Remembering Numbers in Old Age: Mnemonic Training Versus Self-Generated Strategy Training

The effectiveness of two memory training programs designed to enhance four-digit number recall was examined in 90 healthy older adults. One group received instruction and training in the number-consonant mnemonic, whereas another group was instructed to adopt their own encoding and retrieval strategies to enhance number recall. Also, a control group receiving no training between testing occasions was included. The criterion task was administered according to the Buschke selective reminding procedure. Posttest performance was evaluated with and without cognitive support for remembering (i.e., verbal cues). Under unsupported conditions, the mnemonic group improved number recall following training and the self-generated strategy group showed a tendency in the same direction. When support was provided, group differences in favor of the two training groups increased. In addition, no training-related gains were observed in two verbal transfer tasks. The relatively similar patterns of gains in the two intervention groups were discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages in the two training regimens balancing each other.     

“You be Sure Now to be Honest in Your Assessment”: Teaching and Learning Self-Assessment

When taking part in the everyday practices of the school, the pupil ‘metalearns’ implicit institutional knowledge about educability and its proper criteria. The aim of this study was to examine one important school practice, self-assessment: How is self-assessment ‘taught’ to children, what is assessed through the self-assessment method, how is self-assessment introduced to children, and how do they perceive those situations? The ethnographic research focused on the classroom situations of one class of first-graders during one autumn term. The data were collected by means of regular observation, video recordings, short interviews, documents, and informal conversations with the teachers, pupils and parents. The findings indicated that the frequency of self-assessment episodes was particularly high in the domains of writing, mathematics, and social skills and behaviour; self-assessment situations were a ‘natural’ part of everyday teaching practices. According to our observations, the result of the self-assessment was considerably explicit. The teacher made sure that the pupils assessed their performance in the way she wanted. The teaching of self-assessment also teaches the child what assessment criteria the school regards as important and how well the child fulfils these criteria. According to our analysis, these important assessment criteria are objectiveness (compliance to standard), honesty, and individuality (a product that ‘looks like’ its author). The children practised self-assessment actively and were apparently capable of assessing their own performance. Our results suggest that ‘the self’ in self-assessment is paradoxical: you can assess yourself as long as you assess the right things in the right way.     

Hearing Impairment, Coping Strategies, and Anxiety Sensitivity

The aim was to study coping strategies among hearing-impaired individuals by using a validated coping instrument—The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOCQ; S. Folkman & R. Lazarus, 1988)—and to relate the use of coping with anxiety sensitivity and experience of hearing impairment. A questionnaire booklet was sent out to the members of the local branch of the Swedish Hard of Hearing Association. Ninety-four members responded to the questionnaire, yielding a 53% response rate. Primary outcome measures were the WOCQ, the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and visual analogue scale rating of discomfort from hearing impairment. Repeated measures analysis of WOCQ subscales showed that the participants used planful problem solving and self-controlling coping strategies whereas escape/avoidance responses were less frequently used than the other coping strategies. Anxiety sensitivity was associated with escape/avoidance coping (r = .63, p < .0001). In conclusion, hearing-impaired individuals do not use escape/avoidance coping more than other coping strategies. However, escape/avoidance coping is associated with anxiety sensitivity, suggesting that sensitivity to anxiety sensations is an important associated factor. Coping strategies were not associated with discomfort from hearing impairment in any meaningful way.     

Musiktherapie in der deutschen Psychosomatik

The authors report about the clinical implementation of music therapy in psychosomatic hospitals in FRG based on a survey among practising music therapists: attending especially to the qualification of music therapists, their integration and the problem of indication. The coverage of music therapy in the standard textbooks on psychosomatic medicine is discussed.Finally the state of research on music therapy in psychosomatic hospitals is reviewed.     

Strong items get suppressed, weak items do not: The role of item strength in output interference

An experiment is reported that examines the role of item strength in output interference. Subjects studied two types of categorized item lists: lists in which each category consisted of strong and moderate items, and lists in which each category consisted of weak and moderate items. Different degrees of item strength were accomplished by varying the items’ taxonomic frequency within a category. The subjects either recalled a category’s strong and weak items before its moderate items, or vice versa. The prior recall of the moderate items impaired the later recall of the strong items, but did not impair the later recall of the weak items. This effect of item strength indicates that output interference is caused by a process of retrieval suppression. It additionally suggests that, in order to minimize output-interference effects in recall, a list’s strong items should be recalled before its weak items.     

Zur ‘Regulativen Funktion’ Der Kantischen Antinomien

Ohne ZusammenfassungMein Dank gilt dem Philosoph. Department und dem Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies der Pennsylvania State University, die mir in Zusammenhang mit einem dort abgehaltenen Kant-Seminar Gelegenheit zur Ausarbeitung dieses Beitrages gaben.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Implementation Intentions Increase Exercise Enjoyment and Long-Term Exercise Behavior Among Low-Active Women

The current study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for promoting exercise behavior in comparison with planning in the form of implementation intentions (forming situational cues and action plans as to when, where, and how to incorporate exercise). We expected both interventions to increase exercise behavior (assessed using the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire; Godin and Shephard 1985) from baseline to 6-months post-intervention, but expected only ACT to also increase exercise enjoyment (assessed using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale; Kendzierski and DeCarlo 1991). A total of 32 women, randomized to receive a single session of either ACT training or instructions to form implementation intentions for exercise activities, took part in this study. The participants were contacted by email 6-months following the intervention to determine the amount of self-reported exercise. As expected, exercise amount increased in both groups. Contrary to our expectations, both groups also increased in exercise enjoyment. This study provides initial evidence that exercising can be increased through an ACT intervention. ACT and implementation intentions may both be effective and brief interventions for promoting exercise behavior and exercise-related enjoyment in low-active women. Future research needs to establish the psychosocial and personality factors that lead to the effectiveness of ACT and implementation intentions.     

A Conceptual Structure of Justice - Providing a Tool to Analyse Conceptions of Justice

Justice is a contested concept. There are many different and competing conceptions, i.e. interpretations of the concept. Different domains of justice deal with different fields of application of justice claims, such as structural justice, distributive justice, participatory justice or recognition. We present a formal conceptual structure of justice applicable to all these domains. We show that conceptions of justice can be described by specifying the following conceptual elements: the judicandum (that which is to be judged as just or unjust), the community of justice including claim holders and claim addressees, their claims (and obligations), the informational base for the assessment, the principles of justice, and on a more practical level, the instruments of justice. By specifying these conceptual elements of justice, it is possible to analyse and compare different conceptions of justice, to assess their internal consistency, to explore new definitions of justice in an analytical way, and to explicate an idea of justice in a manner that provides concrete links to the relevant context.