Does Watching Smoking in Movies Promote Teenage Smoking?

ABSTRACT— Compared to adolescents with low exposure to smoking in movies, those with high exposure are about three times as likely to try smoking or become smokers. We have observed this effect in nationally representative samples using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. This effect remains statistically significant after controlling for numerous other traditional risk factors, such as personality, parenting style, and sociodemographics. Indeed, the movie-smoking exposure effect on adolescent smoking initiation is greatest among those traditionally considered at lower risk for smoking, such as those low in sensation seeking and those whose parents do not smoke. In this article, we consider possible moderators and mediators of this important media effect as well as health-policy implications. The take-home message is that eliminating smoking in movies may prevent a substantial number of adolescents from smoking.     

How to Tell If a Particular Memory Is True or False

ABSTRACT— How can you tell if a particular memory belonging to you or someone else is true or false? Cognitive scientists use a variety of techniques to measure groups of memories, whereas police, lawyers, and other researchers use procedures to determine whether an individual can be believed or not. We discuss evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies and research on lying that have attempted to distinguish true from false memories.     

GRAMMATICAL GENDER IS ON THE TIP OF ITALIAN TONGUES

Abstract— To correctly produce words, speakers must have access to three broad classes of information lexical semantics, syntax, and sound structure. The relevant information must be organized in ways that permit rapid and accurate retrieval of specific lexical targets. Current models of language production do this by a two-stage process. The first stage incorporates lexical meanings and syntax, and the second, sound structure. We used studies of the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (i e, the condition in which a speaker cannot produce a well-known word) to evaluate this organization and in so doing, we provide the first clear experimental evidence for a lexical stage that includes syntax and is distinct from both sound structure and the conceptual correlates of syntactic features     

Neural Network Models and Mechanisms of Strategy Development

The focus of this paper is mechanisms that may be responsible for intellectual and developmental differences in the cognitive strategies of typical and atypical children, including those with mental retardation. The discussion of these mechanisms is based on behavioral experiments on external memory strategies and on a set of neural network models designed for these tasks. Following the review of the external memory research, the rationale for using neural network models, how they have been used in other research, and their specific application to intellectual and developmental differences in external memory, including the results of several simulations, are reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of the mechanisms of intellectual differences and developmental change included in the models and some challenges for this type of modeling. Neural network modeling is discussed as an asset to research on cognitive development.     

Personality and Job Performance in Financial Services Managers

This article presents research in which the Five Factor Model of personality was tested as a predictor of job performance. 125 financial services managers who had enrolled in a potential evaluation programme were given the NEO-FFI, a questionnaire designed for measuring the Big Five. Job performance was assessed using nine rating scales and they were grouped into two components: job problem-solving ability and job motivation. Also, one single scale for measuring global job performance was used. The results show that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness correlated with the two components and with the global measure of job performance. Extraversion, Openness and Agreeableness are correlated with one facet or with the global rating of job performance. Taken together, the results suggest that the Five Factor Model is a valid predictor of job performance. The implications of the results for practice and future research are discussed.