Controlled attending as a function of melodic and temporal context

Melodic and rhythmic context were systematically varied in a pattern recognition task involving pairs (standard-comparison) of nine-tone auditory sequences. The experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that rhythmic context can direct attention toward or away from tones which instantiate higher order melodic rules. Three levels of melodic structure (one, two, no higher order rules) were crossed with four levels of rhythm [isochronous, dactyl (A U U), anapest (U U A), irregular]. Rhythms were designed to shift accent locations on three centrally embedded tones. Listeners were more accurate in detecting violations of higher order melodic rules when the rhythmic context induced accents on tones which instantiated these rules. Effects are discussed in terms of attentional rhythmicity.     

Relating early child adjustment to infant and parent temperament

The central question at issue was the role of both infant and parent temperament in determining child adjustment at age 4. Within the conceptual framework of the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS), both infant and parent temperament were assessed. Factor analyses yielded three comparable infant and parent temperament factors: Mood, Energy, and Consistency. Correlations with teacher ratings of child adjustment indicated the most significant relationship to be with the infant girls' Mood factor (comparable to the NYLS high-risk "difficult" infant factor). No infant factors were found to relate to boys' adjustment, while maternal Mood was significant across sexes. Indices of the temperamental similarity within families also revealed sex differences relative to adjustment, with similarity across all family members significantly related to adjustment for girls and boy-father dissimilarity significant for boys. Discussion centered around continuity-discontinuity issues relevant to sex differences.     

Skill-set,success outcome,and mania as determinants of the illusion of control

The illusion of control, the tendency for individuals to approach chance tasks with skill-appropriate strategies, was studied. Subjects premeasured on a mania scale were classified as either high (HM) or low (LM) in mania. In the first phase of the study, HM and LM subjects performed 30 trials on either a skill (verbal associates) or chance (coin-toss) task and were given either 20, 50, or 80% success feedback. After Task 1 was completed, subjects filled out an attribution questionnaire. In the final phase of the study, subjects anticipated 30 more trials either on a skill or chance task. Subjects' predicted successes were measured. It was hypothesized that predicted successes on anticipated skill and chance tasks would be affected more by outcomes on a previous skill task than by outcomes on a previous chance task. The results for the anticipated skill task directly supported the hypothesis. On the anticipated chance task, the hypothesis was confirmed for HM subjects only. The results are discussed in terms of how previous skill experiences may induce a set to control ungovernable situations for individuals with manic reactions.     

The Mexican American in Higher Education: Implications for Educators

From a review of literature and an examination of data from the Counseling Services at the University of Texas - El Paso, the authors conclude that Mexican-American students place more emphasis on cooperation and group achievement than on individual achievement, and that the education of Mexican Americans may be enhanced when teachers properly reinforce “successful behavior.” In addition, it seems that problems may arise in using U.S.-based theories of “democratic” leadership styles because the Mexican-American culture places more emphasis on traditional leadership roles.     

Patterns of interocular transfer of visuomotor coordination reveal differences in the representation of visual space

Acquisition and interocular transfer of adaptation to optical transformations of input were examined in strabismic and orthotropic subjects. Distinct patterns of behavior were displayed by three groups: strabismic alternating suppressors, strabismic and orthotropic constant suppressors, and orthotropes with normal binocularity of vision. It is suggested that these behaviors result from the way in which visual space is represented in each group, an outcome of the pattern of use of the eyes during early development. The conditions for modification of the representation of visual space appear to parallel those for initial acquisition.     

A critique and extension of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemma Test

Critical reading of Bronfenbrenner's Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) suggests that it measures two basic kinds of moral dimensions: (1) “Negative-passive” moral choices which require the child to resist peer pressure to violate conventional norms in situations fraught with potential adult sanctions, and (2) “Positive-active” moral choices which require performance of an act that affirms a moral principle and implies a benefit for recipients of the act. To test the validity of these distinctions, additional positive-active type dilemmas were constructed to balance the overemphasis on negative-passive situations found in the original MDT. This expanded MDT was then administered to samples of Mormon, Catholic and public school children. Responses from all samples were subjected to factor and cluster analyses and then to a “multitrait-multimethod matrix”. These analyses provide support for the need for making moral sub-distinctions by producing item clusters that are consistently based on the a priori defined negative-passive and positive-active dimensions. A third dimension is also discernable among certain of the original MDT items, but it represents an achievement orientation of only-secondary moral significance. Implications of these conceptual distinctions for linking different kinds of moral responses to different kinds of social contexts are discussed.