Children's representation of knowledge in verification

Thirty-two children aged 8–9 and 10–11 were asked to perform two statement verification tasks. Task 1 consisted of statements that were likely to elicit an affirmative knowledge representation,You have three eyes, is likely to elicit the representation,I have two eyes. Task 2 consisted of statements that were likely to elicit a negative knowledge of representation,You have a tail, is likely to elicit a negative representation,I do not have a tail. All statements varied in two dimensions, polarity (affirmative vs. negative) and truth value (true vs. false). Negative statements in Task 1 were found to be more difficult for children to verify than those in Task 2. This performance difference was used to infer the form of knowledge representation generated in verifying negative statements.     

The Effect of Clear Evaluation Criteria on Sex Bias in Judgments of Performance

Previous research indicates that the work of women is often devalued rela- tive to that of men. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that such sex bias appears when judges follow ambiguous guidelines or criteria in making evalua- tions, but not when they tollow clear evaluation guidelines. In each experiment, male and female undergraduates evaluated a performance that was attributed to either a man or woman (an intellectual test performance in Experiment I; an artistic craft object in Experiment 11). Subjects followed either clear, explicit evaluation criteria or vague, ambiguous criteria. As predicted, female subjects Lyaluated the "female's" performance less favorably than the "male's" only when. criteria were vague. In contast, male subjects showed little evidence of sex bias, regardless of the criteria they followed. Discussion centers upon: (1) possible cognitive processes underlying the observed effects of clear criteria; and (2) potential practical applications designed to alleviate sex bias in naturalistic settings.     

An electronic cine camera system for the automatic collection and analysis of high-speed movement of unrestrained animals

A system is decribed that collects visual data using a solid-state photodiode image sensor at rates of up to 600 frames/sec in a binary format suitable for image-analysis techniques. Of particular interest is the system’s ability to analyze high-speed movement of animals without prior modification of the subject (e.g., attachment of lamps or reflectors to the subject).     

Mothers and fathers of young children: comparison of parenting styles

This study compared the developmental expectations and parenting behaviors of 52 mothers and fathers with children between the ages of 1 and 4 years, using the Parenting Inventory: Young Children. While both mothers and fathers were nurturing parents, mothers obtained significantly higher nurturing scores. Possible reasons for this difference were discussed. Developmental expectations and discipline strategies did not differ between mothers and fathers.     

Practice effects for visual resolution in the periphery

Resolution thresholds at 0° (fovea), 20°, 40°, and 60° along the horizontal meridian of the temporal visual field revealed a characteristic degradation in visual resolution with increasing stimulus eccentricity. However, substantial individual differences were found, particularly at 40° and 60° of eccentricity. Dramatic improvements in peripheral visual resolution occurred over a period of 11 practice sessions, with the time course of practice effects increasing for greater visual field eccentricities. Improvements with practice reduced, but did not eliminate, individual differences. The present visual resolution findings are compared to previous studies of peripheral motion detection and increment thresholds.     

An observation on set and visual comparison processes

Tasks involving the comparison of sequentially presented stimulus items to determine identity have generally only required interpretation in terms of simple matching. Some studies have attempted to show effects of selective set in these tasks but with little success except in tasks involving comparison of sentences with pictures. By simplifying the task a reliable set effect is demonstrated, showing that a mismatch of certain stimulus attributes only has an identifiable effect on a subject's reaction-time if he may reasonably be supposed to know that the attribute is critical and is set to examine stimulus items for the attribute. Such conditions result in a relatively fast judgement. The finding suggests that the sequential “same“/“different” judgement is a richer source of data concerning recognition and comparison than has been supposed.