Spoken and gestural production in a naming task by young children with Down syndrome

Lexical production in children with Down syndrome (DS) was investigated by examining spoken naming accuracy and the use of spontaneous gestures in a picture naming task. Fifteen children with DS (range 3.8-8.3 years) were compared to typically developing children (TD), matched for chronological age and developmental age (range 2.6-4.3 years). Relative to TD children, children with DS were less accurate in speech (producing a greater number of unintelligible answers), yet they produced more gestures overall and of these a significantly higher percentage of iconic gestures. Furthermore, the iconic gestures produced by children with DS accompanied by incorrect or no speech often expressed a concept similar to that of the target word, suggesting deeper conceptual knowledge relative to that expressed only in speech.     

Programming tool-use actions

When humans plan to execute a tool-use action, they can only specify the bodily movement parameters by taking into account the external target or goal of the tool-use action and the target-movement mapping implemented by the tool. In this study, the authors used the movement precuing method to investigate how people prepare for actions made with tools. More specifically, they asked whether people would be able to specify the spatial target and the target-movement mapping of the tool-use action independently of each other, and to what degree they would be able to prepare these components in advance. In 3 experiments, they precued either the target or the target-movement mapping of tool-use actions involving either a compatible or an incompatible target-movement mapping. Results indicate that participants benefit from partial advance information about the target-movement mapping, whereas no significant effects were found for precuing the spatial target of the action. These results occurred regardless of whether the target-movement mapping was compatible or incompatible and provide evidence for the notion that the target-movement mapping of a tool-use action is part of its cognitive representation.     

Older (but not younger) preschoolers understand that knowledge differs between people and across time

We examined 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds' understanding of general knowledge (e.g., knowing that clocks tell time) by investigating whether (1) they recognize that their own general knowledge has changed over time (i.e., they knew less as babies than they know now), and (2) such intraindividual knowledge differences are easier/harder to understand than interindividual differences (i.e., Do preschoolers understand that a baby knows less than they do?). Forty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds answered questions about their current general knowledge (‘self‐now’), the general knowledge of a 6‐month‐old (‘baby‐now’), and their own general knowledge at 6 months (‘self‐past’). All age groups were significantly above chance on the self‐now questions, but only 5‐year‐olds were significantly above chance on the self‐past and baby‐now questions. Moreover, children's performance on the baby‐now and self‐past questions did not differ. Our findings suggest that younger preschoolers do not fully appreciate that their past knowledge differs from their current knowledge, and that others may have less knowledge than they do. We situate these findings within the research on knowledge understanding, more specifically, and cognitive development, more broadly.     

The mechanist and the snail

Conclusion Using an example drawn from evolutionary biology, I have shown that distinct, competing explanations may nonetheless postulate identical networks of causal processes and interactions. It follows from this that to provide a causal explanation is to do more than describe a network of causal processes and interactions. In the example given, it seems that the proffered explanations also purport to describe probabilistic causal relations of the sort rejected by Salmon.     

Changing men's male gender-role attitudes by applying the elaboration likelihood model of attitude change

The traditional male gender role has been associated with a host of psychological and physical problems. In this study, 118 male university students viewed one of two videotaped interventions based on R. E. Petty and J. T. Cacioppo's [(1986) Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change, New York: Springer-Verlag) elaboration likelihood model of attitude change (ELM) or were in a control group. One intervention was designed to create less traditional male gender-role attitudes, the other to enhance participants' attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Both interventions significantly changed male gender-role attitudes on Brannon Masculinity Scale scores, but not their Gender Role Conflict Scale—I scores, and neither influenced help-seeking attitudes. The overall pattern of scores suggests that men's attitudes about the male role may be less resistant to change than attitudes about one's own gender role or one's fear of femininity.     

7. The Hero's Return

ABSTRACT Chapter 7 discusses the synthesis of the five-factor and life-story models into an integrative model that is applied to the case study of Dodge Morgan. Such integration allows new ways of thinking, considers multiple levels of analysis, and solves problems that cannot be approached by either model individually. Through the combined lenses of these trait and phenomenological models, one can not only view an individual personality at a higher level of abstraction, but also achieve a different understanding of the models themselves. We discuss the impact of the voyage on Morgan's psychological development; we also analyze post-voyage assessments and personal documents with reference to consistency and change, personal meaning, and the balancing of agentic and communal motivations.     

8. Reflections on the Journey

ABSTRACT In the context of the Dodge Morgan case study, we discuss holistic analysis of personality. In such analysis, apparently separate, even contradictory, approaches can be integrated to produce a metalevel understanding. In our analysis, a trait and a phenomenological model worked effectively in concert; qualitative and quantitative analyses produced a fruitful synergy. We consider the implications of multilevel understanding of personality for future investigations. We also consider the limitations of personality theory with respect to the construct of personality change, as well as the changes in the investigators' perspectives that occurred over the period of study of the Morgan data.     

1. Introduction

ABSTRACT In this article, we introduce the case study of Dodge Morgan, who, at the age of 54, completed a nonstop, solo circumnavigation of the earth in his boat American Promise. Our investigation builds upon a unique foundation of qualitative and quantitative data, which includes extensive formal assessments, content analysis of Morgan's voyage log, additional autobiographical material, and diverse collateral biographical sources. We describe our intent of applying two theoretical models of personality, the five-factor model and the life-story model, to the data, and present an overview of their differing perspectives and predictions. We discuss technical challenges of methodology and integration, and introduce the subsequent chapters comprising the full case study.