How known constructions influence the acquisition of other constructions: the german passive and future constructions

This article suggests evidence for and reasons why prior acquisition may either facilitate or inhibit acquisition of a new construction. It investigates acquisition of the German passive and future constructions which contain a lexical verb with either the auxiliary sein "to be" or werden "to become", and are related through these to potential supporting constructions. We predicted that a supported construction should be acquired earlier, faster, and unusually rapidly. An inhibited construction should show an extended depressed usage. We analyzed a dense corpus of a German boy between 2;0 and 5;0. He acquired the sein- before the werden-passive. The former was supported by his prior acquisition of the sein copula, whereas the werden-passive itself supported one werden copula construction. He acquired the werden-future extremely slowly due to the hindrance of a semantically identical construction. These results fit with an emergentist approach in which apparently "sudden" acquisition is still due to gradual learning mechanisms.     

Cognitive procedural learning in patients with fronto-striatal lesions

Previous studies on the role of prefronto-striatal loop systems for cognitive procedural learning (PL) brought inconsistent results. To examine whether the integrity of the dorsolateral prefrontal loop is indispensable for normal cognitive PL, we examined the acquisition of cognitive skills in 35 patients with focal prefrontal lesions, focal caudate lesions, and Huntington's Disease (HD), and compared it with a control group. To examine the potential role of the processing demands made by the cognitive tasks, a set of tasks was applied whose acquisition places demand either on reasoning and problem solving, or on the establishment of fast and repetitive processing routines. The Pursuit Rotor task was also studied with the aim to re-examine earlier findings of a functional segregation of motor and complex prefronto-striatal loops. Deficits of cognitive and motor PL were found to be limited to certain tasks and groups. PL of one task, which demanded rapid, repetitive processing of visuo-spatial stimuli, was impaired in all patient groups. PL of two problem-solving tasks was impaired in patients with focal and degenerative caudate lesions only. None of the groups was impaired at PL of Mirror Reading, another task demanding rapid and repetitive visuo-spatial processing, and none was impaired in a fifth task of language skill. Deficits of motor learning were only observed in patients in whom the motor loop was affected. These results suggest that the dorsolateral prefronto-striatal loop is involved in the establishment of cognitive processing routines. The comparison of patients with and without caudate lesions suggests that disconnection of this circuit is critical. However, the normal acquisition of two cognitive tasks even in this group indicates that the integrity of the dorsolateral prefrontal loop is not mandatory for normal cognitive PL. We discuss these dissociations with regard to the demand profiles of the applied tasks and the locations of the lesions.     

Age differences in everyday problem-solving and decision-making effectiveness: a meta-analytic review

The authors report a meta-analysis of age differences in everyday problem-solving/decision-making effectiveness (EPSE). Effect sizes were calculated to reflect 3 age group comparisons: old versus young, young versus middle-aged, and middle-aged versus old. Findings from the meta-analysis of 28 separate studies with an aggregate of 4,482 participants do not support theories of preserved EPSE in late adulthood. Although significant age differences of moderate magnitude persisted across methodological and theoretical domains, rating criteria (experimenter vs. participant) emerged as a significant moderator of the effect magnitude and direction. In addition, EPSE in older adults was bolstered when problem content was interpersonal and when samples were highly educated. Finally, the current results support the conceptual integration of findings from the everyday problem-solving and everyday decision-making literatures.     

Partner Orientation and Speaker's Knowledge as Conflicting Parameters in Language Production

Two parameters of language production, the partner model and the mentally represented knowledge about a spatial constellation, are investigated with respect to their influence on spatial reference. At issue is whether the verbally expressed point of view in route directions is primarily influenced by the needs of the partner or by the underlying mental representation of the speaker stemming from his or her own experience with an object. Two experiments in which participants (N = 90) were asked to produce a set of route directions are reported. The experimental situation was such that the point of view of the speaker did not correspond to the point of view of the partner. The results show that more participants localize from their own point of view than from the point of view of the partner. Discussion centers on the fact that speakers do not always behave in a truly partner-oriented manner.     

The nature of memory processes underlying recognition judgments in the process dissociation procedure

The hypothesis is tested that the memory processes involved in recognition judgments in the process dissociation procedure are the same as those involved in standard source-monitoring tasks. It is shown how source-monitoring response categories can be mapped onto process dissociation response categories. On the basis of this observation, an experiment was conducted in which it was possible to compare, using a multinomial modeling approach, the parameters representing memory processes in the process dissociation procedure with those involved in source monitoring. For the two different encoding conditions realized, the results are compatible with the hypothesis that the same processes are involved in source monitoring and in recognition judgments in the process dissociation procedure. Implications for the interpretation of the model’s parameters are discussed.     

When does inconsistency hurt? On the relation between phonological consistency effects and the reliability of sublexical units

Phonological consistency describes to what extent a letter string in one word is pronounced equally in other words. Phonological reliability describes to what extent a sublexical unit is usually consistent throughout a language. The relationship between the two concepts was investigated by comparing five sublexical units (onset-consonants, vowel, end-consonants, and the concatenation of the vowel with begin- or end-consonants) in Dutch and English with respect to their reliability and to how their consistency was related to naming errors and latencies. In a regression analysis, naming latencies and errors on genuine Dutch words (consistent) and imported words (inconsistent) were predicted by the phonological consistency of the five units. The same was done for two sets of English naming data. Consistency had a much stronger effect in Dutch than in English naming studies when all five units were considered. The special role of the vowel plus end-consonants, which has been found in English naming data, could not be demonstrated in Dutch. In both languages, the size of consistency effects mirrors the reliability of the five units.     

A self-regulation account of the job performance–job satisfaction relationship

We present a self-regulation account of the job performance–job satisfaction relationship according to which job performance leads to job satisfaction, if it involves optimal expectancies for successful performance. Using response surface methodology (n = 747 employees), we found that employees who held overly negative (self-effacement) or overly positive self-perceptions of performance (self-enhancement) gained less satisfaction from their jobs. As hypothesized by self-discrepancy theory, self-effacement promoted fear-related negative emotions, whereas self-enhancement was linked to disappointment. Self-enhancers also reported lower trust and reduced satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, which may partly explain why self-enhancement had particularly detrimental effects. Furthermore, among employees high in performance-goal orientation, attaining high normative performance, as indicated by above-average supervisor evaluations, rather than optimal expectancies for success, explained job satisfaction. Our findings support the conclusion that need satisfaction and the ensuing self-regulatory processes determine the shape and the size of the performance–satisfaction relationship.     

Orthographic learning in children with isolated and combined reading and spelling deficits

Dissociations between reading and spelling problems are likely to be associated with different underlying cognitive deficits, and with different deficits in orthographic learning. In order to understand these differences, the current study examined orthographic learning using a printed-word learning paradigm. Children (4th grade) with isolated reading, isolated spelling and combined reading and spelling problems were compared to children with age appropriate reading and spelling skills on their performance during learning novel words and symbols (non-verbal control condition), and during immediate and delayed reading and spelling recall tasks. No group differences occurred in the non-verbal control condition. In the verbal condition, initial learning was intact in all groups, but differences occurred during recall tasks. Children with reading fluency deficits showed slower reading times, while children with spelling deficits were less accurate, both in reading and spelling recall. Children with isolated spelling problems showed no difficulties in immediate spelling recall, but had problems in remembering the spellings 2 hours later. The results suggest that different orthographic learning deficits underlie reading fluency and spelling problems: Children with isolated reading fluency deficits have no difficulties in building-up orthographic representations, but access to these representations is slowed down while children with isolated spelling deficits have problems in storing precise orthographic representations in long-term memory.     

Vulnerable Creation: Vulnerable Human Life between Risk and Tragedy1

In this paper a theology of vulnerability is explored by describing three bridges between risk and tragedy. Conceptually, ontological and situational vulnerability will be explored as the basis of anthropological realism. Hermeneutically, a case study is done by interpreting the documentary film “Roadside Radiation,” which shows attempts to live a normal life in tragedy in the “death zone” around Chernobyl. The theological bridge unfolds a theological approach to vulnerability that grasps its processive character.     

Are economic conditions related to nonnormative life satisfaction development? Evaluating the relative impact of economic conditions,personality, and subjective health

This study examined the relative contribution of psychological and socioeconomic resources to explaining qualitative individual differences in life satisfaction development. We used growth mixture modeling and a cohort‐sequential design to investigate life satisfaction development from ages 25 to 65, in a nationally representative panel (the Socioeconomic Panel). Eighty‐three percent of the participants experienced stability in life satisfaction. In a subgroup of individuals (10%), life satisfaction declined. This subgroup lived under less favorable economic conditions and reported downward moves on an index of socioeconomic status. In another subgroup (7%), life satisfaction was low at age 25 and increased up to age 65. This group was also socioeconomically disadvantaged but scored higher on adaptive personality traits and experienced upward social mobility. Generally, personality traits explained level differences in life satisfaction better than economic conditions. However, economic conditions explained nonnormative life satisfaction development better than generalized control beliefs and the Big Five traits.