Elimination of the word length effect by irrelevant sound revisited

The word length effect refers to the tendency for lists of long words to be recalled less well than lists of short words. Theoretical and empirical objections are raised to a recent claim that irrelevant speech eliminates the word length effect (Neath, Suprenant, & LeCompte, 1998). A first experiment using a within-subjects design of adequate power (N = 65) fails to replicate their finding, showing instead that the word length effect is not differentially eliminated by speech as opposed to tones. In a second experiment, the effect of change (repeated vs. changing sounds) is shown to be additive to the effect of word length for both speech and nonspeech. Irrelevant speech and irrelevant tones have comparable effects on lists of short or lists of long words. These results are at variance with the feature model (e.g., Nairne, 1990).     

Recognition memory for prose items in noise

Using a probe-recognition technique the signal detection theory parameters d' and Beta were estimated for three types of probe (common surnames, uncommon surnames and synonyms) for material contained in a prose passage. Subjects were presented with the prose passage either in the presence of noise (85dBA) or in quiet (60dBA). In two experiments the effects of noise on auditory and visual presentation of the passage were studied. In both cases the recognition test took place in quiet. Noise decreased values of Beta for rare names and increased Beta for common names in both auditory and visual versions of the task. Noise influenced d' values in the auditory version only, with d' increasing for common names in loud noise. The results support the view that noise influences performance by disturbing the pigeon-holing mechanism with the qualification that when material may not be recapitulated (as in the auditory presentation in the present study) greater attention may be allocated to easily recognizable material. The findings give little support to theories of noiseinduced deficits in performance based on the masking of inner speech.     

How long do the advantages of learning to read a transparent orthography last? An investigation of the reading skills and reading impairment of Welsh children at 10 years of age

Spencer and Hanley (2003) showed that Welsh-speaking children aged between 5 and 7 years who were learning to read Welsh (a transparent orthography) performed significantly better at reading both real words and nonwords than did English-speaking children living in Wales who were learning to read English (a deep orthography). In this study, the reading skills of these children were reexamined three years later, during their sixth year of formal reading instruction. The children learning to read English continued to perform poorly at reading low- and medium-frequency irregular words but no differences were observed in reading regular words or nonwords. These findings emphasize how long it takes to acquire a large sight vocabulary in English, but indicated that the reading skills of the majority of the English-speaking children had caught up with those of their Welsh-speaking counterparts. However, the poorest 25% of the English readers continued to perform much worse than the lowest performing 25% of Welsh readers on both words and nonwords. An underachieving tail of this kind was not observed in the reading performance of the Welsh-speaking group. Overall, these findings suggest that in the long term the detrimental effects of an opaque orthography are most damaging to the poorest readers.     

Adverse Housing Conditions and Early‐Onset Delinquency

Housing constitutes an important health resource for children. Research has revealed that, when housing conditions are unfavorable, they can interfere with child health, academic performance, and cognition. Little to no research, however, has considered whether adverse housing conditions and early‐onset delinquency are significantly associated with one another. This study explores the associations between structural and non‐structural housing conditions and delinquent involvement during childhood. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were employed in this study. Each adverse housing condition was significantly associated with early‐onset delinquency. Even so, disarray and deterioration were only significantly linked to early delinquent involvement in the presence of health/safety hazards. The predicted probability of early‐onset delinquency among children exposed to housing risks in the presence of health/safety hazards was nearly three times as large as the predicted probability of early‐onset delinquency among children exposed only to disarray and/or deterioration, and nearly four times as large as the predicted probability of early‐onset delinquency among children exposed to none of the adverse housing conditions. The findings suggest that minimizing housing‐related health/safety hazards among at‐risk subsets of the population may help to alleviate other important public health concerns—particularly early‐onset delinquency. Addressing household health/safety hazards may represent a fruitful avenue for public health programs aimed at the prevention of early‐onset delinquency.     

Effects of Attachment on Coping Efficacy,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Life Satisfaction

This study examined attachment, self‐efficacy variables, and life satisfaction of 583 undergraduate students. The type of analysis used was structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that students with greater avoidant and anxious attachment patterns reported lower levels of career decision self‐efficacy and coping efficacy, which then had a positive relationship with life satisfaction. Implications for theory, research, and practice were provided.     

The power to detect sex differences in IQ test scores using Multi-Group Covariance and Means Structure Analyses

Research into sex differences in general intelligence, g, has resulted in two opposite views. In the first view, a g-difference is nonexistent, while in the second view, g is associated with a male advantage. Past research using Multi-Group Covariance and Mean Structure Analysis (MG-CMSA) found no sex difference in g. This failure raised the question whether the g-difference is truly absent or whether MG-CMSA lacked statistical power to detect it. The present study used the likelihood ratio test to investigate the power to detect a g-difference in the WAIS-III factor structure with MG-CMSA. Various situations were examined including those reported in the literature. Results showed that power varies greatly among different scenarios. The scenarios based on previous results were associated with power coefficients of about 0.5–0.6. Implications of these findings are discussed in the light of research into sex differences in IQ.     

The Construct Validity of Acceptance: A Multitrait-Multimethod Investigation

Despite increasing clinical and empirical attention, the construct validity of acceptance has not been extensively investigated. The present study utilized a multitrait-multimethod design and a correlated trait-correlated method minus one [CT-C(M-1)] confirmatory factor analytic model to assess acceptance's convergent validity across methods and discriminant validity in comparison to cognitive reappraisal and perceived emotional control in a sample of 210 outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders. In addition, the study evaluated acceptance's concurrent validity by investigating the extent to which it was associated with variables of clinical interest over and above the two rival constructs. Results of confirmatory factor analyses supported acceptance's convergent and discriminant validity in comparison to the two neighboring constructs, and thereby provided partial support for its construct validity. However, contrary to prediction, acceptance was not significantly associated with concurrent validation measures. These results are discussed in the context of acceptance's potential therapeutic utility and functional relationships with associated constructs.     

The influence of perceptual and semantic categorization on inhibitory processing as measured by the N2–P3 response

In daily activities, humans must attend and respond to a range of important items and inhibit and not respond to unimportant distractions. Our current understanding of these processes is largely based on perceptually simple stimuli. This study investigates the interaction of conceptual-semantic categorization and inhibitory processing using Event Related Potentials (ERPs). Participants completed three Go–NoGo tasks that increased systematically in the degree of conceptual-semantic information necessary to respond correctly (from single items to categories of objects and animals). Findings indicate that the N2 response reflects inhibitory processing but does not change significantly with task difficulty. The P3 NoGo amplitude, on the other hand, is attenuated by task difficulty. Further, the latency of the peak of the P3 NoGo response elicited by the most difficult task is significantly later than are the peaks detected during performance of the other two tasks. Thus, the level of complexity of conceptual-semantic representations influences inhibitory processing in a systematic way. This inhibition paradigm may be a key for investigating inhibitory dysfunction in patient populations.     

Not all gifts are good: The potential practical costs of motivated gifts

People rely on support from others to accomplish mundane and momentous tasks. When asking for assistance, is it beneficial to incentivize a helper by offering a motivated gift (i.e., a gift with the hope of getting support in return)? Six studies (N > 2,500) examine the frequency and potential costs of motivated gifts. In Study 1, a third of Americans indicated that they had given a motivated gift at least once, while nearly two‐thirds believed they had received one. In Studies 2a–d, most participants who imagined receiving a motivated gift before a favor request reported lower willingness to help and anticipated satisfaction from helping than participants who imagined simply being asked for a favor. Finally, Study 3 replicates these findings with actual help provided among friends in a laboratory setting. Findings suggest that motivated gifts are relatively common but may sometimes undermine the assistance that people hope to receive.     

Associations between prenatal substance exposure,prenatal violence victimization,unintended pregnancy,and trauma exposure in childhood in a clinical setting

Given the importance of early prevention and intervention strategies for children exposed to trauma, detection of early risk factors for exposure to traumatic events in childhood is critical. The present study examined associations between three known prenatal risk factors that characterize environmental instability in utero—prenatal substance exposure, prenatal violence victimization, and unintended pregnancy—and child exposure to interparental violence and other adverse experiences in a sample of 198 mother–child dyads (M child age = 44.48 months) referred to a hospital clinic for treatment following exposure to trauma. Prenatal substance and violence exposure were associated with child trauma exposure, and prenatal violence victimization was also associated with maternal severity ratings of traumatic exposures. Unintended pregnancy was not associated with child trauma exposure or severity. These findings expand our understanding of prenatal risk factors for trauma exposure in childhood and, specifically, highlight prenatal substance exposure and violence victimization as risk factors for subsequent exposure to trauma in early childhood. Results suggest that prenatal prevention and intervention programs should target reducing maternal substance use and in-utero exposure to violence.