The role of surface order and surface deletion in sentence perception

The perceptual complexity of intransitive adverbials, truncated passives and full passives was investigated in two experiments using rapid visual processing tasks. Both forms of passive were found to be more complex than the intransitive adverbials, presumably because of the lack of correspondence of surface and base orders. However, deletion of the logical subject in truncated passives did not increase their complexity relative to full passives.     

An examination of the effectiveness of multiple summary scoring procedures of the BNBAS in detecting group differences

The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale is the most widely used and accepted tool in the study of the behavior of the human newborn; yet there remains some controversy over the most appropriate way to score the results. The present research compares three a priori methods of scoring. The sample consisted of 43 infants: (a) 11 preterms, (b) 10 fullterms in intensive care, (c) 7 fullterms with sick mothers, and (d) 15 healthy fullterms. BNBAS exams administered to these four groups of infants were scored using the Als (1978), Lester, Als, and Brazelton (1982), and Jacobsen, Fein, Jacobsen, and Schwartz (1984) clusters. The data from these three methods were analyzed by means of one-way ANOVAs for group differences. In addition, a factor analysis on the BNBAS scores was also completed. These three approaches all detected differences between medically at-risk and healthy infants on those items assessing motor maturity and orientation. These results suggest that at this time no one scoring system can capture the richness of behavior of the newborn and address the question by researchers, clinicians, and parents.     

When rejection stings: how self-esteem constrains relationship-enhancement processes

Three experiments examined how needs for acceptance might constrain low versus high self-esteem people's capacity to protect their relationships in the face of difficulties. The authors led participants to believe that their partner perceived a problem in their relationship. They then measured perceptions of the partner's acceptance, partner enhancement, and closeness. Low but not high self-esteem participants read too much into problems, seeing them as a sign that their partner's affections and commitment might be waning. They then derogated their partner and reduced closeness. Being less sensitive to rejection, however, high self-esteem participants affirmed their partner in the face of threat. Ironically, chronic needs for acceptance may result in low self-esteem people seeing signs of rejection where none exist, needlessly weakening attachments.     

Trauma films, information processing, and intrusive memory development

Three experiments indexed the effect of various concurrent tasks, while watching a traumatic film, on intrusive memory development. Hypotheses were based on the dual-representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder (C. R. Brewin, T. Dalgleish, & S. Joseph, 1996). Nonclinical participants viewed a trauma film under various encoding conditions and recorded any spontaneous intrusive memories of the film over the following week in a diary. Changes in state dissociation, heart rate, and mood were also measured. As predicted, performing a visuospatial pattern tapping task at encoding significantly reduced the frequency of later intrusions, whereas a verbal distraction task increased them. Intrusive memories were largely unrelated to recall and recognition measures. Increases in dissociation and decreases in heart rate during the film were also associated with later intrusions.     

Part 1 behavioral science scores: after a summer psychiatric research clerkship: failure to replicate.

The present study did not replicate Holmes,' et al.'s (1987) findings that medical students who participated in a summer psychiatric research clerkship scored statistically significantly higher than matched controls on the Behavioral Science portion of the National Board of Medical Examiners' Part I Exam. Group ns in this replication were 39 each.     

Using the movement-related cortical potential to study motor skill learning

The movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) is a low-frequency negative shift in the electroencephalographic recording that occurs about 2 s before voluntary movement production. The MRCP is thought to reflect the cortical processes involved in movement planning and movement preparation. In recent years, researchers have used this potential to investigate the processes involved in motor skill learning. Their findings indicate differences in the amplitude and onset times of the MRCP between experienced and novice performers, which have been attributed to long-term training in the experts. The authors discuss these findings critically and consider their implications for both future research and practice.     

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology

A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1-4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women.