Self-monitoring and self-reinforcement processes in a pre-transsexual boy

Young boys with normal male physical status who manifest feminine gender-role behavior and verbalize a cross-gender identity are high-risk for later adult sexual adjustment problems, e.g., transsexualism and homosexual conflicts (Bakwin, 1968; Lebovitz, 1972; Stoller, 1968; Zuger, 1966). In the only published experimental treatment studies on child gender disturbance in which replication procedures were used, Rekers and his colleagues empirically demonstrated external stimulus control and reinforcement control over pronounced feminine behavior in young boys with serious gender identity and behavior disturbance (Rekers and Lovaas, 1974; Rekers, Lovaas and Low, 1974; Rekers, Willis, Yates, Rosen and Low, in press; Rekers, Yates, Willis, Rosen and Taubman, 1976). To potentially minimize the previously reported stimulus specificity of the extrinsic reinforcement effects, this study introduces, for the first time, behavioral self-control strategies to decrease feminine behavior in a cross-gender identified boy. A 6-year-old boy was taught to self-monitor his own sex-role behavior, and then to self-reinforce gender-appropriate responding. A behavioral cueing procedure was used during the initial phases of the training of self-monitoring.     

Object disappearance and error in Piaget's Stage IV task

Piaget attributes perseverative error in infant manual search to the failure of the infant to conceive of objects as permanent entities which retain their identity when hidden at successive locations A and B. An experiment was performed to test this explanation in which search was compared under three conditions: when the object was hidden at A and B, when the object was covered but visible at A and B, and when the object was visible and uncovered at A and B. Errors occurred under all three conditions taking the form of a conflict in which infants searched persistently either at A or at B. The conflict was at a maximum when the object was hidden, but was evident even when the object was visible but covered. It is suggested that errors may reflect lack of coordination between egocentric and visual frames of reference in relation to which the object is located.     

Sex,masculinity—feminity,and intelligence

Masculine and feminine subgroups of males and females were selected from samples of high school and college students on the basis of composite scores from several M—F scales. They were compared on intelligence as measured by a verbal test, Terman's Concept Mastery Test, and a nonverbal test, D-48. Results did not support previous findings of sex differences in intelligence but showed that masculine subgroups of both sexes scored higher of the nonverbal test.     

Comparison of child and adult vibrotactile thresholds as a function of frequency and duration

Psychophysical thresholds for the detection of sinusoidal vibration of the thenar eminence of the hand were determined for children and adults. The subjects in the child group were between 8 and 11 years old, and the adults were between 20 and 39 years old. Measurements were made for vibration frequencies ranging from 18 to 700 Hz and stimulus durations ranging from 28 to 1,000 msec. For both children and adults, thresholds were a Il-shaped function of stimulus frequency. However, the exact form of the function was influenced by the age of the subjects. At frequencies above 200 Hz, thresholds were virtually identical for children and adults, but below this frequency children were more sensitive than adults. This finding, in combination with known changes in the anatomy of the Pacinian corpuscle with age, is in agreement with a filter model of this cutaneous receptor. Furthermore, variation of stimulus duration resulted in data in agreement with the theory that two classes of mechanoreceptors, Pacinian and non-Pacinian, mediate the perception of vibration.     

Peripheral information extraction: A developmental examination of reading processes

Three experiments examining the information extraction processes are presented. In Experiments I and II, adults and children were presented paragraphs to read and search for specified targets, respectively. Two types of typographical (spatial) manipulations were used: case of the letters within the paragraphs was as normally experienced, or in alternating upper and lower case letters. Spacing between words was either as normal, filled with a neutral symbol, or absent. The response measures were reading and search speed in words per minute. Sensitivity to case (word shape) and space (word boundary) increased as a function of experience and was different for reading compared with search. In Experiment III subjects were asked to judge whether briefly presented pairs of letters were the same or different. Retinal (spatial) location was varied from trial to trial; dependent measure was reaction time. Results showed a developmental progression in response time with complex interactions. Theoretical interpretations of these data are discussed in support of the initial stage of Hochberg's peripheral to cognitive search guidance model.     

Syllabic structure and the acquisition of consonants: The great conspiracy in word formation

The syllabic structure and phonemic inventory of one child were analyzed at the beginning of word production and compared with similar records reported in the literature. The data appear to favor an interactionist view of lexical development which recognizes the contribution of particular syllabic forms to the acquisition of consonantal phonemes and the role these phonemes play in expanded syllabic form. The discussion argues for the primacy of CV as the dominant unit of production and identifies a number of constraints on syllabic forms and a set of conspiratorial rules which assure the production of these forms. Further, it is argued that certain strategies operating within the constraints to particular syllabic forms result in the ordered development of syllabic structures.     

Semantic processing and organization in free recall

It was hypothesized that both semantic processing and organizational activity are necessary for optimal free recall performance. In a series of three experiments, subjects were presented with a list of randomly selected nouns and were asked to make up a meaningful sentence for each noun. The subjects also rated the difficulty of using each noun. The subjects were instructed to try to remember words that were labeled "remember" words. For words that were labeled "story" words, the subjects were instructed only to make each sentence, using the word, part of an ongoing story which each subject was to make up. A test of retention for all presented words, using retention intervals of both 1 min and 24 h, showed that the story words were always recalled better than were the remember words. However, the amount of sequential organization was the same for both the story and the remember words. Recognition performance was found to be the same for both types of words. In addition, the story words were rated as being more difficult than the remember words. It was concluded that extensive semantic processing without organization is not sufficient for optimal recall.