CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN DIRECTIONALITY*

The assumption that the directions of writing single letters and series of letters in a given language affect the directional preferences for reproducing single and multiple stimuli, respectively, was tested on three groups of subjects with different reading and writing habits; English readers, Hebrew readers, and Arabic readers. The subjects were presented with single stimuli and with series of stimuli for reproduction, and the horizontal directions of their responses were recorded. Confirming the hypothesis, the data pointed to the complexities of the effects of reading and writing habits on directional preferences among readers of different languages.     

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND RELATIONAL INTERDEPENDENCES IN SOCIAL INTERACTION

This research argues for the integration of individual difference and relational models in understanding social interaction. Two longitudinal studies are reported that investigate dyadic perceptions within a small group context. A round-robin design and variance partitioning procedures were used to isolate consistent individual differences and unique relational interdependencies in perceptions of leadership, openness, and liking. Both studies indicate that the magnitudes of individual level consistencies and unique relational interdependence vary as a function of characteristics assessed and the length of the relationship. The implications for conceptualizing and measuring relational aspects of interaction and for understanding the interface between individual difference and relational explanations for social interaction are discussed.     

CROSS-LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES IN DICHOTIC LISTENING*

Greater right ear advantage in dichotic listening to English-spoken digits among English-speakers than among Japanese- and Hebrew-speakers (Hatta and Dimond 1981; Nachshon 1986) was attributed either to effects of linguistic properties of the respective native languages, or to the sequence of language acquisition. In order to evaluate the two alternative hypotheses, 112 English-Hebrew and 140 Hebrew-English bilinguals recalled a series of three-digit dichotic sets. Differential ear advantages were expected on the basis of the two hypotheses. Data analysis showed, however, that while recall was better for digits spoken in the native than in the non-native languages, no significant differences in right ear advantage between the two groups were found. Procedural effects might account for this result.     

SOCIAL IDENTITY IN PUERTO RICO*

This study examines the social identity of 384 high school students from four age levels (10, 12, 15 and 17 years-old) in Puerto Rico. This complex society represents an interesting context because of the potential relevance of a number of dimensions for identity including language, cultural heritage, economic status, religion and political beliefs. An important methodological refinement is introduced in order to permit simultaneous examination of these various dimensions in terms of Puerto Rican identity. Three major dimensions of the students' social identity emerged from multidimensional scaling analyses and these were seen to contrast with previous research on ethnic identity in Canada, the United States and Wales.     

A LABORATORY INVESTIGATION OF SOCIAL CLASS AND NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN HELPING BEHAVIOR

Etude au laboratoire des différences dans le comportement d'entraide selon la nationalité et la classe sociale. —Le même plan d'expérience a été réalisé à Madison (Wisconsin) et à Oxford (Angleterre) pour déterminer si les adolescents appartenant à différentes classes sociales obéissent aux mêmes principes dans l'aide qu'ils apportent aux camarades qui dépendent d'eux. Les adolescents de Madison appartiennent à des families de la classe moyenne ((I) petits industriels, commerçants, artisans, (2) employés de bureau) ou de la classe ouvrière. Les adolescents d'Oxford proviennent seulement de la classe moyenne des employés ou de la classe ouvrière. Dans les deux échantillons, le sujet est d'abord amené à croire qu'un camarade lui a apporté beaucoup ou peu d'aide quand lui-même en avait besoin pour gagner un concours. Dans la phase suivante qui est supposée impliquer un concours sans rapport avec le premier, le sujet a l'occasion d'aider la personne qui a été son partenaire ou une tout autre personne. Les résultats de Madison montrent, conformément à l'hypothèse, que les sujets appartenant à la classe des petits industriels, commerçants et artisans ont plus tendance à agir selon une conception de simple échange. Plus que les adolescents de la classe des employés ou de la classe ouvrière, ils croient que les gens s'attendent à ce qu'ils travaillent dur pour une autre personne seulement dans la mesure où ils ont eux-mêmes bénéficié d'une telle situation et ils font des efforts au profit du camarade qui dépend d'eux, dans l'attente d'une réciprocité de type « donner et recevoir ». A Oxford, les sujets de la classe ouvrière sont plus orientés vers la réciprocité que les fils d'employés. Quelques difficultés d'ordre méthodologique sont discutées, mais l'A. pense que les tentatives actuelles pour analyser l'interaction sociale en termes d'échange économique ne peuvent être également appliquées à toutes les classes sociales.     

优秀幼儿教师与幼专学生性格特征的比较研究

采用Ｙ—Ｇ性格测验问卷,对优秀幼儿园教师和幼师高专学生共１５６人,进行了心理测评,展开了优秀幼儿园教师与幼师高专学生性格特征的比较研究。结果表明：幼儿教师的性格类型与其职业成就相关;Ｙ—Ｇ性格测验的Ｄ型性格类型为幼儿教师的理想性格类型;幼师高专学生与优秀幼儿园教师的性格特征间存在显著差异。整个测评研究结果,为幼师高专学校招生选拨及培养学生的工作提供心理学依据。     

SOCIAL VALUES AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL AFRICA*

This study was conducted in Southern Africa in the country of Zimbabwe where 75% of the population reside in economically underdeveloped rural areas. Two groups of rural-dwelling subsistence farmers were interviewed in their homes with respect to life-style, stressors and coping mechanisms. The experimental group consisted of 62 farmers who had recently moved to a newly-developed government-sponsored farming community and the control group consisted of 75 farmers who had been resident on their farms for an average of 15 years. The results showed that subjects in the development scheme experienced more stress than those in the control group but viewed themselves as coping adequately. The development scheme appeared to be successful from a psychological perspective in that the subjects were able to continue their traditional lifestyle as well as incorporate modern values based on a cash economy.     

LATERAL DIFFERENCES IN NORMAL MAN AND LATERALIZATION OF BRAIN FUNCTION*

The historical development of work on lateral differences (LDs) is described and an evaluation is attempted of the present state of the study and of the conceptual and methodological problems which it encounters. Contemporary work is mainly motivated by the notion that LDs reflect hemispheric specialization and thus provide a means of studying hemisphere function in easily available normal subjects. Work on LDs in visual recognition has first been conducted, however, within a completely different conceptual framework. Right visual field advantage (RVFA) for words and letters was first thought of as reflecting the left-to-right direction of latin writing which produces opportunity for differential perceptual learning in the two hemifields or, as was later considered, creates left-to-right scanning habits. On the contrary, right ear advantage (REA) in dichotic listening was, from its discovery by Kimura, shown to be linked to lateralization of speech control in the left hemisphere. The possibility that visual field effects could also be related to hemispheric specialization was then examined by looking for effects of handedness and for correlations between LDs and pathological data. After considerable initial resistance, the notion has become widely accepted. While the early work tended to deal with broad categories of tasks or of stimulating materials, more analytical approaches have been developed and investigators have tried to specify the component operations which are responsible for observed LDs. It has been shown that a same task can give rise to different patterns of asymmetry according to the particular operating mode which is adopted. Chronometric methods have been used to isolate processing stages with different lateralizations, and specific hypotheses have been advanced concerning levels at which lateralization originates. Regarding the mechanism of LDs, the most often considered interpretation is based on the notion of direct access, i.e. of an advantage associated with primary projection in the competent hemisphere. According to whether localization of the critical operations is strict or relative, one of two alternative versions of direct access, called respectively the callosal relay and efficiency models, apply. Other mechanisms based on hemispheric activation or priming and on interference between operations competing for hemispheric processing capacity have also been considered and presumably contribute, beside direct access, to observed LDs. There are also other sources for LDs than brain asymmetry, a fact which tends to be overlooked with the current focusing of interest on hemispheric interpretations. Even in cases where the role of hemispheric specialization has been established, other determinants can play amplifying or masking roles, as has been shown for auditory laterality effects. Current attempts at providing simple dichotomous general characterizations of hemisphere function, such as the one in terms of holistic vs. analytic processing, are described. The opinion is offered that such attempts are premature and that they reflect an underestimation of the complexity of the problem. It is argued (1) that the present catalogue of registered LDs is both too narrow and too subject to selective biases to provide a basis for ambitious generalizations; (2) that a convincing account of lateralization would require an understanding of its evolutionary origin; (3) that it would also require a more advanced understanding of the various mechanisms, including interhemispheric interactions, intervening between hemisphere competence and performance.     

A COMPARISON OF READING COMPREHENSION PROCESSES IN POLISH AND ENGLISH*

Two experiments in Polish replicated several conditions in English experiments on reading comprehension processes. In Polish syntactic information is represented primarily by morphology and in English primarily by word order. Lexical, syntactic + semantic, within-syntactic class, between-syntactic class, semantic, and factual information were violated in stories. Native speakers read the stories aloud and the protocols were scored for increases in production time around violations. The disruptions in oral reading caused by the syntactic violations were relatively larger and occurred earlier in Polish than in English. The semantic and factual violations produced broader disruptions in English than in Polish. Reading comprehension processes varied to meet the cognitive demands imposed by how the available information was represented. Polish readers adopted a focused strategy and English readers a more diffused strategy.