Reception training effects on the production of modeled language constructions

Several previous studies have reported that first-grade-age children increase their usage of prepositional phrases when exposed to novel (inverted) prepositional constructions. The hypothesis was tested that such anomalous increases could be eliminated by discrimination training on the two prepositional forms. One group of first-grade subjects (age 72 months) was trained to respond differentially to sentences containing either familiar or novel prepositional constructions, while a control group received only exposure to the same sentences. As predicted, when later exposed to the modeling of novel constructions, children in the pretrained group did not increase their frequency of familiar prepositional phrases, while those in the control group did.     

Structural priming as implicit learning: Cumulative priming effects and individual differences

We explored the claim that structural priming is a case of implicit learning within the language production system. The experiment began with a baseline phase, in which we assessed participants’ rates of production for double object and prepositional object constructions. Then participants were biased toward the production of either the double object or prepositional object construction. Finally, we again assessed participants’ rates of production for the target constructions. Consistent with claims that structural priming is a case of implicit learning, we found that biasing participants toward the prepositional object construction produced stronger cumulative priming effects than did biasing participants toward the double object construction. We also found that individual differences in implicit learning were marginally correlated with overall rates of production for the double object construction. Participants who scored better on the learning task tended to produce fewer double object constructions.     

EFFECTS OF ETHNICITY,ACCENT, AND JOB STATUS ON SELECTION DECISIONS

The present study investigated the effects of ethnicity, accent, and job status in the selection interview. Two hundred and ten student subjects viewed simulated, videotaped selection interviews in which applicant ethnicity, applicant accent, and job status were manipulated in a completely crossed 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Two sets of ratings were obtained, selection decision ratings of the job applicant, and subjective importance ratings based on the previous selection decisions. Significant main effects were obtained for ethnicity and job status in selection decision as predicted. Contrary to predictions however, the main effect for accent was not found significant. Further analysis of the importance ratings indicated a significant main effect for accent, but not for ethnicity. These findings indicated that applicant ethnicity and job status were important in selection interview decision and accent was not. Contrary to this however, subjects considered that accent was important in their selection decision ratings, while ethnicity was not.     

THREE TYPES OF FAMILY STRUCTURE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION: A STUDY AMONG THE JAUNSAR-BAWAR SOCIETY*

The study examines the influence of family structure and family experiences on psychological differentiation in children. Three types of families, viz., monogamous, polyandrous and polygynandrous were selected from the polyandrous society of Jaunsar-Bawar in the Cis-Himalayan region of India. 175 boys and girls of age groups 7-9 and 13-15 years, belonging to the three types of families, were administered the Story-Pictorial EFT, Indo-African EFT and BD tests. Family experiences of the child were assessed through ratings and interview. A 2×3×2 ANOVA performed on differentiation scores revealed significant age and sex effects. Family effect was not statistically significant. But the data suggested a strong trend in the expected direction. The findings have been discussed in terms of the characteristic family patterns of Jaunsar-Bawar and acculturation factors.     

ACQUISITION OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS IN SENTENCES WRITTEN BY HEARING IMPAIRED AND APHASIC CHILDREN

The effect of an instructional package, which included modeling, reinforcement, and remedial feedback on the rate, accuracy, and topography of sentences composed by four hearing impaired and aphasic children, was examined. In a specially designed classroom, students wrote sentences describing a stimulus picture on acetate sheets placed on the stage of an overhead projector which was built into each student's desk. This arrangement provided the teacher and other students immediate and continuous visual access to each student's sentences. In a multiple baseline design across behaviors, model sentences were projected and token reinforcment and remedial feedback were made contingent upon writing correct sentences containing prenominal adjectives only, then adverbs only, then prenomial adjectives plus adverbs. During baseline all students displayed poor written language skills and seldom wrote sentences containing modifiers. When the instructional package was implemented, all students demonstrated significant increases in response rate, accuracy, and percentage of correct sentences including prenominal adjectives and adverbs.     

A COMPARISON OF PEER-INITIATION AND TEACHER-ANTECEDENT INTERVENTIONS FOR PROMOTING RECIPROCAL SOCIAL INTERACTION OF AUTISTIC PRESCHOOLERS

We compared two procedures for improving the social interactions of three autistic children. In a peer-initiation condition, confederates were taught to initiate interaction with the autistic children. In a teacher-antecedent condition, teachers prompted the autistic children to initiate with confederates, who had been taught to reciprocate. Using an alternating treatment design, differential effects were found. The peer-initiation procedure reliably increased the social responses of the autistic children, whereas the teacher-antecedent condition increased the initiations and responses of the autistic children. In addition, longer chains of social interaction occurred during the teacher-antecedent condition.     

SEX TRAIT STEREOTYPES OF ADULTS ACROSS DIFFERENT LIFE PERIODS

An attempt was made to identify the stereotypes that young Indian people hold of adults of their community representing the different life periods. Twelve groups of 30 subjects aged 18 to 19 years were the subjects. A 2×2×3 (sex of subjects × sex of target figures to be rated × age of target figures, young, middle-aged, elderly) experimental design was used. Each group rated one target figure on the Adjective Check List (ACL) devised by Gough and Heilbrun (1965). The major findings include (a) a decrease in the number of adjectives attributed to the target figures as a function of increasing age, (b) a greater number of traits to describe male than female target figures, (c) a similar trend for the stereotypes of the different figures, and (d) an increase in the unfavourable evaluation of the adjectives comprising the stereotypes related to the age of the target figures. Possible reasons for the findings were discussed.     

The Ability to Encode Facial and Emotional Expressions by Educable Mentally Retarded and Nonretarded Children

The object of the present study was to investigate whether 20 educable mentally retarded (EMR) children matched for verbal mental age on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT; Dunn, 1965) with 20 nonretarded (NR) controls were adept in identifying emotional facial expressions and producing the equivalent word adjectives. I also reassessed the relationship between the phase of identifying facial expressions (i.e., happy, sad, angry, and scared) and the phase of producing emotional word adjectives, consisting of 16 emotional linguistic constructions (4 short stories for each of the adjectives) between higher in verbal ability educable mentally retarded (HEMR) children and higher in verbal ability nonretarded controls (HNRC) and between low in verbal ability educable mentally retarded (LEMR) children and low in verbal ability nonretarded controls (LNRC). There were no significant differences between EMR and NR children in general, despite the fact that EMR children had deficits in receptive linguistic competence.     

The ability to encode facial and emotional expressions by educable mentally retarded and nonretarded children.

The object of the present study was to investigate whether 20 educable mentally retarded (EMR) children matched for verbal mental age on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT; Dunn, 1965) with 20 nonretarded (NR) controls were adept in identifying emotional facial expressions and producing the equivalent word adjectives. I also reassessed the relationship between the phase of identifying facial expressions (i.e., happy, sad, angry, and scared) and the phase of producing emotional word adjectives, consisting of 16 emotional linguistic constructions (4 short stories for each of the adjectives) between higher in verbal ability educable mentally retarded (HEMR) children and higher in verbal ability nonretarded controls (HNRC) and between low in verbal ability educable mentally retarded (LEMR) children and low in verbal ability nonretarded controls (LNRC). There were no significant differences between EMR and NR children in general, despite the fact that EMR children had deficits in receptive linguistic competence.     

家庭收入与儿童早期的社会能力：中介效应与调节效应

以325名幼儿为被试,收集母亲报告的家庭人均月收入、儿童一般社会能力和家庭环境,及教师报告的师生关系,考察了家庭收入在儿童早期社会能力中的作用,及家庭社会文化环境在其中的中介作用和家庭情感环境在其中的调节作用。结果发现：(1) 高收入家庭儿童的一般社会能力及师生关系质量显著高于低收入家庭的儿童;(2) 在家庭收入对儿童一般社会能力的预测中,家庭社会文化环境中的智力-文化取向与社交-娱乐取向均发挥了中介作用,家庭情感环境中的控制性发挥了调节作用,且家庭智力-文化取向的中介作用受到了家庭控制性的调节;(3) 在家庭收入对师生关系质量的预测中,家庭情感环境中的控制性和矛盾性发挥了调节作用。     

THE ACQUISITION OF PREPOSITIONAL MOTOR RESPONSES IN HANDICAPPED CHILDREN1

The acquisition of prepositional motor responses in three handicapped preschool children was analyzed for three pairs of prepositions. Generalization of prepositional knowledge at each stage of acquisition was assessed by a series of probe trials. In addition, an analysis of the control of prepositional responses when objects of the preposition (OP) and direct objects (DO) were relevant cues was conducted. The effect of this object-cue procedure, as well as a specially devised prompting technique on acquisition, was also determined. Results indicated substantial control by OPs whenever this cue was relevant, but this did not affect acquisition of prepositional concepts when these cues were eliminated. Analysis of the probe data and the prompting technique suggested various ways in which instructional programs for teaching prepositional knowledge to handicapped children could be constructed in a simple and efficient manner.     

COMPARISON OF MODELLING AND REINFORCEMENT PROCEDURES IN INCREASING QUESTION-ASKING OF MILDLY RETARDED CHILDREN1

Questioning is an important skill, particularly for retarded children with deficits in accumulated information. Recent strategies for modifying a variety of verbal behaviors have included both token reinforcement systems and modelling procedures. However, the relative effectiveness (i.e., the rate of behavior change) of certain reinforcement procedures, especially with low base-rate behavior (used alone) have recently been questioned. The present study, using an ABAB design, compared the effect of a Token reinforcement system, a Trainer-Model procedure, and a combination of the two procedures on increasing the rate of question-asking. Each condition was in effect for six sessions. Groups of four mildly retarded children (mean age: 10.1 yr) were prompted to ask questions about large photographs, and each of their questions was immediately answered. For the Model group, the Trainer modelled four questions for each subject for each photograph. For the Token group, each question earned the subject a point, which was exchangeable after the session for various items (e.g., candy, ice cream) from a “store”. For the Modelling plus Token group, the procedures were combined. The Model and the Control groups were yoked to receive the same amount of candy as the Token and the Model plus Token groups for behaviors other than question-asking (i.e., being polite). The results indicated that during Baseline conditions, performance across groups was comparable and that the performance of the Control group did not change across time. The Model procedure had only minimal effects on the rate of question-asking, while both the Model plus Token and the Token groups showed significant performance increments. The only significant difference between the Model plus Token and the Token groups was a faster rate of increase early in the first Training condition for the Model plus Token group. This difference, and the low level of performance change for the Model group, was interpreted as suggesting a facilitory effect of modelling procedures on reinforcement contingencies. The discrepancy between previous findings showing relatively minimal changes following reinforcement of low base-rate responses and the present results were discussed in terms of various procedural differences. Educational implications of the present results were also discussed.     

LOCUS OF CONTROL IN INTELLECTUAL SITUATIONS IN AMERICAN AND CHINESE SCHOOL CHILDREN

The Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (IAR) Questionnaire, developed by Crandall et al., was administered to 720 children, 360 from the United States and 360 from Taiwan. The subjects were equally distributed in the sixth and eighth grades, and also by sex. A 2 × 2 × 2 (culture, grade, sex) analysis of variance was performed separately on scores of the subscale of success experiences (I +) and subscale of failure experiences (I -). The results showed that: (a) American children obtained significantly higher I + but lower I - scores than Chinese children. (b) Sixth graders obtained significantly higher scores on both I + and I - subscales than eighth graders. (c) Boys scored significantly higher than girls on I +, but sex differences in I - were not significant. It was also found that American children were more internal in success than in failure situations, while the reverse was true for Chinese children.     

在多媒体语境条件下词类对儿童英语词汇学习效果的影响

该研究考察了多媒体动画片语境条件下,词类对儿童英语词汇学习效果的影响,结果发现:(1)儿童对名词和形容词的再认成绩显著优于代词;(2)就独立回忆测验而言,名词的成绩显著高于代词,形容词的成绩处于代词和名词之间,但与二者的差异均不显著;(3)就情境回忆测验而言,名词与形容词的成绩差异不显著,二者均显著高于代词;(4)名词与形容词的情境回忆测验成绩均显著高于独立回忆测验成绩,但代词的独立回忆与情境回忆测验成绩差异不显著。总体而言,儿童对名词和形容词的学习效果好于代词,表明词类会对儿童英语词汇学习效果产生影响。