Emotional reactions to scandals: When does moral character make a difference?

A scandal can evoke public outrage when it is widely publicized and involves an individual who is perceived to have a high level of cultural representativeness. Two experiments showed that when the scandalous target's moral character was highlighted, emotional responses towards the target were least negative when the scandal was widely circulated and when the target was seen as a representative of his culture. These results suggest that when a cultural symbol is implicated in a widely‐circulated scandal, the negative emotions directed towards the scandalous individual can be alleviated when the public remains confident in his or her commitment to morality.     

Interword spacing in Chinese text layout

Three experiments using Chinese text were conducted to investigate word spacing and its effect on reading performance. In Exp. 1, a sonogram detector was used to analyze interword and intercharacter (within a word) time intervals from text read aloud by professional TV broadcasters versus college graduates. The results showed interword intervals were significantly longer than intercharacter intervals, indicating that interword spacing has psychological reality in speech. Exp. 2 examined the effect on reading performance due to separating the characters that compose a word. Separating the characters of a word did not decrease reading accuracy but did result in significantly longer reading times. Exp. 3 explored the effect of word spacing in Chinese sentences on reading performance. Analysis showed that word spacing did not affect reading accuracy, but half character and whole-character spacing significantly reduced reading time. The results of the present study suggest that word spacing in Chinese text layout enhances reading performance. Word spacing may help the reader to segment more quickly a string of characters into words and reduce the likelihood of misinterpretation. Also, ambiguity of sentence structure severely degraded reading accuracy. The implications of the results for word spacing design in Chinese text are discussed.     

Effects of directionality of significance tests on the bias of accessible effect sizes

The proportion of studies that use one-tailed statistical significance tests (pi) in a population of studies targeted by a meta-analysis can affect the bias of the sample effect sizes (sample ESs, or ds) that are accessible to the meta-analyst. H. C. Kraemer, C. Gardner, J. O. Brooks, and J. A. Yesavage (1998) found that, assuming pi = 1.0, for small studies (small Ns) the overestimation bias was large for small population ESs (delta < or = 0.2) and reached a maximum for the smallest population ES (viz., delta = 0). The present article shows (with a minor modification of H. C. Kraemer et al.'s model) that when pi = 0, the small-N bias of accessible sample ESs is relatively small for delta < or = 0.2, and a minimum (in fact, nonexistent) for delta = 0. Implications are discussed for interpretations of meta-analyses of (a) therapy efficacy and therapy effectiveness studies, (b) comparative outcome studies, and (c) studies targeting small but important population ESs.     

Episodic representations support early semantic learning: evidence from midazolam induced amnesia

Current controversy exists regarding the role of episodic representations in the formation of long-term semantic memories. Using the drug midazolam to induce temporary amnesia we tested participants' memories for newly learned facts in a semantic cue condition or an episodic and semantic cue condition. Following midazolam administration, memory performance was superior in the episodic and semantic condition, suggesting early semantic learning is supported by episodic representations.     

Psychometric properties of the life events checklist

The Life Events Checklist (LEC), a measure of exposure to potentially traumatic events, was developed at the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) concurrently with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) to facilitate the diagnosis of PTSD. Although the CAPS is recognized as the gold standard in PTSD symptom assessment, the psychometric soundness of the LEC has never been formally evaluated. The studies reported here describe the performance of the LEC in two samples: college undergraduates and combat veterans. The LEC exhibited adequate temporal stability, good convergence with an established measure of trauma history -- the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ) -- and was comparable to the TLEQ in associations with variables known to be correlated with traumatic exposure in a sample of undergraduates. In a clinical sample of combat veterans, the LEC was significantly correlated, in the predicted directions, with measures of psychological distress and was strongly associated with PTSD symptoms.     

Stability and transitions in mother-infant face-to-face communication during the first 6 months: a microhistorical approach

In this study the authors attempted to unravel the relational, dynamical, and historical nature of mother-infant communication during the first 6 months. Thirteen mothers and their infants were videotaped weekly from 4 to 24 weeks during face-to-face interactions. Three distinct patterns of mother-infant communication were identified: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and unilateral. Guided by a dynamic systems perspective, the authors explored the stability of and transitions between these communication patterns. Findings from event history analysis showed that (a) there are regularly recurring dyadic communication patterns in early infancy, (b) these recurring patterns show differential stabilities and likelihoods of transitions, (c) dynamic stability in dyadic communication is shaped not only by individual characteristics (e.g., infant sex and maternal parity) but also by the dyad's communication history, and (d) depending on their recency, communication histories varying in temporal proximity exert differential effects on the self-organization processes of a dyadic system.     

Timed picture naming in seven languages

Timed picture naming was compared in seven languages that vary along dimensions known to affect lexical access. Analyses over items focused on factors that determine cross-language universals and cross-language disparities. With regard to universals, number of alternative names had large effects on reaction time within and across languages after target-name agreement was controlled, suggesting inhibitory effects from lexical competitors. For all the languages, word frequency and goodness of depiction had large effects, but objective picture complexity did not. Effects of word structure variables (length, syllable structure, compounding, and initial frication) varied markedly over languages. Strong cross-language correlations were found in naming latencies, frequency, and length. Other-language frequency effects were observed (e.g., Chinese frequencies predicting Spanish reaction times) even after within-language effects were controlled (e.g., Spanish frequencies predicting Spanish reaction times). These surprising cross-language correlations challenge widely held assumptions about the lexical locus of length and frequency effects, suggesting instead that they may (at least in part) reflect familiarity and accessibility at a conceptual level that is shared over languages.     

Effector localization and transfer of reactive inhibition

An experimental test was made of Hull's (1943) notions that reactive inhibition is effector-specific and that it has primary negative motivational properties. Four groups of 20 subjects (10 males and 10 females in each) executed two segments of continuous right-hand practice on a mirror-tracking task. The two segments were separated either by 0 min rest, 5 min rest, 5 min continuous right-hand practice on rotary pursuit, or 5 min continuous left-hand practice on rotary pursuit. Effects of interpolated conditions were measured in terms of main-task reminiscence arid initial post-treatment performance. When interpolated practice was conducted with the right hand, reminiscence and post-treatment performance were significantly depressed relative to the rest effect, but not when interpolated practice was conducted with the left hand. Thus, Hull's views were supported, while competing views, such as the task specificity concept of lr and the consolidation theory of reminiscence, were impugned.     

The parental support networks of mothers and fathers: A multidimensional approach

This paper argues for a multidimensional approach to the study of the social support networks of mothers and fathers of young children. Network structure (e. g. size, density, member characteristics), support content (e. g. emotional, informational, economic and child care) and support quality (e. g. helpfulness, satisfaction with support, conflict associated with support and willingness to access support in future need) are distinguished. The goals of the study were: (1) to empirically test the multidimensionality of parental support networks; (2) to assess the relations among these three dimensions for mothers and for fathers; and (3) to examine how couples' support networks are interrelated. Individual at-home interviews were conducted with 100 parents to derive measures of parental support structure, content and quality. Fathers (N = 31) were compared to their spouses (N = 31) and to a comparison group of demographically similar married mothers (N = 38). For all three groups, the same three predicted dimensions emerged in the factor structure of their networks; in general, few gender differences were found. However, relations among structure, content and quality differed by gender, with network structure predicting support content and quality only for mothers. The network structure of couples was positively correlated, and overlap in network members was related to own and spouse's network helpfulness, satisfaction and child care support.     

On the Bock-Aitkin procedure—From an EM algorithm perspective

The relationship between the EM algorithm and the Bock-Aitkin procedure is described with a continuous distribution of ability (latent trait) from an EM-algorithm perspective. Previous work has been restricted to the discrete case from a probit-analysis perspective. The author is grateful to Bradley A. Hanson for valuable discussion and comments. Thanks also go to Terry A. Ackerman, Meichu Fan, Subrata Kundu, and Robert K. Tsutakawa for their help and encouragement in this study.