The effects of acoustic similarity on memory in children: A comparison between visual and auditory presentation

Children from 4 to 10 years old were presented with a serial recall task with pictures of common objects which had acoustically similar or dissimilar names, or with the spoken names of the pictures. Children of all ages showed consistently better recall of the pictures with dissimilar names. It is concluded, in contrast to some earlier studies, that children as young as 4 years are able to utilize a speech code as a means of memorizing pictures. With auditory presentation as in previous studies acoustic similarity had progressively more effect on recall with increasing age. The implications of these finding for current theories of short-term memory and its development are discussed.     

A hardware and software interface for sensing changes in rotary position with an Apple II microcomputer

A design for an Apple II interface that senses relative rotary position and/or motion via a digital potentiometer is presented. A thorough discussion of the circuit’s theory of operation and a fully commented BASIC software listing are included. Suggested applications include an infinite-turn rotary device for psychophysical methods of adjustment, the sensing of rotary translations of a steering wheel in a driving simulator, and a digital tachometer/odometer for tracking performance on stationary exercise bicycles and treadmills.     

Perceived Control in Prison: Its Relation to Reported Crowding,Stress, and Symptoms1

Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of perceived control in two men's prisons, one housing 181 inmates and the other housing 623 inmates. In both prisons, inmates' perceived control over the environment was found to be significantly related to their ratings of their living accommodations, experienced stress, and physical symptoms, even when type of cell was held constant.     

FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF SEVERE PICA

A two-phase functional analysis of a profoundly retarded 19-year-old male's pica facilitated the design of an effective intervention containing no aversive components. In the first analysis, frequent staff-client interaction resulted in 25% and 66% less pica than limited and no interaction, respectively. Paradoxical effects were obtained in the second analysis, where no protective helmet resulted in 38% and 26% less pica than the helmet with face shield and helmet without face shield, respectively. On the basis of these analyses, limited interaction and no helmet conditions were combined in an effective, staff-implemented treatment at a medium-sized institution.     

Test theory and psychometrika: The past twenty-five years

On the occasion ofPsychometrika's fiftieth anniversary, the past twenty-five years' developments in mental test theory are reviewed, with special emphasis on the topics receiving attention in the pages of this journal. (Analogous reviews forPsychometrika's first quarter century were given by Gulliksen and Guilford in 1961.) Much of the recent progress in test theory (and in other branches of psychometrics as well) has been made by treating the problems in this field as being essentially ones of statistical inference. It is concluded that (a) research in test theory is in a healthy state and (b)Psychometrika is an important source of information about that research.     

Part-whole relationships in the processing of small visual patterns

Subjects seem to react to a word faster than they react to a letter within a word. One interpretation is that words are processed holistically; another is that all visual stimuli are processed in terms of components, but that more stimulus information is available for use when the targets are words than when they are letters within words. The results of three experiments indicate that the word or pattern-level advantage occurs even when the stimulus information in the two situations is equated, but if the perceptual arrays cannot be unitized (e.g., consonant sequences), a pattern-level advantage does not occur. In addition, the experiments provide substantial evidence to indicate that if letter arrays cannot be unitized, then they are processed on a componentby-component basis, rather than holistically. Finally, the appropriate definition ofholistic processing is considered.     

Interparent agreement on the Personality Inventory for Children: Are substantial correlations sufficient?

Mothers' and fathers' responses on the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) were compared for 360 clinic-referred children and adolescents. Interparent agreement was measured by several different indices. Correlations between parental pairs of scale T-scores derived from each parent averaged .66 for 13 of the profile scales; 9 of the scales exceeded this value. In contrast, mothers and fathers agreed in the classification of the presence of clinical significance an average of 77% of the time across these 13 scales, and pairs of parental PIC profiles contained an average of 3 scales in disagreement. The type of index used to measure interparent agreement was found to affect the results. The discussion examines the nature of interparent disagreement and addresses the implications regarding the use of fathers as informants on this instrument.This article is based on Thomas A. Hulbert's master's thesis. The authors extend their appreciation to James Orisell and Dena Mussaff for their assistance in data preparation and analysis.     

Assessment of anxiety and achievement in kindergarten and first-and second-grade children

The psychometric properties of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and relationships between STAIC T-Anxiety scores and standardized measures of achievement were determined for 948 kindergarten and first-and second-grade children. The T-anxiety scores of kindergarten children were lower than those of first-and second-graders. Internal consistency of the STAIC scales was higher in individual testing sessions than in small group administrations. Small but significant negative correlations were found between STAIC T-Anxiety scores and measures of school achievement. It was concluded that the STAIC is a potentially useful measure of state and trait anxiety in kindergarten through sixth-grade children, but it must be administered individually at the kindergarten and first-grade levels.The research was performed while the senior author was a senior research scientist at the Dallas Independent School District.