Understanding boundary extension: Normalization and extension errors in picture memory among adults and boys with and without Asperger's syndrome

Boundary extension is the tendency for people to “remember” information that fell outside a picture's boundaries. We used a novel test of boundary extension to provide absolute estimates of the magnitude of extension errors and of the degree to which people are influenced by the way a picture is presented at the time of testing. Participants were shown photographs on a computer and subsequently allowed to adjust their magnification to match the size they remembered. The test produced reliable boundary extension of around 11% in adults and large influences of initial test size. In a second experiment we tested boys diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and matched controls. Both groups demonstrated boundary extension comparable to that observed in adults but greater effects of initial test size. High performance IQ in Asperger's was linked with high levels of boundary extension, while for the matched control group the opposite pattern was obtained.     

Integrated Schooling and Religious Tolerance in Northern Ireland

The design of educational institutions has long been seen as a key element in determining social divisions. This article examines the long-term impact of separate and integrated education on relations between the two religious communities (Catholics and Protestants) in Northern Ireland. Using a large-scale survey, the results suggest that in comparison to their previously separate counterparts, individuals who attended an integrated school are more likely to be understanding and respectful of the culture and traditions of others. The finding holds even after a range of background characteristics are taken into account. The results have implications for the role of segregated educational institutions in ameliorating religious, ethnic or racial division in other post-conflict societies. The Northern Ireland evidence suggests that a segregated school system rather than ameliorating intolerance and division may end up exacerbating and reinforcing it.     

Dyadic Versus Individual Storytelling by Preschool Children

A constructive model of recall and communication (D. Edwards & D. Middleton, 1986) and certain whole-word approaches to learning (C. Pontecorvo & C. Zucchermaglio, 1989) were evaluated in conjunction with an investigation of the benefits of joint storytelling on children's cognitive processes. Preschoolers (N = 36, aged 30-62 months) were prompted to compose a story, working with a classmate (during which they talked together freely and generated a mutual narrative) or individually. Findings revealed that, although dyadically generated stones were longer, containing significantly more words, propositions, and additive conjunctions, stories told by individuals contained proportionally more logically connected statements and greater use of the past tense. Moreover, compared with dyadic stories, individually generated narratives contained fewer alterations of the protagonist.     

Using integrated theory to explain the movement into juvenile delinquency

Research grounded in labeling, differential association, social learning, and social control theory provides useful information about various phases of the delinquency process. However, none of these theories accounts for the entire delinquency process. Recent work has demonstrated, for example, that social control theory may be more suitable for explaining initial delinquency, whereas labeling theory is more useful in explaining continued delinquency. This paper incorporates theoretical elements of labeling, differential association, social learning, and social control theories into a model that explains both initial and continued delinquency. Analysis of data from three waves of the National Youth Survey provides support for the model and shows that weakened social controls increase opportunities for associating with delinquent peers, learning delinquent behaviors, and committing initial delinquent acts. Initial delinquency increases the likelihood of being observed and negatively labeled by parents. These labels in turn increase the likelihood of future delinquency. These results lend support to arguments for integrated theory in the study of juvenile delinquency.     

The presence of magical thinking in obsessive compulsive disorder

Two research groups have raised the possibility that magical ideation may be a fundamental feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It has been proposed to underlie thought action fusion and superstitious beliefs. In this study, the Magical Ideation scale, the Lucky Behaviours and Lucky Beliefs scales, the Thought Action Fusion-Revised scale, the Padua Inventory, and the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Short Version were completed by 60 obsessive compulsive patients at a hospital clinic. Of all the measures, the Magical Ideation (MI) scale was found to be the most strongly related to obsessive compulsive symptoms. Large and significant relationships between MI scores and the measures of OCD were obtained even when alternative constructs (Lucky Behaviours, Lucky Beliefs, Thought Action Fusion-Revised scales) were held constant. No other variable remained significantly related to the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Short Version when magical ideation scores were held constant. The findings suggest that a general magical thinking tendency may underpin previous observed links between superstitiousness, thought action fusion and OCD severity.     

Addiction motivation reformulated: an affective processing model of negative reinforcement

This article offers a reformulation of the negative reinforcement model of drug addiction and proposes that the escape and avoidance of negative affect is the prepotent motive for addictive drug use. The authors posit that negative affect is the motivational core of the withdrawal syndrome and argue that, through repeated cycles of drug use and withdrawal, addicted organisms learn to detect interoceptive cues of negative affect preconsciously. Thus, the motivational basis of much drug use is opaque and tends not to reflect cognitive control. When either stressors or abstinence causes negative affect to grow and enter consciousness, increasing negative affect biases information processing in ways that promote renewed drug administration. After explicating their model, the authors address previous critiques of negative reinforcement models in light of their reformulation and review predictions generated by their model.     

iSTART: Interactive strategy training for active reading and thinking

Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART) is a Web-based application that provides young adolescent to college-age students with high-level reading strategy training to improve comprehension of science texts. iSTART is modeled after an effective, human-delivered intervention called self-explanation reading training (SERT), which trains readers to use active reading strategies to self-explain difficult texts more effectively. To make the training more widely available, the Web-based trainer has been developed. Transforming the training from a human-delivered application to a computer-based one has resulted in a highly interactive trainer that adapts its methods to the performance of the students. The iSTART trainer introduces the strategies in a simulated classroom setting with interaction between three animated characters—an instructor character and two student characters— and the human trainee. Thereafter, the trainee identifies the strategies in the explanations of a student character who is guided by an instructor character. Finally, the trainee practices self-explanation under the guidance of an instructor character. We describe this system and discuss how appropriate feedback is generated.     

Identifying reading strategies using latent semantic analysis: Comparing semantic benchmarks

We explored methods of using latent semantic analysis (LSA) to identify reading strategies in students’ self-explanations that are collected as part of a Web-based reading trainer. In this study, college students self-explained scientific texts, one sentence at a time. LSA was used to measure the similarity between the self-explanations andsemantic benchmarks (groups of words and sentences that together represent reading strategies). Three types of semantic benchmarks were compared: content words, exemplars, and strategies. Discriminant analyses were used to classify global and specific reading strategies using the LSA cosines. All benchmarks contributed to the classification of general reading strategies, but the exemplars did the best in distinguishing subtle semantic differences between reading strategies. Pragmatic and theoretical concerns of using LSA are discussed.     

Effects of attentional direction, age, and coping style on cold-pressor pain in children

This study assessed the relative efficacy of two imagery-based attentional strategies for modifying pain experience in children. Children aged 7-14 years (n = 120) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: distraction, sensory-focussing or control (no imagery). The distraction condition prompted children to focus their attention externally; the sensory-focussing condition prompted the child to focus internally on physical sensations. Self-report measures of pain coping style preferences and imagery ability were completed. Children's pain tolerance and perceptions of pain intensity were assessed using a 10 degrees C cold-pressor task. Results showed pain intensity ratings after 1 min were lower for both intervention conditions than for the controls. Younger children (7-9 years) showed higher pain tolerance in the distraction condition than in the sensory-focussing condition, whereas both interventions were equally effective for older children (10-14 years). Among older children, coping style interacted with the intervention type: in the sensory-focussing condition, pain tolerance was negatively associated with self-reported distraction-based coping style, whereas in the distraction condition this association was positive. The results are interpreted with reference to current models of attention. The implications for use of attentional strategies in helping children to cope with clinical pain are discussed.