Book reviews

Gelman, R. and Gallistel, C. R. The Child's understanding of Number. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 1978. Pp. 260. ISBN 0 674 11636 4. £9.45.

Boden, M. A. Piaget. London: Fontana. 1979. Pp. 174. ISBN 000 635537 4. £1.25.

Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. 1979. Pp. 159. ISBN 0 674 57628 4. $12.50.

Catania, A. Charles. Learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. 1979. Pp. xi + 406. ISBN 0 13 527432 X. $16.95 £11.00.

Kagan, J., Kearsley, R. B. and Zelazo, P. R. Infancy: Its place in Human Development. Second edition. Cambridge, mass.: Harvard University Press. 1979. Pp. 462. ISBN 0 674 45260 7. $17.50.

Shaffer, D. and Dunn, J. (Eds). The First Year of Life: Psychological and Medical Implications of Early Experience. Chichester: Wileys. 1979. Pp. 221. ISBN 0 471 99734 X. £11.80.     

Face category differentially influences face memories after a delay

ABSTRACT

Faces belonging to the same category as the perceiver are better recognised than faces from different categories when tested immediately. After a delay, the same-category benefit persists and response bias becomes more liberal for other-category but not same-category faces. These effects are typically attributed to better encoding of same-category than other-category faces. To determine whether bias effects after a delay persist when immediate accuracy differences are minimised, Hispanic and Caucasian participants were given more study time for other-category than same-category faces. Memory was tested immediately and after a two-day delay. Discrimination accuracy was higher for other-category than for same-category faces during both test sessions. Bias was equivalent immediately, but after the delay, bias was more conservative for same-category than for other-category faces, especially in Caucasian participants. These results suggest that post-encoding processes differentially influence face memories from different categories, which may have implications for evaluating face memory in everyday situations.     

BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES ABOUT SEXUAL AGGRESSION

This study investigated the correspondence between parents' and daughters' beliefs about sexual aggression and gender roles. The relationship between a woman's attitudes and her personal experiences with sexual victimization was also examined. The participants were 236 female undergraduates, 148 mothers, and 110 fathers. One hundred-three matching triads were collected. Participants evaluated victim responsibility for written scenarios depicting a date-rape victim. Information about gender-role attitudes, perceived family communication, and previous sexual experiences was also collected. Results indicated that daughter–mother, daughter–father, and mother–father dyads shared attitudes about gender roles and beliefs about victim responsibility. Parental attitudes also predicted daughters' attitudes, but family communication did not moderate the relationship between parental attitudes and daughters' attitudes. Mothers' and daughters' experiences of coerced sex were not associated. A relationship between attitudes and beliefs and experiences of coerced sex emerged only for mothers. Mothers with a history of coerced sex adhered to more traditional gender-role attitudes and assigned more responsibility to the date-rape victim. The need for further research in the area of familial attitudes about rape is discussed.     

A Short‐Term,Prospective Test of the Interpersonal–Psychological Theory of Suicidal Ideation in an Adolescent Clinical Sample

The present prospective study tested a portion of the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) in an adolescent clinical sample. Participants were 143 adolescents consecutively admitted to a partial hospitalization program who completed assessments at intake and discharge from the program. Results partially supported the IPTS and suggest that (1) perceived burdensomeness may be an important socially based cognition for understanding concurrent risk for suicidal ideation (SI); (2) thwarted belongingness affects depression symptom severity over time, which indirectly predicts SI over a short follow‐up time frame; and (3) the IPTS constructs may function differently in a high‐risk clinical adolescent sample, compared to adults, although findings are preliminary.     

Book reviews

Bloom, A. H. The Linguistic Shaping of Thought : A Study of the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum. 1981. Pp. 106. £9.95. ISBN 0 89859 089 2.

Fodor, J. A. Representations : Philosophical Essays in the Foundations of Cognitive Science. Brghton: Harvester. 1981. Pp. 343. £22.50. ISBN 0 85527 977 X.

Sanford, A. J. and Garrod, S. C. Understanding Written Language: Explorations in Comprehension Beyond the Sentence. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 1981. Pp. xiv + 224. £ 11.30. ISBN 0 471 27842 4.

Springer, S. P. and Deutsch, G. Left Brain, Right Brain. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman & Co. 1981. Pp. 243. £4.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 7167 1270 9.

Crystal, D. Introduction to Language Pathology. London : Edward Arnold. 1980. Pp. 214. ISBN 0 7131 62759. £5.50.

Hulme, C. Reading Retardation and Multi-Sensory Teaching. London : Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1981. £12.50. Pp. 200. ISBN 0 7100 0761 2.

Liben, I,. S., Patterson, A. R. and Newcombe, N. (Eds). Spatial Representation and Behaviour Across the Life Span. New York: Academic Press. 1981. Pp. 404. ISBN 0 12 447980 4. £17.80.

Coltman, D. Jean Piaget: Experiments in Contradiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1980. Pp. 310. ISBN 0 226 66779 0. £13.20.

Hofer, M. A. The Roots of Human Behavior. San Francisco: Freeman. 1981. Pp. xiii + 331. Paperback £6.70. ISBN 0 7167 1278 4.     

Book reviews

Lipsitt, L. P. and Rove-Collier, C. K. (Eds.). Advances in infancy research. Volume 2. New York: Ablex Publishing Corporation. 1983. Pp. xxix + 314. ISBN 0-89391-113-5. £40.40.

Mollon, J. D. and Sharpe, J. T. (Eds.). Colour vision physiology and psychophysics. London: Academic Press. 1983.

Solan, L. pronominal reference: Child language and the theory of gram- mar. Dordreht: Reidel. 1983. Pp xii +237. ISBN 90-277-1495-9. £26.40.

Atkinson, Martin. Explanations in the study of child language development. Cambridge Studies in Linguistics: 35. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 289. ISBN 0-521-25593-3 (Paperback). £7.50. ISBN 0-521-24302-5 (Case).     

The Influence of Regulatory Focus on Risky Decision-Making

Although studies show that regulatory focus influences decision making and risk taking, theories of risky decision making typically conflate different regulatory orientations and the related distinctions between the positive and negative risks associated with acts of omission and commission. In contrast, we argue that different regulatory orientations influence risk perception and risk propensity in different ways and underpin complex emotional responses in risky decision making. We propose a new model of these processes and suggest that regulatory focus may be important in priming and managing risk taking behavior. We conclude by discussing implications for research and practice.
Bien que des recherches montrent que le centre de régulation influence la prise de décision et la prise de risque, les théories de la prise décision risquée regroupent habituellement différentes formes de régulation et les distinctions connexes entre les risques positifs et négatifs associés au passage à l'acte ou non. Contrairement à ces théories, nous avançons que les différentes formes de régulation influencent la perception et la propension au risque selon différentes modalités et sous-tendent les réponses émotionnelles complexes dans la prise de décision risquée. Nous proposons un nouveau modèle de ces processus et suggérons que le centre de régulation peut être important dans l'amorce et la gestion du comportement de prise de risque. Nous concluons en discutant des implications de ces résultats pour la recherche et la pratique.