The “Friendly visitor” program data: A reply to Denney

Conclusion In summary, Denney's failure to obtain the original results with her reanalyses can be attributed to the fact that she (a) scored some variables differently, (b) included an inappropriate subjects who was not entered into the original analyses, (c) excluded appropriate subjects who were used in the original analyses, (d) included an additional invalid dependent measure previously dicarded, and (e) may have used a different residualization algorithm. In view of these differences, it is not surprising that the multivariate and unvariate results that she obtained were different from those originally reported.We hope that now the procedural differences that account for the inconsistencies alleged by Denney are clear.     

On the nature of the foreign accent syndrome: A case study

A detailed acoustic analysis was conducted of the speech production of a single patient presenting with the foreign accent syndrome subsequent to a left-hemisphere stroke in the subcortical white matter of the pre-rolandic and post-rolandic gyri at the level of the body of the lateral ventricle. It was the object of this research to determine those changes which contribute to the perception of a "foreign accent." A number of acoustic parameters were investigated, including features of consonant production relating to voice, place, and manner of articulation, vowel production relating to vowel quality and duration, and speech melody relating to fundamental frequency. The results indicated that many attributes which might have contributed to the foreign quality of the patient's speech were similar to those of normal English speakers. However, a number of critical elements involving consonant and vowel production and intonation were impaired. It was hypothesized that the acoustically anomalous features are linked to a common underlying deficit relating to speech prosody. It is suggested that the normal listener categorizes this speech pattern as a foreign accent because the anomalous speech characteristics, while not a part of the English phonetic inventory, reflect stereotypical features which are a part of the universal phonetic properties found in natural language.     

Androgyny on the TV screen? An analysis of sex-role portrayal

Characters in a random sample of dramatic television programs representative of family time and later viewing time in 1975 and equivalent time periods in 1976 were rated on sex-role portrayal, using traits from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). The family time concept, which eliminated violence and sex from programs shown between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. during 1975, had a significant effect on sex-role portrayal. Male characters were portrayed in a more realistic, though still highly masculine, way than their counterparts in other time periods. Female characters were portrayed as somewhat more feminine during family time than during other viewing hours. A significant interaction effect among viewing time, type of program, and sex of character suggested that content considered acceptable for younger viewers emphasized the stereotypical female role.This research was reported in part at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Seattle, April 1977. The author expresses appreciation to all those individuals who assisted with the project by serving as judges and as critics, and to the anonymous reviewer who made many helpful suggestions.     

Sex differences in competition—cooperation behavior of children at two age levels

Competitive or cooperative behaviors of children were observed in two experiments. In Experiment 1, 7- to 9-year-old boys and girls played a board game with same- or opposite-sex partners under instructions which stressed either group or individual performance. Girls' behavior varied as a function of both instructions and partner sex. Girls playing the game with boys showed more highly competitive behavior than did girls who played the game with girls. Boys were highly competitive under all conditions. In Experiment 2, preschool children were observed in a similar game. For both sexes, children who played the game with opposite-sex partners were more competitive and obtained fewer rewards than those who interacted with same-sex partners. Thus, with development, boys show a change from selective competitiveness to a very general tendency to compete, while girls show a consistent tendency to vary their game behavior according to situational cues such as those provided by instructions or the sex of a game partner.A report of the first experiment was made at the Third Biennial Southeastern Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development, Chapel Hill, March 1974. The authors would like to thank the personnel of St. Francis Cabrini School and the Children's House Montessori School of New Orleans, Louisiana, for their cooperation in providing research participants.     

Pictorial representations in adults and children

Reaction time to make same-object judgements was measured for pairs of identical pictures, picture synonyms, identical words, word synonyms, and picture-word combinations in adults and children. At all ages, synonym comparisons took longer than identical comparisons. Adults, but not children responded no faster to picture-word pairs than to picture synonym pairs. This is taken as evidence for the use of abstract pictorial information by adults but not by children. Children seem to compare two different exemplars of the same object verbally in the absence of well-integrated abstract pictorial representations.     

Some consequences of stereoscopic depth constancy

Retinal disparity decreases in proportion to the square of the distance of the corresponding objective depth interval from the eyes. Up to a distance of 2 m, stereoscopic depth perception compensates well for this decrease in disparity with observation distance; for a given disparity, experienced depth increases approximately in proportion to the square of the observation distance. When disparities are artificially produced, by anaglyphs or vectograms, or by spectacles, they decrease only in proportion to the first power of the observation distance. The same is true when the Pulfrich effect gives rise to equivalents of disparity. Depth perception, however, compensates for the normal disparity loss. As a result, there should be a net gain in perceived depth approximately in proportion to the first power of observation distance. When perceived depth caused by horizontal magnification in one eye or by the Pulfrich effect was measured, it was found to increase approximately in proportion to observation distance.     

Memory for faces: A social learning analysis

Recognition memory for unfamiliar faces was related to locus of control and anxiety. On the basis of Rotter's social learning theory, it was predicted that memory for faces would be associated with more internal locus of control in an unstructured memory task but not when encoding was controlled. In Experiment 1, where no specific instructions about encoding were presented, the predicted relationship was found for males. In addition, better recognition was associated with low anxiety for females. In Experiment 2, where encoding was controlled by having subjects judge the faces, no significant correlations between the personality measures and memory were found. The results are interpreted as supporting predictions made on the basis of social learning theory.     

Double-blind and triple-blind assessments of medication and placebo responses in hyperactive children

Hyperactive boys taking psychostimulant medication were studied using a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Behavior ratings and medication guesstimates were obtained for the boys when they were given methylphenidate (Ritalin) and when they were given a placebo. The ratings showed positive medication-related changes, and the guesses, done by independent judges, were significantly better than chance. The pattern of ratings for double-blind and triple-blind raters was identical. These results imply that positive psychostimulant effects are not attributable to rater sensitization or expectancy. The medication-placebo differences were highly reliable for the group comparisons and were in the predicted direction for 21 of 22 individuals, but the magnitude of the change for many individuals was not dramatic. Implications for child psychopharmacology research and differences between clinical and experimental significance are discussed.This research program was supported by NIMH grant MH 29475. Medications and matching placebos were supplied by CIBA. The authors appreciate the assistance of Howard Adelman and the staff of Fernald School, where the program was housed. We also appreciate the devotion of the entire research staff and the technical assistance of Doris Finck, Sharon Dotemoto, Joy Stapp, and George Mount.     

Androgyny and traditional versus nontraditional major choice among college freshmen

The present study investigated the relationship of psychological androgyny to career choice among college freshmen. Women in home economics and engineering and men in engineering (N = 231) completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and rating scales of satisfaction with and certainty of college major and intended occupation. As a group, women in engineering scored in a more androgynous direction than did either men in engineering or women in home economics. Among sex-typed subjects, more women in engineering scored in a masculine sex-typed category than did women in home economics. Men and women in engineering did not differ on satisfaction and certainty ratings of major or career; however, feminine-typed women were significantly less satisfied with and tended to be less certain of their choice of major than other women in engineering.     

Dimensions of stuttering and relationship to psychopathology

This article reports two studies. The first attempted to define stable dimensions within the Stuttering Severity (SS) scale. A factor analysis of correlations among its 64 items defined four factor-based subscales, and three additional subscales were developed rationally. Relationships among these seven subscales suggested the existence of two major dimensions. The second study investigated the relationship of the seven subscales to psychopathology. Correlations were obtained among the subscales and MMPI scales for 69 subjects, and were subjected to a second factor analysis. The MMPI scales and the SS subscales clearly loaded on separate factors, indicating little relationship between dimensions of stuttering and psychopathology as defined by MMPI scores. The second analysis also supported the previous identification of two general dimensions for stuttering. Items were selected for two final scales to represent these dimensions, labeled behavior (22 items) and sensitivity (20 items). Norms were developed for them and also for the full 64-item SS scale.