Strategic aspects of numerosity judgment: the effect of task characteristics

In previous investigations we documented that people use several strategies to determine different numerosities of blocks that are presented in a square grid. One of these strategies is the clever subtraction strategy, wherein the number of empty squares in the grid is subtracted from the total number of squares in the grid. In the present study we investigated participants' flexibility in strategy use when varying the shape of the grid. Analysis of the results in terms of the theoretical framework of Lemaire and Siegler (1995) regarding strategic change shows that this contextual variable affected the frequency, execution time, and accuracy of subjects' use of the subtraction strategy. The usefulness of this framework for analyzing the nature of the adaptation to contextual variations is discussed. From a methodological point of view, this study documents the potential of Beem's (1993, 1999) segmented linear regression models for assessing subjects' strategy use in cognitive tasks.     

Gender Differences in Managers' Conceptions and Perceptions of Commitment to the Organization

This study explored the effect of gender on managers' conceptions and perceptions of those behaviors seen as demonstrating commitment to the organization. Three major findings are reported: (1) female managers and male managers with families evaluated traditional commitment behaviors as less indicative of commitment than their single male counterparts; (2) managers' conceptions of behaviors indicative of commitment conformed to the views of the majority gender within their work-group; and (3) managers' perceptions of commitment were not affected by gender-based in-group biases.     

Transitive choices by a simple, fully connected, backpropagation neural network: implications for the comparative study of transitive inference.

In search of the minimal requirements for transitive reasoning, a simple neural network was trained and tested on the non-verbal version of the conventional "five-term-series task" – a paradigm used with human adults, children and a variety of non-human species. The transitive performance of the network was analogous in several aspects to that reported for children and animals. The three effects usually associated with transitive choices i.e. "symbolic distance", "lexical marking" and "end-anchor", were also clearly shown by the neural network. In a second experiment, where the training conditions were manipulated, the network failed to match the behavioural pattern reported for human adults in the test following an ordered presentation of the premises. However, it mimicked young children's performance when tested with a novel comparison term. Although we do not intend to suggest a new model of transitive inference, we conclude, in line with other authors, that a simple error-correcting rule can generate transitive behaviour similar to the choice pattern of children and animals in the binary form of the five-term-series task without requiring high-order logical or paralogical abilities. The analysis of the training history and of the final internal structure of the network reveals the associative strategy employed. However, our results indicate that the scope of the associative strategy used by the network might be limited. The extent to which the conventional five-term-series task, in absence of appropriate manipulations of training and testing conditions, is suitable to detect cognitive differences across species is also discussed on the basis of our results. Accepted after revision: 29 May 2001 Electronic Publication     

Anomalous cerebral language organization: acquired crossed aphasia in a dextral child

Following a dramatic change of its reported incidence, it was only recently recognized that acquired crossed aphasia in dextral children represents a highly exceptional phenomenon. We describe in a three epoch time-frame model the aphasic and neurocognitive manifestations of an additional case and focus briefly on its anatomoclinical configurations. In our patient, a right parietal cortico-subcortical hemorrhagic lesion caused an initially severe aphasia. After remission of the global aphasic symptoms in the acute phase, an adynamic output disorder with relatively severe auditory-verbal comprehension disturbances developed. In addition to the adynamia of self-generated speech, formal language investigations performed 3 weeks postonset, revealed agrammatism, hypertonic dysarthria, and dysprosodia. A substantial improvement of the aphasic disorder was objectified 83 days postonset. Neuropsychological investigations disclosed both dominant and nondominant hemisphere dysfunctions. Reassessment of neurocognitive functions after a 10-year period evidenced discrete residual anomia, confined to visual confrontational naming and a discrete visuo-perceptual syndrome. Given the posterior localization of the lesion, the syndrome shift from global to predominantly adynamic aphasia represents a finding beyond the plausible anatomoclinical expectations holding in general for the uncrossed, classic types of childhood and adult aphasia. As the first representative of crossed aphasia in dextral children with an anomalous lesion-aphasia profile, our case provides evidence to enrich the discussion on lateralization and intrahemispherical organization of language functions in both childhood and adult aphasia.     

Are semantic errors actually semantic?: Evidence from alzheimer's disease

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) produce a high rate of semantic errors when naming to confrontation. This is considered to be one of the many consequences of their semantic memory deficit. However, it has been shown, in aphasic patients with focal lesions, that semantic errors could arise from impairment to any one of the levels in the naming process. To check this hypothesis in AD, we assessed in 15 patients the capacity to name and access semantic knowledge (by multiple-choice probe questions) about 14 objects presented successively in the visual, tactile, auditory, and verbal modalities. In the visual naming task, 33 errors were recorded: 26 (78.8%) were semantic and 7 (21.2%) were unrelated errors. Of the 26 semantic errors, 8 were related to a deficit of the semantic knowledge related to the item and 17 to a deficit in the retrieval of the phonological form of the word. One was associated with a deficit of access to semantic knowledge in the visual modality. The 7 unrelated errors were associated with a loss of semantic knowledge for 4 and deficit of access to the phonological form for 3. In conclusion, this study shows that semantic errors do not systematically reflect a deficit of semantic knowledge in Alzheimer's disease. It also seems that unrelated errors are more frequently related to semantic deficits than semantic errors in this population.     

Social influences on parental and nonparental responses toward pups in virgin female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Pair-bonded prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are biparental after the birth of pups. However, whereas most adult virgin males are parental, most virgin females are not. In 6 experiments, influences on the parental behavior of virgin female prairie voles were examined. It was found that (a) young virgin females were more maternal than older females, (b) the postweaning sex ratio of cage-mates did not affect females' responses to pups, (c) females raised to adulthood with their parents and younger siblings present were highly parental, (d) 48-hr exposure to pups beginning at weaning increased some aspects of later maternal responding, (e) rearing to adulthood with the parents even in the absence of younger siblings also increased females' maternal responding, and (f) the increase was seen only if both parents were present. Continued parental presence promotes alloparental behavior, possibly important if daughters do not disperse from the natal nest.     

As We Forgive—Case History of a Burglary

In 1979, Pastoral Psychology published the first of a series of articles I wrote based on non-risk-free research. The last was The Extra Mile—Case History of a Homicide (1993) and in it a point was stressed: Ministers who practice psychotherapy will profit prophetically if pastoral theology accepts the responsibility to (1) articulate contemporary ultimateconcerns, (2) clarify healthy avenues for compensation, and (3) tell stories about the hopeful revelations of God's providence in a broken world. As We Forgive is also a case study—wrapped in a novella—and it illustrates these three ingredients with an emphasis on spiritual self-awareness and thereality of Providence.     

Myth and Therapy

In the context of psychology, myth takes on a therapeutic aspect that moves it beyond the negative connotations of common usage to a position of religious significance.