Schematic concept formation: Feature measures and constraint redundancy as predictors

Constraint redundancy (R_c) was varied in order to manipulate the statistical structure of sets of patterns. Measures of pattern features and R_c were related to the categorization by Ss who had experienced different types of preexposure to sets of patterns from the same stimulus domain. Both R_c and pattern measures were related to the categories produced by Ss in a schematic-concept-formation (SCF) task.     

Humility as a psychotherapeutic formulation

Humility training is conceptualized as an appropriate treatment for persons who occasionally describe themselves, but are most frequently described by others as overbearing, insensitive and deceitful. Procedures are outlined to identify unrecognized fears and improve interpersonal skills. Humility is presented as a counterpoint to assertiveness and aggression/anger control interventions.     

The International Student: Female Circumcision Issues

The authors describe the process and practice of female circumcision, the impact it may have on circumcised female international college students, and some counseling strategies for the college counselor.     

Small Wins: Perceptual Focus,Efficacy, and Cooperation in a Stage-Conjunctive Social Dilemma1

A multi-stage social dilemma was used to explore the notion that focusing on part rather than all of a complex problem would affect self-efficacy and action. In two experiments subjects considered a multi-stage game asking them to invest an initial sum of money in hopes of earning a larger bonus to be paid if provision points were met at all stages (a “stage-conjunctive” task). Results indicated that under most conditions considered, presentation of the whole problem encouraged cooperation. The opposite pattern occurred when group members were asked to complete very demanding stages first. We suggest that these results depend strongly on the stage-conjunctive nature of our task.     

Children's strategies for coping with stress: Blunting and monitoring

The present study examined children's suggestions for coping with uncontrollable stress, from the perspective of the monitoring/blunting distinction proposed by Miller (1987). Children in the first through sixth grades heard stories depicting four stressful situations that afforded little opportunity for control. Children's coping suggestions were classified as blunting (including reappraisal, cognitive distraction, and behavioral distraction), monitoring, or seeking support. Overall, blunting strategies were mentioned most often, followed by monitoring, and seeking support. A grade-level increase in blunting suggestions was found, and this developmental pattern was identical for reappraisal, cognitive distraction, and behavioral distraction. No grade-level differences were observed for monitoring or support. Situational differences in coping suggestions were explored, and there was mixed evidence of cross-situational consistency in coping style.The author would like to thank the staff and students of the Bell Top Child Care Centers and Kinder-Care Learning Center, Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. Thanks are also due to Cricket Blassage and Latoria Carroll for their help with the coding. This research was partially supported by a small grant from Illinois State University. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington, April, 1991.     

Women in advertisements in medical journals

To determine the images of women in picture advertisements, a stratified random sample of 32 medical journals, representing approximately 12% of medical journals published in the United States that are directed toward physicians in clinical practice, was subjected to content analysis. The sample consists of 209 different ads. The subjects of the ads included men, women, and children representing a variety of ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups. Notable, however, was the preponderance of Caucasian males pictured as physicians and the absence of women and people of color in this role. Women are pictured as 68.1% of consumers and men as 31.9%, a significant difference. Statistically significant differences also occur in the images of men and women as consumers. Most of the workers are men (68.2%), another significant difference. When women depicted are workers, they are secretaries and waitresses. Portrayals of women in medical advertisements continue to be stereotyped and outdated.     

Inhibitory control over no-longer-relevant information: Adult age differences

Hartman and Hasher (1991) used a garden-path task in which younger and older adults generated the final word for each of a series of high-cloze sentences. Under instructions to remember the final word, the experiment included critical sentences for which the generated word was replaced by a new, to-be-remembered target. Using an implicit priming task, the first experiment replicated a basic finding: Younger adults showed priming only for the target words, whereas older adults showed priming for both the generated and target words. Two experiments explored boundary conditions. One showed that an additional sentence that interpreted the new target word enabled older adults to narrow access to only the target word. The provision of additional time following the introduction of the new target word did not. Specific information, not more time, is required for inefficient inhibitory mechanisms to clear the recent past from memory.     

Externalism and first-person authority

Externalism in the philosophy of mind is threatened by the view that subjects are authoritative with regard to the contents of their own intentional states. If externalism is to be reconciled with first-person authority, two issues need to be addressed: (a) how the non-evidence-based character of knowledge of one's own intentional states is compatible with ignorance of the empirical factors that individuate the contents of those states, and (b) how, given externalism, the non-evidence-based character of such knowledge could place its subject in an authoritative position. This paper endorses a standard strategy for dealing with (a). The bulk of the paper is devoted to (b). The aim is to develop an account of first-person authority for a certain class of intentional states that is capable of explaining (1) why knowledge of one's own intentional states is peculiarly authoritative, and (2) why such authority is compatible with externalism.     

Patterns of mother-infant interaction and attachment: A cluster-analytic approach

This study examined stability and change in patterns of mother-infant interaction between 5 and 10 months and their relation to attachment security at 18 months. Cluster analysis was used to identify patterns of dyadic interaction. There was significant, but not substantial, stability in cluster membership from 5 to 10 months. For females, being in the most optimal cluster at 5 months related to subsequent attachment security, regardless of the 10-month pattern of interaction. For males, who were significantly more likely to be insecure than females, insecure attachment was predicted by negative change from 5 to 10 months (moving from a more optimal to a less optimal cluster).