Telling stories: the perils and promise of using verbal reports to study math strategies

The problem size effect in adult arithmetic performance is generally attributed to direct retrieval processes operating on a network representation in long-term memory. J. LeFevre and her colleagues (J. LeFevre, J. Bisanz, et al., 1996; J. LeFevre, G. S. Sadesky, & J. Bisanz, 1996) challenged this explanation using verbal report evidence that adults also use time consuming nonretrieval strategies to solve simple addition and multiplication. The authors replicated J. LeFevre and colleagues' methods, but added instructional biasing and silent control conditions to test these methods. Both reaction time and report results suggest that LeFevre and colleagues' conclusions about nonretrieval frequency may have been influenced by instructions that revealed the experimental hypothesis and affected participants' strategy reports. Obtaining evidence about adult strategy use in simple arithmetic will require understanding instructional demand and appropriate report methodology.     

Expressing experience: the promise and perils of the phenomenological interview

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - This paper outlines several of the challenges that are inherent in any attempt to communicate subjective experience to others, particularly in...     

The perils of latency

Latency in Freud's psycho-sexual model is questioned as a somewhat perilous notion, seldom experienced indeed as a latent period as regards sexual and other drives. This appears to be reflected in the literature. Instead, the author suggests following Hartung with regard to a latency mode rather than a latency stage: the latency mode refers to a mind-set into which it is desirable to enter when engaged in learning, at whatever age, and wherever the learning situation. The perils of latency are then also those factors that inhibit that mind-set, and therefore the capacity to learn; six major factors are then considered in relation to difficulties in learning, mainly drawing upon examples in the setting of further and higher education.     

The perils of centralized research funding systems

The distribution of research funds by key funding agencies in Canada and the U.S. is based on the idea of selectivity, i.e., the policy of NOT funding a significant fraction of the applicants. Despite the fact that this policy is superficially justified by the peer review-enforced goal of "excellence," in practice it tends to favor research along well-established lines and discourages novel approaches, innovation, and risk taking. Furthermore, the secretive nature of the funding system efficiently turns it into a self-serving network operating on the principle of an "old boys’ club." This even further undercuts the veneer of objectivity in the peer review assessment because funding panels can arbitrarily interpret reviews at their whim without oversight. Although the system calls itself "competition,", the idea of real interactive competition is actually betrayed. What we have, in fact, is a centralized and authoritarian quasi-socialist grant distribution system. The article disputes the common belief that the major problem of a granting system is "government under-funding." On the contrary, it argues that much of a trivial research is actually OVER-funded. The main problem is the distribution system, not the overall level of funding. An alternative funding model is proposed. In a nutshell, it is a "fund researchers, not proposals" strategy. Drastic simplification of the funding process is advocated. The proposed measures are largely at odds with the present paradigm of selectivity and fierce competition as catalyzers of "excellence." The latter notion is dismissed as misleading. In order to see more innovation, we need a more uniform funding system (a sliding funding scale), even it means lower average funding levels. He immigrated to Canada in 1978 and in 1980 joined the Engineering faculty of McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, where he is presently professor of Engineering Physics. He is an author or co-author of over 120 peer-reviewed papers in semiconductor and plasma physics, electronics, environmental engineering, biophysics, philosophical problems of physics, and social aspects of scientific research.     

The promise of object-oriented programming

Object-oriented programming may provide a way in which programs for running experiments can be created with a minimum of effort without sacrificing flexibility or generality. In this approach, a new experiment is created by defining descendents of an object hierarchy that “inherit” most of the behavior common to some general paradigm, but “override” the methods that are specific to the new experiment. An object hierarchy for implementing common cognitive psychology paradigms is described as an illustration.     

Aging and self-regulated language processing

An adult developmental model of self-regulated language processing (SRLP) is introduced, in which the allocation policy with which a reader engages text is driven by declines in processing capacity, growth in knowledge-based processes, and age-related shifts in reading goals. Evidence is presented to show that the individual reader's allocation policy is consistent across time and across different types of text, can serve a compensatory function in relation to abilities, and is predictive of subsequent memory performance. As such, it is an important facet of language understanding and learning from text through the adult life span.     

Optimising self-regulated study: the benefits - and costs - of dropping flashcards

Self-regulation of study activities is a constant in the lives of students - who must decide what to study, when to study, how long to study, and by what method to study. We investigated self-regulation in the context of a common study method: flashcards. In four experiments we examined the basis and effectiveness of a metacognitive strategy adopted almost universally by students: setting aside (dropping) items they think they know. Dropping has a compelling logic - it creates additional opportunities to study undropped items - but it rests on two shaky foundations: students' metacognitive monitoring and the value they assign to further study. In fact, being allowed to drop flashcards had small but consistently negative effects on learning. The results suggest that the effectiveness of self-regulated study depends on both the accuracy of metacognitive monitoring and the learner's understanding, or lack thereof, of how people learn.     

The relationship between executive functioning and self-regulated learning in Australian children

Executive functioning (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) are established predictors of academic achievement, both concurrent and future. Although it has been theorized that EF development enables SRL in early childhood, this directional model remains empirically untested against plausible alternatives. Thus, this study investigated the longitudinal relations between children’s EF and SRL during the transition from kindergarten to Year 1 in an Australian sample to determine the direction and strength of the association between EF and SRL. We compared four directional models and also tested whether EF and SRL can be construed as manifestations of a common factor. Children’s EF was assessed using a battery of tasks tapping working memory, inhibition, and shifting, and their SRL was assessed by teachers using the Checklist of Independent Learning Development. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling analyses were conducted on a longitudinal dataset of 176 children at the end of kindergarten (age M = 5 years, 8 months; SD = 4.02 months), and 1 year later (age M = 6 years, 5 months; SD = 3.65 months). EF predicted SRL longitudinally (β= .58, controlling for kindergarten SRL), consistent with common assumptions, whereas SRL did not predict EF. However, the common factor model also fit the data very well. We concluded that EF and SRL are indeed related concurrently and longitudinally but that further evidence is needed to disambiguate whether EF is best understood as a necessary antecedent of SRL development in early childhood, or whether they reflect the same general construct.     

The perils of partialling: cautionary tales from aggression and psychopathy

Although a powerful technique, the partialling of independent variables from one another in the context of multiple regression analysis poses certain perils. The present article argues that the most important and underappreciated peril is the difficulty in knowing what construct an independent variable represents once the variance shared with other independent variables is removed. The present article presents illustrative analyses in a large sample of inmates (n=696) using three measures from the psychopathy and aggression fields. Results indicate that in terms of relations among items on a single scale and relations between scales, the raw and residualized scores bore little resemblance to one another. It is argued that researchers must decide to which construct-the one represented by the original scale or the one represented by the residualized scale-conclusions are meant to apply. Difficulties in applying the conclusions to the residualized scale are highlighted and best practices suggested.     

The perils of intimacy: Closeness and distance in feeding and weaning

This paper is based on work in the baby clinic of a general practice, with examples from infant observation, and ideas from recent research. It is something of an interdisciplinary paper.     

The perils of protection: vulnerability and women in clinical research

Subpart B of 45 Code of Federal Regulations Part 46 (CFR) identifies the criteria according to which research involving pregnant women, human fetuses, and neonates can be conducted ethically in the United States. As such, pregnant women and fetuses fall into a category requiring “additional protections,” often referred to as “vulnerable populations.” The CFR does not define vulnerability, but merely gives examples of vulnerable groups by pointing to different categories of potential research subjects needing additional protections. In this paper, I assess critically the role of this categorization of pregnant women involved in research as “vulnerable,” both as separate entities and in combination with the fetuses they carry. In particular, I do three things: (1) demonstrate that pregnant women qua pregnancy are either not “vulnerable” according to any meaningful definition of that term or that such vulnerability is irrelevant to her status as a research participant; (2) argue that while a fetus may be vulnerable in terms of dependency, this categorization does not equate to the vulnerability of the pregnant woman; and (3) suggest that any vulnerability that appends to women is precisely the result of federal regulations and dubious public perceptions about pregnant women. I conclude by demonstrating how this erroneous characterization of pregnant women as “vulnerable” and its associated protections have not only impeded vital research for pregnant women and their fetuses, but have also negatively affected the inclusion of all women in clinical research.     

The perils of Perrin,in the hands of philosophers

The story of how Perrin’s experimental work established the reality of atoms and molecules has been a staple in (realist) philosophy of science writings (Wesley Salmon, Clark Glymour, Peter Achinstein, Penelope Maddy, …). I’ll argue that how this story is told distorts both what the work was and its significance, and draw morals for the understanding of how theories can be or fail to be empirically grounded.

The dreaded promise of Christmas and the New Year

For many patients, mixed feelings of promise and dread that can accompany the holiday season appear in consciousness faintly and fleetingly, usually in the form of bad expectations. But the "dreaded promise" (an oxymoron) of change can come to full life and is always potentially present, especially at separations, and is usually perceptible by the analyst. The dread can be accompanied by expectations full of wonderful promise. The promise of Christmas is followed by the promise of New Year's Day--a time for new beginnings and resolutions aimed at changes for the better. But, for some, happy expectations evoking change have in the past been succeeded by bad ones, and the revival of predominant dread can be cruel and repetitive.     

The promise and peril of self-affirmation in de-escalation of commitment

Drawing on the motivated cognition literature, we examine how self-affirmation processes influence self-justification needs and escalation decisions. Study 1 found that individuals with a larger pool of affirmational resources (high self-esteem) reduced their escalation compared to those with fewer affirmational resources (low self-esteem). Study 2 extended these findings by demonstrating that individuals also de-escalated their commitments when they were provided an opportunity to affirm on an important value. Finally, Study 3 found that affirming on traits that were of low relevance (e.g., creativity) to an initial decision reduced escalation, but affirming on decision-relevant traits (e.g., decision-making ability) ironically increased escalation. Across three studies, using three instantiations of self-affirmations and two measures of escalation, the results highlight the potential benefits and costs of using self-affirmation as a vehicle to de-escalate commitment.