The role of subsyllabic structure in lexical access to printed words

Summary Three lexical-decision experiments investigated whether the subsyllabic structure of words is processed in the course of lexical access to printed words. Experiment 1 contrasted Italian words with same orthographic structure, but different subsyllabic structures. Latencies were shorter and error rates lower for words with a syllabic structure composed of fewer subsyllabic constituents. Experiment 2 ruled out the possibility that the results of Experiment 1 were due to differences in the frequency of bigrams composing the items. Bigram frequency had no effect on words of the same frequency as that of words in Experiment 1. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that it is not the number of subsyllabic constituents that affects lexical decision — rather the internal composition and frequency of the subsyllabic structure underlying a word. These results suggest that the subsyllabic structure of words is represented in abstract form in the mental lexicon and processed during lexical access. Subsyllabic structures, which are simpler and more common in the language, are more easily activated and processed, regardless of the number of subsyllabic constituents and the number of syllables composing the word.     

Preferred Attributes of Effective Conflict Resolvers in Seven Societies: Culture,Development Level,and Gender Differences1

This research examined variations in preferred personality attributes of conflict resolvers. Using a semantic differential scale, youth from Malaysia, Japan, China, Philippines, Australia, Germany, and the United States described an effective conflict resolver. ANOVA procedures tested whether culture, country's level of economic development, or gender produced significant variations on conflict resolver preferences. Results show that conflict resolvers can be described along a continuum that has a compassionate peacemaker on one side and a dominating peacemaker on the other. Cultural differences produced marginal significance. The stronger effects were results of variations in power positions. A compassionate peacemaker was preferred by respondents from developing societies, rather than by those from the wealthier countries, and by women more than men.     

Maternal perinatal representations and their associations with mother–infant interaction and attachment: A longitudinal comparison of Portuguese and Brazilian dyads

Prior research in Western countries (mostly the US, Canada and northern Europe) indicates that mothers' representations are associated with mother–infant interaction quality and their child's attachment security later in the first year. Fewer studies, however, have evaluated whether these associations hold for mother–infant dyads in other countries, such as Brazil and Portugal. Although these countries share a similar language and culture, they differ on societal dimensions that may affect parenting attitudes and mother–infant relationships, such as economic stress, social organisation, social policy, and the availability of services for young families. In this longitudinal study, we followed two independent samples of Brazilian and Portuguese mother–infant dyads from the perinatal period to 12 months post-partum. We assessed mothers' perinatal representations using semi-structured interviews in the first 48 hours after the infant's birth, and evaluated the associations of these representations with mother interaction quality at 9 months and infant attachment at 12 months. Results were similar in each country, corroborating prior research in single Western countries: Mothers with more positive perinatal representations were more sensitive to their infants during free play at 9 months and were more likely to have infants classified as securely attached at 12 months.     

The Internet as Cognitive Enhancement

Science and Engineering Ethics - The Internet has been identified in human enhancement scholarship as a powerful cognitive enhancement technology. It offers instant access to almost any type of...     

Metacognitions in patients with hallucinations and obsessive-compulsive disorder: the superstition factor

On the basis of the analogy between intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations established by Morrison et al. [(1995). Intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations: a cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 265-280], the present work compares the metacognitive beliefs and processes of five groups of patients (current hallucinators, never-hallucinated people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, recovered hallucinators, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and a clinical control group) and a non-clinical group. The results show that of the five metacognitive factors considered in this study, two were found to be different in the current hallucinators group in comparison to any other group in the design. Likewise, it is found that the metacognitive beliefs of the current hallucinators coincide with those of the OCD patients in various factors, particularly that relating to superstition, and this is interpreted as lending support to the model of Morrison et al. (1995). Furthermore, the results are discussed in the light of existing research on Thought-Action Fusion, stressing the role that may be played by superstitious beliefs and magical thinking in auditory hallucinations and OCD.     

Patterns of adaptation to conflict and schizoid personality scale scores

A previous investigation gave no evidence of a significant relationship of patterns of adaptation to conflict, as measured with the Serial Color-Word Test, with the Schizoid Personality Scale of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory. As a new scoring algorithm has subsequently been proposed for the latter scale, a replication was done with the modified schizoid scale. A group of 75 consecutive nonpsychotic women outpatients was given the Serial Color-Word Test and Coolidge's inventory. Both multiple and logistic regressions selected two significant predictors of schizoid personality, corresponding to high values of linear change in reading times during Trials 3 and 5 of the Serial Color-Word Test, i.e., to an increasingly rigid and inflexible style of the adaptive process. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded an effect size of .22 (partial eta2).     

Responses to Depression in Children: Reconceptualizing the Relation Among Response Styles

We propose that researchers should utilize ratio scores when examining the response styles theory rather than examine each of the response styles separately. Higher ratio scores indicate a higher probability of engaging in ruminative, as opposed to distracting and problem solving, behaviors. In Phase One, we examined the factor structure and reliability of the Children's Response Styles Questionnaire (CRSQ) in a sample of 287 third through sixth grade schoolchildren. A two factor solution was obtained: (1) Rumination and (2) Distraction and Problem Solving. Both factors exhibited strong psychometric properties. In Phase Two, 140 children completed the CRSQ and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Six weeks later, children completed the CDI. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor solution fit the data well. In line with hypotheses, CRSQ ratio scores were more strongly associated with CDI residual change scores than were either CRSQ rumination or distraction and problem solving scores.