Grammatical structure and recall: A function of the space in immediate memory or of recall delay?

Savin and Perchonock suggest that when a sentence and additional unrelated words are presented for immediate recall, the number of words recalled in addition to that sentence represents the space left over in a limited memory store after the sentence and its transformational tag have been stored. They report error data and word-recall data in support of a transformational model of sentence processing. In two replications of that study, error data failed to support the transformational model. Furthermore, the word-recall data could be attributed to differential word-recall delays-the more complex the sentence, the longer the delay between word presentation and word recall. These findings, as well as others in the literature. fail to support a transformational interpretation of sentence processing.     

Accuracy of drawing in a dual-task and resistance-to-distraction study: motor or attention deficit?

To determine whether manual incoordination is caused by attention deficit or not, we used an accuracy drawing task as a primary task in dual-task and resistance-to-distraction studies, and examined if thus measured attention could differentiate inattention (IA) and combined (CO) subtypes of ADHD. The secondary tasks and distractions failed to lower the primary task performance in IA, CO and control groups. We also compared the impairment scores of the accuracy drawing tasks from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children [Henderson, S. E., & Sugden, D. A. (1992). Movement assessment battery for children. London: Psychological Corporation.] between the groups with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or developmental coordination disorder-inaccurate drawing type (DCD-ID). There were no group differences in the impairment score between the control and the ADHD groups, and between ADHD and ADHD plus DCD-ID groups. We concluded that inaccurate drawing is not caused by attention deficit, but that it is a manifestation of a motor deficit as a separate entity from attention deficit.     

Optimism and pessimism in the context of health: bipolar opposites or separate constructs?

One difficulty plaguing research on dispositional optimism and health is whether optimism and pessimism are bipolar opposites or constitute distinct constructs. The present study examined the Life Orientation Test to determine whether the two-factor structure is explained by method bias (due to measurement) or substantive differences. The authors compared three measurement models: bipolar, bivariate, and method artifact. Optimism and pessimism emerged as distinct constructs due to substantive differences. The authors also considered the validity of optimism and pessimism, examining their relations with psychological and physical health outcomes. Optimism and pessimism were more similar in relation to psychological health than to other health-related behavior or physical health outcomes. However, a strongly interpretable pattern for the relation of optimism and pessimism to the health outcomes did not emerge. Further research may benefit from considering optimism and pessimism as bivariate and also should consider the conceptual components and behavioral mechanisms specific to each variable.     

Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events?

Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (depth first) and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (breadth first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related information overall than those asked about an occurrence first. All children used episodic language when describing an occurrence; however, children with repeated-event experience used episodic language less often when describing what usually happens than did those with a single experience. Accuracy rates did not differ between conditions. Implications for theories of repeated-event memory are discussed.     

Retrieval effort or intention: Which is more important for participants’ classification of involuntary and voluntary memories?

Theories of autobiographical memory distinguish between involuntary and voluntary memories. While involuntary memories are retrieved with no conscious intention and are therefore unexpected, voluntary memories are both intended and expected. Recent research has shown that participants sometimes classify their memories as either involuntary or voluntary based on retrieval effort instead of intention. These findings question whether intention really is the defining difference between these two types of retrieval or whether retrieval effort is also an important determinant. In two experimental studies, we investigated the extent to which participants rely on retrieval effort while classifying their memories as involuntary or voluntary. We created experimental conditions that maximize the probability of one type of retrieval while minimizing the probability of another type. Participants reported autobiographical memories in each condition while the programme registered their retrieval time. They then classified their memories as either voluntary or involuntary and rated all memories on perceived retrieval effort. This gave us four categories of memories: experimentally defined voluntary and involuntary memories with an objective measure of effort (retrieval time) and subjectively classified involuntary and voluntary memories with a subjective measure of effort. This allowed us to investigate the relative contribution of intention and effort to involuntary and voluntary memories. We replicated and extended previous findings by showing that the majority of memories were classified as involuntary independently of whether they were retrieved in the experimentally defined voluntary or involuntary condition. This could indicate that subjective effort is more important than intention for the involuntary–voluntary distinction in contrast with existing theories. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications of this finding.     

Understanding the Relationship between Poverty and Children’s Mental Health in Poverty-Stricken Area of China: Social Causation or Social Selection?

This study aimed to explore the relationship between poverty and children’s mental health in the social context of China. Data were consisted of 1314 children, which were collected with a multi-stage cluster random sampling method in Xiushui, a typical poverty city in China. Structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypothesized model. Results showed that both social causation model and social selection model could explain the relationship between poverty and children’s mental health in Mainland China. The implications of these findings on theory and social work services were also discussed.     

Contributions of linguistic,quantitative, and spatial attention skills to young children's math versus reading: Same,different, or both?

The study used Bayesian and Frequentist methods to investigate whether the roles of linguistic, quantitative, and spatial attention skills are distinct in children's acquisition of reading and math. A sample of 175 Chinese kindergarteners was tested with measures of linguistic skills (phonological awareness and phonological memory), quantitative knowledge (number line task, symbolic digit comparison, and non-symbolic number estimation), spatial attention skills (visual span, mental rotation, and visual search), word reading, and calculation. After statistically controlling for age and nonverbal intelligence, phonological awareness and digit comparison performance explained unique variance in both math and reading. Moreover, number line estimation was specifically important for math, while phonological memory was specifically essential for reading. These findings highlight the possibility of developing early screening tools with different cognitive measures for children at risk of learning disabilities in reading and/or math.     

The “Own” and the “Wise”: Does Stigma Status Buffer or Exacerbate Social Rejection of College Students with a Mental Illness?

Applying Goffman’s stigma-status framework and using data from a survey administered to college students (N = 556), we find that respondents who have been diagnosed with a mental illness (the “own”) or who know a family member or friend with a mental illness diagnosis (the “wise”) express lower desired social distance from persons with a mental illness than other respondents (“normals”). Also, informally labeling symptoms as “mental illness” reduced social distance among those similarly diagnosed. However, perceived dangerousness did not vary across stigma status, and the socially-distancing effects of perceived dangerousness were more pronounced among the “own.”     

Social dominance orientation: Cause or ‘mere effect’?: Evidence for SDO as a causal predictor of prejudice and discrimination against ethnic and racial outgroups

The question of whether SDO is a cause or mere effect of intergroup attitudes and behaviors has been the subject of heated debate. Much of the research brought to bear on the question, however, has used cross-sectional data that is not best-suited for making causal inferences. Using data from a panel study that tracked UCLA undergraduates over several years, we find support for the notion that SDO is a cause, rather than ‘mere reflection’ of prejudice and discrimination against outgroups. Specifically, using cross-lagged analyses among White students, we show that SDO measured in 1996 has significant marginal utility for predicting prejudice against a series of ethnic outgroups, as well as self-reported ingroup friendship preference, four years later, controlling for their 1996 levels. Conversely, outgroup affect and ingroup friendship preference measured in 1996 fail to predict SDO levels in 2000 once 1996 SDO levels are taken into account. Implications of these analyses for the debate on the interpretation of SDO as a relatively stable orientation towards group-based hierarchy in society are discussed.