Implicit Science Stereotypes Mediate the Relationship between Gender and Academic Participation

While the gender gap in mathematics and science has narrowed, men pursue these fields at a higher rate than women. In this study, 165 men and women at a university in the northeastern United States completed implicit and explicit measures of science stereotypes (association between male and science, relative to female and humanities), and gender identity (association between the concept “self” and one’s own gender, relative to the concept “other” and the other gender), and reported plans to pursue science-oriented and humanities-oriented academic programs and careers. Although men were more likely than women to plan to pursue science, this gap in students’ intentions was completely accounted for by implicit stereotypes. Moreover, implicit gender identity moderated the relationship between women’s stereotypes and their academic plans, such that implicit stereotypes only predicted plans for women who strongly implicitly identified as female. These findings illustrate how an understanding of implicit cognitions can illuminate between-group disparities as well as within-group variability in science pursuit.     

The roles of semantic similarity and proactive interference in the word length effect

We examined the influence of semantic similarity and proactive interference (PI) on the word length effect (WLE) in immediate serial recall. Word length was manipulated by comparing memory for monosyllabic versus multisyllabic words. PI effects were evaluated by manipulating semantic similarity in the to-be-remembered lists and examining its impact on the WLE’s magnitude across eight-trial blocks. Words were sampled from a single semantic category across the entire block, from a single category within the list, or from different categories. Robust WLEs were observed in single-category blocks and when words were from different categories. However, when all the within-list words were from the same semantic category, the WLE was sharply attenuated. Except for the within-list semantic similarity condition, there was a buildup in PI levels in the form of protrusion errors across trials. However, the magnitude of the WLE did not increase with the PI buildup, suggesting that it was not affected by PI across trials.     

Talker variability and recognition memory: instance-specific and voice-specific effects

The author investigated voice context effects in recognition memory for words spoken by multiple talkers by comparing performance when studied words were repeated with same, different, or new voices at test. Hits and false alarms increased when words were tested with studied voices compared with unstudied voices. Discrimination increased only when the exact same voice was used. A trend toward conservatism in response bias was observed when test words switched to increasingly unfamiliar voices. Taken together, the overall findings suggest that the voice-specific attributes of individual talkers are preserved in long-term memory. Implications for the role of instance-specific matching and voice-specific familiarity processes and the nature of spoken-word representation are discussed.     

It's Difficult to Explain Away the Appearance That Causation Comes in Degrees: A Reply to Sartorio

Does the relation of (actual) causation admit of degrees? Is it sensible to say, for example, that ‘as compared to his consuming the light beer, Clement's consuming the moonshine was more a cause of his becoming drunk’? Suppose the answer is ‘yes’. Suppose also that country A unjustifiably ignites a lethal war with country B, and you intuit that, while most combatants of A are liable to lethal counterattack, most non-combatants of A aren't similarly liable. Then, you might support your intuition by reasoning as follows. ‘Perhaps most non-combatants of A causally contribute to A's unjust, lethal war effort. However, unlike most combatants of A, their causal contributions are not of such a degree that makes them liable to lethal counterattack’. Such reasoning is rejected by Carolina Sartorio. This is due to the recent revealing of a certain puzzle, one which suggests to Sartorio that causation does not come in degrees. Now, one motivation for Sartorio's reaction to the aforementioned puzzle is her thought that we can, for the most part, ‘explain away’ the ‘illusion’ that causation comes in degrees. I will argue that Sartorio insufficiently supports her foregoing thought. Using Sartorio's resources, we cannot (largely) ‘explain away’ the widespread appearance that causation comes in degrees.     

Testing the myth of the encoding–retrieval match

The view that successful memory performance depends importantly on the extent to which there is a match between the encoding and retrieval conditions is commonplace in memory research. However, Nairne (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) proposed that this idea about trace–cue compatibility being the driving force behind memory retention is a myth, because one cannot make unequivocal predictions about performance by appealing to the encoding–retrieval match. What matters instead is the relative diagnostic value of the match, and not the absolute match. Three experiments were carried out in which participants memorised word pairs and tried to recall target words when given retrieval cues. The diagnostic value of the cue was varied by manipulating the extent to which the cues subsumed other memorised words and the level of the encoding–retrieval match. The results supported Nairne’s (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) assertion that the diagnostic value of retrieval cues is a better predictor of memory performance than the absolute encoding–retrieval match.     

An evaluation of the properties of attention as reinforcement for destructive and appropriate behavior

The analogue functional analysis described by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman (1982/1994) identifies broad classes of variables (e.g., positive reinforcement) that maintain destructive behavior (Fisher, Ninness, Piazza, & Owen-DeSchryver, 1996). However, it is likely that some types of stimuli may be more effective reinforcers than others. In the current investigation, we identified 2 participants whose destructive behavior was maintained by attention. We used concurrent schedules of reinforcement to evaluate how different types of attention affected both destructive and appropriate behavior. We showed that for 1 participant praise was not an effective reinforcer when verbal reprimands were available; however, praise was an effective reinforcer when verbal reprimands were unavailable. For the 2nd participant, we identified a type of attention that effectively competed with verbal reprimands as reinforcement. We then used the information obtained from the assessments to develop effective treatments to reduce destructive behavior and increase an alternative communicative response.     

MULTICOMPONENT ASSESSMENT AND TREATMENT OF CIGARETTE PICA

We conducted a multicomponent assessment and treatment for 4 individuals who engaged in cigarette pica. During Phase 1, three stimulus preference assessments were conducted to identify (a) the reinforcing component of the cigarette, (b) potential alternative reinforcers that may be used during treatment, and (c) whether the alternative reinforcer would compete effectively with cigarettes. Results were successful in identifying the reinforcing component of the cigarette and suggested the feasibility of using alternative reinforcers during treatment to eliminate cigarette pica. During Phase 2, the effects of two treatment procedures were evaluated. Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) with the alternative edible reinforcer reduced the pica of 2 of the participants, but effects were not maintained when the initial dense schedule of NCR was thinned. Subsequently, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior with the alternative edible reinforcer was effective in reducing pica for 3 participants. An evaluation of nine treatment procedures failed to identify an effective intervention for the remaining participant; consequently, preventive measures were designed to minimize occurrences of cigarette pica.     

Graduate training in school psychology

A survey was conducted in spring of 1975 to elicit factual information concerning organizational characteristics and training emphases of the school psychology training programs in the United States and Canada. Ninety-nine training institutions responded. The result indicated a rapid growth of graduate education programs in school psychology in the past 10 years. Faculty shortage constituted a major problem in many training institutions. Overall, the school psychology programs placed strongest emphases on assessment, consultation, and other active intervention techniques in their training content. Significant differences in training emphases were found between doctoral and subdoctoral programs.