Flexibility in strategy use: Adaptation of numerosity judgement strategies to task characteristics

In previous investigations we documented that people use several strategies to determine numerosities of blocks that are presented in a square grid. One of these strategies is the clever subtraction strategy, wherein the number of empty squares in the grid is subtracted from the total number of squares in the grid. In the present study we investigated participants' flexibility in strategy use when varying the size of the grids. Results are described in terms of the theoretical framework of Lemaire and Siegler (1995) regarding strategic change, and show that this contextual variable affected the frequency, execution time, and accuracy of subjects' use of the subtraction strategy. The usefulness of this framework for analysing the nature of the adaptation to contextual variations is discussed. From a methodological point of view, this study documents the potential of Beem's (1993, 1999) segmented linear regression models for assessing subjects' strategy use in cognitive tasks.     

Gone but not forgotten: A new look at difficult cases

Many treatments never seem to get off the ground. They end almost as quickly as they begin. These are often treatments of borderline, narcissistic or psychotic patients. While it is easy to dismiss these cases as failed, or unanalysable, they are valuable to study. One such case is presented.     

Timelines for difficult times: use of visual timelines in interviewing suicide attempters

The stories of people who attempt suicide are insufficiently reflected in suicide research in psychology. This article outlines a method using a visual timeline during the interviews to explore the narratives of suicide attempts. The method was successfully employed in two studies to collect data on the suicidal process from people with prior experience of suicide attempts. The advantages of the method in collecting comprehensive data, building rapport, and fostering participants’ insight are outlined. Strategies that were used to ensure safety of participants are described in addition to the requirements for interviewers seeking to apply this method.     

Teleconsultation: The use of technology to improve evidence-based practices in rural communities

Problem-solving consultation in schools has been found to be an effective method of service delivery to support teachers who are struggling to address student social–emotional behavioral (SEB) concerns. Despite its benefits, a number of barriers (e.g., lack of time and limited access to trained professionals) restrict the use of consultation within schools, especially in rural settings. The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of teleconsultation designed to improve behavior support to students living in rural communities. Both student outcomes and teacher perceptions were evaluated. Results indicated that (a) student disruptive behaviors improved through the implementation of an individualized behavior support plan developed through teleconsultation, and (b) teachers found the teleconsultation experience acceptable and feasible. As the demands placed on psychologists and the quality of videoconferencing continue to increase, teleconsultation is becoming a viable option for service delivery within rural school settings.     

On the application of program evaluation designs: Sorting out their use and abuse

Increasingly complex methodological options, as well as growing sophistication of users, means that the formulation of a research design prior to conducting an evaluation study is likely to be more demanding and time-consucting than previously. In fact, one of the most difficult problems in the entire evaluation endeavor is the development of an appropriate design.. But the issue is not only one of complexity—it is also one of the appropriateness of the designs to the questions at hand. The concern of this article is with tightening the linkage between questions asked and answers given—making sure that the design organizes and directs the evaluation efforts to provide relevant information germane to the needs of the policymakers. By tightening this linkage, it is presumed that the findings from evaluation studies can gain increased legitimacy and use. Appropriate uses and abuses of seven program evaluation designs are analyzed, stressing designs that are most appropriate to the types of informational questions asked by policymakers. Ray C. Rist is director of operations in the general government division of the United States General Accounting Office. He was previously a professor at Cornell University and has authored or edited sixteen books and written nearly one hundred articles. He is chair of the Working Group on Policy Evaluation whose members prepared the articles for this special symposium.     

Adaptation to time-compressed speech: phonological determinants

Perceptual adaptation to time-compressed speech was analyzed in two experiments. Previous research has suggested that this adaptation phenomenon is language specific and takes place at the phonological level. Moreover, it has been proposed that adaptation should only be observed for languages that are rhythmically similar. This assumption was explored by studying adaptation to different time-compressed languages in Spanish speakers. In Experiment 1, the performances of Spanish-speaking subjects who adapted to Spanish, Italian, French, English, and Japanese were compared. In Experiment 2, subjects from the same population were tested with Greek sentences compressed to two different rates. The results showed adaptation for Spanish, Italian, and Greek and no adaptation for English and Japanese, with French being an intermediate case. To account for the data, we propose that variables other than just the rhythmic properties of the languages, such as the vowel system and/or the lexical stress pattern, must be considered. The Greek data also support the view that phonological, rather than lexical, information is a determining factor in adaptation to compressed speech.     

Discourse bootstrapping: preschoolers use linguistic discourse to learn new words

When children acquire language, they often learn words in the absence of direct instruction (e.g. ‘This is a ball!’) or even social cues to reference (e.g. eye gaze, pointing). However, there are few accounts of how children do this, especially in cases where the referent of a new word is ambiguous. Across two experiments, we test whether preschoolers (2‐ to 4‐year‐olds; n = 239) can learn new words by inferring the referent of a new word from the surrounding linguistic discourse. Across two experiments, we show that children as young as 2 can learn a new word from the linguistic discourse in which it appears. This suggests that children use the linguistic discourse in which a word appears to learn new words.     

Reenactment of televised content by 2-year olds: toddlers use language learned from television to solve a difficult imitation problem

Parents commonly label objects on television and for some programs, verbal labels are also provided directly via voice-over. The present study investigated whether toddlers' imitation performance from television would be facilitated if verbal labels were presented on television via voice-over or if they were presented by parents who were co-viewing with their toddlers. Sixty-one 2-year olds were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups (voice-over video, parent video, parent video no label, parent live) or to a baseline control condition. Toddlers were tested with novel objects after a 24h delay. Although, all experimental groups imitated significantly more target actions than the baseline control group, imitation was facilitated by novel labels regardless of whether those labels were provided by parents or by voice-over on television. These findings have important implications for toddler learning from television.     

科技文化在反邪教斗争中的功能解构分析--文化视域下反邪教方式的探析

由科技文化内涵要素所凝聚成的科学价值观与行为规范．对精神文明建设起基础性和先导性作用,在当前反邪教斗争中具有并发挥着其他文化所不能取代的特殊的社会功能。科技文化的弘扬能够从根本上揭露掩藏在现代科学外衣下的邪教的本来面目．帮助人们认清宗教的实质,在日常生活实践中规避邪教：能够逐渐瓦解、摧毁邪教“亚文化”系统的存在与发展的制度与组织基础;能帮助人们树立科学与理性的观念．从思想深处建构反邪教的心理网关。因此,大力弘扬科技文化是当前反邪教斗争中所必不可少的、无可替代的思想武器。     

Adaptation to prism-displaced vision: The importance of target-pointing

Two experiments investigated the hypothesis that the experience of manually pointing at visual targets enhances motoric adaptation to prism-displaced vision. Experiment 1 indicated that when adaptation was measured by means of redirected pointing behavior (negative aftereffect) it varied directly with the specificity of the target, the least adaptation occurring when no target was available. This relationship was not observed when adaptation was measured in terms of a shift in the felt position of the prism-exposed hand (proprioceptive shift). Experiment 2 demonstrated that after double the prism-exposure trials used in Experiment 1, target-pointing experience continued to enhance adaptation (as indexed by both types of adaptation measure). In both experiments negative aftereffect was significantly larger than proprioceptive shift for all experimental conditions and the two measures were not correlated. These latter two findings cast doubt on Harris’s notion that negative aftereffect is entirely the result of altered position sense.     

Adaptation to visual rearrangement: Role of sensory discordance

The relative contributions of proprioceptive and efferent information in eliciting adaptation to visual rearrangement were studied under two conditions of visual stimulation. Subjects permitted sight of their forearm under normal room illumination showed significant adaptation when the forearm was (a) moved up and down under the action of tonic vibration reflexes, (b) voluntarily moved through the same trajectory at the same pace, (c) viewed while still, and (d) viewed while the margins of the elbow were vibrated. The reflex movement condition elicited significantly greater adaptation than the other conditions. Subjects allowed only sight of a point source of light attached to their hand showed significant adaptation when the forearm was (a) reflexly moved, (b) voluntarily moved through the same trajectory at the same rate, (c) passively moved, (d) still, and (e) vibrated while still. Less adaptation occurred as the amount of proprioceptive information about limb position was decreased. The adaptation elicited by voluntary movements of the forearm and by reflex movements did not differ significantly. It is concluded that corollary-discharge signals may not be crucial in adaptation to visual rearrangement; a more important factor appears to be discordance between proprioceptive and visual information.     

Selling with technology: understanding the resistance to mobile sales assistant use in retailing

The rise of online competitors and increasingly well-informed customers have spurred stationary retailers to take measures to increase the quality of face-to-face selling as a key differentiator. Mobile sales assistants (MSAs) represent an intensively discussed technological approach to address these challenges in the salesperson–customer dyad. However, in many cases, salespeople do not or only sporadically use MSAs. Prior research provides inadequate answers as to why this is the case, as extant technology acceptance and resistance theories have limited applicability to MSAs. To address these research gaps, the authors conduct a qualitative, theory-building approach and identify 21 factors associated with resistance. In a subsequent quantitative survey study, they validate these factors and refine their conceptual structure. The results show that several largely unknown factors are associated with salespeople’s resistance to MSA use: The three higher-order constructs, ‘incongruence’, ‘relationship deterioration’, and ‘operational imperfection’, are newly introduced to the literature on technology resistance. The findings extend prior technology acceptance and resistance theories and provide comprehensive insights for retail managers.     

Adaptation to displaced vision: Evidence for prolonged after-effects

It was found that brief periods of exposure to visual rearrangement elicit aftereffects that are still of considerable magnitude 24 h later. Despite the existence of these after-effects, visuomotor coordination does not appear to be disrupted between test periods, suggesting that these after-effects may be similar to some of the recently described situation-dependent visual after-effects.     

Attitudes to new technology in relation to social beliefs and group memberships: A preliminary investigation

Though the term “new technology” is widely used and discussed, there has been very little systematic study of attitudes to technology and their relation to other beliefs and group memberships. This article describes an initial investigation into the nature of attitudes towards new technology (n=534 undergraduates) and demonstrates that, as yet, these attitudes are only weakly structured and are not fully integrated with other social beliefs. General evaluations of the benefits of technological advance appear to be almost unrelated to beliefs about the inevitability of these advances or the desire to acquire training to deal with them. Contrary to popular expectations, evaluations of video games are unrelated to other beliefs about technology while other social beliefs are, as yet, only weakly integrated with these attitudes. This study also identifies gender differences in the assessment of potential benefits and highlights other differences attributable to academic group memberships. These finding are discussed with reference to the literature on sex-role stereotyping and group socialization processes.