Re-thinking stages of cognitive development: an appraisal of connectionist models of the balance scale task

The present paper re-appraises connectionist attempts to explain how human cognitive development appears to progress through a series of sequential stages. Models of performance on the Piagetian balance scale task are the focus of attention. Limitations of these models are discussed and replications and extensions to the work are provided via the Cascade-Correlation algorithm. An application of multi-group latent class analysis for examining performance of the networks is described and these results reveal fundamental functional characteristics of the networks. Evidence is provided that strongly suggests that the networks are unable to acquire a mastery of torque and, although they do recover certain rules of operation that humans do, they also show a propensity to acquire rules never previously seen.     

Her heart is in the right place: an investigation of the ‘heartbeat hypothesis’ as an explanation of the left side cradling preference in a mother with dextrocardia

A majority of mothers, whether right- or left-handed, exhibit a preference to hold their babies to the left of the body midline. One of the earliest explanations for this finding proposed that babies were being held close to the mother's heart [Salk, L. (1960). World Mental Health, 12 , 168–175]. Salk suggested that the foetus becomes imprinted on the sound of the maternal heartbeat in utero. This paper reports a left holding preference in a mother who has the heart positioned on the right rather than the normal left side of the body. Salk's ‘heartbeat hypothesis’ is not supported by the holding preference of the dextrocardiac mother, nor by the detailed patterns of holding in the control group. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Millennials’ (Lack of) Attitude Problem: An Empirical Examination of Generational Effects on Work Attitudes

Purpose  

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the sparse empirical literature on generational differences at work by examining (1) the effect of generation on work attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, job security, and turnover intentions) and (2) how Millennials’ work attitudes differ from prior generations.     

JAPANESE PERCEPTIONS OF MOTHERHOOD

Differences in Japanese attitudes toward motherhood were investigated using Hare-Mustin and Broderick's (1979) Motherhood Inventory (MI), administered to 157 male and 85 female university students and 72 mothers. Factor analyses revealed distinctive profiles for each group. Male students believed that motherhood was appropriate and natural for women and were content to let women operate independently within this role. Mothers emphasized that women's greatest fulfillment was associated with mothering. Female university students recognized the importance of and the hard work involved in mothering, but were less likely to perceive it as the primary source of women's fulfillment. Comparisons of group means on MI items revealed that university women held the least conventional views. Further research is needed to determine whether their attitudes about female gender roles reflect a general trend within this cohort of women or transitory responses related to stage in the life cycle.     

Attributions to discrimination and self-esteem: Impact of group identification and situational ambiguity

This study examined group identification and situational ambiguity as moderators of attributions to discrimination and self-esteem following negative feedback. As predicted, high gender-identified women made more discrimination attributions than low identified women when situational prejudice cues were ambiguous, but not when prejudice cues were absent or overt. Also as predicted, women exposed to overt prejudice cues had higher self-esteem than those exposed to ambiguous cues or no prejudice cues. The relationship between discrimination attributions and self-esteem was positive among women exposed to overt prejudice but negative among those exposed to no prejudice. Across conditions, however, the more that women discounted ability as a cause of their negative feedback (i.e., blamed discrimination more than ability), the higher their self-esteem. Results qualify and extend prior research and demonstrate that personal and situational factors moderate both the tendency to make attributions to discrimination and the consequences of those attributions for self-esteem.