ELIMINATION OF BEDTIME THUMBSUCKING IN HOME SETTINGS THROUGH CONTINGENT READING1

Reading stories at bedtime was made contingent upon nonthumbsucking for girls 3, 6, and 8 yr old. According to their mothers, all had been persistent thumbsuckers since infancy. Two had accompanying dental disorders. During baseline conditions, continuous noncontingent reading occurred. During experimental conditions, reading terminated on each occasion thumbsucking was observed and resumed immediately when thumbsucking ceased. High percentages of thumbsucking occurred during baseline conditions when reading was noncontingent, and low percentages occurred during experimental conditions when reading was contingent. Bedtime thumbsucking was eliminated for all three girls.     

Coding modality vs. input modality in hypermnesia: Is a rose a rose a rose?

Recent experiments indicate that recall of pictures, unlike recall of words, may increase (hypermnesia) with time and effort. This study demonstrates that by recoding word inputs into ‘mental pictures’, i.e., images, subjects can transform inert word lists into hypermnesic ones. Thus, when word inputs are recoded into images, recall increases over time, and resembles in other respects the recall of pictures.     

Sex differences in cognition

Sex differences in cognitive skills, grouped into three areas — motor, spatial, and linguistic — are assessed in the context of current notions of cerebral lateralization (Buffery and Gray, 1972). There are few convincing sex differences, either overall, or in interactions with (putative) functional localization. There are several qualifying criteria (nature of further interactions with age, birth order, culture, sex of experimenter, sex role pressure) which would have to be met, but these are as yet inadequately documented. Serious caution is urged on the proliferating number of researchers in this area.     

Spatial ontology and physical modalities

Conclusion Most relational theories assert both that spatial discourse is reducible to talk about physical objects and their spatial relations, and that the relation of congruence derives from a non-metrical relation which intervals bear or possibly bear to measuring instruments. We have shown that there are serious logical difficulties involved in maintaining both these positions and the thesis of the continuity of space. We have also shown that Grünbaum's motivating argument for the reduction of congruence is unsound, and, moreover, that the prospects of formulating the kind of definition which this reduction requires seem to rest upon a wholly vague notion of physical possibility. Alternatively, if congruence is taken as primitive, it seems plausible that spatial discourse can be reconstructed so that there is no ontological commitment to spatial objects other than physical objects. Whether or not this relational thesis is ultimately defensible requires more elaboration of the relational theory, and investigation of its role in the formalizations of current physical theories. It is odd, considering the wide currency of relational theories, that this work has never been done.Preparation of this paper was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. SOC75-08464) to the first author.     

Messages about physical attractiveness in animated cartoons

Relying upon a content analysis of one specific type of medium to which young people are exposed beginning at an early age, on a regular basis, and for many years (i.e., animated cartoons), the present study examines what types of messages are provided about being physically unattractive, physically attractive, and ordinary-looking. This research concerns itself with identifying the characteristics that tend to be associated with being good-looking or unattractive, and then discussing the implications of the findings. Results indicate that many variables were found to differ based on cartoon characters’ physical attractiveness, including gender, age, intelligence, body weight, emotional states experienced, prosocial behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and overall goodness/badness. Whenever differences were found, the overriding tendency was for cartoons to provide positive messages about being attractive and negative messages about being unattractive.     

The effect of multiple roles on caregiver stress outcomes

Some caregivers focus exclusively on the caregiving role; others try to balance caregiving responsibilities with a simultaneous work role outside the home. This study examined competing hypotheses about the impact that greater immersion in a work role would have on the stress outcomes of individuals who provide care for a person with a disability. The authors used national survey data to examine whether hours of work were associated with caregiver stress outcomes. The authors also investigated whether type of disability moderated the relationship between hours worked and stress outcomes. Results suggest that spending more time in a work role generally has no effect on caregiver stress outcomes. However, caregivers who were caring for a person with a mental disability experienced significantly fewer stress outcomes as they spent more hours engaged in outside work.     

Before Language and After

It has been assumed by some writers that Wittgenstein's talk of primitive reactions amounts to a theory of concept formation out of instinctive behaviour. Others have argued that Wittgenstein is thinking of reactions within language-games, which therefore belong to its structure not its origins . The author concurs, but argues that Wittgenstein also has in mind that it belongs to the grammars of certain concepts that the language-games in which they lie are themselves supplementary to natural behavioural forms. This provides a context in which the notion of pre-linguistic behaviour may be employed legitimately in philosophy whilst avoiding unjustified theorising.