Statistical learning of tone sequences by human infants and adults

Previous research suggests that language learners can detect and use the statistical properties of syllable sequences to discover words in continuous speech (e.g. Aslin, R.N., Saffran, J.R., Newport, E.L., 1998. Computation of conditional probability statistics by 8-month-old infants. Psychological Science 9, 321-324; Saffran, J.R., Aslin, R.N., Newport, E.L., 1996. Statistical learning by 8-month-old infants. Science 274, 1926-1928; Saffran, J., R., Newport, E.L., Aslin, R.N., (1996). Word segmentation: the role of distributional cues. Journal of Memory and Language 35, 606-621; Saffran, J.R., Newport, E.L., Aslin, R.N., Tunick, R.A., Barrueco, S., 1997. Incidental language learning: Listening (and learning) out of the corner of your ear. Psychological Science 8, 101-195). In the present research, we asked whether this statistical learning ability is uniquely tied to linguistic materials. Subjects were exposed to continuous non-linguistic auditory sequences whose elements were organized into 'tone words'. As in our previous studies, statistical information was the only word boundary cue available to learners. Both adults and 8-month-old infants succeeded at segmenting the tone stream, with performance indistinguishable from that obtained with syllable streams. These results suggest that a learning mechanism previously shown to be involved in word segmentation can also be used to segment sequences of non-linguistic stimuli.     

When worlds collide. Social science, politics, and the Rind et al. (1998). Child sexual abuse meta-analysis

A 1998 meta-analysis by B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman in Psychological Bulletin indicated that the relations between child sexual abuse and later psychopathology were weak in magnitude. Shortly thereafter, this article was condemned by media personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger and numerous conservative organizations and was denounced by the United States Congress. In addition, the American Psychological Association (APA) distanced itself from the authors' conclusions. This incident raises questions regarding (a) authors' responsibilities concerning the reporting of politically controversial findings, (b) academic and scientific freedom, (c) the role of the APA in disabusing the public and media of logical errors and fallacies, and (d) the substantial gap between popular and academic psychology and the responsibility of the APA to narrow that gap.     

Psychological reactance: factor structure and internal consistency of the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance.

Psychological reactance, the theory that people resist attempts to constrain either their thoughts or their behaviors (J. W. Brehm, 1966), has been an influential concept in social psychology. In an attempt to measure reactance, J. Merz (1983) developed the Questionnaire for the Measurement of Psychological Reactance (QMPR). Subsequent researchers (S.-M. Hong & R. Ostini, 1989; R. K. Tucker & P. Y. Byers, 1987) have debated both the exact factor structure and the psychometric stability of the QMPR. In the present study, 898 undergraduates completed the QMPR. Factor analysis suggested that psychological reactance is multidimensional. The authors found 3 factors underlying the QMPR, but the QMPR provided unreliable estimates for each of those factors. According to the results, the QMPR as currently written is psychometrically unsatisfactory.     

Relation of perceived health with psychosocial variables in elderly osteoarthritis patients

Self-perceived health is related to physical health status and frequently assessed in research on elderly persons. The association of perceived health with sociodemographic, psychological, social functioning, and physical functioning variables was examined in 86 elderly osteoarthritis patients. Psychological well-being (especially depression and anxiety), size of household, physical activity, and education were the most important predictors of self-perceived health (R = .70). Poor perceived health may suggest problems in elderly patients in several psychosocial areas, but good perceived health does not rule out psychosocial problems.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
B ass , B ernard M. Leadership, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior .
M ann , F loyd C., and H offman , L. R ichard . Automation and the Worker: A Study of Social Change in Power Plants .
An Action Research Program for Organization Improvement (in Esso Standard Oil Company) .
D erber , M ilton , C halmers , W. E llison , S tagner , R oss , with E delman , M ilton . The Local Union-Management Relationship .
R oss , A rthur M., and H artman , P aul T. Changing Patterns of Industrial Conflict .
G ulliksen , H arold , and M essick , S amuel (Editors) Psychological Scaling: Theory and Applications .
C ronbach , L ee J. Essentials of Psychological Testing . (Second Edition)     

Reviews

Book reviews in this article:
Meaning and Purpose in the Intact Brain: A Philosophical, Psychological, Biological Account of Conscious Processes . By R obert M iller
Liturgies and Trials: The Secularization of Religious Language . By R ichard K. F enn
The Compromised Scientist: William James in the Development of American Psychology . By D aniel W. B jork
Through a Darkening Glass: Philosophy, Literature and Cultural Change . By D. Z. P hillips
Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form . By R ichard L. T hompson
Religion, Revelation and Reason . By E ric R ust     

Politics, operant conditioning, Galileo, and the American Psychological Association's response to Rind et al. (1998)

The controversy surrounding B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) provides valuable lessons into scientific independence, politics, and organizational decision making. In an unprecedented action, the U.S. Congress officially condemned findings of Rind et al. Meanwhile, the American Psychological Association took similarly unprecedented measures in an effort to assuage its Congressional critics. This article, written from the perspective of a psychologist serving in Congress, discusses the various political and organizational dynamics that developed during the controversy. Understanding and learning from this incident can help psychologists and their professional associations better prepare for and respond to potential controversies arising from research or other publications.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
E ngel , J ames F., K ollat , D avid T., and B lackwell , R oger D. Consumer Behavior.
L itwin , G eorge H., and S tringer , R obert A. J r . Motivation and Organizational Climate.
K irkpatrick , J ames J., E wen , R obert B., B arrett , R ichard S., and K atzell , R aymond A. Testing and Fair Employment: Fairness and Validity of Personnel Tests for Diferent Ethnic Groups.
G eist , H arold . The Psychological Aspects of Retirement.
H olden , P aul E., P ederson , C arlton A., and G ermane , G ayton E. Top Management.
C alvert , R obert , J r . Employing the Minority Group College Graduate (Recruiting, Evaluating Qualifications, Retaining Employees).
E dwards , A llen L. Experimental Design in Psychological Research
G laser , B arney G. (Editor) Organizational Careers: A Source-book for Theory.
Management Education and Development.
B ittel , L ester R. What Every Supervisor Should Know.
M c M urry , R obert N., and A rnold , J ames S. How to Build a Dynamic Sales Organization.
Z ytowski , D onald G. (Editor) Vocational Behavior: Readings in Theory and Research.
H erman , S tanley M. The Peopte Specialists.
Evaluation of Executive Performance.
M c F arland , D alton E. Personnel Management: Theory and Practice.
M ussen , P aul H., and R osenzweig , M ark R. (Eds.) Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 60, 1969.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
T horndike , R. L. Personnel Selection: Test and Measurement Techniques.
K aufmann , F ritz . Your Job.
B ray , C. W. Psychology and Military Proficiency.
C apwell , D. F. Psychological Tests for Retail Store Personnel.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
K arn , H arry W., and G ilmer , B everly V. Readings in Industrial and Business Psychology.
P arker , W illard E., and K leemeier , R obert W. Human Relations In Supervision.
C ooper , A lfred M. How to Supervise People.
W esterland , G unnar . Group Leadership: a Field Experiment.
E lls , R alph W. The Basic Abilities System of Job Evaluation.
M arx , M elvin H. (Ed.) Psychological Theory: Contemporary Readings.     

Charles L. Brewer award for distinguished teaching of psychology

The American Psychological Foundation (APF) Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching of Psychology recognizes an outstanding career contribution to the teaching of psychology. The 2012 recipient of the Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching of Psychology is Richard L. Miller. Dorothy W. Cantor, president of the APF, will present the APF Gold Medal Awards at the 120th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association on August 3, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. Members of the 2012 APF Board of Trustees are Dorothy W. Cantor, president; Charles L. Brewer, vice president/secretary; Gerald Koocher, treasurer; Elisabeth R. Straus, executive vice president/executive director; Norman Anderson; Brian N. Baird; David H. Barlow; Camilla Benbow; Sharon Stephens Brehm; Connie Chan; William Howell; Anthony Jackson; Ronald F. Levant; Aurelio Prifitera; Sandra Shullman; Archie L. Turner; and Kurt Geisinger, APA Board of Directors liaison.     

Sketch of J. R. Kantor’s Psychological Interbehavioral Field Theory

The Psychological Record - We provide a sketch of J. R. Kantor’s (1959, 1971) psychological interbehavioral field (IBF) theory by identifying 9 essential points and briefly discussing each....     

Book Reviews

H alsey , G. D. Training Employees.
M c N emar , Q uinn . Psychological Statistics .
A ndrews , T. G. (Ed.) Methods of Psychology.
G rimsley , G. and W ickert , F. R. Psychological Techniques in Personnel Research.
B oynton , P. W. Selecting the New Employee.
Books and Materials Received¹     

Common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression: the BDI-II versus the BDI-IA

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) [Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.] and Anxiety Inventory (BAI) [Beck, A. T. & Steer, R. A. (1993a). Manual for the Beck Anxiety Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.] were administered to 840 outpatients who were diagnosed with various types of psychiatric disorders to determine whether the general symptom compositions and relative amounts of variance of the common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression for these instruments would be comparable to those that had been found by Steer et al. [Steer, R. A., Clark, D. A., Beck, A. T. & Ranieri, W. F. (1995). Common and specific dimensions of self-reported anxiety and depression: A replication. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 542–545.] with the BAI and amended Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-IA) [Beck, A. T. & Steer, R. A. (1993b). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.]. A Schmid–Leiman transformation was used with the iterated-principal-factor pattern matrix of the BAI and the BDI-II loadings and indicated that the overall symptom compositions and relative amounts of variance that were explained by the one common and two specific anxiety and depression dimensions were comparable to those previously found with the BDI-IA.     

Reviews

H enderson , J oseph L. Cultural Attitudes in Psychological Perspective
C arotenuto , A ldo . The Vertical Labyrinth: Individuation in Jungian Psychology
K ugelmann , R obert . The Windows of Soul: Psychological Physiology of the Human Eye and Primary Glaucoma
D ryden , W indy (ed.). Individual Therapy in Britain
W elch , J ohn . Spiritual Pilgrims: Carl Jung and Teresa of Avila
T omlin , E. W. F. Psyche, Culture and the New Science: The Role of PN     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Mental Deficiency: The Changing Outlook by A. M. Clarke and A. D. B. Clarke. Mental Retardation: A Handbook for the Primary Physician by C. Covert. The Mentally Retarded Child: Development, Education and Treatment by M. Hutt and R. Gibby. The Mentally Retarded Child: A Psychological Approach by H. Robinson and N. Robinson. Psychological Problems in Mental Deficiency by S. Sarason and J. Doris. Social and Cultural Foundations of Guidance edited by Esther M. Lloyd-Jones and Norah Rosenau Educating Emotionally Disturbed Children: Readings edited by Henry Dupont. Theories and Methods of Group Counseling in the Schools edited by George M. Gazda. Personalizing Information Processes by Joseph W. Hollis and Lucille V. Hollis. Helping and Human Relations: A Primer for Lay and Professional Helpers, Volume 1, Selection and Training by Robert R. Carkhuff. Agony and Promise: Current Issues in Higher Education 1969 edited by G. Kerry Smith.     

Book Review Section

Books reviewed in this article:
B arnes , L ouis B. Organizational Systems and Engineering Groups: A Comparative Study of Two Technical Groups in Industry.
P fiffner , J ohn M., and S herwood , F rank P. Administrative Organization.
B aritz , L oren . The Servants of Power: A History of the Use of Social Science in American Industry.
P urcell , T heodore V. Blue Collar Man: Patterns of Dual Allegiance in Industry.
G ellerman , S aul W. People, Problems and Profits: The Uses of Psychology in Management.
S trauss , G eorge , and S ayles , L eonard R. Personnel: The Human Problems of Management.
W ermel , M ichael , and B eideman , G eraldine M. Industry's Interest in the Older Worker and the Retired Employee: Proceedings of a Conference.
K lopfer , W alter G. The Psychological Report: Use and Communication of Psychological Findings.
F arnsworth , P. R., M c N emar , O., and M c N emar , Q. (Eds.) Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 12, 1961.     

Perspectives in psychology

The Psychological Record - It is too early to say with any certainty that experiential and phenomenological views are on the way out. In spite of the problems surrounding this type of postulation,...     

On the fit of models to covariances and methodology to the Bulletin.

It is noted that 7 of the 10 top-cited articles in the Psychological Bulletin deal with methodological topics. One of these is the Bentler-Bonett (1980) article on the assessment of fit in covariance structure models. Some context is provided on the popularity of this article. In addition, a citation study of methodology articles appearing in the Bulletin since 1978 was carried out. It verified that publications in design, evaluation, measurement, and statistics continue to be important to psychological research. Some thoughts are offered on the role of the journal in making developments in these areas more accessible to psychologists.