A Commentary on Charles Goodwin's Co-Operative Action for Learning Scientists

ABSTRACT

This commentary summarizes the argument Charles Goodwin presents in Co-Operative Action (Co-A, 2018 Goodwin, C. (2018). Co-operative action. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]), his most recent book. Through exploration of the breadth of conceptual and methodological tools that he has built over the course of his career and represents in this book, we suggest paths forward for Learning Sciences towards engaging in more equitable and relational research.     

Effects of behavioral training on the functioning of a profoundly retarded microcephalic teenager with cerebral palsy and without language or verbal comprehension: A case study

In previous investigations (Jacobson, Berger, Bergman, Millham and Greeson, 1971; Jacobson and Greeson, 1972), it was reported that as a result of the use of a behavior modification program, preschool children from poverty backgrounds demonstrated rapid conceptual acquisition. In addition, the Ss increased from the dull-normal to the normal range of intellectual functioning within approximately 20 hr of program participation. Since the increases in IQ found were most pronounced for children of lowest IQ (IQs = 46–83), the investigators hypothesized that the program would prove to be useful with Ss of greater cognitive and behavioral deficits than the initial population investigated.The present study reports the use of a variant of the conceptual acquisition program with an institutionalized, profoundly retarded microcephalic teenager with chronic brain syndrome and cerebral palsy. Prior to the study the boy demonstrated neither language nor an ability to comprehend and follow verbal directions.     

Semantic mechanisms in paralexia

This study explores the effects of semantic constraints on the occurrence of paralexic responses in two patients who tend to produce semantic errors in reading aloud. In the first experiment, semantic constraints were provided by using words as proper names (e.g., “brown” vs. “Sam Brown”), and in the second by using short, highly familiar phrases to restrict the meaning of the target word (e.g., the polar bear; green with envy). These constraints were found to be effective in reducing the frequency of paralexic errors.     

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY*

Neuropsychology, the study of behavioral and mental disorders resulting from brain damage, seeks to integrate observable mental and motor functions with knowledge of nervous system structure and function. The first part of this paper deals with the empirical and theoretical contributions that arise from the study of classical clinical syndromes, from cognitive psychology based on information processing, and from the computationally-based study of complex cognitive systems such as language. The second part of this paper deals with two areas of neuropsychological research, memory mechanisms and motor behavior, that exemplify some of the methodological and conceptual problems that arise in trying to bridge animal and human studies, or psychological and physiological levels of analysis. Suggestions are made for how greater progress can be made by considering fundamental processes, and, by focusing on levels of abstraction useful to both the psychologist and the biologist. The last part of the paper briefly discusses some of the major issues involved in an attempt to establish a neurobiologically-based theory of human behavioral and mental function.     

The word order problem in agrammatism : II. Production

This study demonstrates that agrammatic aphasics have difficulty describing relations that are signified by the order of noun phrases around verbs or prepositions. The word order deficit is found in a Sentence Order Task, in which written words must be arranged linearly to form a sentence, as well as in oral production. Ordering tendencies reflect factors like animacy or potency, rather than the systematic use of syntactic rules. These results point to a fundamental syntactic disorder in agrammatism.     

Sex differences in visuospatial ability: Do performance factors play such an important role?

This study was designed to analyze some performance factors as a possible source of sex-related bias in psychometric tests of visuospatial aptitude. Goldstein, Haldane, and Mitchell (1990) explored the effect of two response styles—slowness of performance and reluctance to guess—by using a 3-D mental rotation test (the task showing the largest cognitive sex difference) and found that time limits and raw scores contributed substantially to the male advantage. We applied two tests in thespeed-power continuum to a representative sample of 621 males and 821 females in their last year of high school in a 2 × 2 (gender × time) full factorial design. Reluctance to guess was similar for males and females. Males obtained more correct responses on both tests, and for both time conditions, than did females. These results are not only statistically significant but also are of substantial practical consequence.     

Bilingual computerized speech-recognition screening for clinical depression: Evaluating a cellular telephone prototype

This exploratory field study evaluated a bilingual computerized speech-recognition cellular telephone prototype of the Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression scale (CES-D). Thirty Spanish and 22 English speakers completed both computer-telephone and face-to-face CES-D methods and an oral depression checklist in counterbalanced order. Both language groups reported high positive ratings for the computer-telephone method, with the English sample preferring the computer-telephone over the face-to-face method. In both samples, the computer-telephone method yielded high internal consistency estimates, strong alternate form reliabilities, and similar high correlations to the depression checklist. Both groups reported significantly elevated scores with the computer-telephone method, but total score variances for both methods did not differ. Computer-telephone limitations included occasional misrecognitions and template training constraints.     

Cultural, contextual, and intrapersonal predictors of risky sexual attitudes among urban African American girls in early adolescence

The role of cultural factors in explaining sexual attitudes among African American urban girls, aged 10-13 years, was investigated in this study. The authors predicted that girls with higher school interest, family cohesion, religiosity, and behavioral self-esteem would endorse less risky sexual attitudes. Also, older girls were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes than younger girls, and girls from 1- rather than 2-parent households were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes. The authors hypothesized that ethnic identity and gender role orientations would contribute to explaining variability in sexual attitudes after controlling for contextual and intrapersonal variables. A questionnaire containing measures of the study constructs was administered to 214 girls who were participants in a substance abuse prevention program. Pretest data were used in analyses. A final regression model accounted for 23% of the variance in sexual attitudes. Age and behavioral self-esteem were significant predictors, with younger teens and teens with higher behavioral self-esteem having less risky sexual attitudes. Cultural variables contributed to explaining variation in sexual attitudes after other variables were controlled for. Higher levels of ethnic identity were associated with less risky sexual attitudes. A masculine gender role orientation was associated with more risky sexual attitudes.     

The Cultural Factor in Lay Perception of Jealousy as a Motive for Wife Battery1

Cultural psychology is concerned with the comparative study of the way culture and psyche shape each other: This process is particularly well illustrated in the social construction of some feelings. Although sexual jealousy seems to be universal, people differ in the intensity of their reactions and in the type of stimuli perceived as threatening. Replicating previous research in Britain by Delgado and Bond (1993), a questionnaire research survey was conducted in Spain to determine if lay perception considers jealousy a justification for wife battery. The comparison of results shows striking differences: The harmdoer was seen as more guilty in Britain and the victim was seen as more guilty in Spain. Results demonstrate cultural differences in the perception of jealousy; when jealousy is a motive for assault, there are also cultural differences in judgments of responsibility. Emotions function differently in different cultures regarding perceived causes and justification for conduct.