Toward a Unified Model of Lexical Acquisition and Lexical Access

Much effort has gone into constructing models of how children segment speech and thereby discover the words of their language. Much effort has also gone into constructing models of how adults access their mental lexicons and thereby segment speech into words. In this paper, I explore the possibility of a model that could account for both word discovery by children and on-line segmentation by adults. In particular, I discuss extensions to the distributional regularity (DR) model of Brent and Cartwright (1996) that could yield an account of on-line segmentation as well as word discovery.     

Present time perspective as a predictor of risky driving

This research introduces a new individual difference variable, time perspective, as an important predictor of risky driving. Across three separate replications, with 2863 participants, present time perspective is significantly correlated with reported risky driving behaviors. Its effect is greater than, and independent of, the negative correlations between future time perspective and risky driving. Additionally, males are more present-oriented and report taking more risks than females, while females are more future-oriented. Regression analyses and discriminate validity assessments demonstrate that present time perspective remains an independent predictor of risky driving even when pitted against nine other measures previously reported as related to driving risk, such as, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and aggression. Although complicated by the number of factors potentially involved, it is imperative to attempt to predict such risk because of the enormous economic and psychological toll resulting from auto accidents and fatalities related to risky driving. Discussion centers on implications for education based on understanding the psychological dynamics of time perspective and links to general risk-taking and self-regulation.     

Examination of a backchaining/counterconditioning process during the extinction of conditioned fear

Two experiments using rat subjects are reported which attempt to delineate the theoretical mechanisms involved in exposure/extinction procedures that are used to eliminate conditioned fear. In Experiment 1, a within-subjects design was employed to study the temporal course of the extinction process by examining the relationship among three separate measures of classically conditioned fear--suppression of an ongoing, operant behavior during the nonreinforced fear-eliciting CS presentation, the time to the first response during this CS presentation, and the time to recover responding following termination of the CS. The results indicated a temporal relationship among these measures, both within and across nonreinforced CS trials, which were considered to reflect a backchaining of a fear-antagonistic response during extinction, and provided an empirical demonstration of an extinction process consistent with Denny's (Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 7, 315-321, 1976) elicitation/backchaining explanation of extinction. Experiment 2 attempted to manipulate the course of extinction and the temporal relationship among these three fear measures through the paired presentations of the fear CS with a palatable substance (maltose). This procedure produced greater extinction apparently by facilitating the backchaining process. These results are discussed with implications for exposure-based therapies.     

The interactive effects of stimulus generalization decrement and contextual pre-exposure cues upon fear incubation

Models of fear incubation may be described as explanations for the interference of Pavlovian extinction. From this perspective, the effects of several parameters upon the incubation phenomenon were examined. Fear incubation was found to be attenuated by manipulations associated with stimulus generalization decrement (Experiment 1), as well as pre-exposure manipulations (Experiment 2). These findings were incorporated within existing models of incubation.     

A classroom program teaching disadvantaged youths to write biographic information

Little attention has been given to how formal classroom instruction can be adapted to teach youths everyday skills such as the correct writing of biographic information frequently requested in transactions like applying for a job or a social security number and cashing a check. In this study, six youths in a special education classroom were taught to complete job application forms with the date, their name, signature, address, telephone number, date of birth, and a reference's name, address, and occupation. Each youth was trained on one item of biographic information at a time, after which he was tested on four application forms, including one on which he had not been trained. The tests show that after an item had been taught, it was correctly used in completing application forms on which the youths had been trained and forms on which they had never been trained. The study demonstrates the feasibility of teaching community-living, vocation-related skills to special-education youths in a classroom setting.     

The Lifespan Self-Esteem Scale: Initial Validation of a New Measure of Global Self-Esteem

This article introduces the Lifespan Self-Esteem Scale (LSE), a short measure of global self-esteem suitable for populations drawn from across the lifespan. Many existing measures of global self-esteem cannot be used across multiple developmental periods due to changes in item content, response formats, and other scale characteristics. This creates a need for a new lifespan scale so that changes in global self-esteem over time can be studied without confounding maturational changes with alterations in the measure. The LSE is a 4-item measure with a 5-point response format using items inspired by established self-esteem scales. The scale is essentially unidimensional and internally consistent, and it converges with existing self-esteem measures across ages 5 to 93 (N = 2,714). Thus, the LSE appears to be a useful measure of global self-esteem suitable for use across the lifespan as well as contexts where a short measure is desirable, such as populations with short attention spans or large projects assessing multiple constructs. Moreover, the LSE is one of the first global self-esteem scales to be validated for children younger than age 8, which provides the opportunity to broaden the field to include research on early formation and development of global self-esteem, an area that has previously been limited.     

Personality Trait Differences Between Young and Middle‐Aged Adults: Measurement Artifacts or Actual Trends?

A growing body of research demonstrates that older individuals tend to score differently on personality measures than younger adults. However, recent research using item response theory (IRT) has questioned these findings, suggesting that apparent age differences in personality traits merely reflect artifacts of the response process rather than true differences in the latent constructs. Conversely, other studies have found the opposite—age differences appear to be true differences rather than response artifacts. Given these contradictory findings, the goal of the present study was to examine the measurement equivalence of personality ratings drawn from large groups of young and middle‐aged adults (a) to examine whether age differences in personality traits could be completely explained by measurement nonequivalence and (b) to illustrate the comparability of IRT and confirmatory factor analysis approaches to testing equivalence in this context. Self‐ratings of personality traits were analyzed in two groups of Internet respondents aged 20 and 50 (n = 15,726 in each age group). Measurement nonequivalence across these groups was negligible. The effect sizes of the mean differences due to nonequivalence ranged from –.16 to .15. Results indicate that personality trait differences across age groups reflect actual differences rather than merely response artifacts.