More is not always better: paradoxical effects of repetition on semantic accessibility

Repetition normally enhances memory. While in some cases the benefit of added repetition may be incremental, few would expect that massed repetition could actually reverse the benefits of brief repetition. Here we report two experiments that document a clear example of a paradoxical effect of massed repetition. Subjects first repeated words (e.g., "sheep") aloud one at a time for 0, 5, 10, 20, or 40 s. A free association phase followed in which cues could be completed with repeated words (e.g., "herd s___" for "sheep") or with semantically associated words (e.g., "fabric w___" for "wool"). Brief periods of repetition (5-10 s) resulted in priming, as would be expected based on research on repetition priming and spreading activation. Longer periods of repetition (20-40 s), however, abolished priming. Interestingly, this massed-repetition decrement was particularly robust for semantic associates of repeated words, and was evident after a 15-min delay. These findings document a paradoxical feature of the effects of rehearsal on memory: When ideas are repeated often enough, the benefits of rehearsal can actually be reversed.     

A Critical Examination of the Reliability and Validity of a Gender Role Attitude Scale in Flanders (Belgium): What Lessons Can be Learned?

Western societies have shifted toward more egalitarian gender role attitudes (GRA). Quantitative research on GRA has been critiqued for not having kept up with societal changes in GRA. GRA scales are claimed to lack discriminative power and not fully capture the diversity within non-traditional attitudes. The present study gives an overview of the theoretical critiques with regard to GRA scales and empirically assesses these critiques. A typical example of a GRA scale measuring adolescents’ GRA in Flanders (Belgium) is used to test the scale’s quality across three waves of surveys completed by 4063 early secondary school students. Our analysis identifies the drawbacks of this particular scale. First, a ceiling effect was found, with most respondents being egalitarian. Second, the representativeness of roles inquired about is restricted; relevant societal domains are not questioned and most roles are only questioned for one gender. Third, a gender-binary approach is dominant. Finally, our results confirm that adolescents demonstrate ambivalent feelings toward balancing female employment and motherhood; although paid employment is encouraged, childcare is prioritized. We recommend that other researchers critically examine the usability and quality of GRA scales in today’s society. Using outdated GRA scales might conceal the ambivalence that adolescents feel due to new gender inequities. Also, investing in structures and regulations supporting the work-family balance is key in further promoting gender equity.     

The Effects of Choice Between Nonpreferred Foods on the Food Consumption of Individuals with Food Selectivity

Previous research has concluded that presenting individuals with the opportunity to choose is a viable treatment for escape‐maintained behavior. Considering that food refusal behavior has been generally described as avoidant behavior, the present study aimed to evaluate the role of choice between nonpreferred foods on the food consumption and problematic mealtime behavior of two children with food selectivity. Each participant was allowed to choose between four nonpreferred foods in the choice condition and was not allowed to choose in the no‐choice condition. Further, the role of choice as an antecedent manipulation in mediating extinction‐induced responding was evaluated when choice alone was demonstrated to be ineffective in increasing consumption and a nonremoval of the spoon procedure was introduced. Results indicated that providing choices was effective in increasing the food consumption of one participant and was advantageous in decreasing emotional responding when a nonremoval of the spoon procedure was introduced for the second participant. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing Advocacies for Forcibly Displaced People: A Comprehensive Approach

This article assesses various advocacy practices for forcibly displaced people (FDP) through the analysis of advocacy networks, the examination of the goals that they pursue, and their ways of working. Three basic approaches, the welfare-based, the legal-based, and the capability-based approaches, are assessed. From this assessment, this study suggests the recognition of shared humanity as an entry point for advocacy, which offers a cosmopolitan understanding of rights and duties, and the most comprehensive protection for FDP. The main argument of this study is that if the demand for recognition is not heard, relief for refugees and other displaced people will lack an essential dimension. It is the demand to be recognized as human beings that engenders responsibility for forced migrants. Instead of prescribing a list of what to do, or not to do, this reflection has rather suggested a way of being and dealing with the forcibly displaced. This stance goes beyond the facility of typical responses that are known in advance.     

Settings and misunderstandings in mathematics

Synthese - This paper pursues two goals. Its first goal is to clear up the “identity problem” faced by the structuralist interpretation of mathematics. Its second goal, through the...     

Diagrams as sketches

This article puts forward the notion of ??evolving diagram?? as an important case of mathematical diagram. An evolving diagram combines, through a dynamic graphical enrichment, the representation of an object and the representation of a piece of reasoning based on the representation of that object. Evolving diagrams can be illustrated in particular with category-theoretic diagrams (hereafter ??diagrams*??) in the context of ??sketch theory,?? a branch of modern category theory. It is argued that sketch theory provides a diagrammatic* theory of diagrams*, that it helps to overcome the rivalry between set theory and category theory as a general semantical framework, and that it suggests a more flexible understanding of the opposition between formal proofs and diagrammatic reasoning. Thus, the aim of the paper is twofold. First, it claims that diagrams* provide a clear example of evolving diagrams, and shed light on them as a general phenomenon. Second, in return, it uses sketches, understood as evolving diagrams, to show how diagrams* in general should be re-evaluated positively.     

Association of personality with physical,social, and mental activities across the lifespan: Findings from US and French samples

Despite evidence for its health‐related benefits, little is known on the psychological predictors of the participation in leisure activities across the lifespan. Therefore, this study aimed to identify whether personality is associated with a variety of different types of activities, involving physical, cognitive, and social components. The samples included individuals from the second wave of the National Study of Midlife in the United States (N = 3,396) and community‐dwelling French individuals (N = 2,917) aged between 30 and 84. Both samples completed measures of the five‐factor model of personality. To create an activity index, we combined the physical, social, and cognitive (games and developmental) activities performed at least once a month. In both samples, individuals who scored higher on extraversion and openness were more likely to engage in a variety of activity types. The findings were consistent across two samples from different western societies and suggest that extraversion and openness contribute to social, cognitive, and physical functioning across the lifespan.     

Running records and first grade english learners: An analysis of language related errors

The purpose of this study was to determine if first-grade English Learners made patterns of language related errors when reading, and if so, to identify those patterns and how teachers coded language related errors when analyzing English Learners' running records. Using research from the fields of both literacy and Second Language Acquisition, we analyzed 123 running records containing 649 errors. Over half (54%) of the errors were determined to be language related and 93% of the LR errors fell into five categories: Inflectional endings, irregular verb tenses, contractions, prepositions and teachers' use of tolds. Numbers of LR errors and non-LR errors were similar within text level bands, and both decreased over time as students became more proficient readers. It is difficult to infer how different types of LR errors influence comprehension. There was inconsistency in teachers' interpretation of language related errors, which underscores the need to increase teachers' understanding of second language acquisition in the service of literacy instruction, and to advance theory regarding English Learners' use of their linguistic resources in language and literacy acquisition.