Self-instructions: Effects of cognitive level and active rehearsal

This research examined the effects of a self-instruction intervention on the relationship between cognitive level and conceptual tempo. Preoperational and concrete operational children received the Matching Familiar Figures Test prior to and after serving in either a no training control group, a content only control group, or a self-instruction group. Children in the content only control group received the same set of self-guiding strategy statements as those in the self-instruction group but without overt rehearsal of the statements. Cognitive level and conceptual tempo were strongly related; preoperational children tended to be classified as impulsive, concrete operational chidlren, as reflective. Although cognitive level predicted overall performance, with concrete operational children being more successful and more reflective than preoperational children, the influence of training was similar for both groups. On posttest, children in the self-instruction groups made more correct responses and were more reflective than children in the other two training groups.     

THE CLASS SPECIFIC EFFECTS OF COMPLIANCE TRAINING WITH “DO” AND “DON'T” REQUESTS: ANALOGUE ANALYSIS AND CLASSROOM APPLICATION

Two experiments are reported in which the relationship between compliance with “do” and “don't” requests was examined with developmentally disabled children. In Experiment 1, a multiple baseline design across subjects with counterbalanced treatment conditions was used to evaluate a compliance training program composed of four phases: (a) baseline, during which no consequences were delivered for compliance, (b) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “do” request, (c) reinforcement for compliance with one targeted “don't” request, and (d) follow-up with reinforcement on a variable ratio schedule for compliance with any “do” or “don't” request. Results of probes conducted before and after training within each condition indicated that generalized compliance occurred only with requests of the same type as the target exemplar (“do” or “don't”). In Experiment 2, these results were replicated in a classroom setting. Following collection of baseline probe data on student compliance, a teacher training program was successfully implemented to increase reinforcement of compliance first with one “do” and subsequently with one “don't” request of a target student. Results of multiple baseline probes across “do” and “don't” requests indicated that the teacher generalized and maintained reinforcement of compliance with other requests of the same type and to other students, with a resulting increase in student compliance with the type of requests reinforced. The impact of treatment on both teacher and student behavior was socially validated via consumer ratings. Implications of these findings with respect to response class formation and compliance training programs are discussed.     

Journal Reviews

B ash , K. (Berne). 'Ein Verglich dreierlei Messmethoden für die Extraversion/Introversion'
C ahen , R. (Paris). 'Inquiétez-vous, c'est psychique'
C ahen , R. (Paris). Prefface to the 'nth' edition of L' Homme à la Decouverte de son Ame
G oldenberg , N. (Ottawa). 'A feminist critique of Jung'
M aduro , R. (San Francisco). 'working with Lations and the use of dream analysis'
M asse -R ouquette , J. (Le Mesnil-St Denis). 'Femme et surréalisme'
M c C ully ,R. (Charleston). 'Parapsychology and symbol formation'
P ignatelli , M. (Rome). 'Un incognita chiamata amore'
Pegnatelli, M. (Rome). 'Il fantasma del terzo'
P ignatielli , M. (Rome). 'Psiche e realta del fenomeno umano'
P ontius , A. (New York). 'Stimuli triggering violence in psychoses'.
P ontius , A. (New York). 'Geometric figure-rotation task and face representation in dyslexia: role fo spatial relations and orientation'.
P ontius , A. (New York). 'Face representation linked with literacy with literacy level in colonial American tombstone engravings and Third World pre-literates'
T aylor , C. (New York). 'Sexual intimacy between patient and analyst'.
Z iegler , A. (Zürich). 'Die schattern von olympia—über Veitstanz und Zitterkrankheiten'     

The development of young children's awareness of logical inconsistencies

Research by Markman (1979) suggests that children up to 12 years of age do not spontaneously detect logical inconsistencies. The present study was directed to factors which may limit children's ability to recognize their failures to understand. A task was devised which involved materials that were clearly based on children's experiences, and which involved premises and conclusions which were presented contiguously, rather than being interspersed among other sentences. Ninety-six 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old children were asked to judge the acceptability of eight three-sentence “stories” told by a puppet, and were asked to justify their responses. The stories differed in whether they were consistent or inconsistent, and in whether the principle upon which a story's consistency depended was implicitly or explicitly stated. The results showed developmental differences. By Age 7 years, most children were quite capable of evaluating sentences for their logical consistency. Five-year-olds, however, did not perform as well on the task, especially when the information upon which the logical cohesiveness of the stories rested was implicitly, rather than explicitly, stated. An examination of the justifications provided by these children revealed that they tended to question the empirical validity of individual sentences, rather than integrate the story as a whole and examine its overall logical structure.     

Quest: A Bayesian adaptive psychometric method

An adaptive psychometric procedure that places each trial at the current most probable Bayesian estimate of threshold is described. The procedure takes advantage of the common finding that the human psychometric function is invariant in form when expressed as a function of log intensity. The procedure is simple, fast, and efficient, and may be easily implemented on any computer.     

Aphasia following a right thalamic hemorrhage

A left-handed patient with a right thalamic hemorrhage and disordered speech is described. Sequential examinations and aphasia testing were done during a 1-year follow-up period and the results are reported. This case supports those authors who have described characteristics they feel are helpful in diagnosing disordered speech associated with thalamic lesions. Paucity of speech, reduced voice volume, anomia, some paraphasia, and severe dysgraphia were present, but comprehension and repetition were relatively preserved. She showed modest improvement with time. This case also confirms that thalamic involvement in speech is a dominant, rather than a specifically left hemispheric function.     

Mood and the self-reference bias in recall

Hypotheses linking a negative recall bias (or negative self-schema) with vulnerability to depression were tested using an experimental mood-induction task. Extent of bias in student subjects was found to be unstable over a 4-month period, but different measures of memory bias within one session were highly correlated. Marginally significant correlations in the expected direction were found between estimates of recall bias and mood state, whether measured at the same or at different times. Change in mood following induction did not relate to change in bias, suggesting that the observed differences in recall are not a simple function of transient mood state alone. Equally, the initial recall bias did not predict the extent of mood shift following induction, as would be expected if a negative self-schema determined ease of mood shift in a negative direction. However, significant correlations were found between negative recall bias and self-reported frequency and severity of depression, lending equivocal support to the negative self-schema model.     

The effects of hand and direction parameter preknowledge on choice reaction times

The two studies undertaken investigated how reaction times are affected by preknowledge concerning hand and direction parameters, and the order in which these data are disclosed. In the first experiment, preknowledge was manipulated by selecting 2-CRT pairs which had either a common hand or direction component. Reaction signal information content (as defined by the number of unknown response parameters) was controlled, but no parameter differences emerged. When parameter order was manipulated by sequential precuing, the ‘hand then direction’ order conferred a significant advantage. Motor preparation and response selection explanations for this effect are considered. Various difficulties with the paradigms used are discussed, including those of distinguishing between response selection and motor programming contributions, controlling and inferring the strategies adopted by subjects, and defining task difficulty. The prospects for independently fostering either response identification or motor preparation by means of an appropriate selection of precues are also discussed.