Semantic universals in sentence processing and interpretation: A study of Chinese,finnish, Japanese,and Slovenian speakers

The universality of certain aspects of sentence interpretation was investigated with native speakers of a variety of language families.Ss were given, in their own language, the same 156 affirmative and 156 corresponding negative sentences to sort into categories solely on the basis of sentence samples. The categories represented semantic sentence interpretations based on information value and nonsensicality.Ss generally sorted the same sentences (translation equivalents) into the same categories: e.g., Informative,The person is a man; Redundant,The man is a person; Contradictory,The chair is a spouse; Amphigorously Redundant,The chair is not a spouse. A semantic feature analysis indicates thatSs base their interpretations on particular interactions of features. Sets of rules and operations utilizing such feature combinations are formulated and attributed to theSs. Such knowledge is postulated to be universal to speakers of all languages.     

Phonology,reading, and Chomsky and Halle's optimal orthography

Chomsky and Halle claim that an orthography based on their underlying phonological representations (UPR) of lexical items would be optimal for English. This paper challenges three of C & H's basic phonological assumptions, that their vowel shift rule is valid, that the UPR is the only sound representation to be listed in the lexicon, and that derived words do not appear as wholes in the lexicon. A less abstract phonological representation level based on the conscious perceptions of speakers, the surface phonemic (SPR), is proposed. An SPR-based orthography has advantages which a UPR-based orthography would not: it is easy to learn and teach, it can be learned at an early age, and it permits rapid detection of rhyme. It is concluded that an orthography based on SPRs, and not UPRs, would be optimal.This research was supported in part by Office of Education contract OEC-9-71-0036(508), project 1-0527, to D. Steinberg and R. Krohn.     

Classification and validation of family climate subtypes in Kibbutz fathers of disabled and nondisabled children

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of disabled children on their fathers. Perceptions of family climate, sense of coherence, and satisfaction from family life were measured among 66 fathers of disabled children and among 74 fathers with nondisabled children in an Israeli kibbutz. The fathers of disabled children showed lower sense of coherence, derived less satisfaction from family life, and viewed their families as less encouraging of personal growth among family members. Four subtypes of family climate patterns, perceived by fathers of disabled children, were identified by cluster analysis and validated by the sense of coherence and global family satisfaction measures. Cluster analysis for the fathers of nondisabled children replicated the subtypes identified. The four subtypes were conceptualized as families with a (a) personal growth orientation, (b) conflict orientation, (c) conflict avoidance orientation, and (d) recreation avoidance orientation. Significant differences were found between the subtypes with regard to the family climate variables and satisfaction and coherence measures. Results demonstrated that different patterns of family climate characterized the two groups of fathers: In almost every cluster the measures of personal growth were lower for the fathers of disabled children.The authors would like to acknowledge the editorial assistance of Dee M. Bargteil.Special Education, Kibbutzim Movement, Tel Aviv, Israel 61400.     

Nocebo: The psychologic induction of pain

More than two-thirds of an unselected sample of 34 college students reported mild headaches when told that a (nonexistent) electric current was passing through their heads. These reports appeared independent of whether the instructions emphasized the headache-producing effect of the current or whether the emphasis was on a perceptual task, with headache as only a possible side effect. The results are consistent with a view of pain as localized stress. They provide additional grounds for the suspicion that clinical focusing on pain may itself be a cause of pain.     

The effects of confederate prompt delivery style in a standardized social simulation test

Role plays or social simulations are presently one of the most common methods for assessing social skills. Although social simulation techniques have become quite popular, little is known about the psychometric adequacy of many of the role-play instruments which have been developed. This investigation was an attempt to determine certain properties of one particular social skills assessment instrument: the Simulated Social Interaction Test. The effects of various confederate prompt delivery styles on the judged social competency level of subjects in the Simulated Social Interaction Test were examined. Two confederates, one male and one female, were trained to portray three confederate prompt delivery styles: (a) unreceptive, (b) neutral, and (c) receptive. In order to determine if judges would compensate for the different confederate prompt delivery styles, two sets of trained judges rated the levels of skill and anxiety generated by the 30 subjects tested. One set of judges was screened from the confererate delivery while observing the simulation; the other set of judges followed the more common rating procedure (i.e., they were not screened from the confederates' deliveries). Data analysis examined variation in subject performance under each condition and according to each set of judges for both overall social skills and anxiety ratings. Confederate prompt delivery style was found to affect subjects' rated performance. There was also suggestive evidence that judges were sometimes able to compensate for different confederate delivery styles. The practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.This study was funded in part by a research grant from the Veterans Administration.     

Selective listening and threshold for tones appearing on a relevant and on an irrelevant input channel

Threshold scores for tones appearing on shadowed and on nonshadowed messages were obtained in order to test whether input presented on an irrelevant channel is attenuated when Ss attend to another channel. Comparisons were made between threshold scores obtained for each ear, when Ss shadowed messages appearing on that ear and when Ss shadowed messages appearing on the contralateral ear. The threshold scores in the two conditions were highly similar. Data are evaluated in the context of auditory target detection, with targets identified by their verbal content vs their physical characteristics.     

Effects of nitrous oxide on reactions to “stress”

It has been demonstrated that exposure to the stress of a situation involving conflict or frustration may interfere significantly with subsequent learning. Behaviour under stress is characterized by experiences of “anxiety” and by widespread physiological changes. Inhalation of nitrous oxide has the general effect of reducing the extent of these symptoms.

The present investigation using insoluble and soluble problems has demonstrated that both nitrous oxide and exposure to stress impair learning; but that, when subjects are exposed to stress while under the influence of the drug, the effects of the stress on subsequent learning are abolished. It is suggested that these empirical results may be accounted for either in terms of “anxiety-reduction” or in terms of transfer effects.     

The influence of medical and legal authorities on deaths facilitated by physicians.

This study investigated whether two widely publicized cases of deaths facilitated by physicians were followed by significant peaks in mortality. In March, 1991, Timothy Quill, MD, published a controversial editorial describing the physician-assisted suicide (PAS) of his 45-year-old, female leukemia patient. In a landmark decision in December 1990, the Missouri Supreme Court allowed removal of life support for Nancy Cruzan, a comatose accident victim. Correcting for trends and seasonal fluctuations, the authors examined: (1) U.S. leukemia mortality in the period centered on Quill's editorial, and (2) mortality from accident/coma combinations in the period centered on the Missouri Supreme Court's decision on Cruzan. Female leukemia deaths rose 11.3% above the expected rate (p < .01) just after Quill's article was published. The more closely the decedent matched Quill's patient, the greater the peak, with the largest peak (33.9%) evident for female leukemia patients in their 40s, who were long-term residents of smaller communities (p < .05). Five possible explanations for the findings were assessed, leading to the conclusion that Quill's editorial elicited an increase in mortality. The involvement of physicians in this increase is supported by analysis of the Cruzan case. This showed a mortality peak of 57% for accident/coma patients following the court decision.