Immediate and long-term retention of basic-level categories in 24-month-olds

This study assessed the effect of presenting single versus multiple exemplars of basic-level categories on 24-month-olds' long-term memory for categorical information. Sixty-four infants were tested in a paired-comparison recognition memory paradigm immediately and one week after familiarization with basic-level categories. Infants were randomly assigned to one of two familiarization conditions and one of two test conditions. In one familiarization condition (Varied Exemplar), they briefly viewed four different exemplars of each of 16 basic-level categories. In the other familiarization condition (Single Exemplar), they viewed only one instance of each category on four different trials. Test trials consisted of either an exemplar seen during familiarization (Familiar-Exemplar Test) or novel intracategory exemplar (Unfamiliar-Exemplar Test) paired with a stimulus from a novel category. Both immediately following familiarization and one week later, infants looked longer at test stimuli from the novel category irrespective of familiarization or test condition.     

Behavioral profiles of children with different levels of achievement

This study examines the relative importance of three behavioral dimensions to reading and mathematics achievement of elementary school children. Previous research on the dimensions which characterize the school behavior of children has shown that these dimensions can be understood as reflecting (a) an adaptation or learning problems dimension, (b) an interpersonal or a social problem dimension, and (c) an intrapersonal or personal adjustment dimension. Scores for each dimension were derived from a cluster analysis of the Pupil Behavior Rating Scale. Based on results of the cluster analysis, subjects were assigned to 12 behavioral typology groups. Analysis of variance showed that behavior typologies were related to both reading and mathematics achievement test scores. Post hoc contrasts revealed that levels of reading achievement are associated primarily with behaviors defined by attributes of the adaptation dimension, and that differences in measures of interpersonal and interpersonal dimensions do not contribute appreciably to group differences in reading and mathematics achievement.     

Validity of teacher nominations of child behavior problems

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of teachers' identification of problem children. Ninety-five third-grade children served as subjects. Teachers nominated children as a conduct problem, withdrawal problem, or normal, resulting in 16, 14, and 65 children being assigned to the three groups. Behavioral observations, peer sociometric ratings, and academic achievement scores were collected. The results indicated that conduct problem children differed from normal children on behavioral, sociometric, and academic measures, whereas withdrawn children differed from normals on the latter two measures. Conduct problem and withdrawal problem children did not differ on any of the dependent measures. The results suggest that teachers can identify children who are having difficulties in class but may be less accurate in differentiating between different types of problem children.This research was supported in part by NIMH grant MH-28859-01. Data reported in this article are part of a larger project assessing the social skills of children.     

The effects of distributed training on retention of operant conditioning in human infants

Long-term retention of operant footkicking acquired in the mobile conjugate reinforcement paradigm was assessed as a function of the distribution of training time. In the first study, 3-month-old infants were trained for either one 18-min session or for two 9-min or three 6-min sessions separated by 24-hr intervals. All infants exhibited retention during a test administered immediately after training, but only those trained in a single session continued to perform the conditioned response during cued-recall tests 7 or 14 days later. Infants trained in three sessions showed no evidence of remembering the contingency even after a week. A warm-up decrement, seen in the day-to-day performance of infants in the distributed conditions, was eliminated in the second study by the interpolation of a nonreinforcement period at the outset of daily sessions. This procedure also enhanced long-term retention such that infants trained in three 6-min session now remembered the contingency for 14 days and did not differ from infants who had received a single 18-min session. Whether distributed training facilitates or impairs long-term retention appears to depend on the opportunity for infants to acquire a sufficient number (or kind) of effective retrieval cues during original learning.     

The Pittsburgh Initial Neuropsychological Testing System (PINTS): A neuropsychological screening battery for psychiatric patients

This paper presents a new neuropsychological screening battery for psychiatric patients. It takes 1.5 to 2 hr to administer and briefly assesses general level of performance, memory, language skills, attention, and spatial-constructional abilities. Scoring and profiling are computerized. Initial validation based on discriminant analysis of a group of brain-damaged and non-brain-damaged psychiatric patients yielded a diagnostic accuracy level of 84.51%. Cross-validation on a different population led to a substantial attrition of classificatory accuracy, but cross-validation based on a comparison between two samples drawn from a homogeneous population yielded substantially less attrition. It was concluded that while the battery discriminates accurately in a homogeneous population, it is necessary to develop separate norms for populations varying in level of impairment.     

Choice reaction time with a random foreperiod

Choice reaction latencies were measured at three different a priori probabilities for two stimulus alternatives. Unlike the results of some other studies, the mean latency of a given response was nearly the same whether the response was correct or incorrect. The discriminable stimuli were a 1000- or a 1700-Hz tone presented at 70 dB SPL. Latencies and standard deviations, based on about 17,000 observations, are reported for three observers. The data are compared with predictions of the optimum sequential model of Wald and Stone and two modifications of that random-walk model, one proposed by Link and Heath and the other proposed by Laming. Fast-guess analyses were also carried out. The three-parameter version of either the sequential or the modified random-walk models provided reasonably accurate predictions of the mean data for each observer. The parameters estimated by the fast-guess analysis were unrealistic. There are three obvious differences between this experiment and most previous choice reaction-time experiments. First is stimulus modality#x2014;we used an auditory signal, whereas most of the previous studies used a visual signal. Second, the observers practiced more in this experiment than in most previous experiments. Finally, there was a random foreperiod with a heavy penalty for anticipations. One or more of these factors is the probable reason for the discrepancy between our results and those of previous studies.     

Homemaking as an occupational plan: Evidence from a national longitudinal study

While several guidelines for avoiding sexist language in career materials have been published, little empirical evidence exists to support the assumption that sexist language in career information has deleterious effects on clients. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of sex-biased language in occupational information on subject interest and attitudes regarding gender appropriateness of occupations. Eighth-grade students read occupational briefs on two occupations presented in either neutral, female-biased, or male-biased language. Results showed a nonsignificant language effect and a significant sex difference in interest in the occupations. A significant three-way interaction (language by subject sex by occupation) was found for gender-appropriateness ratings. The findings, together with previous research, suggest that language may have little impact on specific occupational interests, but may affect other career attitudes related to interests.