Recency effect in recall of a word list when an immediate memory task is performed after each word presentation

Subjects studied 12-word lists for free recall. During presentation of the lists, each word was followed by a supraspan sequence of digits, which the subjects tried to reproduce. This task, unlike those used in previous research with this continual distractor procedure, presumably taxed immediate memory capacity to the full. Nevertheless, the word recall data showed a pronounced recency effect. Moreover, the magnitude of the recency effect was found to be just as great with this task as with a more typical task in which the demands on immediate memory are likely to be fewer. These findings reinforce the emerging view that the recency effect need not be the product of immediate memory.     

Concepts and conceptual structure

Research and theory on categorization and conceptual structure have recently undergone two major shifts. The first shift is from the assumption that concepts have defining properties (the classical view) to the idea that concept representations may be based on properties that are only characteristic or typical of category examples (the probabilistic view). Both the probabilistic view and the classical view assume that categorization is driven by similarity relations. A major problem with describing category structure in terms of similarity is that the notion of similarity is too unconstrained to give an account of conceptual coherence. The second major shift is from the idea that concepts are organized by similarity to the idea that concepts are organized around theories. In this article, the evidence and rationale associated with these shifts are described, and one means of integrating similarity-based and theory-driven categorization is outlined.     

Reducing smoking among pregnant adolescents

Pregnant adolescents who smoke present a double obstetrical risk. Not only is the adolescent mother at risk from the biological, social, educational, and economic factors associated with childbearing at a young age, she and her developing infant also risk the complications associated with maternal smoking. This paper describes a psychosocial intervention designed to reduce smoking in a group of pregnant adolescents. Five modules are presented. Each is designed to: (1) heighten awareness of the issue, (2) provide motivational messages, (3) enhance the adolescent's social skills, and (4) teach specific smoking-cessation skills.     

Occult participation: its impact on adolescent development

This study investigated the relationship between occult participation, substance abuse, and level of self-esteem in adolescents. Data were collected from 50 adolescents who ranged in age from 12 to 19 years and who spoke English as their primary language. The combined group of adolescents consisted of 25 clinical and 25 nonclinical youth. Participants completed a three-part questionnaire package which included Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, the Adolescent Magic Questionnaire, and the Drug and Alcohol Assessment Scale. Results indicated that adolescent substance abuse and occult participation were significantly related. High and low occult participation groups were determined, and significant differences were found between the high versus low occult groups when compared on the primary variables of self-esteem and substance abuse. Significant differences were also noted when comparing the high versus low occult groups with various psychosocial developmental variables. Included is a discussion of the impact of occult participation on the psychosocial elements of adolescent self-esteem, self-concept, tolerance for deviance, and religious involvement.     

Emotional disturbance and the development of self-consciousness in adolescence

The development of self-consciousness and its relationship to emotional disturbance was examined in early and late adolescence. The Imaginary Audience Scale was administered to emotionally disturbed and nondisturbed adolescents. As predicted, results indicated that self-consciousness decreased with age in nondisturbed adolescents. For the emotionally disturbed adolescents, the development of self-consciousness in temporary situations did not follow consistent patterns, as indicated by interaction effects. A significant negative relationship was found between intelligence test scores and self-consciousness in the disturbed group. The findings support the premise that social-cognitive shifts found in early to late adolescence are disrupted in disturbed populations. The mediating role of social experience as a factor in cognitive and emotional development is discussed.     

School administrators, parents, and sex education: a resolvable paradox?

The emergence of AIDS as an untreatable, lethal disease, responding to educational prevention strategies in high-risk populations, has brought the issues of sex education in the public schools to the forefront. However, administrators, teachers, and parents perceive different barriers to sex education implementation. This study, undertaken in a northeastern, multigenerational, ethnic city, characterized by adolescent pregnancy rates a third higher than the state overall, polled 42 junior and senior high school administrators regarding educational priorities, perceived barriers to expansion of sex education, and preferred methods of introducing sex education. Administrators perceive parents as a major barrier to the introduction of more formalized sex education in their schools. Paradoxically, these same administrators felt that parents were generally uncomfortable in talking to their children about human sexuality. Recommendations are offered from existing models of health education for resolution of administrators' conflicting views on parental roles.     

The effects of kinetic occlusion and categorization on amodal completion. A comment on Gerbino and Salmaso (1987)

The experimental study of Gerbino and Salmaso (1987) focused on the process of amodal completion, i.e. the process that leads to the impression of a total pattern in the absence of information about all parts of the pattern. One of the questions that they have attempted to answer with respect to this process is whether or not it depends on the categorization of the modal part (i.e. the part about which visual information is present) as a modification of a complete prototype. The major conclusion of their experiments is that amodal completion does not depend upon categorization. Furthermore, they interpret their results as indicating that neither the truncated form of the occluded part nor the unification/segregation of contour segments are phenomenally real. We designed some variants of the tunnel effect to demonstrate (1) that the explicit categorization of some parts of the input can have an influence on amodal completion and (2) that the truncated form of a pattern can be phenomenally real. Our results corroborate these hypotheses and can, therefore, interpreted as refuting two rather central claims of Gerbino and Salmaso (1987). The conclusion of our experiment must be that amodal completion is not as primary as they have supposed but can be influenced by kinetic occlusion and categorization stored in visual memory.     

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory: concurrent validity with a clinic sample

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is an empirically derived self-report inventory developed as a specific measure of social phobia. The current investigation included two studies. The first examined the correlation of the SPAI with daily social behavior of a clinic sample of social phobics. The results indicated that the SPAI provides a reasonable indication of the distress experienced during daily social encounters in three dimensions: behavior, cognitions, and overall distress. The second study examined the validity of the SPAI with reference to the somatic response and avoidance behavior of social phobics. The results indicated that the somatic items of the SPAI are related to the somatic response of social phobics and that performance on the SPAI is associated with avoidance behavior in an anxiety-producing task.     

Fears in hearing-impaired and normally hearing children and adolescents

In this study the Revised Fear Survey Schedule for Children was administered to 138 hearing-impaired and 134 normally hearing youths. Although both groups expressed fear of potentially dangerous stimuli, significant differences in responding were evident towards other kinds of stimuli. Whereas hearing children were more fearful of failure and criticism, the hearing-impaired children were more afraid of the unknown, injury and small animals. Girls reported significantly greater levels of fear than boys thus confirming a well established research finding. Further, significant interactions were found between hearing status and gender. In contrast to previous findings, age was not related to self-reports of fear.