The role of phonology in reading comprehension: Implications of the effects of homophones on processing sentences with referentially dependent categories

Two experiments investigated whether phonological representations are activated in the processing of anaphors in reading, and if they are, whether they play a role in the initial (first-pass) processing of the sentence or in review (second-pass) processes. Subjects made sentence acceptability judgements for sentences that contained either verb-gaps or indefinite and personal pronouns (overt anaphors). All sentences contained homophones. Half of the semantically unacceptable sentences were phonologically plausible if the homophones were inserted in the gap (e.g. The children sleighed in the winter, and the murderer in cold blood) or used as the referent of the pronoun (e.g. There is a sale on at the store and I have one at the boat). The other half of the semantically unacceptable sentences were phonologically implausible. In both experiments, half of the subjects saw the sentences under normal viewing conditions (whole sentence condition); for the other half of the subjects the words of each sentence were presented sequentially in the centre of the video screen at the rate of 250 msec/word (RSVP condition). A large proportion of the phonologically implausible sentences in the first experiment contained phrases in the second clause which resulted in semantic “oddities” (e.g. The children sleighed in the winter, and the murderer in the jar); the sentences in Experiment 2 did not contain such oddities. In Experiment 1 subjects made more errors on the phonologically plausible than implausible unacceptable sentences with both verb-gaps and pronouns in the whole sentence but not in the RSVP condition. There was no effect of phonological plausibility in Experiment 2. As the effect of phonological plausibility was only seen in the whole sentence condition, and only when the sentences contained semantic oddities, these data suggest that phonological information was not used in the first-pass analysis of the sentence, but rather when the subject re-read the sentence to find the referent.     

Trait complexes and academic achievement: Old and new ways of examining personality in educational contexts

Background . Although recent research has provided evidence for the predictive validity of personality traits in academic settings, the path to an improved understanding of the nature of personality influences on academic achievement involves a reconceptualization of both criterion and predictor construct spaces. Aims . For the criterion space, one needs to consider student behaviours beyond grades and level of educational attainment, and include what the student does among other things outside of the classroom. For the predictor space, it is possible to bring some order to the myriad personality constructs that have been developed over the last century, by focusing on common variance among personality and other non‐ability traits. Methods . We review these conceptual issues and several empirical studies. Conclusions . We demonstrate the possible increments in understanding non‐ability determinants of academic achievement that may be obtained by focusing on areas where there is a theoretical convergence between predictor and criterion spaces.     

Individual characteristics and response to Contingency Management treatment for cocaine addiction

Voucher-based contingency management (CM) research has demonstrated efficacy for treating cocaine addiction, but few studies have examined associations between individual baseline characteristics and response to CM treatments. The aim of this study, involving 50 cocaine outpatients receiving CM for cocaine addiction, was to assess the impact of baseline characteristics on abstinence outcomes after six months of treatment. Patients who were abstinent after six months of treatment accounted for 58% of the sample. Patients with higher scores on the Alcohol area of the EuropASI and patients that were non-abstinent during the first month of treatment were less likely to achieve abstinence. These outcome predictors have implications both for treatment research and for clinical practice. Patients who do not respond early to treatment may need a more intensive intervention, and concomitant problematic alcohol use should be detected and treated. The remaining baseline variables examined were not statistically significant predictors of abstinence. This finding is important for the generalizability of CM across the range of individual characteristics of treatment-seeking cocaine abusers.     

Separating global and specific factors in developmental dyslexia

The general goal of the study was to identify global and specific components in developmental dyslexia using various manipulations based on the rapid automatization paradigm (RAN). In two experiments, we used both factor analysis and the Rate-and-Amount Model to verify if one (or more) global factor(s) and a variety of specific effects contribute to the naming (and visual search) deficits in children with dyslexia. Results of Experiment 1 indicated the presence of three global components: pictorial naming, detailed orthographic analysis, and visual search. Pictorial naming is predicated by typical RAN tasks (such as naming colors or objects), independent of set size, but also from a variety of other tasks including Stroop interference conditions. The detailed orthographic analysis factor accounts for naming of orthographic stimuli at high set size. Visual search marked tasks requiring the scanning of visual targets. Results of Experiment 2 confirmed the separation between the pictorial naming and detailed orthographic analysis factors both in the original sample and in a new group of children. Furthermore, specific effects of frequency, lexicality, and length were shown to contribute to the reading deficit. Overall, it is proposed that focusing on the profile of both global and specific effects provides a more effective and, at the same time, simpler account of the dyslexics' impairment.     

Psychosocial predictors of relapse in cocaine-dependent patients in treatment

Relapses in cocaine abusers in treatment are an important problem. The majority of patients are incapable of sustaining abstinence over any length of time. To identify the factors associated to relapses risk in the cocaine use can be an optimal choice to improve the treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to analyze relapse-risk factors in cocaine-dependent patients on treatment. Participants were 102 patients who had begun outpatient treatment at a public health center in Spain. Some functional areas and cocaine use are evaluated for a period of six months. A structural equations model was used to identify possible predictive variables. The results show that social-family environment and economic-employment situation were associated with greater risk of relapse. Likewise, the social-family environment was related to severity of addiction. It is concluded that the incorporation of family intervention strategies and vocational/employment counseling may help to reduce relapse rates in cocaine addicts receiving treatment.     

Web-based, psychosocial treatment for substance use disorders in community treatment settings

The purpose of this multisite clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based version of the Community Reinforcement Approach, plus motivational incentives, within community-based, outpatient substance abuse treatment. This ongoing study is being conducted within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Midway through the enrollment of 500 participants, the study is being implemented in 10 treatment programs across the United States. Information is provided on design, sample, intervention and technology, and preliminary lessons learned.     

Gender stereotyping in young children: Evidence to support a concept-learning approach

Two studies on early gender stereotyping based on a concept-learning approach were conducted. With the use of a forced choice format, study 1 found that both 2 1/2 and 3 1/2-year-old children showed significant and equal stereotyping of both gender-labeled infants and animals. These findings suggest both early learning and generalization of gender stereotypes. In study 2, although 5-year-olds stereotyped more strongly than 3-year-olds, both groups stereotyped others significantly more than themselves. When attributing traits to themselves, children chose the more socially desirable rather than the gender-traditional attributes. These findings are discussed in terms of the acquisition of gender stereotypes as a process distinct from the necessity for related self-schemas.The authors would like to express their appreciation to Pam Newman, Laurie MacGavin, Rebeccah Warren, Sheryl Wilson, Gail McCollum, and Cheryl Hessen for their invaluable assistance in running subjects for these studies.     

Hispanic and majority student attitudes toward forcible date rape as a function of differences in attitudes toward women

Less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape are related to more traditional attitudes toward women, as measured by the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (G. J. Fischer, “College Student Attitudes Toward Forcible Date Rape. I. Cognitive Predictors,” Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1986, 15, 457–466). Does this relation reflect more traditional or more negative attitudes toward women? If the former, then an ethnic minority having still more traditional attitudes toward women (than the nonethnic majority), also should be less rejecting of forcible date rape. This hypothesis was assessed by surveying attitudes of bicultural and bilingual Hispanic, other self-reported Hispanics, and nonethnic majority college students from a large introductory sociology class in a large Southwestern university. Results showed that Hispanics, overall, (1) had more traditional attitudes toward women than nonethnic majority and (2) as hypothesized, had less rejecting attitudes toward forcible date rape. However, these effects were not a simple function of ethnicity, at least not for males. For example, bicultural and bilingual Hispanic males were least likely to blame the male for the forcible date rape, but were no less rejecting of such behavior than other Hispanic males and had no more traditional attitudes toward women than other Hispanic or majority males. Bicultural and bilingual Hispanic females, on the other hand, were most likely to blame the male, had the least rejecting attitudes toward date rape, and had the most traditional attitudes toward women. one interpretation is that exposure to less restrictive sex roles of the majority culture is a liberating influence on Hispanic females, but not on Hispanic males who, perhaps, see more liberal attitudes toward women as having no or even negative payoff. Differences found between Hispanics who are bicultural and bilingual and other self-reported Hispanics suggest that these groups should not be combined, and that a research sample needs to be defined more specifically than “Hispanic.”     

Development of kinetic images: When does the child first represent movement in mental images?

An experiment investigated at what age children could represent movement in imagery. Five- and eight-year olds were asked whether two stimuli were the same or different in shape. The two stimuli were either presented in the same orientation or one stimulus differed from the other by clockwise rotation of 30 ° (0.52 rad), 60 ° (1.05 rad), 120 ° (2.09 rad), or 150 ° (2.62 rad). Children were instructed to visually imagine the counterclockwise rotation of one shape into the position of the other to help make the judgment. For both 5- and 8-yr olds, reaction times increased as a linear function of angular discrepancy between stimuli, indicating that both age groups represented rotation in their imagery. The findings conflict with Piaget and Inhelder's thesis that imagery representing movement first emerges when children are 7 to 8 yrs of age.