The critical period: some thoughts on Grimshaw et al (1998)

Grimshaw et al. (1998), based on their study of an adolescent first language acquirer, support the notion of a critical period. This article discusses the findings of Grimshaw et al. in the context of second language acquisition research. The study by Grimshaw et al. is argued to be of potentially significant value in gaining an understanding of age-related differences in language acquisition. Some issues for Grimshaw et al. to address are raised.     

On the science of Rorschach research

Wood et al.'s (1999b) article contained several general points that are quite sound. Conducting research with an extreme groups design does produce effect sizes that are larger than those observed in an unselected population. Appropriate control groups are important for any study that wishes to shed light on the characteristics of a targeted experimental group and experimental validity is enhanced when researchers collect data from both groups simultaneously. Diagnostic efficiency statistics--or any summary measures of test validity--should be trusted more when they are drawn from multiple studies conducted by different investigators across numerous settings rather than from a single investigator's work. There should be no question that these points are correct. However, I have pointed out numerous problems with specific aspects of Wood et al.'s (1999b) article. Wood et al. gave improper citations that claimed researchers found or said things that they did not. Wood et al. indicated my data set did not support the incremental validity of the Rorschach over the MMPI-2 when, in fact, my study never reported such an analysis and my data actually reveal that the opposite conclusion is warranted. Wood et al. asserted there was only one proper way to conduct incremental validity analyses even though experts have described how their recommended procedure can lead to significant complications. Wood et al. cited a section of Cohen and Cohen (1983) to bolster their claim that hierarchical and step-wise regression procedures were incompatible and to criticize Burns and Viglione's (1996) regression analysis. However, that section of Cohen and Cohen's text actually contradicted Wood et al.'s argument. Wood et al. tried to convince readers that Burns and Viglione used improper alpha levels and drew improper conclusions from their regression data although Burns and Viglione had followed the research evidence on this topic and the expert recommendations provided in Hosmer and Lemeshow's (1989) classic text. Wood et al. oversimplified issues associated with extreme group research designs and erroneously suggested that diagnostic studies were immune from interpretive confounds that can be associated with this type of design. Wood et al. ignored or dismissed the valid reasons why Burns and Viglione used an extreme groups design, and they never mentioned how Burns and Viglione used a homogeneous sample that actually was likely to find smaller than normal effect sizes. Wood et al. also overlooked the fact that Burns and Viglione identified their results as applying to female nonpatients; they never suggested their findings would characterize those obtained from a clinical sample. Wood et al. criticized composite measures although some of the most important and classic findings in the history of research on personality recommend composite measures as a way to minimize error and maximize validity. Wood et al. also were mistaken about the elements that constitute an optimal composite measure. Wood et al. apparently ignored the factor-analytic evidence that demonstrated how Burns and Viglione created a reasonable composite scale, and Wood et al. similarly ignored the clear evidence that supported the content and criterion related validity of the EMRF. With respect to the HEV, Wood et al. created a z-score formula that used the wrong means and standard deviations. They continued to use this formula despite being informed that it was incorrect. Subsequently, Wood et al. told readers that their faulty z-score formula was "incompatible" with the proper weighted formula and asserted that the two formulas "do not yield identical results" and "do not yield HEV scores that are identical or even very close." These published claims were made even though Wood et al. had seen the results from eight large samples, all of which demonstrated that their wrong formula had correlations greater than .998 with the correct formula. At worst, it seems that Wood et al. (199     

The validity and appropriateness of methods, analyses, and conclusions in Rind et al. (1998): A rebuttal of victimological critique from Ondersma et al. (2001) and Dallam et al. (2001).

The authors respond to 2 victimological critiques of their 1998 meta-analysis on child sexual abuse (CSA). S. J. Dallam et al. (2001) claimed that B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (1998) committed numerous methodological and statistical errors, and often miscoded and misinterpreted data. The authors show all these claims to be invalid. To the contrary, they demonstrate frequent bias in Dallam et al.'s criticisms. S. J. Ondersma et al. (2001) claimed that Rind et al.'s study is part of a backlash against psychotherapists, that its suggestions regarding CSA definitions were extrascientific, and that the moral standard is needed to understand CSA scientifically. The authors show their suggestions to have been scientific and argue that it is Ondersma et al.'s issue-framing and moral standard that are extrascientific. This reply supports the original methods, analyses, recommendations, and conclusions of Rind et al.     

Diagnosis and repair of negative polarity constructions in the light of symbolic resonance analysis

In a post hoc analysis, we investigate differences in event-related potentials of two studies (Drenhaus et al., 2004, Drenhaus et al., to appear, Saddy et al., 2004a and Saddy et al., 2004b) by using the symbolic resonance analysis (Beim Graben & Kurths, 2003). The studies under discussion, examined the failure to license a negative polarity item (NPI) in German: Saddy et al. (2004a) reported an N400 component when the NPI was not accurately licensed by negation; Drenhaus et al., 2004 and Drenhaus et al., to appear considered additionally the influence of constituency of the licensor in NPI constructions. A biphasic N400-P600 response was found for the two induced violations (the lack of licensor and the inaccessibility of negation in a relative clause). The symbolic resonance analysis (SRA) revealed an effect in the P600 time window for the data in Saddy et al., which was not found by using the averaging technique. The SRA of the ERPs in Drenhaus et al., showed that the P600 components are distinguishable concerning the amplitude and latency. It was smaller and earlier in the condition where the licensor is inaccessible, compared to the condition without negation in the string. Our findings suggest that the failure in licensing NPIs is not exclusively related to semantic integration costs (N400). The elicited P600 components reflect differences in syntactic processing. Our results confirm and replicate the effects of the traditional voltage average analysis and show that the SRA is a useful tool to reveal and pull apart ERP differences which are not evident using the traditional voltage average analysis.     

Conducting exercise trials for obese adolescents within the effectiveness setting: A response with commentary to Ejima et al. (2019)

We appreciate Ejima et al.‘s interest in and comments towards our article describing a 12-week randomized controlled trial of a coordination exercise program on cognitive function in obese adolescents that was conducted at a junior high school in Taipei City, Taiwan (Liu et al., 2018). Ejima et al. mentioned the apparent extraordinary effects of the interv ention on body mass index (BMI) both in the magnitude of the effects and distribution of the weight loss. On several points, we agree with Ejima et al. and in the spirit of transparency and reproducibility, we appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight about our study. We also genuinely appreciate Ejima et al.‘s time and efforts in reviewing our study and analyzing the data, and helping to uncover these mistakes. We hope this commentary aids in better understanding the findings from Liu et al. (2018) and in encouraging future effectiveness trials aimed at improving cognitive function, fitness, and BMI among obese adolescents.     

Universality and context-specificity in early executive function development

A renewed interest in early executive function (i.e., EF or the conscious control of thought and behavior) development has led several research groups to suggest that EF may be emerging and is less coordinated (e.g., showing few relations between tasks) in the first few years (Devine et al., 2019; Gago Galvagno et al., 2021; Johansson et al., 2016; Miller & Marcovitch, 2015; Ribner et al., 2022). This potentially universal development in EF does not exclude the possibility that EF may also differ across context (e.g., Gago Galvagno et al., 2021; Lohndorf et al., 2019; Tran et al., 2015) reflecting unique strengths and development built within one’s sociocultural environment. The present paper explores potential universal and context-specific early EF developments by focusing on three aims: (1) reviewing work on EF within the first two years of life that may speak to potential universality in the measurement, structure, growth, stability, and conceptualization of early EF (2) reviewing research that may speak to how the sociocultural context may play a role in context-specific development within early EF and (3) examining potential developmental EF frameworks for understanding universal and context-specific developments of early EF within context.     

Optimistic update bias holds firm: Three tests of robustness following Shah et al.

A diverse body of research has demonstrated that people update their beliefs to a greater extent when receiving good news compared to bad news. Recently, a paper by Shah et al. claimed that this asymmetry does not exist. Here we carefully examine the experiments and simulations described in Shah et al. and follow their analytic approach on our data sets. After correcting for confounds we identify in the experiments of Shah et al., an optimistic update bias for positive life events is revealed. Contrary to claims made by Shah et al., we observe that participants update their beliefs in a more Bayesian manner after receiving good news than bad. Finally, we show that the parameters Shah et al. pre-selected for simulations are at odds with participants’ data, making these simulations irrelevant to the question asked. Together this report makes a strong case for a true optimistic asymmetry in belief updating.     

Comparison of Scoring Criteria for Clock Drawing Test

This study compared clock drawings by 42 medically hospitalized patients with a mean age of 51.9 (SD = 10.1) years, using four sets of published scoring criteria to determine comparability of classification and to assess validity by comparison to other measures of cognitive functioning. We found impairment in 20 of 42 cases using the criteria of Mendez et al. (1992); 11 of 42 cases by Sunderland et al. (1989); 9 of 42 cases with Freedman et al. (1994); and 8 of 42 cases according to Rouleau et al. (1992). Kappa coefficients of impairment status between sets of scoring criteria ranged from .41 to .86. Pearson correlations of raw scores between schemes ranged from .72 to .94. All except Sunderland et al. were significantly correlated with the Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination. All correlated significantly with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised Block Design; however, only Mendez et al. correlated significantly with the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Examination. On the basis of these results and our experience, we recommend using the Freedman scoring scheme.     

Processing of lexical ambiguities: a comment on Milberg, Blumstein, and Dworetzky (1987)

In a study by Milberg, Blumstein, and Dworetzky (1987), normal control subjects and Wernicke's and Broca's aphasics performed a lexical decision task on the third element of auditorily presented triplets of words with either a word or a nonword as target. In three of the four types of word triplets, the first and the third words were related to one or both meanings of the second word, which was semantically ambiguous. The fourth type of word triplet consisted of three unrelated, unambiguous words, functioning as baseline. Milberg et al. (1987) claim that the results for their control subjects are similar to those reported by Schvaneveldt, Meyer, and Becker's original study (1976) with the same prime types, and so interpret these as evidence for a selective lexical access of the different meanings of ambiguous words. It is argued here that Milberg et al. only partially replicate the Schvaneveldt et al. results. Moreover, the results of Milberg et al. are not fully in line with the selective access hypothesis adopted. Replication of the Milberg et al. (1987) study with Dutch materials, using both a design without and a design with repetition of the same target words for the same subjects led to the original pattern as reported by Schvaneveldt et al. (1976). In the design with four separate presentations of the same target word, a strong repetition effect was found. It is therefore argued that the discrepancy between the Milberg et al. results on the one hand, and the Schvaneveldt et al. results on the other, might be due to the absence of a control for repetition effects in the within-subject design used by Milberg et al. It is concluded that this makes the results for both normal and aphasic subjects in the latter study difficult to interpret in terms of a selective access model for normal processing.     

Does the asymmetry effect inflate the temporal expansion of odd stimuli?

Tse et al. (Percept Psychophys 66:1171–1189, 2004) reported that participants tend to overestimate the duration of an oddball stimulus. The size of this effect was much larger than the one reported by Ulrich et al. (Psychol Res 70:77–87, 2006). More crucially, the effect in the study of Tse et al. already emerged at short standard durations, arguing against the arousal account proposed by Ulrich et al. This study investigated whether the oddball effect reported by Tse et al. was inflated by an asymmetry effect, that is, by an asymmetrical distribution of physical comparison durations around the duration of the standard. Experiment 1 demonstrated that an asymmetry effect could mimic an oddball effect. Therefore, we conducted Experiment 2 to replicate the results by Tse et al. employing not only their original procedure but also an adaptive procedure that rather avoids an asymmetry effect. Both psychophysical procedures in this experiment revealed an oddball effect, which, however, was of smaller size than the one reported by Tse et al. Furthermore, this effect emerged only at longer standard durations, which is in agreement with the arousal account as the underlying mechanism of this robust temporal illusion.     

Assessing the belief bias effect with ROCs: reply to Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010)

Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010) argued (a) that the so-called receiver operating characteristic is nonlinear for data on belief bias in syllogistic reasoning; (b) that their data are inconsistent with Klauer, Musch, and Naumer's (see record 2000-02818-008) model of belief bias; (c) that their data are inconsistent with any of the existing accounts of belief bias and only consistent with a theory provided by signal detection theory; and (d) that in fact, belief bias is a response bias effect. In this reply, we present reanalyses of Dube et al.'s data and of old data suggesting (a) that the receiver operating characteristic is linear for binary "valid" versus "invalid" responses, as employed by the bulk of research in this field; (b) that Klauer et al.'s model describes the old data significantly better than does Dube et al.'s model and that it describes Dube et al.'s data somewhat better than does Dube et al.'s model; (c) that Dube et al.'s data are consistent with the account of belief bias by misinterpreted necessity, whereas Dube et al.'s signal detection model does not fit their data; and (d) that belief bias is more than a response bias effect.     

Subjective responses to alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages by alcoholic respondents

Changes in the subjective response to alcohol following electrical aversive conditioning have been studied through the use of the semantic differential (Costello, 1974; Costello et al., 1974a, 1974b; Hallam et al., 1972; Miller et al., 1974; Miller et al. 1973). As pointed out by the Costello group and by Kaplan (1972) there are several problems with this technique. The midpoint of the 7-point scale may be psychologically impossible to define if the subject does not perceive the adjectives pairs as mutually antagonistic. It is frequently assumed that the adjective pairs are bipolar, based on the original work of Osgood et al. (1957). Recent evidence (Costello, 1974; Costello et al., 1974a, 1974b) has demonstrated that the scales used by Hallam et al. (1972) were in fact, not bipolar.The stimuli used by Costello and coworkers were an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic slide, following the work of Hallam et al. (1972). Recent studies (Miller et al., 1974; Miller et al., 1973; Wilson, 1973) have utilized rating the taste of real alcohol, as opposed to slides, in order to measure the effectiveness of behavioral therapies in alcoholism. The subject is asked to taste several beverages, some of which have alcohol, and rate the taste of each drink on a set of semantic differential adjective pairs. Miller et al. (1974), found that while the actual amount of pre-therapy alcoholic beverage consumed predicted which subjects did better at 6 months outcome, the semantic differential ratings did not. One reason might have been that the scales were not bipolar and thus the semantic measurement was highly unreliable.The purpose of the present study was to replicate the Costello studies, using real beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic as the stimuli.     

Intelligence tests on trial: An “interview” with judges Robert F. Peckham and John F. Grady

The issue of culturally biased intelligence tests has been heard in two federal courts. Judge Robert F. Peckham, in the Larry P., et al. v. Wilson Riles, et al. case, ruled that intelligence tests were culturally biased. In contrast, Judge John F. Grady, in the Parents in Action on Special Education, et al. v. Joseph P. Hannon, et al. case, ruled that intelligence tests were not culturally biased. A mock “interview” based on the judges' written opinions, shows similarities and differences in their approach to various issues involved in the trials.     

Explicit and motoric dependent measures of geographical slant are dissociable: A reassessment of the findings of Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, and Stigliani (2010)

Durgin et al. (2010) argued that the apparent accuracy of the palmboard measure of geographical slant is accidental and reflects limitations in wrist flexion that reduce palmboard adjustments by just the right amount given the perceptual overestimations upon which they are based. This account is inconsistent with findings that verbal reports and palmboard adjustments are dissociable. In addition to previous evidence found for such dissociation, Durgin et al. also found verbal/palmboard dissociations in Experiment 2. Experiments 1 and 3 of Durgin et al. lacked verbal reports and instead compared palmboard adjustments to free-hand estimates in the context of small wooden surfaces. These experiments are not relevant to the issue of verbal/palmboard dissociability. Across studies, the accuracy of Durgin et al.'s palmboard implementation is far less than that found by others (Feresin & Agostini, 2007). The design of Durgin et al.'s Experiment 5 misrepresented the experimental conditions of Creem and Proffitt (1998), and consequently, the findings of this study have no bearing on the issue at hand.     

Recall,recognition, and the hippocampus: Reply to Yonelinas et al. (2004)

Two recent studies disagree about whether recall is more impaired than recognition (and recollection more than familiarity) in patients with damage limited to the hippocampus (Manns, Hopkins, Reed, Kitchener, & Squire, 2003; Yonelinas et al., 2002). Wixted and Squire (2004) pointed out that the disagreement about recall and recognition stems entirely from an outlying recognition score obtained by 1 of 55 control subjects in Yonelinas et al. (2002). In their comment on our paper, Yonelinas et al. (2004) minimize the importance of this result and argue that the role of the hippocampus in recollection and familiarity is best studied using different methods that attempt to measure these processes directly. Here, we argue that the recall versus recognition comparison is the strongest test because it relies on the fewest controversial assumptions, and that the other approaches explored by Yonelinas et al. (2002) rely on questionable, theory-laden assumptions. We also rehearse the reasons for concluding that the patients studied by Manns et al. (2003) have damage limited to the hippocampal region (hippocampus proper, dentate gyrus, and subiculum), and we emphasize that important questions remain about the patients studied by Yonelinas et al. (2002), inasmuch as no neuroanatomical information and minimal neuropsychological information has been provided.     

内隐操作绩效的加工分离:四分模型及其研究

一般认为,社会认知过程的内隐测量反映了不受个体控制的自动化加工.本文简要介绍了新近由Sherman等人提出的内隐操作绩效的四分模型及其相关研究.该模型认为,社会认知过程的内隐测量效应并非单纯自动加工的结果,而是多种加工成分的综合表达,这些成分包括联想的自动激活,确定正确反应的能力,对被自动激活联想的成功克服以及反应偏向的影响.该模型为重新认识内隐加工效应的机制提供了新的概念框架和分析技术,被广泛应用于基于内隐测量的社会认知研究领域,并引起该领域研究者的广泛关注.     

正性情绪刺激效价强度的变化对外倾个体注意的调制作用

大量研究证明外倾性与正性情绪相关,且已有行为和fMRI研究表明外倾个体对正性刺激存在注意偏向。研究假设外倾个体对正性情绪刺激投入更多的注意资源,且注意程度受正性刺激效价强度变化的调制。实验采用内隐情绪任务和改进后的oddball的范式,利用ERP技术高度精确的时间分辨率,在一个较短的时间窗口内考察外倾被试在三种效价条件下（极端正性刺激,中等正性刺激,中性刺激）与注意相关的P2波幅是否两两差异显著。结果表明,外倾被试组在三种条件下P2波幅两两差异显著,且极端正性刺激诱发的P2波幅最大,中等正性刺激诱发的P2波幅次之,中性刺激诱发的P2波幅最小;非外倾被试组的P2波幅在三种情况下无显著差异。研究结果从ERP的角度证明了外倾被试对正性刺激存在注意偏向,且注意程度随正性刺激效价强度的变化而变化     

Tests of multiplicative models in psychology: a case study using the unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept

Theories that posit multiplicative relationships between variables are common in psychology. A. G. Greenwald et al. recently presented a theory that explicated relationships between group identification, group attitudes, and self-esteem. Their theory posits a multiplicative relationship between concepts when predicting a criterion variable. Greenwald et al. suggested analytic strategies to test their multiplicative model that researchers might assume are appropriate for testing multiplicative models more generally. The theory and analytic strategies of Greenwald et al. are used as a case study to show the strong measurement assumptions that underlie certain tests of multiplicative models. It is shown that the approach used by Greenwald et al. can lead to declarations of theoretical support when the theory is wrong as well as rejection of the theory when the theory is correct. A simple strategy for testing multiplicative models that makes weaker measurement assumptions than the strategy proposed by Greenwald et al. is suggested and discussed.     

Attentional distractor interference may be diminished by concurrent working memory load in normal participants and traumatic brain injury patients

A reduction in congruency effects under working memory (WM) load has been previously described using different attentional paradigms (e.g., Kim et al., 2005, Smilek et al., 2006). One hypothesis is that different types of WM load have different effects on attentional selection, depending on whether a specific memory load demands resources in common with target or distractor processing. In particular, if information in WM is related to the distractors in the selective attention task, there is a reduction in distraction (Kim et al., 2005). However, although previous results seem to point to a decrease in interference under high WM load conditions (Kim et al., 2005), the lack of a neutral baseline for the congruency effects makes it difficult to differentiate between a decrease in interference or in facilitation. In the present work we included neutral trials in the task introduced by Kim et al. (2005) and tested normal participants and traumatic brain injury patients. Results support a reduction in the processing of distractors under WM load, at least for incongruent trials in both groups. Theoretical as well as applied implications are discussed.     

There is an entity called agrammatic aphasia.

Agrammatism as a phenomenon of neuropsychological relevance has been recently attacked--from conceptual and empirical angles. This article examines the facts, as they emerge from three recent experimental studies that have concluded that agrammatism does not exist (Miceli et al., 1989; Martin et al., 1989, Badecker et al., in press), and draws the opposite conclusion: that agrammatism is of interest to students of language and that patients belonging in this clinical category also reveal uniform patterns of aberrant behavior that are of great linguistic and psycholinguistic relevance.