Lexical leverage: category knowledge boosts real‐time novel word recognition in 2‐year‐olds

Recent research suggests that infants tend to add words to their vocabulary that are semantically related to other known words, though it is not clear why this pattern emerges. In this paper, we explore whether infants leverage their existing vocabulary and semantic knowledge when interpreting novel label–object mappings in real time. We initially identified categorical domains for which individual 24‐month‐old infants have relatively higher and lower levels of knowledge, irrespective of overall vocabulary size. Next, we taught infants novel words in these higher and lower knowledge domains and then asked if their subsequent real‐time recognition of these items varied as a function of their category knowledge. While our participants successfully acquired the novel label–object mappings in our task, there were important differences in the way infants recognized these words in real time. Namely, infants showed more robust recognition of high (vs. low) domain knowledge words. These findings suggest that dense semantic structure facilitates early word learning and real‐time novel word recognition.     

The Munroe-Meyer Approach: Continuous Integration of Didactic Instruction,Research, and Clinical Practice

Increased demand for applied behavior analysis (ABA) services has increased the need for additional masters-level practitioners and doctoral-level academicians and clinical directors. Based on these needs, the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s (UNMC) Munroe-Meyer Institute has developed a PhD program. The academic structure at UNMC allowed us to create our PhD program in a relatively quick and efficient manner. Our PhD program has many unique features, including (a) close integration of didactic instruction with clinical and research training provided by leading experts in ABA in which students immediately apply concepts introduced in the classroom during coordinated clinical and research practica; (b) structured grant writing training in which students learn to write and submit an NIH-level grant; (c) financial support in the form of a stipend of $23,400 per year, free health benefits, and a full-tuition waiver for up to 12 credits per semester for UNMC courses (a benefits package worth approximately $50,000 per year for an out-of-state student); and (d) encouragement and financial support to present papers at local, regional, and national behavior analysis conferences.     

Rituals, Compulsions, and Other Syncretic Tools: Insights from Werner's Comparative Psychology

In line with theme of this special issue, this article speaks to a topic in developmental psychology from a Wernerian perspective. We take a Wernerian, comparative, and orthogenetic approach in addressing rituals and other compulsive behaviors in a variety of contexts: Ritual as cultural practice, as a part of pathologic behavior, and as a normative aspect of child development. We discuss the similarities and differences in these various forms of ritual, and conclude by incorporating recent advances in the study of obsessive-compulsive disorder to shed light on the normative variant of compulsive behavior. Our goal is to emphasize the continued relevance Werner's work in light of contemporary trends in developmental psychology, developmental psychopathology, and neuroscience.     

Specters of Liberation: Great Refusals in the New World Order; Martin J. Beck Matuštík

Continental Philosophy Review -     

Age and Gender Role Conflict: A Cross-Sectional Study of Australian Men

A total of 221 educated middle-class Australian males across three age groups (18–24, 36–45, and 60-plus years), responded to O'Neil et al.'s Gender Role Conflict Scales and a set of measures for psychological well-being. A MANCOVA design, with psychological well-being as the covariate, found significant age differences on two gender-role conflict scales. Results suggest that certain conflicts in a man's life to do with ambition, career, and family may be seen as developmentally functional rather than dysfunctional. No age differences were found on the Gender Role Conflict variables for emotional expressiveness and intimacy between males. These two variables are discussed as a function of mood rather than indices of dysfunction.     

No Sissy Boys Here: A Content Analysis of the Representation of Masculinity in Elementary School Reading Textbooks

In this study, we investigate the portrayal of gender characteristics in elementary school reading textbooks. Over the past 25 years, most of the research on textbooks has focused on female roles and characteristics. In this research, we focus particularly on how males are portrayed. Using an evaluative instrument based on the Bem Sex Role Inventory, we examine first, third, and fifth grade literature textbooks. In particular, we analyze traits pertaining to masculine and feminine stereotypes. Our results show that despite publisher's guidelines and Title IX, males are still primarily portrayed in a stereotypical light. Males are overwhelming shown to be aggressive, argumentative, and competitive.     

False memories of having said the unsaid: some new demonstrations

In a series of four studies, subjects who were naive as to the true purpose of the research were asked if they had said aloud things that, at most, they had only intended to say. Often, subjects reported (incorrectly) that they had said them. Specifically, the procedures involved: showing a series of phrases, each being followed by a command to say it aloud or not (Study 1); asking a series of questions, each being followed by a request to answer it aloud or not (Study 2); asking a series of questions in a public polling situation and interrupting the subject before one of the questions was answered (Study 3); and having each subject participate in a debate, during the course of which the participant was induced to plan to use a particular point, but was prevented from doing so (Study 4). Subjects were confident of such erroneous reports; they had a lower tendency to make such errors for material that had not actually been presented, and such errors depended upon certain details of the manner in which such ‘source-monitoring’ searches were initiated. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.