A developmental study of factors influencing discrimination transfer

Reversal and non-reversal shifts were studied in rural Mexican children ranging in age from 4–10 years. Experimental variations within each group were arranged to provide for evaluation of the influence of temporal pairing and the presence of common attributes in different discriminanda on transfer. Under some presentation conditions, all of the groups studied manifested independent learning of subproblems which are ordinarily thought of as constituting a single problem by experimenters. The contributions of the various experimental factors change with age in ways that are consistent with a general “single-unit to mediational” formulation, but the details of the mediational behavior are not fully describable by any currently formulated theory.     

On the existence and occurrence of mediation in discrimination transfer: A critical note

Discrimination learning studies designed to study mediational processes of young children are discussed using a recent paper by Brown and Scott as a point of departure. It is urged that investigators lay aside demonstrations of the existence of mediation in young children as a focus of research, substituting a search for the conditions of its occurrence.     

Self-Concept and School Adjustment

This study attempted to relate self-concept to several dimensions of the child's experience that are deemed fundamental to effective academic adjustment. It was hypothesized that a child's conception of school would be related to his conception of himself, and thus might be construed as an extension of his self-concept. 80 6th-grade students were used as subjects for all phases of the investigation. Significantly positive correlations were obtained between self-concept measures and the following variables: conception of school, social status at school, emotional adjustment, mental ability, reading achievement, and mathematical achievement.     

Physical fitness, body image, and locus of control in college women dancers and nondancers

This study assessed the correlations among measures of physical fitness, body image and locus of control in college freshman women dancers and nondancers. 39 students enrolled in courses in modern, ballet, and jazz dance, and 120 students enrolled in an introductory personal health course were administered the Hall Physical Fitness Test Profile, the Winstead and Cash 54-item short-form Body Self-relations Questionnaire (BSRQ), and the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. Analysis showed dancers were more physically fit, scored more positively on the BSRQ physical fitness and health domains, and were more internal in their locus of control than the nondancers. There was no significant difference between dancers and nondancers on the BSRQ appearance domain. The significant positive correlation between BSRQ health and physical fitness among dancers was not observed among nondancers. The significant positive correlation for BSRQ appearance and health was noted for nondancers but not for dancers.     

Force gradients in stimulus generalization

Pigeons were trained to peck with differing force requirements on a key specially designed to measure and control force of pecking without changes in the mechanical threshold. Following training on a key illuminated by a single wavelength, a generalization test was given. Force and rate gradients were obtained. Force gradients were shown to have a form similar to rate gradients. The slope of the force gradients was a direct function of the force of responding at the conclusion of training. Rate gradients were independent of the force of responding.     

Latent relationships of fluid, visual, and simultaneous cognitive tasks

Horn's 1989 fluid intelligence and Luria's 1966 simultaneous processing have been represented in various cognitive assessment batteries. Although related, these concepts are purported to measure distinct cognitive functions; fluid intelligence refers to deductive reasoning whereas simultaneous processing refers to understanding complex relationships among gestalts. The current study explored the factor structure of known fluid and simultaneous tests along with visually complex new tests. A total of 56 children in Grades 1 through 5 were administered tests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Elliott's Differential Abilities Scales, and two experimental tasks. Findings suggest that (1) the two experimental subtests were psychometrically viable, (2) when analyzed as a two-factor structure, fluid and visual processing components were pronounced, and (3) when analyzed as a single-factor structure, simultaneous processing emerged. These findings indicate simultaneous processing may be a blend of fluid and visual components.     

Is social inhibition of return due to action co-representation?

When two individuals alternate reaching responses to visual targets presented on a shared workspace, one individual is slower to respond to targets occupying the same position as their partner’s previous response. This phenomenon is thought to be due to processes that inhibit the initiation of a movement to a location recently acted upon. However, two distinct forms of the inhibition account have been posited, one based on inhibition of an action, the other based on inhibition of an action and location. Furthermore, an additional recent explanation suggests the phenomenon is due to mechanisms that give rise to action congruency effects. Thus the three different theories differ in the degree to which action co-representation plays a role in the effect. The aim of the present work was to examine these competing accounts. Three experiments demonstrated that when identical actions are made, the effect is modulated by the configuration of the visual stimuli acted upon and the perceptual demands of the task. In addition, when the co-actors perform different actions to the same target, the effect is still observed. These findings support the hypothesis that this particular joint action phenomenon is generated via social cues that induce location-based inhibition of return rather than being due to shared motor co-representations.     

Reason to Believe: Representations of Aggression as Phenomenological Read-Out

Men tend to view their own aggression as an instrumental act aimed at imposing control, whereas women tend to view theirs as an expressive act resulting from a loss of self-control. These interpretations have been called social representations based on their presumed social origins and mode of transmission. However, if women’s self-control is generally higher than men’s, they would be expected to behave aggressively only infrequently and at higher levels of provocation. Aggression would be experienced phenomenologically as a loss of self-control. In Study 1, a student sample, men scored higher than women on instrumental beliefs, impulsivity, and risk seeking. As predicted, instrumental beliefs were associated with higher impulsive risk seeking and an expressive representation was positively associated with temper. In Study 2, an offender sample, there were no gender differences in instrumental beliefs, physical aggression, temper, carelessness, and present orientation. Instrumental beliefs were again associated with impulsive risk seeking and, to a lesser extent, temper. Expressive beliefs were again associated with temper and, to a lesser extent, present orientation. Physical aggression was associated with holding instrumental beliefs, impulsive risk seeking, and temper. The model is broadly supported and directions for future work are suggested.     

Justice Beyond Borders

Liberal theories of social justicefocus predominantly on the national, ratherthan international, level, and where they doaddress international concerns they insist thatprinciples of justice at the national levelhave priority over principles at theinternational level. We question the coherenceof this arrangement, given liberal theory'scommitment to moral equality of persons as suchrather than to that of particular sets of persons. What isat issue is whether liberal theory can providea coherent basis for international justice atall. If it is to do so, we suggest that it mustbe prepared to theorise beyond the nationstate, and to take a historical perspectivewhich takes into account the ways in whichcolonial power and exploitation have given riseto the problems of international justice weface today. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Academic growth curve trajectories from 1st grade to 12th grade: effects of multiple social risk factors and preschool child factors

This study examined the main and interactive effects of multiple social risk factors and the preschool child factors of IQ and mental health on students' academic trajectories from 1st grade to 12th grade. A multiple risk score summarizing 10 environmental risk factors was calculated at 4 years of age for 145 families. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that high-risk students had lower grades and more absences from 1st grade to 12th grade than did low-risk students. Significant interactions between risk and child factors for students' grade point average (GPA) revealed that child factors had significant effects only for low-risk students. Higher IQ and better mental health improved the GPA trajectories of low-risk children but did not influence the GPA trajectories of high-risk children.