Specificity of perceptual processing in rereading spatially transformed materials

While most studies using the task of reading spatially transformed text do not reveal evidence of specific perceptual transfer, a study by Masson (1986, Experiment 3) provides clear evidence of such effects. Several experiments were designed to identify the basis for this empirical discrepancy. The only substantive evidence of specific perceptual transfer occurred when the words were presented in an unfamiliar typography, although each study suggested a trend toward perceptual specificity effects. The results are discussed in terms of Graf and Ryan’s (1990) ideas about the role of distinctive memory representations.     

Psychological Separation of Older Adolescents and Young Adults From Their Parents: An Investigation of Gender Differences

Gender differences were examined in 182 freshman college students who had completed a packet of questionnaires and inventories to address the impact of separation from their parents and to test the relevance of self-in-relation theory. Instruments administered included the Social Support Questionnaire-Short Form (SSQ-6); the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-Revised (FACES-R); and the Separation-Individuation Inventory. A multivariate analysis of variance performed on each instrument administered revealed significant differences between men and women on the SSQ-6 and the FACES-R. Differences indicated that, as expected, women reported establishing more of all kinds of support, were better satisfied with its quality, and viewed their families as more cohesive than did men. Unexpectedly, men and women viewed their families as equally socially desirable, and both men and women reported few disturbances in the separation-individuation process.     

Genetic research,adolescents, and informed consent

The participation of adolescents in genetic research engenders unusual problems concerning the nature of their informed consent. In this study we analyze 70 consent documents collected from genetics investigators in the United States who conduct research with children and adolescents. We find that many consent documents do not reflect either the current or the developing ethical and legal standards for research with adolescents and that in many cases the documents are simply confusing or unclear. We make recommendations for change to reflect more adequately the changing perspective concerning the autonomous decision-making capacity of adolescents.     

Introduction: Special issue on behavioral neuropsychology

Dr. Horton's contribution was in his private capacity and was neither endorsed nor supported by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.     

Building capacity in planning,monitoring and evaluation: Lessons from the field

This paper reports on the author’s experiences as manager of a capacity-building project in Latin America. The project aimed to strengthen planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PM&E) in agricultural research. Nine lessons are drawn: (1) Project design is much more than a technical process; it is essentially one of negotiation. (2) In capacity-building projects, design activities cannot end when implementation begins. (3) Capacity-building efforts should prepare managers to deal with complexity, uncertainty and change. (4) In capacity-building efforts, it is essential to collaborate rather than patronize. (5) Organizational assessment is a complex social process, intertwined with organizational politics. (6) In designing capacity-building projects, it is essential to involve managers and staff members in assessing needs and opportunities. (7) Action-learning strategies offer great potential for capacity building. (8) In the context of strategic management and organizational learning, PM&E take on new meanings. (9) Training is most effective when it is designed to serve a purpose within an organizational change process. It is concluded that capacity building is more a process of social experimentation than of social engineering. Management systems cannot be imported, but need to be developed within organizations. Development agencies should play catalytic, facilitating roles, rather than take responsibility for organizational change. To support genuine capacity development, donors and funding agencies need to ensure that their planning and accountability procedures foster flexibility, innovation, and learning. Since joining ISNAR in 1990, he has engaged in research, training, and advisory work on research management, with an emphasis on evaluation. Previously, for fifteen years Horton was head of the social science department of the International Potato Center in Peru. Horton received B.S. and M.S. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University. His current interests include action research and learning, organizational assessment, and institutionalization of planning, monitoring, and evaluation.     

Comorbidity of drug abuse treatment

Research has suggested that comorbidity, the concurrence of substance abuse disorders with other psychiatric disorders, may have prognostic value and important implications for the treatment of substance abuse. Knowledge of the prevalence of comorbid disorder is important because it will enable treatment services to be appropriately configured and designed for clinical drug treatment populations. The form and duration of comorbidity may be influenced by a variety of factors, which include the class of drug being abused, the duration of drug use, the individual sensitivity to drug effects, and whether the drug effects are acute or due to withdrawal or residual conditions. This paper addresses three important scientific questions: (1) What is the prevalence of comorbid disorders in a drug abuser population? (2) What is the stability of psychiatric diagnoses in a drug abuser population? (3) Does the existence of a comorbid disorder influence the outcome of drug abuse treatment?     

Task experience and children's working memory performance: a perspective from recall timing

Working memory is an important theoretical construct among children, and measures of its capacity predict a range of cognitive skills and abilities. Data from 9- and 11-year-old children illustrate how a chronometric analysis of recall can complement and elaborate recall accuracy in advancing our understanding of working memory. A reading span task was completed by 130 children, 75 of whom were tested on 2 occasions, with sequence length either increasing or decreasing during test administration. Substantial pauses occur during participants' recall sequences, and they represent consistent performance traits over time, while also varying with recall circumstances and task history. Recall pauses help to predict reading and number skills, alongside as well as separate from levels of recall accuracy. The task demands of working memory change as a function of task experience, with a combination of accuracy and response timing in novel task situations being the strongest predictor of cognitive attainment.     

Can defendants with mental retardation successfully fake their performance on a test of competence to stand trial?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether criminal defendants with mental retardation can feign poor performance on a test of competence to stand trial. Four groups of adjudicated criminal defendants were given a test of competence to stand trial. In the experimental condition, defendants with mental retardation (MR) and mentally typical defendants (non-MR) were given instructions to fake their performance on the test. In the control, MR defendants and non-MR defendants took the test under standard conditions. The results indicated that both the MR and non-MR fakers scored significantly lower than the MR and non-MR controls. There was no significant difference in the scores of the MR and non-MR fakers. The results suggest that defendants with mental retardation may be able to successfully fake their performance in certain circumstances. Implications of these findings are discussed.