A simplified technique for conditioning respiratory mouth movements in fish

This report describes a simple technique and restraining device for investigating classically conditioned inhibition of respiration in the fish. The restraining device is seen as having wide applicability for investigations which necessitate the immobilization of the S.     

Student Socio-Economic Status and Counselor Contact in Junior High School

Cumulative records over 3 years for 196 junior high school sophomores were analyzed to assess the effect of socio-economic status of students on counseling exposure. Statistical significance was found between socio-economic status of the student and both the frequency with which he was referred to the counselor and the problem areas discussed. Frequency of counselor contact was not significantly associated with student socio-economic status. Where the counselors initiated the interviews, they apparently did so only in keeping with administrative policies. The differences that did occur arose when parents or, less frequently, the students themselves, initiated the interviews. Here, socio-economic status appeared to play a crucial and singular role.     

Work planning and performance review as a basis for merit pay decisions: An evaluation

The Work Planning and Performance Review (WPPR) System, developed in a midwestern state as a basis for pay-for-performance decisions in the state government, is described. The WPPR's job relevance was evaluated in one state agency by comparing WPPR scores with scores on a behavioral checklist developed for that purpose. Supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the relevance of the two systems are described. Comparison and perception data indicate the WPPR lacks content validity. Probable impact on the merit pay system is discussed.     

Body figure preferences of men and women: A comparison of two generations

Inspired by the earlier work of Rozin and Fallon (1988), this study investigated some potential determinants of the most recent increase of eating disorders among women in this country. Measures of current, preferred attractive, and acceptable body images for opposite- and same-gender figures, in addition to the thinnest and heaviest figures the subjects found attractive, were obtained from the same generation cohort as these students' parents. While gender differences were found, so were cohort differences. These cohort differences speak to factors relevant to understanding why there has been such an increase in the frequency of eating disorders in Western culture since the late 1960s, especially among adolescent women. Possible implications for treatment of eating disorders are discussed. However, the authors note that further studies are needed to determine if the cohort differences found might reflect a developmental or a definite cohort effect.     

PARENT EDUCATION PROJECT III: INCREASING AFFECTION AND RESPONSIVITY IN DEVELOPMENTALLY HANDICAPPED MOTHERS: COMPONENT ANALYSIS,GENERALIZATION, AND EFFECTS ON CHILD LANGUAGE

We evaluated the effects of a parent training program consisting of verbal instruction, modeling, and feedback on the affection and responsivity of 3 developmentally handicapped mothers towards their children. The results indicated the following: First, the training package increased maternal physical affection, praise, and imitation of child vocalizations. These parenting skills increased to levels found in comparison groups of nonhandicapped mothers. Second, the training package was more effective than verbal instruction alone, the latter being the predominant method presently used by social service workers. Third, most maternal gains were maintained over a 3- to 18-month follow-up period, although one mother required a reinforced maintenance procedure. Fourth, instructing mothers to generalize served to increase the generalization of newly acquired skills from play times (the training context) to child-care tasks (e.g., diapering, feeding). Fifth, teaching the parents to imitate child vocalizations was related to gains in both the frequency and quality of verbal behavior of the two language delayed children as measured by standardized developmental tests and in vivo comparisons with age-matched children (who had nonhandicapped parents). These results show that behavioral instruction can improve important child-rearing skills of developmentally handicapped mothers, with corresponding benefits to their children.     

Spatial analysis after perinatal stroke: patterns of neglect and exploration in extra-personal space

This study was conducted to determine whether school-aged children who had experienced a perinatal stroke demonstrate evidence of persistent spatial neglect, and if such neglect was specific to the visual domain or was more generalized. Two studies were carried out. In the first, 38 children with either left hemisphere (LH) or right hemisphere (RH) damage and 50 age-matched controls were given visual cancellation tasks varying in two factors: target stimuli and stimulus array. In the second study, tactile neglect was evaluated in 41 children with LH or RH damage and 72 age-matched controls using a blindfolded manual exploration task. On the visual cancellation task, LH subjects omitted more target stimuli on the right, but also on the left, compared with controls. Children with RH lesions also produced a larger number of omissions on both the left and right sides than controls, but with poorer performance on the left. On the manual exploration task, LH children required significantly longer times to locate the target on both sides of the board than did controls. RH children had significantly prolonged search times on the left side, but not on the right, compared with controls. In both tasks, LH subjects employed unsystematic search strategies more often than both control and RH children. The search strategy of RH children also tended to be erratic when compared to controls, but only in the random arrays of the visual cancellation tasks; structure of the target stimuli improved their organization. These results demonstrate that children with early LH brain damage display bilateral difficulties in visual and tactile modalities; a pattern that is in contrast to that seen in adults with LH damage. This may result from disorganized search strategies or other subtle spatial or attentional deficits. Results of performance of RH children suggests the presence of contralateral neglect in both the visual and tactile modalities; a finding that is similar to the neglect in adult stroke patients with RH lesions. The fact that deficits in spatial attention and organizational strategies are present after very early focal damage to either the LH or the RH broadens our understanding of the differences in functional lateralization between the immature and mature brain. These results also add to evidence for limitations to plasticity in the developing brain. Our findings may have therapeutic and rehabilitative implications for the management of children with early focal brain lesions.     

An Introduction to Issues of Gender in Stalking Research

Stalking research has increased substantially in the past 20?years. This special issue is intended to contribute to this literature by using gender as a focus point in 1) applying new theoretical perspectives that incorporate the role of gender to the study of stalking perpetration (Davis et al. 2010; Duntley and Buss 2010), 2) addressing divergent findings regarding gender in experiences of victims (Sheridan and Lyndon 2010) and perpetrators (Thompson et al. 2010), and 3) furthering the study of how gender influences perceptions of stalking (Cass and Rosay 2011; Dunlap et al. 2011; Sinclair 2010; Yanowitz and Yanowitz 2010). To place this special issue in context of the current state of knowledge on gender and stalking, we review the state of the existing research as it relates to the domains covered by articles present in this issue.     

How Social Norms Promote Misleading Social Feedback and Inaccurate Self‐Assessment

Self‐assessments are often prone to error. Past research has identified cognitive and motivational biases that lead self‐assessments astray. In the present paper, we discuss how behavior shaped by social norms leaves the negative information that people require for accurate self‐assessments invisible. First, social norms lead people to suppress critical feedback in favor of more positive evaluations. Although people recognize that they prefer to provide positive feedback to others, they fail to consider that they might be the recipient of incomplete feedback. As a result, they are left with overconfident self‐impressions. Second, social norms lead people to hide their own negative emotional experiences from others. Again, people are aware that this positivity norm influences their own behavior but do not apply this knowledge to their understanding of others. As a result, people regard their own negative emotions as more socially aberrant than is actually the case.     

Correction to: The Comparative Effects of Teacher Versus Peer-Scaffolding on EFL Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension: A Socio-Cultural Perspective

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research -