Biomechanics Concept Inventory

A third version of a biomechanics concept inventory was developed and administered to 41 kinesiology majors before and after an introductory biomechanics class to build a larger pool of questions for course evaluation. The test measured understanding of four prerequisite and eight competencies based on national standards. Mean and standard deviation normalized gain was 29% (21) of maximum possible improvement and was similar to previous versions of the test given to students at the same university. Biomechanics instructors can use questions from all versions of the Biomechanics Concept Inventory to customize tests for evaluating instructional techniques in biomechanics.     

The effects of age on the strategic use of pitch accents in memory for discourse: a processing-resource account

In two experiments, we investigated age-related changes in how prosodic pitch accents affect memory. Participants listened to recorded discourses that contained two contrasts between pairs of items (e.g., one story contrasted British scientists with French scientists and Malaysia with Indonesia). The end of each discourse referred to one item from each pair; these references received a pitch accent that either denoted contrast (L + H* in the ToBI system) or did not (H*). A contrastive accent on a particular pair improved later recognition memory equally for young and older adults. However, older adults showed decreased memory if the other pair received a contrastive accent (Experiment 1). Young adults with low working memory performance also showed this penalty (Experiment 2). These results suggest that pitch accents guide processing resources to important information for both older and younger adults but diminish memory for less important information in groups with reduced resources, including older adults.     

¿Se da lenguaje en los simios?

RESUMEN

Los autores revisan la evidencia en favor de la capacidad de representación simbólica en simios, afirmando que todos los programas de lenguaje parten de la misma suposición: considerar signos, lexigramas y fichas de plástico como verdaderos elementos de vocabulario siempre que los simios sean capaces de ejecutar la etiqueta conductual correcta en presencia del correspondiente hecho u objeto. Consideran crucial el problema de la equivalencia entre capacidad de etiquetar y de representar simbólicamente y manifiestan que no se ha desarrollado ningún marco teórico dentro de la psicología animal que permita distinguir respuestas discriminativas condicionadas de respuestas simbólico-representacionales. Afirman que según sus investigaciones recientes la habilidad para utilizar símbolos de forma representativa puede ser alcanzada por chimpancés, pero no es posible deducir de la simple asociación entre etiqueta y objeto la existencia de esta función de representación o simbolización. También abordan la comunicación protolingüística de niños comparándola con la de chimpancés y desarrollan el concepto de verdadera simbolización, concluyendo que los estudios sobre el lenguaje de los simios han fracasado a la hora de obtener la verdadera simbolización en parte debido a que se han centrado casi exclusivamente en el aspecto de la producción, descuidando la competencia receptiva.     

Development of Control-of-Outcome Scales and Self-Efficacy Scales for Women in Four Life Roles

Scales to measure control-of-outcome expectancies and self-efficacy expectancies based on social comparisons were developed for adult females in the four life roles of occupation, parenting, marriage, and economic management. Internal consistency and construct validity of the scales were examined in two studies. Internal consistency estimates of six of the eight scales exceeded .70. A factor analysis within each role supported the distinction between control-of-outcome expectancies and self-efficacy expectancies. Construct validity was supported by finding the hypothesized relations between the developed scales and standard measures of self-esteem, depression, and locus of control. As hypothesized, the developed scales accounted for unique portions of the variance in role-specific coping orientation and role stress. Specifically, control-of-outcome expectancies predicted active or passive coping orientation in the impersonal roles of occupation and economic management, whereas self-efficacy expectancies predicted active or passive coping orientation in the personal roles of parenting and marriage. It was concluded that the developed scales might have utility for understanding coping and experienced stress in various life roles.     

Competitiveness, Gender, and Adjustment Among Adolescents

This study explored whether trait competitiveness in late adolescence is more detrimental to females’ than males’ social and psychological adjustment. Two types of competitiveness were studied, competing to win (CW; to dominate others) and competing to excel (CE; to surpass personal goals). Questionnaire ratings (by self and others) of 110 (53 females, 57 males, Mage 17.9 years) predominantly Caucasian (88.9%) high school students in northern Texas, USA were gathered. Males were higher on CW than females, but there were no gender differences on CE. For females, CW was associated with greater depression and loneliness, and with fewer and less close friendships. CE was associated with higher self-esteem and less depression for both genders, but was largely unrelated to social adjustment.     

Elaboration and numerical anchoring: Breadth,depth, and the role of (non‐)thoughtful processes in anchoring theories

Noted Judgment and Decision Making (JDM) researchers differ in their opinions of whether and how an attitudes and persuasion (A&;P) view of anchoring might add to the existing anchoring literature. Epley and Gilovich (2010) and Russo (2010) supported the breadth of variables that an attitudinal view of brings to bear on anchoring phenomena and the potential operation of different psychological processes across different contexts. They also suggest extensions to other types of anchors (along with Frederick et al. 2010), to alternative paradigms, and to other classes of moderators, such as goals. Authors of all three commentaries wondered if the evidence we presented speaks to traditional issues related to processes underlying anchoring. Frederick et al. (2010) also took a different approach in suggesting that anchoring is always due to non-thoughtful processes despite the fact that thoughtful processes can also influence judgments. This approach diverges from prominent reviews of the anchoring literature and implies that the presence of any simple, associative mechanism makes the overall process that involves that mechanism “non-thoughtful.” We discuss how this approach differs from our own, and we discuss the implications of the other observations in each commentary.     

Acoustic emphasis in four year olds

Acoustic emphasis may convey a range of subtle discourse distinctions, yet little is known about how this complex ability develops in children. This paper presents a first investigation of the factors which influence the production of acoustic prominence in young children’s spontaneous speech. In a production experiment, SVO sentences were elicited from 4 year olds who were asked to describe events in a video. Children were found to place more acoustic prominence both on ‘new’ words and on words that were ‘given’ but had shifted to a more accessible position within the discourse. This effect of accessibility concurs with recent studies of adult speech. We conclude that, by age four, children show appropriate, adult-like use of acoustic prominence, suggesting sensitivity to a variety of discourse distinctions.