Big brown dog or brown big dog? An electrophysiological study of semantic constraints on prenominal adjective order

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants read and made acceptability judgments about sentences containing three types of adjective sequences: (1) normal sequences--e.g., Jennifer rode a huge gray elephant; (2) reversed sequences that violate grammatical-semantic constraints on linear order--e.g., *Jennifer rode a gray huge elephant; and (3) contradictory sequences that violate lexical-semantic constraints on compositionality--e.g., *Jennifer rode a small huge elephant. Relative to the control condition, the second adjective elicited a reduced N400 and an enhanced P600 in both the reversal condition and the contradiction condition. We present several alternative accounts of these two effects, but favor an interpretation which treats them as reflecting semantic and syntactic aspects of a temporary reanalysis of the adjective order construction. Furthermore, relative to the control condition, the final noun elicited a robust N400 in the contradiction condition but not in the reversal condition. We suggest that this effect indexes the full registration of the lexical-semantic incompatibility of the two adjectives in the contradiction condition. Finally, we discuss how all of these findings fit into the broader context of recent ERP studies that have reported atypical N400s and robust P600s in response to certain types of semantic anomalies.     

Elementary, my dear Wason: The role of problem representation in the THOG task

The present study was concerned with Wason's THOG problem, a hypothetico-deductive reasoning task for which performance over the past 20 years has typically been very poor (<20% correct). We examined the hypothesis that incorporating a quasi-visual context into the problem statement would make both the binary, symmetric tree structure and solution principle of the THOG task clearer and thus facilitate performance. A version of O'Brien et al.'s (Q J Exp Psychol 42A:329–351) Blackboard THOG problem, that specifies each branch of the tree by describing a specific location for each possible color-shape combination, was used to test this hypothesis. Substantial facilitation was both observed (68% correct) and replicated (73% correct), and it was also shown that it is necessary to provide a representation of both sides of the tree to obtain this level of facilitation. The implications of these results for human deductive reasoning are considered. Received: 1 November 2000 / Accepted: 4 May 2001     

Smoking in College Women: The Role of Thinness Pressures, Media Exposure, and Critical Consciousness

There are strong social pressures for U.S. females, particularly those of European heritage, to achieve and maintain an extremely low body weight. These pressures are reflected in a variety of media sources, including advertising. We argue that valuing thinness, exposure to thinness-depicting media, and lacking skepticism about tobacco advertisements have adverse effects on young women's decisions about smoking, particularly smoking for weight control. We tested these hypotheses in a study of 188 female undergraduates, both never-smokers and daily smokers. Believing that smoking controls weight, exposure to thinness-depicting media, and low levels of skepticism about tobacco advertising were associated with being a smoker. Among smokers, believing that smoking controls weight, internalizing thinness pressures, and low levels of feminist consciousness were associated with smoking for weight control. Results are discussed with the aim of encouraging public health anti-smoking campaigns targeted at women, and smoking cessation programs that are responsive to the needs of weight-concerned female smokers.     

The psychological adaptation of overseas and migrant students in Australia

This study aimed to examine the psychological adaptation of overseas and migrant students, and Anglo‐Australian students, in the light of various individual variables including social self‐efficacy, locus of control, loneliness, age, sex, and acculturating group membership. Participants were 382 students attending various universities in Melbourne, Australia. There were 189 Anglo‐Australian students, 72 Southern‐European second‐generation migrant students, 33 Asian migrant students, 33 Chinese migrant students, and 55 Chinese overseas students. The results suggested that there were ethnic differences in loneliness, social self‐efficacy, locus of control, and academic satisfaction. For nonmigrant students, a sense of control was important to their psychological and academic adaptation whereas for migrant/overseas students, supportive social relationships were important for their psychological and academic adaptation. The implications of these results for service provisions to students were also discussed.     

The Theory of Planned Behavior as a Model of Academic Dishonesty in Engineering and Humanities Undergraduates

This study examines the use of a modified form of the theory of planned behavior in understanding the decisions of undergraduate students in engineering and humanities to engage in cheating. We surveyed 527 randomly selected students from three academic institutions. Results supported the use of the model in predicting ethical decision-making regarding cheating. In particular, the model demonstrated how certain variables (gender, discipline, high school cheating, education level, international student status, participation in Greek organizations or other clubs) and moral constructs related to intention to cheat, attitudes toward cheating, perceptions of norms with respect to cheating, and ultimately cheating behaviors. Further the relative importance of the theory of planned behavior constructs was consistent regardless of context, whereas the contributions of variables included in the study that were outside the theory varied by context. Of particular note were findings suggesting that the extent of cheating in high school was a strong predictor of cheating in college and that engineering students reported cheating more frequently than students in the humanities, even when controlling for the number of opportunities to do so.     

Public Health Ethics Education in a Competency-Based Curriculum: A Method of Programmatic Assessment

Public health ethics began to emerge in the 1990s as a development within bioethics. Public health ethics education has been implemented in schools of public health in recent years, and specific professionalism and ethics competencies were included in the Master of Public Health (MPH) competency set developed nationally and adapted by individual schools of public health around the country. The University of Texas School of Public Health approved the present set of MPH competencies in 2005. After 4 years of experience, we now report information measuring the extent to which “Professionalism and Ethics” competencies and subcompetencies are being met in the MPH degree program. To this end we have audited the MPH “Professionalism and Ethics” competency forms for FY2009 MPH graduates (n = 61). Eight courses, including required MPH core courses plus the practicum and culminating experience, were found to have substantial professionalism and ethics content. Further, 67.2% of graduates met eight or more of the 13 competencies and subcompetencies, but only 36.1% met all thirteen, indicating a need to identify topic areas to be added to, or enhanced in, the MPH curriculum. In addition, these findings will inform ongoing efforts to enhance ethics education in our health science center. Assessment of these competencies and subcompetencies is an essential step in strengthening ethics education at our institutions and in better preparing our graduates for a challenging future. We report our efforts here to demonstrate one way of carrying out programmatic assessment of ethics education in a school of public health.     

Parental Interpersonal Sensitivity and Youth Social Problems: A Mediational Role for Child Emotion Dysregulation

We examined the relations between parental interpersonal sensitivity and youth social problems and explored the mediational role of child emotion dysregulation. Mothers (N = 42; M age = 39.38) and fathers (N = 41; M age = 39.38) of youth aged 7–12 (N = 42; M age = 9.12) completed measures of their own interpersonal sensitivity and reported on their child’s emotion regulation skills and social functioning. Maternal interpersonal sensitivity was positively associated with child social problems, and this relationship was fully mediated by child emotion dysregulation. A bootstrapping technique provided evidence for the significance of the mediation. For fathers, only the association between child emotion dysregulation and child social problems was significant. Our findings suggest one potential mechanism through which maternal behaviors relate to youth psychosocial functioning. Identification of such mechanisms contributes to the development of conceptual models of youth functioning and suggests specific targets for prevention and intervention efforts.     

Development of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention Program to Treat Anxiety and Social Deficits in Teens with High-Functioning Autism

Anxiety is a common co-occurring problem among young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication problems, and stereotyped behavior and restricted interests, this group of disorders is more prevalent than previously realized. When present, anxiety may compound the social deficits of young people with ASD. Given the additional disability and common co-occurrence of anxiety in ASD, we developed a manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program to target anxiety symptoms as well as social skill deficits in adolescents with ASD [Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention: MASSI]. In this paper, we describe the foundation, content, and development of MASSI. We also summarize data on treatment feasibility based on a pilot study that implemented the intervention.