How to make the word-length effect disappear in letter-by-letter dyslexia: implications for an account of the disorder

The diagnosis of letter-by-letter (LBL) dyslexia is based on the observation of a substantial and monotonic increase of word naming latencies as the number of letters in the stimulus increases. This pattern of performance is typically interpreted as indicating that word recognition in LBL dyslexia depends on the sequential identification of individual letters. We show, in 7 LBL patients, that the word-length effect can be eliminated if words of different lengths are matched on the sum of the confusability (visual similarity between a letter and the remainder of the alphabet) of their constituent letters. Additional experiments demonstrate that this result is mediated by parallel letter processing and not by any compensatory serial processing strategy. These findings indicate that parallel processing contributes significantly to explicit word recognition in LBL dyslexia and that a letter-processing impairment is fundamental in causing the disorder.     

An electrophysiological investigation of the effects of coreference on word repetition and synonymy

In two experiments the effects of word repetition, synonymy, and coreference on event-related brain potentials during text processing were studied. Participants read one (Experiment 1) or two sentence (Experiment 2) texts in which critical nouns were preceded by the definite (the) or indefinite (a) articles. Experiment 1 was run as a control to verify that differences in article processing in the second sentences of Experiment 2 would not contaminate the ERPs to critical noun items. They did not. In Experiment 2, an initial sentence was used to set up a context and contained either a first presentation or synonym of the critical word from the second sentence. N400 (but not Late Positive Component; LPC) priming effects were found for repetitions and synonyms (larger for repetitions) in second sentences. This extends observations of priming in word lists and single sentences to two-sentence texts. There was also a greater left anterior negativity or "LAN" for coreferential critical nouns (those following the article "The") compared to non-coreferential critical nouns (those following the article "A") suggesting that ERPs are sensitive to working memory processes engaged during referential assignment. In response to the articles themselves, there was a greater N400-700 elicited by the article "A" vs. "The." Finally, there was a greater N400-like negativity to the final words of non-coreferential sentences implying that the meanings of these sentences were difficult to integrate with the discourse level representation established by the prior sentence.     

System-justifying beliefs and psychological well-being: the roles of group status and identity

This research examined the relationship between endorsing system-justifying beliefs and psychological well-being among individuals from ethnic groups that vary in social status. System-justifying beliefs are beliefs that imply that status in society is fair, deserved, and merited; examples of system-justifying beliefs in the United States include the beliefs that hard work pays off and that anyone can get ahead regardless of their group membership. We found that endorsing system-justifying beliefs was negatively related to psychological well-being among members of low-status groups who were highly identified with their group but positively related to well-being among members of low-status groups who were not highly identified with their ethnic group. In addition, we found that endorsing system-justifying beliefs was positively related to well-being among members of high-status groups, especially among members of high-status groups who were highly identified with the group.     

Dietary restraint, body dissatisfaction, and psychological distress: a prospective analysis

This study uses prospective data from a survey of 1,177 adolescent girls to examine whether emotional eating, binge eating, abnormal attitudes to eating and weight, low self-esteem, stress, and depression are associated with dietary restraint or body dissatisfaction. In analyses that included both restraint and body dissatisfaction as independent predictors, restraint was associated only with more negative attitudes to eating, whereas body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with all the adverse outcomes. These results cast doubt on the proposition that restrained eating is a primary cause of bulimic symptoms, emotional eating, and psychological distress seen in individuals who are trying to control their weight, and rather suggest that body dissatisfaction is the key factor.     

Depressive realism and outcome density bias in contingency judgments: the effect of the context and intertrial interval

The perception of the effectiveness of instrumental actions is influenced by depressed mood. Depressive realism (DR) is the claim that depressed people are particularly accurate in evaluating instrumentality. In two experiments, the authors tested the DR hypothesis using an action-outcome contingency judgment task. DR effects were a function of intertrial interval length and outcome density, suggesting that depressed mood is accompanied by reduced contextual processing rather than increased judgment accuracy. The DR effect was observed only when participants were exposed to extended periods in which no actions or outcomes occurred. This implies that DR may result from an impairment in contextual processing rather than accurate but negative expectations. Therefore, DR is consistent with a cognitive distortion view of depression.     

Emotional devaluation of distracting patterns and faces: a consequence of attentional inhibition during visual search?

Visual search has been studied extensively, yet little is known about how its constituent processes affect subsequent emotional evaluation of searched-for and searched-through items. In 3 experiments, the authors asked observers to locate a colored pattern or tinted face in an array of other patterns or faces. Shortly thereafter, either the target or a distractor was rated on an emotional scale (patterns, cheerfulness; faces, trustworthiness). In general, distractors were rated more negatively than targets. Moreover, distractors presented near the target during search were rated significantly more negatively than those presented far from the target. Target-distractor proximity affected distractor ratings following both simple-feature and difficult-conjunction search, even when items appeared at different locations during evaluation than during search and when faces previously tinted during search were presented in grayscale at evaluation. An attentional inhibition account is offered to explain these effects of attention on emotional evaluation.     

Experiences of mandated reporting among family therapists: a qualitative analysis

Mandated reporting of child abuse by Family Therapists (FTs) has been examined by the authors in two previous studies. The first study found that mandated reporting issues negatively affected FTs abilities to maintain a systemic focus. The second study surveyed types and frequencies of negative experiences of FTs with mandated reporting. A 46-item questionnaire was administered to 101 FTs. Results were significant for four of the items. The respondents also provided 116 comments related to mandated reporting experiences. This study provides a qualitative analysis of the written comments of the respondents regarding their xexperiences with mandated reporting of child abuse.     

Physical activity and psychological well-being in advanced age: a meta-analysis of intervention studies

A meta-analysis examined data from 36 studies linking physical activity to well-being in older adults without clinical disorders. The weighted mean-change effect size for treatment groups (d(C). = 0.24) was almost 3 times the mean for control groups (d(C). = 0.09). Aerobic training was most beneficial (d(C). = 0.29), and moderate intensity activity was the most beneficial activity level (d(C). = 0.34). Longer exercise duration was less beneficial for several types of well-being, though findings are inconclusive. Physical activity had the strongest effects on self-efficacy (d(C).= 0.38), and improvements in cardiovascular status, strength, and functional capacity were linked to well-being improvement overall. Social-cognitive theory is used to explain the effect of physical activity on well-being.     

Parent and Child Anxiety Sensitivity: Relationship in a Nonclinical Sample

Little is known about the relationship between parent and child anxiety sensitivity (AS), particularly in nonclinical samples. The present study examined this association in 207 healthy parent-child pairs including 244 children (mean age = 12.3 years, 103 girls) and 226 parent figures (175 mothers). Sequential multiple linear regression revealed that parent AS was significantly associated with child AS in girls, but not in boys. Parent AS accounted for 9% of incremental variance in child AS, after controlling for child age, parent depression, and parent anxiety. Analyses of parent AS dimensions indicated that the social concerns dimension accounted for 14% of incremental variance in child AS in girls only. Parent anxiety and depression showed no association with child AS, once parent AS was taken into account. The findings indicate that parent AS, especially AS social concerns, demonstrates a significant relationship with child AS in this nonclinical sample of girls.