Psychological evaluation by means of an on-line computer

The use of an on-line microcomputer-based testing system in a private clinical psychology practice is described. Advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Information about procedures and fees are presented.     

What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of language input to bilingual‐learning 10‐month‐olds

Examining how bilingual infants experience their dual language input is important for understanding bilingual language acquisition. To assess these language experiences, researchers typically conduct language interviews with caregivers. However, little is known about the reliability of these parent reports in describing how bilingual children actually experience dual language input. Here, we explored the quantitative nature of dual language input to bilingual infants. Furthermore, we described some of the heterogeneity of bilingual exposure in a sample of French–English bilingual families. Participants were 21 families with a 10‐month‐old infant residing in Montréal, Canada. First, we conducted language interviews with the caregivers. Then, each family completed three full‐day recordings at home using the Language Environment Analysis recording system. Results showed that children’s proportion exposure to each language was consistent across the two measurement approaches, indicating that parent reports are reliable for assessing a bilingual child’s language experiences. Further exploratory analyses revealed three unique findings: (a) there can be considerable variability in the absolute amount of input among infants hearing the same proportion of input, (b) infants can hear different proportions of language input when considering infant‐directed versus overheard speech, (c) proportion of language input can vary by day, depending on who is caring for the infant. We conclude that collecting naturalistic recordings is complementary to parent‐report measures for assessing infant’s language experiences and for establishing bilingual profiles.     

“Just Do It? An Examination of Race on Attitudes Associated with Nike’s Advertisement Featuring Colin Kaepernick”

ABSTRACT

The relationship between race and just about any social issue has been and continues to be controversial. Within the context of literature on public opinion regarding sports and social movements, this study considers the intersections between race, business, and athlete activism by examining attitudes related to Nike’s controversial advertisement campaign with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Results obtained from a sample of young adults reveals a deep racial divide between black and non-black respondents. At almost a ratio of 2:1, blacks were more likely to agree with Nike’s decision to use the former player in their advertisement, that Nike should address social issues in their ads, and that Nike should contribute to his charity. These race differences remain in models that control for a variety of other correlates, including political orientation, income, discrimination, player protests, and whether they watch the NFL.     

Monolingual,bilingual, trilingual: infants' language experience influences the development of a word‐learning heuristic

How infants learn new words is a fundamental puzzle in language acquisition. To guide their word learning, infants exploit systematic word‐learning heuristics that allow them to link new words to likely referents. By 17 months, infants show a tendency to associate a novel noun with a novel object rather than a familiar one, a heuristic known as disambiguation. Yet, the developmental origins of this heuristic remain unknown. We compared disambiguation in 17‐ to 18‐month‐old infants from different language backgrounds to determine whether language experience influences its development, or whether disambiguation instead emerges as a result of maturation or social experience. Monolinguals showed strong use of disambiguation, bilinguals showed marginal use, and trilinguals showed no disambiguation. The number of languages being learned, but not vocabulary size, predicted performance. The results point to a key role for language experience in the development of disambiguation, and help to distinguish among theoretical accounts of its emergence.     

hate crimes against the Amish: a qualitative analysis of bias motivation using routine activities theory

Research on hate crime has largely been limited to official statistics collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some independent scholarly research of hate crime victims. Few, however, have studied hate crime offenders. Offender narratives of hate crime participation are the focus of this study. Further, few have studied hate crimes against the Amish and their offenders. This study examines hate crime against the Amish with a particular focus on the bias motivation that generates anti-Amish hate crime. To accomplish this task, non-Amish hate crime offenders were enlisted to share their experiences and stories about anti-Amish hate crime. A total of eight subjects were interviewed; the subjects supplied over 16 hours of audiotaped narrative describing acts of "Claping" they had committed against Old Order Amish. The data were transcribed and an analysis of the interview data revealed that themes emerged from offender narratives within each element of routine activities theory. The data support that the subjects were motivated offenders, the Amish were perceived as suitable targets, and there was a perception that guardians were lacking within the community to discourage anti-Amish hate crime. However, it is important to consider the themes that emerged within each dimension of routine activities when applying the theory to anti-Amish bias crime.     

Sex bias in the newspaper treatment of male-centered and female-centered news stories

Differences in the newspaper treatment of men and women were examined in two sets of news stories collected a year apart, in the fall of 1976 and 1977. In both samples, coverage of women was more likely to include mention of personal appearance, marital status, and spouse than was coverage of men. These differences could not be attributed to the greater number of men in the news, nor to differences in the sections of the newspaper where stories about men and stories about women were usually found. They were equally true of locally written and national wire-service stories.     

Violence, Conflict, Trickery, and Other Story Themes in TV Ads for Food for Children

Stories in a sample of 92 television (TV) food ads aimed at children were analyzed for thematic and subtextual content. Violence as a surface theme ranked first in use receiving a nonzero score in 62% of the ads, followed by conflict (41%), achievement (24%), mood alteration (23%), enablement (18%), trickery (20%), and product dependence (8%). Cluster analysis identified six groupings of themes, with 64% of the ads characterized by some combination of violence, conflict, and trickery. Regarding subtexts, the computer-based Minnesota Contextual Content Analysis program evaluated the voiced material in ads in terms of four marker categories named "traditional (normative)", "practical", "emotional", and "analytic". It was found that the texts had a strong emphasis on the emotional subtext or thrust, and a pronounced underemphasis on the analytic context. These analyses identify possibly dubious content in a significant segment of children's TV viewing.