Another look at baseball player initials and longevity

Abel and Kruger (2007) reported that Major League Baseball players whose names have positive initials (such as ACE or GOD) live an average of 13 years longer than do players with negative initials (such as ASS or BAD) or players with neutral initials (such as GHR or TSW). However, this conclusion is based on a very small sample, selective initials, and a flawed statistical test. There is no statistically significant relationship between initials and longevity for Major League Baseball players when a correct test is applied to independently selected initials.     

Testing the generality of the name letter effect: name initials and everyday attitudes

The name letter effect is the tendency to evaluate alphabetical letters in one's name, especially initials, particularly favorably. Recent evidence suggests that name initials may even predict career choices. The authors investigated whether people possess favorable attitudes toward basic attitude objects beginning with name initials, both between individuals (e.g., does Judy like jam more than does Doug?) and within individuals (e.g., does Judy like jam more than honey?). Ratings of animals, foods, leisure activities (Studies 1-4) and national groups (Studies 2-4) revealed no object preference as a function of matching name initials. However, the name letter effect emerged (Studies 3-4), as did a clear preference for brand names starting with one's name initials (Study 4). Self-esteem, narcissism, and stimuli characteristics did not reliably influence these effects. Implications for extending name letter effects to basic attitude processes are discussed.     

Symbolic significance of initials on longevity

The longevities of deceased major league baseball players who died prior to 1950 (N=3835) and whose initials formed acronyms, words, or names with "positive" or "negative" affect, as rated a priori by two judges, were compared with those for a group of neutral controls matched for birth year and career length, using the Berkeley standardized mortality tables. Players (n=11) with positive initials, e.g., A.C.E., lived a mean of 13 years longer than players (n=30) with negative initials, e.g., D.E.D., or players with neutral initials (n=864). These results corroborated a previous study and suggest positive name symbols are associated with increased longevity in this sample.     

The impact of middle names: Middle name initials enhance evaluations of intellectual performance

Middle name initials often appear in formal contexts, especially when people refer to intellectual achievements. On the basis of this common link, the display of middle initials increases positive evaluations of people's intellectual capacities and achievements. We document this effect in seven studies: Middle initials in authors' names increased the evaluation of their writing performance (Study 1), and middle initials increased perceptions of status (Studies 2 and 4). Moreover, the middle initials effect was specific to intellectual performance (Studies 3 and 6), and it was mediated by perceived status (Studies 5–7). Besides supporting our hypotheses, the results of these studies yield important implication for everyday life. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of Hebrew letter names in early literacy: the case of multiphonemic acrophonic names

English-speaking children spell letters correctly more often when the letters' names are heard in the word (e.g., B in beach vs. bone). Hebrew letter names have been claimed to be less useful in this regard. In Study 1, kindergartners were asked to report and spell initial and final letters in Hebrew words that included full (CVC), partial (CV), and phonemic (C) cues derived from these letter names (e.g., kaftor, kartis, kibepsilonl, spelled with /kaf/). Correct and biased responses increased with length of congruent and incongruent cues, respectively. In Study 2, preschoolers and kindergartners were asked to report initial letters with monosyllabic or disyllabic names (e.g., /kaf/ or /samepsilonx/, respectively) that included the cues described above. Correct responses increased with cue length; the effect was stronger with monosyllabic letter names than with disyllabic letter names, probably because the cue covered a larger ratio of the letter name. Phonological awareness was linked to use of letter names.     

Preschoolers' knowledge about the appearance of proper names

Preschoolers' knowledge of the appearance of proper names was tested in three experiments with 25 boys and 22 girls from low-income families. Children from a Head Start program, whose parents signed a permission letter, participated. Their ages ranged from 3 yr. 6 mo. to 5 yr. 6 mo. (M = 52.2 mo., SD = 4.9). When shown consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams such as Rit or baF or dEg with various capitalization patterns, the children showed a tendency to recognize that CVC trigrams with the first letter capitalized or all letters capitalized were the ones most likely to represent a person's name. When their own names were substituted, which typically contained more than three letters, their performance was markedly better. Children also had a strong tendency to consider trigrams of Latin letters as more likely to be a person's name than trigrams of non-Latin characters (e.g., Sanskrit).     

Two investigations of “female modesty” in achievement situations

Two experiments examined motivations underlying the common finding that females present themselves more modestly than males in achievement situations. In Study 1, 388 first-year college students, primarily European-Americans, predicted their first semester grade point averages (GPAs) in one of 3 public and 2 private conditions, which varied the salience of modesty concerns and/or concerns about the others' feelings. In the public conditions combined, but not in the private conditions, women's predictions were lower than men's, although there were no gender differences in actual GPA. The public condition in which the others' feelings and modesty concerns were made salient accounted for this difference between men and women. In Study 2, 230 first-year college students predicted their first-semester GPAs in private, in public to a “nonvulnerable” other, or in public to a “vulnerable” other (someone who supposedly had earned a low GPA). Women's estimates were lower than men's in the latter condition only and lower than their estimates in the other conditions. These results suggest that relational motivations, rather than a simple lack of self-confidence or modesty alone, are a factor in gender differences in self-presentation of achievement.     

Academic performance and perceived validity of grades: an additional case for self-enhancement

The authors investigated the role of academic self-esteem and academic performance in U.S. college students' perceptions of the validity of their grades (overall grade point average [GPA]). A sample of 208 (80 male, 128 female) college students completed a survey that included an academic self-esteem scale and a measure of the perceived validity of grades. The authors assessed academic performance level by the participants' actual overall GPAs. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported the weak form of self-enhancement theory (J. S. Shrauger, 1975). Thus, regardless of their self-esteem levels, the students with higher GPAs, compared with those with lower GPAs, tended to see the overall GPA as a more valid indicator of academic ability.     

Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: implicit egotism and major life decisions

Because most people possess positive associations about themselves, most people prefer things that are connected to the self (e.g., the letters in one's name). The authors refer to such preferences as implicit egotism. Ten studies assessed the role of implicit egotism in 2 major life decisions: where people choose to live and what people choose to do for a living. Studies 1-5 showed that people are disproportionately likely to live in places whose names resemble their own first or last names (e.g., people named Louis are disproportionately likely to live in St. Louis). Study 6 extended this finding to birthday number preferences. People were disproportionately likely to live in cities whose names began with their birthday numbers (e.g., Two Harbors, MN). Studies 7-10 suggested that people disproportionately choose careers whose labels resemble their names (e.g., people named Dennis or Denise are overrepresented among dentists). Implicit egotism appears to influence major life decisions. This idea stands in sharp contrast to many models of rational choice and attests to the importance of understanding implicit beliefs.     

A longitudinal study of school connectedness and academic outcomes across sixth grade

The current longitudinal study examines the extent to which school connectedness (i.e., students' perceptions of school support and the number of adults with whom they have a positive relationship) is associated with academic outcomes across sixth grade for students from high poverty neighborhoods. Data were collected from 330 sixth-grade students attending two middle schools in a large public school district. Specifically, students completed a survey to assess their perceived connection to the school environment, and academic information regarding students' grades, attendance, and discipline referrals was obtained from school records. Results from latent growth curve modeling showed that, on average, students' perceptions of school support declined significantly across the sixth-grade year. However, students who reported less decline, or growth, in school support across sixth grade had higher academic achievement at the end of the year than students who reported more decline in school support. Sixth-grade boys were at a greater risk for negative outcomes (i.e., lower school support, lower GPAs, and more discipline referrals) across the school year than girls. Results point to the importance of perceived connectedness to school in helping economically disadvantaged students experience a safe and successful transition to middle school.     

Academic Performance and Perceived Validity of Grades: An Additional Case for Self-Enhancement

Abstract

The authors investigated the role of academic self-esteem and academic performance in U.S. college students' perceptions of the validity of their grades (overall grade point average [GPA]). A sample of 208 (80 male, 128 female) college students completed a survey that included an academic self-esteem scale and a measure of the perceived validity of grades. The authors assessed academic performance level by the participants' actual overall GPAs. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported the weak form of self-enhancement theory (J. S. Shrauger, 1975). Thus, regardless of their self-esteem levels, the students with higher GPAs, compared with those with lower GPAs, tended to see the overall GPA as a more valid indicator of academic ability.     

Students with the initial “A” don’t get better grades

It has been claimed that students whose first or last name begins with the letters A or B have higher grade point averages than students whose first or last name begins with the letters C or D. We critique the analysis behind this claim, raising a number of issues that lead us to question the validity of the claim. We also test for a relation between student initial and GPA using two new datasets and find no evidence to support such a relation.     

Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge Instruction: Exploring a Change of Frequency,Focus, and Distributed Cycles of Review

This article describes a 2-year exploratory research study of alphabet knowledge instruction in 13 kindergarten classrooms in four at-risk urban schools. Based on insights for teaching from five evidence-based advantages that influence acquisition of letter names and sounds, instruction of letter names and sounds was enhanced to increase students’ exposure to and practice with letters and to provide greater instructional focus on difficult-to-learn letters through brief lessons taught through distributed cycles of review. Results of this study show that students experienced increased success in acquiring alphabet knowledge, through Enhanced Alphabet Knowledge instruction.     

Extensions of the lost letter technique to divisive issues of creationism,darwinism, sex education,and gay and lesbian affiliations

Two field studies using 1,004 "lost letters" were designed to test the hypotheses that returned responses would be greater in small towns than from a city, that addressees' affiliation with a group either (1) opposed to physical education in schools, (2) supporting gay and lesbian teachers, or (3) advocating Creationism or Darwinism would reduce the return rate. Of 504 letters "lost" in Study A, 163 (32.3%) were returned in the mail from residents of southeast Louisiana and indicated across 3 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiLiations were not associated with returned responses. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in the city. Return rates from sites within a city were lower when letters were addressed to an organization which opposed (teaching) health education in the schools than to one supporting daily health education. Of 500 letters "lost" in Study B, 95 (19.0%) were returned from residents of northwest Florida and indicated across 5 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiliations were significantly associated with returned responses overall (5 addressees) and in small towns (control, Creationism, Darwinism addressees), but not with community size. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in small towns, with returns greater than or equal to those in the city (except for the addressee advocating teaching Darwinism in public schools). The present findings appear to show that applications of the lost letter technique to other divisive social issues are useful in assessing public opinion.     

Stigma Consciousness and the Race Gap in College Academic Achievement

Stereotyped individuals vary in how chronically self-conscious they are of their stigmatized status, a variable called stigma consciousness. The present study examined whether stigma consciousness was negatively related to academic achievement in college for academically stigmatized (Black and Hispanic) students, but not for academically non-stigmatized (White and Asian) students. Results revealed that stigmatized students who were high in stigma consciousness had lower GPAs than stigmatized students who were low in stigma consciousness. Moreover, GPAs of stigmatized students who were low in stigma consciousness did not differ from those of non-stigmatized students. These results complement recent laboratory investigations of stigma consciousness among women and contribute to the literature on stereotype threat by extending the phenomenon to real-world academic performance.     

The Accuracy of Academic Gender Stereotypes

This research assessed the accuracy of academicgender stereotypes. Approximately 9% of participantswere nonwhite (mostly African American and Hispanic).Participants' estimates of the percentage of female and male students and their GPAs were comparedto the actual percentage of female and male students andtheir actual GPAs in 12 majors. Participantssignificantly underestimated the percentage of female students regardless of the gendertype of themajor. Females and males made more accurate percentageestimates for gender-congruent majors. Participantsoverestimated the GPAs of male students significantly more than the GPAs of female students. This wasespecially pronounced for masculine majors. Althoughfemale participants estimated the GPAs of their in-groupmore accurately than the GPAs of the out-group, the reverse was true for male participants. Theimplications of this evidence for inaccurate genderstereotypes regarding academic competence arediscussed.     

Individual Differences in Course Choice Result in Underestimation of the Validity of College Admissions Systems

ABSTRACT— We demonstrate that the validity of SAT scores and high school grade point averages (GPAs) as predictors of academic performance has been underestimated because of previous studies' reliance on flawed performance indicators (i.e., college GPA) that are contaminated by the effects of individual differences in course choice. We controlled for this contamination by predicting individual course grades, instead of GPAs, in a data set containing more than 5 million college grades for 167,816 students. Percentage of variance accounted for by SAT scores and high school GPAs was 30 to 40% lower when the criteria were freshman and cumulative GPAs than when the criteria were individual course grades. SAT scores and high school GPAs together accounted for between 44 and 62% of the variance in college grades. This study provides new estimates of the criterion-related validity of SAT scores and high school GPAs, and highlights the care that must be taken in choosing appropriate criteria in validity studies.     

Learning of letter names follows similar principles across languages: Evidence from Hebrew

Letter names play an important role in early literacy. Previous studies of letter name learning have examined the Latin alphabet. The current study tested learners of Hebrew, comparing their patterns of performance and types of errors with those of English learners. We analyzed letter-naming data from 645 Israeli children who had not begun formal reading instruction: a younger group (mean age 5 years 2 months) and an older group (mean age 6 years 2 months). Children's errors often involved letters with similar shapes or letters adjacent to one another in the alphabet. Most Hebrew letter names are not very similar to one another phonologically, and there were fewer phonologically based confusions than in English. We found both general frequency effects and frequency effects that reflected the letters in individual children's names. On average, girls knew more letter names than did boys. The results suggest that letter name learning follows similar principles across languages.     

性别化名字对个体印象评价及人际交往的影响

名字在个体印象评价和人际交往中发挥着重要作用。本研究结合刻板印象内容模型, 从刻板印象维护视角出发, 通过3个研究考察了性别化名字的热情能力感知, 基于此探究性别化名字对不同性别个体的印象评价及人际交往的影响。结果发现：(1)人们对男性化名字的能力评价高于女性化名字, 对女性化名字的热情评价高于男性化名字; (2)性别化名字影响男性的能力评价和女性的热情评价; (3)性别化名字影响人们对女性的交友偏好, 热情评价在其中起到完全中介作用; 性别化名字影响人们和男性的共事偏好, 能力评价起到完全中介作用。研究揭示了性别化名字影响印象评价的模式, 并为理解人际交往中名字的作用机制提供了新的研究思路。     

Extracurricular Participation and Course Performance in the Middle Grades: A Study of Low-Income,Urban Youth

The transition to middle/junior high school is associated with declines in students’ academic performance, especially among low‐income, urban youth. Developmental psychologists posit such declines are due to a poor fit between the needs of early adolescents—industry, identity, and autonomy—and the environment of their new schools. Extracurricular participation during these years may act as a buffer for youth, providing a setting for development outside the classroom. The current study examines participation within and across activity settings among low‐income, urban youth in New York City over this transition. Using the Adolescent Pathways Project data, this study explores how such participation relates to course performance. We find that a large percentage of youth are minimally or uninvolved in extracurricular activities during these years; that participation varies within youth across time; and that the association between participation and course performance varies by activity setting. Youth who participate frequently in community or athletic settings or have high participation in two or more settings are found to have higher GPAs in the year in which they participate and youth who participate frequently in the religious setting are found to have lower GPAs. High participation in more than two settings may be detrimental.