Possession is not always the law: With age, preschoolers increasingly use verbal information to identify who owns what

Children can identify owners either by seeing a person in possession of an object (a visual cue) and inferring that they are the owner or by hearing testimony about a claim of ownership (a verbal cue). A total of 391 children between 2.5 and 6years of age were tested in three experiments assessing how children identify owners when these two cues are in conflict. Children were presented with stories using two dolls and a toy. One doll possessed the toy, and children were told that the toy was either the possessor's or the nonpossessor's. Two forms of ownership statement were used: a third-person statement, "That is Billy's ball", and a first-person statement by one of the dolls, "That is my ball". The results show that by 4years of age, children prioritize the verbal statements as a more reliable cue to ownership than physical possession. Younger children did not prioritize possession over the verbal cue to ownership but rather gave mixed responses. These results are discussed in terms of children's social experience outside of the home and their acceptance of testimony in other domains.     

Is “Σ” purple or green? Bistable grapheme-color synesthesia induced by ambiguous characters

People with grapheme-color synesthesia perceive specific colors when viewing different letters or numbers. Previous studies have suggested that synesthetic color experience can be bistable when induced by an ambiguous character. However, the exact relationship between processes underlying the identity of an alphanumeric character and the experience of the induced synesthetic color has not been examined. In the present study, we explored this by focusing on the temporal relation of inducer identification and color emergence using inducers whose identity could be rendered ambiguous upon rotation of the characters. Specifically, achromatic alphabetic letters (W/M) and digits (6/9) were presented at varying angles to 9 grapheme-color synesthetes. Results showed that grapheme identification and synesthetically perceived grapheme color covary with the orientation of the test stimulus and that synesthetes were slower naming the experienced color than identifying the character, particularly at intermediate angles where ambiguity was greatest.     

Probable PTSD and Impairment in Witnesses of Work-Related Fatalities

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, steel, oil, and mining are among the nation's most dangerous industries. This study assessed probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive symptoms, life functioning, and well-being in a unique sample of 89 members of the United Steelworkers who reported directly witnessing an occupational fatality. Of the sample, 25.8% reported symptoms consistent with probable PTSD, while 21.3% reported symptoms consistent with subthreshold PTSD. These two groups differed significantly from the non-PTSD group on measures of depressive symptoms, well-being, and life functioning. These findings highlight the further need for assessment and intervention for workers exposed to fatalities.     

The Weapon Focus Effect in Target‐Present and Target‐Absent Line‐Ups: The Roles of Threat,Novelty, and Timing

When an eyewitness suffers an impairment of memory for a perpetrator because the criminal used a weapon during the crime, this impairment is called the weapon focus effect. The literature is split on how this arises: Some implicate the narrowing of attentional cues to the weapon because the arousal of the victim increases, whereas others claim that the weapon is a novel object in most everyday contexts, and novel objects demand more attention than contextually appropriate ones. The current study employed a simulated crime paradigm featuring a normal, novel, or threatening object. Timing of the object's presentation was manipulated such that it was visible before, after, or during the time when the culprit's face was visible. Target‐present and target‐absent line‐ups as well as retrospective questions were administered. Both the novel object and the weapon resulted in increased mistaken identifications in target‐absent line‐ups. Structural equation modeling suggested that object novelty mediated this effect. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing Immediate Retention with Clickers Through Individual Response Identification

Classroom audience response systems, in which students respond to class questions via a remote ‘clicker’ unit, are widely used as a method for increasing student participation and providing immediate feedback in the form of a group frequency distribution. The phenomenon of social facilitation shows that task performance can be enhanced with co‐action of others or with the presence of an audience. To enhance the audience effect, we employed a unique feedback system that displays each individual's response. After reading a text passage, participants responded via a remote clicker to a series of comprehension questions. Participants were provided with no feedback regarding other respondents' answers, group feedback, or individual feedback. The results demonstrated significantly higher test performance with individual response identification. Implications are discussed in terms of applied classroom settings and social facilitation with enhanced options for displaying different types of feedback with clickers during instruction. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of an Antecedent Intervention on Repetitive Behaviors of a Child With Autism

Repetitive self-injurious eye poking and stereotypic hand clapping were assessed in a child with autism and hearing impairment. A functional behavioral assessment conducted to identify the variables maintaining eye-poking behaviors indicated automatic reinforcement. Choice and environmental enrichment strategies were implemented to decrease the motivating operations associated with eye poking. Providing a choice of toys to hold in his hand led to the greatest reductions in both repetitive eye poking and hand clapping. Three follow-up observations were conducted 9 months after the intervention, which indicated that eye poking was eliminated and hand clapping was greatly reduced. This antecedent intervention was simple and effective, two hallmarks of sustainable behavior interventions.