Effects of mixing and cueing simple addition and multiplication

Miller and Paredes (1990) found that both children's and adults' performance of simple addition and multiplication tested in mixed-operation blocks was slower and more susceptible to operation errors (e.g., 6 + 2=12 or 6×2=8) compared to pure-operation blocks; but mixed-operation costs were greater for addition than for multiplication. We pursued the source of these effects in adults (n=96) by examining effects of operation switching and cueing. We replicated the asymmetrical costs of mixing addition and multiplication and demonstrated that these owed, in part, to asymmetrical task switching costs. Operation foreknowledge (a visual cue appearing 2 s before the problem) moderated both mixing and switch costs. This suggests that an asymmetry between addition and multiplication in the utility of preparation contributed to asymmetric mixing costs. Miller and Paredes proposed that the asymmetric costs of mixing operations observed in adults echoed an asymmetry developed in childhood when multiplication is initially learned. This might be correct, but our results raise the possibility that the asymmetry reflects operation-specific costs and interference effects that arise during the experiment.     

The role of cue familiarity in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition

Are adults’ decisions to use direct memory retrieval for simple addition influenced by the familiarity of problem operands? We manipulated the familiarity of a subset of operands by having adults repeatedly practise specific additions (two+five=?; Experiment 1) or magnitude comparisons (two five, choose the larger; Experiment 2). Both experiments provided evidence that pre-exposure to single-digit operands increased reported use of direct retrieval for new combinations of the familiarised operands. RT and error patterns across experiments also supported the conclusion that increased use of retrieval facilitated performance. These results show that operand familiarity potentially plays a significant role in adults’ strategy choices for simple addition.     

Simple addition and multiplication: No comparison

Some models of memory for arithmetic facts (e.g., 5+2=7, 6×7=42) assume that only the max-left order is stored in memory (e.g., 5+2=7 is stored but not 2+5=7). These models further assume an initial comparison of the two operands so that either operand order (5+2 or 2+5) can be mapped to the common internal representation. We sought evidence of number comparison in simple addition and multiplication by manipulating size congruity. In number comparison tasks, performance costs occur when the physical and numerical size of numerals are incongruent (8 3) relative to when they are congruent (8 3). Sixty-four volunteers completed a number comparison task, an addition task, and a multiplication task with both size congruent and size incongruent stimuli. The comparison task demonstrated that our stimuli were capable of producing robust size congruity and split effects. In the addition and multiplication task, however, we were unable to detect any of the RT signatures of comparison or reordering processes despite ample statistical power: Specifically, there was no evidence of size congruity, split, or order effects in either the addition or multiplication data. We conclude that our participants did not routinely engage a comparison operation and did not consistently reorder the operands to a preferred orientation.     

Methodological suggestions from a comparative psychology of knowledge processes

Philosophers of science, in the course of making a sharp distinction between the tasks of the philosopher and those of the scientist, have pointed to the possibility of an empirical science of induction. A comparative psychology of knowledge processes is offered as one aspect of this potential enterprise. From fragments of such a psychology, methodological suggestions are drawn relevant to several chronic problems in the social sciences, including the publication of negative results from novel explorations, the operational diagnosis of dispositions, the status of aggregates of persons as social entities, and the validation of psychological tests.     

The Differential Salience of Spatial Information Features in the Geometric Reproductions of Young Children

To assess the differential salience of geometric features embedded in spatial displays, 60 preschool children, 3 to 5 years old, were required to reconstruct a series of geometric displays. Each arrangement included the depiction of a topological feature, unconnectedness; a Euclidean feature, linearity; and a projective feature, orientation. Children built their reconstructions under two demand conditions. The reconstructions were scored for the number that preserved each of the different geometric features. Results from a mixed-design analysis of variance revealed main effects for age, demand condition, and geometric feature, as well as for several first-order interactions. Data indicated that the Euclidean feature was the most salient and most frequently preserved characteristic and that the topological and projective ones were more problematic. The findings were discussed as a contrast to Piagetian predictions.     

Help-Seeking from Clergy and Spiritual Counselors Among Veterans with Depression and PTSD in Primary Care

Little is known about the prevalence or predictors of seeking help for depression and PTSD from spiritual counselors and clergy. We describe openness to and actual help-seeking from spiritual counselors among primary care patients with depression. We screened consecutive VA primary care patients for depression; 761 Veterans with probable major depression participated in telephone surveys (at baseline, 7 months, and 18 months). Participants were asked about (1) openness to seeking help for emotional problems from spiritual counselors/clergy and (2) actual contact with spiritual counselors/clergy in the past 6 months. At baseline, almost half of the participants, 359 (47.2 %), endorsed being “very” or “somewhat likely” to seek help for emotional problems from spiritual counselors; 498 (65.4 %) were open to a primary care provider, 486 (63.9 %) to a psychiatrist, and 409 (66.5 %) to another type of mental health provider. Ninety-one participants (12 %) reported actual spiritual counselor/clergy consultation. Ninety-five (10.3 %) participants reported that their VA providers had recently asked them about spiritual support; the majority of these found this discussion helpful. Participants with current PTSD symptoms, and those with a mental health visit in the past 6 months, were more likely to report openness to and actual help-seeking from clergy. Veterans with depression and PTSD are amenable to receiving help from spiritual counselors/clergy and other providers. Integration of spiritual counselors/clergy into care teams may be helpful to Veterans with PTSD. Training of such providers to address PTSD specifically may also be desirable.     

Strain,Emotion, and Suicide Among American Indian Youth

In this article, we test the utility of Agnew's general strain theory to explain suicidal behaviors among American Indian youth. Data from 721 American Indian adolescents from the Midwest and Canada were collected in partnership with participating reservations/reserves and a research team. We investigate the effects of strains/stressors on suicide, including tests of mediating effects of negative emotions on relationships between stressors and suicidality. We found that several strains/stressors were related to suicidality, including coercive parenting, caretaker rejection, negative school attitudes, and perceived discrimination. We also found that depressive symptoms and anger mediated the effects of several key predictors of suicidality. We discuss the theoretical and policy implications of our work for the general strain theory and for American Indian suicide in general.     

Why Doesn't Parental Alienation Occur More Frequently? The Significance of Role Discrimination

Approximately two thirds of divorced families develop co-parenting relationships that are more or less effective. Of the approximately one third of divorces that do not evolve into effective co-parenting, a subset deteriorates into parental alienation. Classical Balance theory predicts parental alienation as a normative outcome in divorcing and divorced families. Discriminating between their roles as spouses and parents allows separated and divorced couples to avoid alienation outcomes. Elevated anxiety, however, may interfere with these discriminative responses, and lead parents into stereotyping each other. This article proposes a two-dimensional model of parental estrangement-alienation addressing variations in anxiety and stereotyping. Interventions for reducing the effects of estrangement and alienation are also identifed and discussed.