Generation and associative encoding in young and old adults: the effect of the strength of association between cues and targets on a cued recall task

The generation effect (i.e., better recall of the generated items than the read items) was investigated with a between-list design in young and elderly participants. The generation task difficulty was manipulated by varying the strength of association between cues and targets. Overall, strong associates were better recalled than weak associates. However, the results showed different generation effect patterns according to strength of association and age, with a greater generation effect for weak associates in younger adults only. These findings suggest that generating weak associates leads to more elaborated encoding, but that elderly adults cannot use this elaborated encoding as well as younger adults to recall the target words at test.     

Living in several languages: implications for therapy

Bilingualism and multilingualism have mainly been neglected in psychotherapy. This paper is based on qualitative research of subjective experiences of living in more than one language, using a combined grounded theory and discursive approach, which raises significant issues for therapy. These individuals experience themselves very differently in their different languages, and construct their languages differently. Languages acquire meanings in socio-political contexts as well as in local personal ones, and encode different concepts and notions of personhood. Issues of language choice within families and what it is seen to accomplish are discussed. Mothers and fathers view this issue differently. The paper argues for the importance of taking into account the differences languages bring for individuals, particularly in the context of colonialism and racism. Asking about families' experiences of their languages is a fruitful way to explore cultural meanings. Multilingualism is a resource for mental flexibility and creativity, but there are challenges in enabling living with its multiplicities.     

Personality traits in patients with narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a lifelong disorder with the main symptoms of sleep attacks and cataplexy. In this study 49 narcoleptic patients were investigated with a battery of personality inventories, covering the following personality dimensions: anxiety-neuroticism, extraversion and socialization. The results were compared with three groups: normal subject, psychiatric inpatients with anxiety and outpatients with psychosomatic complaints. The main aim was to evaluate a clinical impression of a high degree of extraversion in narcoleptic patients, which according to Eysenck's model could be related to a disturbance in the arousal regulation. Narcoleptic patients had higher anxiety-neuroticism scores than normal individuals, particularly in terms of Somatic Anxiety. They had unexpectedly low scores in some socialization scales, and were contrary to our hypothesis slightly lower in the extraversion variables, than the comparison groups. The high scores in anxiety-neuroticism personality scales may depend on an anxiety-provoking effect of central stimulant drugs and/or a lability of the autonomic regulation associated with the disorder. Further, the strain caused by the narcoleptic symptoms may result in high scores in anxiety-neuroticism scales and low scores in socialization scales, via social-learning mechanisms. However, there may also be a coupling between the genetics of narcolepsy and biologically based personality traits.     

Some nonmasking auditory postsignal effects

Observers were asked to detect a 20-msec segment of a sinusoidal signal masked by a band-limited white noise. A postsignal decrease in the spectrum level of the noise within the critical band of the signal enhanced the detectability of that signal if the decrease occurred within approximately 25 msec following signal termination. Postsignal decreases outside the critical band of the signal, and decreases within the critical band delayed longer than approximately 40 msec, reduced the detectability of the signal for decrease delays up to between approximately 150 and 400 msec, depending on the spectral characteristics of the decrease. Comparisons with typical backward masking results indicate probable common factors of short-term temporal summation and longer term attention.     

The industrial prestige hierarchy

The major concerns of this research were to determine the prestige evaluations of selected industries by individuals representing diverse groups, and to compare the results with a previous study. Questionnaires were administered to five occupational subgroups (accountants, personnel managers, secretaries, electricians, security guards) and two university groups, one composed of white students, the other of black students. A total of 400 respondents indicated their prestige ratings of 30 industries in terms of a five-point scale. The major findings may be summarized as follows: (1) the industries were perceived to be arranged hierarchically as to prestige but many of the differences were not statistically significant; (2) various subgroups of the sample shared a closely similar evaluation pattern; and (3) industrial ratings had changed but little through time and did not vary significantly from one geographical area to another.     

A psychometric study of positive and negative nominations and the pupil evaluation inventory

Two peer evaluation measures, the Pupil Evaluation Inventory (PEI) and positive and negative nominations were compared in a sample of 260 children in grades 1 to 5. Stabilities of the measures were assessed over a 4-month period. In the total sample, PEI factors and negative nominations were more stable than positive nominations, and PEI Aggression and Withdrawal scores were more stable than negative nominations. PEI Aggression and Withdrawal scores were more stable in grades 3 and 5 than in grade 1, and the Likability factor was more stable in grades 2 to 5 than in grade 1. Negative nominations were most strongly correlated with the PEI Aggression factor, and positive nominations were more strongly correlated with Likability than with Aggression. Implications for the use of these nomination measures are discussed.During the writing of this report Charlotte Johnston was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The authors wish to express appreciation to Dr. Edward Vertuno and to all the staff, teachers, and children of the Developmental Research School, Florida State University, whose cooperation made this research possible.     

A family system perspective on custody and adoption

This paper will define the conceptual models of an internalized family image and an external psychological family as derived from psychoanalytic and family therapy studies, and relate these models to several issues impinging on custody, adoption, and foster care. Several suggestions based on these models and illustrated by clinical material will be presented which, if applied by families, and mental health, social, and legal authorities, can facilitate the creation of a psychological family, or at least an ambiance imbued with the concepts of a psychological family, for use in the construction of a family image by unrooted children.Dr. Sonne is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jefferson Medical College; Visiting Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Hahnemann Medical College; Emeritus Director Clinical School, Family Institute of Philadelphia; Senior Attending, Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital.