Prior knowledge enhances the category dimensionality effect

A study of the combined influence of prior knowledge and stimulus dimensionality on category learning was conducted. Subjects learned category structures with the same number of necessary dimensions but with more or fewer additional, redundant dimensions and with either knowledge-related or knowledge-unrelated features. Minimal-learning models predict that all subjects, regardless of condition, either should learn the same number of dimensions or should respond more slowly to each dimension. Despite similar learning rates and response times, subjects learned more features in the high-dimensional than in the low-dimensional condition. Furthermore, prior knowledge interacted with dimensionality, increasing what was learned, especially in the high-dimensional case. A second experiment confirmed that the participants did, in fact, learn more features during the training phase, rather than simply inferring them at test. These effects can be explained by direct associations among features (representing prior knowledge), combined with feedback between features and the category label, as was shown by simulations of the knowledge resonance, or KRES, model of category learning.     

A RAFT THAT FLOATS: EXPERIENCE,TRADITION, AND SCIENCES IN GUSTAFSON'S THEOCENTRIC ETHICS

Abstract. Although James Gustafson's use of the Christian Bible and tradition is not fully displayed in the essays published here, Bible and tradition are a crucial part of a composite rationale, which includes experience and the sciences, for his theocentric ethics. Gustafson's theocentric ethics employs the sciences to back, inform, and correct the Christian tradition and offers grounds for respecting the natural piety and morality of “nonreligious” persons while explaining and justifying why Christians draw on major themes and metaphors from their tradition that should penetrate their piety and morality. His proposal should reorient the thinking of theological ethics more than it has thus far.     

On the psychological reality of a natural rule of syllable structure

If natural rules in phonology, such as the rule which deletes a word final consonant before a consonant, are frequently found in unrelated languages, it must be because they tap universal features of production and/or perception. The present experiment employed a learning task to see whether naive subjects have a predisposition for the natural rule as opposed to its converse (consonant deletion before a vowel). The Ss first learned four novel words (nouns) - two beginning with a consonant, two with a vowel - as paired associates to English ‘translations’. Then three novel adjectives were combined with each of the four nouns, following the natural rule for one group of Ss, the unnatural rule for the other. The twelve phrases were cued by their English translations and the S had to respond to each with the phonologically correct sequence of adjective and noun; confirmation followed each response. The Ss learning the unnatural corpus had a strong tendency to give natural responses, whereas the converse was not true. Consequently they made many more errors en route to mastery than their natural counterparts, even when the operative rule was displayed on the first trial by presenting in turn each adjective with its four following nouns. It appears that our Ss had implicit knowledge of the natural rule, even though it does not operate to any significant extent in English.     

Chronic stress, cognitive functioning and mental health

This review aims to discuss the evidence supporting the link between chronic stress, cognitive function and mental health. Over the years, the associations between these concepts have been investigated in different populations. This review summarizes the findings that have emerged from older populations as well as from populations suffering from pathological aging, namely Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease. Although older adults are an interesting population to study in terms of chronic stress, other stress-related diseases can occur throughout the lifespan. The second section covers some of these stress-related diseases that have recently received a great deal of attention, namely burnout, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Given that chronic stress contributes to the development of certain pathologies by accelerating and/or exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities that vary from one individual to the other, the final section summarizes data obtained on potential variables contributing to the association between chronic stress and cognition.     

Personality of Counselors and Administrators

The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire was administered to 41 counselors and 41 administrators enrolled in graduate courses at Auburn University. The scores were compared in terms of individual factors and profiles. A discriminate analysis of scores correctly identified counselors in 31 out of 40 cases while principals were classified correctly in 34 out of 41 cases. Five factors found to be significantly different (P < .05) between counselors and administrators were: Factor C (Emotional vs Mature, Calm), Factor G (Expedient vs Conscientious), Factor I (Tough-Minded vs Tender-Minded), Factor L (Trusting vs Suspicious), and Factor N (Forthright vs Shrewd).     

Methods and findings in an analysis of a vocal operant

The relations among acoustic parameters of a vocal operant were considered and some methods for their measurement are described. Four human subjects (Ss) and one chick were employed in an experiment on the relations among vocal rate, vocal topography, and schedules of reinforcement. The earlier finding that schedules of reinforcement control human and infra-human vocal responding as they do other operants was replicated and extended to the case of variable-interval reinforcement. An analysis of response amplitude, pitch, and duration showed that the mean and variance of these parameters typically increase from CRF to VI, from VI to EXT and, for a second group of Ss, from CRF to EXT. The topography of the chick's vocal response appears to stand in the same relation to reinforcement operations as does the human vocal response.     

Peer Difficulties in Children with Epilepsy: Association with Seizure,Neuropsychological, Academic,and Behavioral Variables

Purpose/Objective: A developmental psychopathology framework was used to examine variables associated with peer problems in children with epilepsy (CWE). Variables commonly associated with peer difficulties in typically developing children, such as inattentive behavior, anxious behavior, and academic achievement were investigated. Neuropsychological functioning, age at epilepsy onset, and seizure status were also examined.

Research Method/Design: Participants were 173 CWE, ages 8–15. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine which variables predicted peer problems in CWE and to test hypothesized interrelations among variables.

Results: The SEM revealed that anxious behavior mediated relations between neuropsychological functioning and peer difficulties and seizure status and peer difficulties. Inattentive behavior mediated the association between neuropsychological functioning and peer difficulties. Neuropsychological functioning mediated the relation between age at epilepsy onset and inattentive behavior, anxious behavior, and academic achievement.

Conclusions/Implications: As seen with typically developing children, inattentive and anxious behaviors are related to peer difficulties in CWE. Neuropsychological functioning, age at epilepsy onset, and seizure status are indirectly associated with peer difficulties; therefore, these variables are important to examine in CWE who are experiencing peer problems.