The relation between spatial and mathematical abilities: Potential factors underlying suppression

Two experiments examined possible factors underlying the finding that grades in mathematics act as a suppressor variable in the relation between spatial abilities and gender. Specifically, the role of reading abilities was investigated in Experiment 1 by using English grades as a measure of these abilities. Experiment 2 was based on the notion that time pressures are involved at some level in both spatial performance and mathematics grades. The influence of this factor was examined by administering a spatial task with or without time limit and examining the suppression effect in both conditions. In both experiments, participants completed the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) as a measure of spatial ability. In Experiment 1, all participants were tested with limited time to complete the MRT and they were required to report their high school course grades in mathematics and English. Results revealed that both grades in high school mathematics and English produced significant suppression. However, the amount of suppression produced by each measure was similar. Therefore, the prediction that suppression would be greater with English than with mathematics grades was not supported. Experiment 2 involved testing in groups or individually with or without time limits on the MRT, whereas the Water Level Test was administered untimed, and only grades in mathematics were obtained from participants. Results supported the prediction that the suppression effect is greater when time limits are applied than when they are not. Implications of the results for an explanation of the observed suppression are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the difficulties inherent to the identification of factors underlying suppression.     

Imageability ratings for 3,000 monosyllabic words

Imageability ratings made on a 1–7 scale and reaction times for 3,000 monosyllabic words were obtained from 31 participants. Analyses comparing these ratings to 1,153 common words from Toglia and Battig (1978) indicate that these ratings are valid. Reliability was assessed (α = .95). The information obtained in this study adds to that of other normative studies and is useful to researchers interested in manipulating or controlling imageability in word recognition and memory studies. These norms can be downloaded fromwww.psychonomic.org/archive/.     

Deviations from Prescribed Prompting Procedures: Implications for Treatment Integrity

The acquisition of new skills may be hindered when teaching procedures vary from previously validated approaches or contain errors. In the present study, we compared the acquisition and maintenance of response chains taught using a perfectly implemented system of least prompts and a multiple verbal prompts procedure (i.e., addition of multiple verbal prompts and failure to follow through with more intrusive prompts). Four children, aged 6–9, participated in the study. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of learning during the system of least prompts and the alternative system of least prompts. Results were consistent with those obtained in previous studies in that the perfectly implemented and alternative prompting procedures were effective in teaching new skills for all participants. However, the perfectly implemented treatment required fewer trials to mastery for 4 of the 5 evaluations. Response chains taught under the multiple verbal prompts condition had poorer maintenance for 2 of the 5 evaluations. The results of the current study suggest that deviations from empirically identified teaching procedures may reduce the speed with which new skills are acquired.     

Threat causes liberals to think like conservatives

In Study 1, politically liberal college students’ in-group favoritism increased after a system-injustice threat, becoming as pronounced as that of conservatives. Studies 2 and 3 conceptually replicated these results with low preference for consistency [Cialdini, R. B., Trost, M. R., & Newsom, J. T. (1995). Preference for consistency: The development of a valid measure and the discovery of surprising behavioral implications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 318-328.] as a dispositional measure of liberalism. In Study 2, following a mortality salience threat, dispositionally liberal students showed as much conviction in their attitudes toward capital punishment and abortion as dispositional conservatives did. In Study 3, after a mortality salience threat, liberal students became as staunchly unsupportive of homosexuals as conservatives were. The findings that political and dispositional liberals become more politically and psychologically conservative after threats provide convergent experimental support for the [Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sulloway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129 339-375.] contention that conservatism is a basic form of motivated social cognition.     

A note on stability in force applied to control a repetitive task with the legs

The forces applied to pedals during cycling were collected every 40 ms from approximately 29,000 movement repetitions. Intra-cycle mean values of force and its variability were significantly correlated, supporting Schmidt's impulse variability theory of within-movement activities of the legs. In addition, as mean forces approached peak values, coefficients of variation decreased. From averages taken minute by minute, intra-cycle forces were seen to rise or fall in concert, implying that the pattern as a whole constituted a significant neuro-muscular unit of control.     

A taxonomy of approaches to teach spelling

This paper presents a comprehensive taxonomy for classifying major approaches to teach spelling. The Traditional Approach is based on linguistic theory, and is predicated on the assumption that there is regularity to the spelling of words in the English language. Many commercially-based spelling programs use the Traditional Approach. The Remedial Approach can be divided into four subcategories, two of which employ multisensory methods. Horn's remedial method combines elements of visualization, pronunciation, and spelling recall, whereas the phonovisual method is phonetically based, and stresses visual and auditory discrimination of letter sounds. Methods under the Specialized Approach can be considered discrete spelling interventions based on applied behavior analysis, direct instruction, spelling rules, cognitive behavior modification, peer tutoring, or computer applications. The authors' position is that the Specialized Approach offers the optimum combination of instructional efficiency and effectiveness consistent with the concept of the least restrictive alternative. We believe that self-correction is the best exemplar of this approach.     

Book reviews

The Jewish Heritage. D. Cohn‐Sherbok. Blackwell, Oxford, 1988,. Hardback £25, paperback £7.95. ISBN 0–631–15414–0 pp.xiv+204

Exploring Reality. D. Cohn‐Sherbok & Michael. Irwin, eds. Allen & Unwin, London, Boston, Sydney, Wellington 1987. 237 pp. Index, Bibliography for each chapter, Further reading. ISBN 0–01–100050–1

At the Origins of Modern Atheism. Michael J. Buckley, SJ. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1987. 445pp.     

An alaryngeal stutterer: A case history

This case study describes an individual who as a stutterer underwent a total laryngectomy and right hemithyroidectomy. Following the Doehler method of esophageal voice training, the client continued to exhibit dysfluent speech behaviors. The Iowa “Stutterer's Self-Rating of Reactions to Speech Situations” and the “Checklist of Stuttering Behaviors” were used to ascertain whether the stuttering behaviors had changed and to what degree.     

Interpreting the good life: growth memories in the lives of mature, happy people

In 2 studies, the authors examined autobiographical memories for the presence of 2 growth orientations that were expected to correspond differentially to maturity and well-being, which are considered to be key facets of "the good life" by L. A. King (2001). Mature participants emphasized integrative memories (conceptual integration and learning), whereas happy participants emphasized intrinsic memories (humanistic concerns). Both kinds of growth memories correlated more strongly with eudaimonic than with hedonic measures of well-being. Growth memories were largely independent of Big Five traits in relation to maturity and well-being. Finally, older participants were more likely than younger participants to have greater maturity (marginally) and well-being, but this was in part explained by older participants' greater tendency to have growth memories. The discussion considers the role of growth memories in the intentional cultivation of the good life.     

When do false memories cross language boundaries in English—Spanish bilinguals?

To determine whether false memories cross language boundaries, we presented English-Spanish bilinguals with conceptually related word lists for five study-test trials. Some lists were heard in English, some in Spanish, and they were then followed by a recognition memory test composed of studied words, conceptually related nonstudied critical words, and unrelated words presented in the same language used at study or in a different language. Even though participants were instructed to recognize only previously heard words, they falsely recognized both same-language and different-language critical words. With practice, participants increased their accurate recognition of list words and decreased their false recognition of critical words when the study-test language was the same, and they decreased their false recognition of list words and critical words when the language differed. False memories can cross language boundaries when participants rely on conceptual representations from the word lists, but these errors decrease over trials as participants increasingly rely on language-specific lexical representations.