Written expression, Hooper, and blind rating

Much research has supported the assertion of Hooper, et al.'s 1994 claims that specific stimuli perform better than others in eliciting well-developed written responses; however, previous research was conducted with raters who were aware of the hypotheses. The present study of 29 middle school children validated previous support for Hooper, et al.'s assertions by implementing blind rating and, once again, finding that significant differences between Hooper-like and non-Hooper-like prompts existed for structural items but not for items of mechanics.     

Accuracy of target detection in new-object and old-object displays

In 4 experiments, the authors investigated accuracy of detecting a target among nontargets. In some experiments, the target was a second-order square of stationary lines on a background of downward-moving lines, and nontargets were second-order squares of upward-moving lines. In other experiments, target and nontarget squares and background were shades of gray. The principal comparison was between "new" and "old" object displays. In new-object displays, search items appeared abruptly and one might be a target. In old-object displays, search items appeared abruptly, and after a delay one might become a target. Search displays in both conditions terminated shortly after target onset. Except when target onset was associated with the sole luminance change in a display, targets were much better detected in new- than in old-object displays. It is suggested that object onsets elicit a brief stimulus-driven enhancement of attention to the new objects.     

Categories as symptoms: conceptions of love in the psychoanalytic relationship

An invitation to participate in a conference, especially the phrase, "we hope that your [contribution] might deal with same-sex love," reveals the persistent, lingering effects of the creation of the categories homosexual and heterosexual. Analysis of the phrase suggests a fantasy condensed in the invitation: that a gay psychoanalyst loves and works differently than his heterosexual colleagues and that this difference is determined by his sexual orientation. Approaching the creation of these categories as a symptom of a process of repudiation and projection, the author seeks to begin identifying and sorting through the projected psychic contents that keep these categories' specious effects alive.     

Evaluative conditioning in social psychology: Facts and speculations

The aim of the present paper is to examine the contribution of evaluative conditioning (EC) to attitude formation theory in social psychology. This aim is pursued on two fronts. First, evaluative conditioning is analysed for its relevance to social psychological research. We show that conditioned attitudes can be acquired through simple co-occurrences of a neutral and a valenced stimulus. Moreover, we argue that conditioned attitudes are not confined to direct contact with a valenced stimulus, but can be formed and dynamically reformed indirectly, through association chains. Second, social research is examined in an effort to identify evaluative learning mechanisms. We suggest that several important phenomena in social psychology (e.g., ingroup favouritism, prejudice, name letter effect) are at least partly due to simple mechanisms of evaluative learning. The implications for attitude formation theory and for applied settings are discussed.     

Empirical and conceptual problems with longitudinal trait-state models: introducing a trait-state-occasion model

The latent trait-state-error model (TSE) and the latent state-trait model with autoregression (LST-AR) represent creative structural equation methods for examining the longitudinal structure of psychological constructs. Application of these models has been somewhat limited by empirical or conceptual problems. In the present study, Monte Carlo analysis revealed that TSE models tend to generate improper solutions when N is too small, when waves are too few, and when occasion factor stability is either too large or too small. Mathematical analysis of the LST-AR model revealed its limitation to constructs that become more highly auto-correlated over time. The trait-state-occasion model has fewer empirical problems than does the TSE model and is more broadly applicable than is the LST-AR model.     

Taxometrics in psychopathology research: an introduction to some of the procedures and related methodological issues

This article introduces a special section on the use of taxometrics to examine the categorical versus the dimensional structure of various forms of psychopathology. Paving the way into the special section, this introduction briefly describes 3 taxometric methods--mean above minus below a sliding cut (MAMBAC), maximum covariation (MAXCOV), and maximum eigenvalue (MAXEIG)--and discusses possible threats to statistical conclusion validity that often emerge when such techniques are applied in psychopathology research.     

Two measures of affect and emotion in Italian children aged 6 to 11 years

The authors investigated the relation between affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play and emotional understanding of 50 Italian children (25 boys and 25 girls) enrolled in regular elementary school in Northern Italy. Children were administered a standardized play task, the Affect in Play Scale, and answered questions about their understanding of emotions. Consistent, yet modest, relationships were found between dimensions of fantasy play and emotional understanding.     

Disposition to recognize goals in infant chimpanzees

Do nonhuman primates attribute goals to others? Traditional studies with chimpanzees provide equivocal evidence for “mind reading” in nonhuman primates. Here we adopt looking time, a methodology commonly used with human infants to test infant chimpanzees. In this experiment, four infant chimpanzees saw computer-generated stimuli that mimicked a goal-directed behavior. The baby chimps performed as well as human infants, namely, they were sensitive to the trajectories of the objects, thus suggesting that chimpanzees may be endowed with a disposition to understand goal-directed behaviors. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.