Effects of positive and negative adult-child interactions on children's social preference

The effects of positive and negative interactions on children's performance and preferences for the adults associated with each type of interaction were studied. Five children served as subjects during daily sessions in which each of three adults followed prescribed patterns of social interaction. One adult (positive) dispensed positive comments contingent upon either color-sorting or completion of arithmetic problems; a second adult (negative) mildly reprimanded the child for off-task behavior; and the third adult (extinction or nonreactive) said nothing to the child when he was present. Following each session the three adults reentered and the child chose one of them for an additional period of interaction. Three response measures (frequency, latency, and percent of time on-task) and children's adult preferences were obtained daily. The negative adult affected the most task behavior and had strongest stimulus control; the positive adult, though exerting little control over children's behavior, was the most preferred. Children's adult preferences were not specific to the task setting, but were observed across a variety of contexts.     

A comparison of methods for measuring the interletter similarity between capital letters

Measures of interletter similarity are often required in perception experiments. The most reliable and valid of the available measures appears to be Townsend’s (1971) set of similarity parameters based on the Luce choice model. A simple mechanical measure offered a fairly strong prediction of the Luce choice-model similarity measure, as did a subjective rating measure based on the 10-point visual similarity ratings of eight subjects. By comparison, Gibson et al.’s (1963) matching-confusion matrix faired poorly, as did Gibson’s (1969) distinctive feature analysis based on a letter pair’s number of shared features. Distinctive feature analysis was significantly improved by substituting the feature set proposed by Geyer and DeWald (1973) or by weighting the features optimally via regression analysis. Such analyses suggested that figural curvature may be a particularly important perceptual feature, but in no case did these feature-analytic models predict the Luce measure as well as the mechanical or subjective rating measures.     

Movement and illumination factors in adaptation to prismatic viewing

While wearing laterally displacing prisms, Ss were required to align a spot of light to the phenomenal straightahead. These measurements were obtained at the beginning and at the end of an exposure to prismatic displacement. In addition, Ss either actively controlled movement of the spot of light, or movement was manipulated by E under the direction of the S. Aftereffects were determined by having S position the spot of light with normal vision at the beginning of the experiment and after each measurement obtained under prism viewing. Ss in the darkened room condition who were required to align the spot of light actively showed a significant aftereffect in the direction of prismatic displacement both at the beginning and at the end of the exposure period. No difference in the degree of adaptation was found between those measurements at the beginning and at the end of the exposure period. No significant aftereffects were found when the room was illuminated during prism exposure or when E controlled movement of the light source.     

An analysis of aftereffects in the measurement of the correction effect

Ss, under prismatic viewing, aligned a spot of light to the apparent straightahead first in the dark and then under illumination. Ss made these judgments either by controlling the spot themselves or by directing E in moving it. For both types of alignment procedures, judgments were significantly more veridical in the illuminated room (correction effect). Aftereffects, measured after both the spot alignment in the dark and in the light, were found to be significant only when S moved the stimulus. These results contradict the argument that the egocentric localization processes involved in the production of the correction effect itself are the basis of the aftereffects obtained.     

Psychological concomitants of cystic fibrosis in children and adolescents

Thirty cystic fibrosis (CF) and 30 matched control children and their parents were administered several psychiatric inventories including the child (DICA) and parent (DICA-P) versions of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, the Child Behavior Check List, the Hopelessness Scale, and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Data analysis revealed few differences in either psychopathological symptoms or psychiatric diagnoses between the CF and control children. The differences which did emerge were either physical in nature (reflecting somatic complaints) or did not depart enough from normal scores to merit the label of high psychopathology. The results are discussed in terms of the growing evidence that CF children do not suffer from greater psychopathology than do normal children.