant trend in this group toward a fewer number of true positives and a greater number of false positives. Alzheimer's patients were significantly slower on Trails A, with a nonsignificant trend toward slower performance on Trails B. No difference was observed in accuracy of attentional processing. The results are discussed in terms of other factors, such as stage of cognitive decline, which might have influenced the findings.     

Attentional control in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

Across different studies, patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) demonstrate impairments on numerous measures of attentional control that are classically associated with frontal lobe functioning. One aspect of attentional control that has not been examined in TLE is the ability to execute two modality‐specific tasks concurrently. We sought to examine the status of dual‐task coordination in TLE. We further examined the cohorts' performance on a range of traditional measures of attentional control. Eighteen TLE patients and 22 healthy controls participated in the study. Dual‐task performance involved comparing the capacity to execute a tracking and a digit recall task simultaneously with the capacity to execute the tasks separately. We also administered measures of: set shifting (odd‐man‐out test), sustained attention (elevator counting), selective attention (elevator counting with distraction), and divided attention (trail making test). We found that the proportional decrement in dual‐task performance relative to single‐task performance did not vary between the groups (TLE = 92.48%; controls = 93.70%), nor was there a significant difference in sustained attention (p > .10). Patients with TLE did demonstrate marked deficits in selective attention (p < .0001), divided attention (p < .01), and set shifting (p < .01). These findings add to the knowledge about cognitive dysfunction in TLE, indicating that impairments in attentional control in TLE tend to be selective. The greatest deficits appear to be on tasks that invoke a high level of processing resources. In contrast, sustained attention is less compromised and the capacity to allocate cognitive resources appears to be normal in patients with TLE.     

Executive and attentional contributions to Theory of Mind deficit in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children has been associated with attentional and executive problems, but also with socioemotional difficulties possibly associated with deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM). Socioemotional problems in ADHD are associated with more negative prognoses, notably interpersonal, educational problems, and an increased risk of developing other psychiatric disorders that emphasize the need to clarify the nature of their ToM deficits. In this study, we hypothesized that ToM dysfunction in children with ADHD is largely attributable to their attentional and/or executive deficits. Thirty-one children with ADHD (8–12 years, IQ > 85) and 31 typically developing (TD) children were assessed using executive functions (inhibition, planning, and flexibility) and attentional tasks, as well as two advanced ToM tasks (Reading the Mind in the Eyes and Faux Pas) involving different levels of executive control. Children with ADHD performed more poorly than TD children in attentional, executive function, and ToM tasks. Linear regression analyses conducted in the ADHD group indicated that inhibition scores predicted performance on the “Faux Pas” task the best, while attention scores were the best for predicting performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task. When controlled for inhibition and attentional variables, ToM performance in children with ADHD was actually similar to TD children. Contrarily, controlling for ToM scores did not normalize performance for inhibition and attentional tasks in children with ADHD. This unidirectional relationship suggests that deficits in the EF and attentional domains are responsible for ToM deficits in ADHD, which therefore may contribute to their socioemotional difficulties.     

Ukrainian Application of the Children's Somatization Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Associations With Internalizing Symptoms

This paper examines the psychometric properties of the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) in 600 10–12-year old children in Kyiv, Ukraine, replicating and extending the original findings from a sample in Nashville, Tennessee (J. Garber et al. 1991). The Kyiv children had significantly lower CSI total scores and reported significantly fewer symptoms than the American children. The Kyiv mothers, however, reported significantly more somatization symptoms in their children than did the American mothers. A factor analysis of the children's data yielded four similar factors encompassing pseudoneurologic, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and pain/weakness symptoms. Consistent with the findings from the Nashville study, the CSI was significantly related to the children's self-reports of health and depressive and anxiety symptoms and to maternal reports of child depression and anxiety symptoms. In addition, although more children with the highest CSI scores (25+) reported various illness experiences than those with 0–1 symptoms, no differences were found in the school absentee records. Thus, the results were congruent with the findings of the Nashville study, indicating that the CSI reliably measured somatization in this Ukrainian sample.