Correlational reasoning in an everyday context

In the context of everyday reasoning, individuals inferring a causal relation between an antecedent (A) and event (E) rarely have available as evidence for their inferences frequencies of all the four possible occurences, AE, A$\text{E}$, $\text{A}$E, and $\text{AE}$. The present study investigated the willingness of subjects in fourth, seventh, and tenth grades, and college to infer such a relation under the more typical condition of incomplete frequency data. There was some improvement with age, but even college subjects were remarkably willing to infer a relationship based on minimal data, notably the presence of cases in the AE cell. No subjects indicated the need for information regarding the remaining cells. Subsequent presentations of datafor the A$\text{E}$ cell did not substantially alter subjects' willingness to infer a relation, nor did subsequent presentation of data for the remaining two cells, despite the fact that complete frequency data indicated independence of A and E. A comparison group of subjects presented with all four cells at once showed somewhat more frequent application of quantitative reasoning strategies, but their willingness to infer a relationship between A and E was not notably less than that of subjects to whom the data were presented sequentially.     

Autumn leaves and old photographs: The development of metaphor preferences

In order to determine the development of preferences for different types of metaphors, a metaphor preferences task was designed. Subjects at seven ages, from 6 through 20 years, received incomplete sentences followed by metaphorical and literal completions, and were asked to select their preferred completions. The pattern of preferences shifted with age. Metaphors based on grounds involving color or shape were preferred by the youngest subjects; metaphors based on movement or sound were preferred by subjects of intermediate age; and metaphors based on nonperceptual, conceptual grounds were preferred by the oldest subjects. At all ages the most frequently chosen metaphors were those based on a combination of two grounds (e.g., color and shape). Preference for literal completions declined with age, but there was an increase in literal selections in the 8th and 10th grades. This study demonstrates the systematic development of aesthetic preferences in the domain of figurative language.     

Effects of daily probing on acquisition of instructive feedback responses

This study evaluated the effects of daily probes of instructive feedback stimuli on students' acquisition of two types of instructive feedback responses. Four students, two with disabilities, participated and were taught four sets of behaviors, two sets received daily probes and two sets did not. A modification of the multiple probe design across behaviors was used. The findings indicate that students acquired their target behaviors rapidly and maintained correct responding during subsequent probe conditions. Students also acquired both types of instructive feedback and maintained it across subsequent probe conditions. The daily probes of the instructive feedback stimuli did not appear to enhance acquisition or maintenance of the instructive feedback responses, but students appeared to acquire the instructive feedback responses while learning their target behaviors. The implications of this study for understanding how students learn instructive feedback responses and for practice are discussed.     

Counterfactual thinking in mock juror assessments of negligence: A preliminary investigation

This Research Report presents an initial attempt to apply the theory of counterfactual thinking to study the cognitive processes that underlie judgments of negligence. Subjects reviewed a summary of an appellate case involving a work accident and listed all the ways in which the accident could have been undone (mutated). Participants' evaluations of the defendant's behavior were influenced by the ease of mutation of the negligent act and other mutations of the defendant's behavior, but not by the number of mutations of the plaintiffs conduct. Exploratory path analysis suggested that counterfactual thinking may have its greatest impact not as a direct influence on verdicts and damages, but rather as an indirect influence impacting verdicts through lower level judgments about the normality of the defendant's behavior and the standard of care. The results also suggest that contrary to the law, subjects base their negligence verdicts on assessments of normal care along with due care.     

EFFECTS OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING GROUPS DURING SOCIAL STUDIES FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM AND FOURTH-GRADE PEERS

We investigated the use of cooperative learning groups as an instructional strategy for integrating 2 students with autism into a fourth-grade social studies class. Baseline consisted of 40 min of teacher-led sessions including lecture, questions and discussion with students, and the use of maps. The intervention condition consisted of 10 min of teacher introduction of new material, followed by cooperative learning groups that included tutoring on key words and facts, a team activity, and a whole class wrap-up and review. An ABAB design showed increases for target students and peers for the number of items gained on weekly pretests and posttests, the percentage of academic engagement during sessions, and durations of student interaction during the intervention.     

TEACHING SOCIAL SKILLS TO STUDENTS WITH AUTISM TO INCREASE PEER INTERACTIONS IN AN INTEGRATED FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOM

We investigated the use of social skills groups to facilitate increased social interactions for students with autism and their nonhandicapped peers in an integrated first-grade classroom. Social skills groups consisted of training students and peers in initiating, responding, and keeping interactions going; greeting others and conversing on a variety of topics; giving and accepting compliments; taking turns and sharing; asking for help and helping others; and including others in activities. Training occurred during the first 10 min of 20-min play groups, four times per week. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, results demonstrated increases in the frequency of, time engaged in, and duration of social interactions, as well as the responsivity of students and peers to each other. Results were maintained when students were monitored and given feedback on social performance in play groups and during follow-up.     

Effects of Cross-Age Peer Tutoring Networks Among Students with Autism and General Education Students

In this investigation peer networks were formed consisting of students with autism and fourth grade peers. They were trained to tutor first grade students in sight word recognition. The purpose of the study was to determine if the target students could be trained effectively as tutors, to determine outcomes for the first graders, and to determine effects on social integration of network students. Effects were measured for implementation of tutoring steps, increases in sight words learned on a weekly basis for the tutees, and social interactions among network students during free time activities. Using a reversal design, with a multiple baseline component, results demonstrated higher gains on weekly pre- and posttests for first graders than control students who received classroom instruction only, successful implementation of peer tutoring steps by the network participants, and increased duration of social interaction time for the target students with autism and network companions. These findings were replicated in the following year. The peer network system for students with autism, thus not only increased their time and social engagement with typical peers but also provided a productive, socially acceptable activity for increasing academic performance for first graders exhibiting delays.     

The Relation of Story Structure Properties to Recall of Television Stories in Young Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Nonreferred Peers

In this study, the authors examined memory for televised stories to gain insight into similarities and differences in story comprehension between young children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their typical peers. In particular, the authors investigated the extent to which 4- to 6-year-old children's free recall of story events is predicted by several structural properties of story events (number of causal connections, whether an event is on or off the story's causal chain, story-grammar category, and position in the story's hierarchical structure), whether differences exist between children with ADHD and nonreferred comparison children in their sensitivity to structural features of stories, and whether age differences in sensitivity to structural features are similar for both groups. For both groups, recall of story events was predicted by all four structural properties, but the effects of the two causal properties was stronger for comparison children than for children with ADHD. Further examination revealed that this difference was observed only when a competing activity was available during television viewing. These findings indicate that both groups of preschool children are able to benefit from causal structure when recalling television stories, but that children with ADHD lose this benefit when attention is divided. Consistent with previous findings for nonreferred children (P. W. van den Broek, E. P. Lorch, & R. Thurlow, 1996), in both diagnostic groups the effects of causal properties increased across age, and older children were more likely to include causally important protagonists' goals in their recalls than younger children.     

Lethal Stereotypes: Hair and Eye Color as Survival Characteristics During the Holocaust1

In spite of many false negatives and false positives quite familiar to the people of Nazi‐dominated Europe, dark hair and eyes were salient among the physical stereotypes of Jews that the Nazis promulgated along with psychosocial ones. Many narratives of the Holocaust refer to someone surviving because he or she “did not look Jewish,” and others being caught and killed because they did. A quantitative test of the validity and impact of this attribution showed that a higher proportion of Holocaust survivors than of a North American Jewish control group had light‐colored hair, eyes, or both during the relevant period. The paper discusses possible reasons why these were survival characteristics under the conditions of the Holocaust, the possible short‐ and long‐term effects of such selectivity, and implications for stereotyping in other situations of ethnic persecution and genocide.