A longitudinal study of the relation between language and theory-of-mind development.

Fifty-nine 3-year-olds were tested 3 times over a period of 7 months in order to assess the contribution of theory of mind to language development and of language to theory-of-mind development (including the independent contributions of syntax and semantics). Language competence was assessed with a standardized measure of reception and production of syntax and semantics (the Test of Early Language Development). Theory of mind was assessed with false-belief tasks and appearance-reality tasks. Earlier language abilities predicted later theory-of-mind test performance (controlling for earlier theory of mind), but earlier theory of mind did not predict later language test performance (controlling for earlier language). These findings are consistent with the argument that language is fundamental to theory-of-mind development.     

Accuracy of memories from childhood and adolescence related to growth and size

The ability of middle-aged adults to recall their body size and events occurring up to 40 years earlier was assessed. Ninety-one subjects recalled their relative height, weight, and fatness during childhood, early adolescence and late adolescence. Accuracy of these memories was compared with the accuracy of current reports. The ability to accurately date benchmarks of their maturation such as menarche and year of maximal growth in height was also examined. Accuracy of reports did not decline uniformly over time. In general, reports of childhood physical characteristics were at least as accurate as reports of current characteristics; that is, they did not differ significantly from current reports. Males were less accurate in their reports of relative height and fatness during early adolescence and childhood. This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service under contract number 53-3K06-5-10. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.     

Sexual development and behavior in black preadolescents

As part of a longitudinal study of the sociosexual development of black preadolescents, sexual maturation and sociosexual behaviors were assessed and the relationships between these variables determined in a sample of 101 nine- to eleven-year-old middle- and low-income boys and girls. Sexual maturation was measured by Tanner's staging criteria of specific secondary sex characteristics. Involvement in heterosexual behaviors was elicited via self reports and was classified on a five-point heterosexual physical activity scale (HPA). The data corroborate other studies in demonstrating that girls were more advanced than boys in the process of sexual maturation. Considerable variation in stages of maturation for chronological age existed in both boys and girls, but was more pronounced for girls. In girls, there was no significant association between HPA and degree of biologic maturation. However, genital development in boys was significantly related to their sexual behavior. Income level was not significantly associated with the HPA score. A baseline from which to chart the progress of sociosexual behaviors in these developing preadolescents was established.     

Signal-centered action patterns of dogs in appetitive classical conditioning

The movements of five unrestrained dogs were monitored during discriminative Pavlovian conditioning. An auditory-visual stimulus from one source (CS+) was followed by meat morsels (US); the same stimulus from another source (CS?) was not. Sources were equidistant from the site of US delivery. Before each trial, animals were required to position themselves at a starting location equidistant from both sources and removed from the US site. The stable behavior pattern in most subjects included approach to and contact or near contact with CS+, followed by approach to the US site. Dogs showed individually distinctive action patterns to CS+, in some cases suggestive of soliciting, in another of sight-pointing. Similar actions were not evoked by CS?. In postacquisition tests, patterns were generally unaffected by increased deprivation or by relocating the starting position next to the US site. The auditory component of CS+ was more effective than the visual. With a response-contingent procedure animals were successfully trained to approach the US site directly, although many trials, and in one case a special procedure, were required. It was proposed that the experimental signaling arrangement mimics a natural signaling sequence and induces appetitive behavior to the CS that corresponds to the behavior induced by certain natural signals of the US.     

Theological and religious dimensions in pastoral psychotherapy

This article seeks to consider the theological and religious dimensions in pastoral psychotherapy. Using Erik Erikson's view of personality growth and development, the author presents a view of man as the basis for exploring the theological and religious dimensions of psychotherapy and offers five approaches to arguing for theological and religious significance in psychotherapy. The article then considers what the pastoral psychotherapist brings to this process.Dr. Jenkins is Director of Pastoral Counseling, Georgia Baptist Medical Center, 300 Boulevard, N.E., Atlanta, GA 30312. This paper was delivered to the Annual Meeting of the Southeast Region of American Association of Pastoral Counselors, October, 1980, Kanuga, North Carolina.     

Patrol evaluation research: a multiple-baseline analysis of saturation police patrolling during day and night hours

The effects of a carefully monitored and increased police patrol on the report of crime were examined in four patrol zones. Overall patrol movement was increased to four times normal levels and slow patrol movement (under 20 mph) to around 30 times normal levels for 10 days. The patrol was active in two zones between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and in the other two zones between 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. A multiple-baseline design and time-series statistical analyses showed statistically reliable changes in reported levels of Part I crime (such as robbery, burglary, and aggravated assault) during both night patrols, but not in the day patrols. In both night-patrol zones, there were also reliable increases from saturation patrol to postsaturation patrol in report of Part I crime after the night patrol was terminated. Neither of the day patrols showed significant crime report changes on termination. Despite statistically reliable decreases in report of crime during nighttime hours, the value of saturation patrolling as a crime-prevention technique was questioned on cost/benefit grounds.     

A behavioral frequency discrimination paradigm for use in adult primates

A psychophysical apparatus and procedure that can be used to define the performance and estimate the thresholds of frequency discrimination in adult primates is described. This protocol has been used to train adult owl monkeys to discriminate differences in the frequencies of successively presented sinusoidal tactile stimuli delivered to a restricted skin surface of a single digit, and to train a second set of adult owl monkeys to discriminate. differences in frequencies between paired auditory tonal stimuli. The thresholds estimated with this procedure are comparable to those measured in other primates. The advantages of using this procedure for combined behavioral and physiological studies are discussed.     

Free Speech Fallacies as Meta-Argumentative Errors

Free speech fallacies are errors of meta-argument. One commits a free speech fallacy when one argues that since there are apparent restrictions on one’s rights of free expression, procedural rules of critical exchange have been broken, and consequently, one’s preferred view is dialectically better off than it may otherwise seem. Free speech fallacies are meta-argumentative, since they occur at the level of assessing the dialectical situation in terms of norms of argument and in terms of meta-evidential principles of interpreting how and why people follow (or fail to follow) argumentative rules. Our plan here is to begin with a brief explanation of meta-argument and meta-argumentative fallacy. We will then turn to the variety of forms of the free speech fallacy, which we will explain as meta-argumentatively erroneous.

     

Subtypes of psychopathology in children referred for neuropsychological assessment.

The validity of a Personality Inventory for Children-Revised edition (PIC-R) typology was examined in a sample of 323 children aged 6-16 years. These children had been referred to a children's mental health centre for neuropsychological assessment. In study 1, K-means cluster analysis (k = 12) was applied to the PIC clinical scales in an attempt to replicate the 12 clusters identified by Gdowski, Lachar, and Kline (1985). Partial cluster replication was achieved. Examination of the obtained clusters revealed significant overlap, suggesting that fewer clusters would represent an optimal solution. In study 2, a two-stage cluster analysis yielded a seven-cluster solution consistent with several key forms of psychopathology previously reported in the literature using specific neuropsychological populations. Identified subtypes included profiles characterized as: normal, cognitive deficit, cognitive deficit with internalized psychopathology, cognitive deficit with social impairment, cognitive deficit with hyperactivity, cognitive deficit with both internalized and externalized psychopathology, and combined internalized and externalized psychopathology without a cognitive deficit component.     

Structuring Decisions Under Deep Uncertainty

Topoi - Innovative research on decision making under ‘deep uncertainty’ is underway in applied fields such as engineering and operational research, largely outside the view of normative...