Olfactory discrimination between litter mates by mothers and alien adult cats: lump or split?

Animal Cognition - Mother cats can discriminate between their own and alien kittens using kittens’ body odour. Here we ask whether they can also distinguish between body odours of kittens...     

An examination of the interactions between mothers and children with anxiety disorders

This study examined the association between parenting styles and mother and child anxiety. Maternal overinvolvement and negativity/criticism were evaluated during a speech preparation task (N = 135 dyads) and a Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) from mothers (N = 155). During the speech task interaction, mothers of anxious children (aged 4–16 years), regardless of their own anxiety, were observed to be more overinvolved than mothers of nonanxious children. Similarly, the FMSS showed that mothers of anxious children (aged 4–17 years) were more overprotective, self-sacrificing, or nonobjective than mothers of nonanxious children, irrespective of maternal anxiety status. No differences in maternal negativity were found on the speech task between any of the groups. However, the FMSS showed that mothers of anxious children were more critical than mothers of nonanxious children, regardless of maternal anxiety status. These results support the relationship between overinvolved, critical parenting and child anxiety, but suggest that maternal anxiety is not associated with increased overinvolvement or criticism. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

The curse of knowledge: first language knowledge impairs adult learners' use of novel statistics for word segmentation

We investigated whether adult learners' knowledge of phonotactic restrictions on word forms from their first language impacts their ability to use statistical information to segment words in a novel language. Adults were exposed to a speech stream where English phonotactics and phoneme co-occurrence information conflicted. A control where these did not conflict was also run. Participants chose between words defined by novel statistics and words that are phonotactically possible in English, but had much lower phoneme contingencies. Control participants selected words defined by statistics while experimental participants did not. This result held up with increases in exposure and when segmentation was aided by telling participants a word prior to exposure. It was not the case that participants simply preferred English-sounding words, however, when the stimuli contained very short pauses, participants were able to learn the novel words despite the fact that they violated English phonotactics. Results suggest that prior linguistic knowledge can interfere with learners' abilities to segment words from running speech using purely statistical cues at initial exposure.     

Drawing the line: Drawing and construction strategies for simple and complex figures in Williams syndrome and typical development

In the typical population, a series of drawing strategies have been outlined, which progressively emerge during childhood. Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder, produce drawings that lack cohesion, yet drawing strategies in this group have hitherto not been investigated. In this study, WS and typically developing (TD) groups drew and constructed (from pre‐drawn lines and shapes) a series of intersecting and embedded figures. Participants with WS made use of the same strategies as the TD group for simple intersecting figures, though were less likely to use a typical strategy for more complex figures that contained many spatial relations. When replicating embedded shapes, the WS group used typical drawing strategies less frequently than the TD group, despite attempting to initiate a strategy that is observed in TD children. Results suggested that individuals with WS show a particular difficulty with replicating figures that include multiple spatial relations. The impact of figure complexity and task demands on performance are discussed.     

The influence of gender and ethnicity on children's peer collaborations

Gender and ethnicity are important aspects of children's everyday social relationships, yet little is known about how these social categories influence children's collaborative interactions. In the present study, 322 White (Caucasian) and South Asian boys and girls (mean age, 7.5 years) collaborated in pairs on easy and difficult versions of a model completion task. As expected, girls were less assertive than boys in conversation, yet this relation held only for all‐Asian pairs (i.e., an Asian boy and girl in conversation). Also consistent with expectations, levels of conversational affiliation were lowest in cross‐ethnic interaction. The influence of gender and ethnicity on conversations did not vary in light of contrasting cognitive demands of the tasks. Results are discussed in relation to work on effective peer collaboration and the potential role of contact in promoting positive ethnic and gender group attitudes.     

Tips to make research teaching and learning enjoyable and productive for counsellors,psychotherapists and their tutors

This article identifies the learning expectations and experiences of qualified counsellors and psychotherapists undertaking higher education awards with specific regard to research activity. Drawing on the current literature and some early findings from focus group research with students, combined with our personal and professional experiences, we identify what contributes to a productive research experience. This is used as a basis to provide tips for both teachers and those new to research to make counselling and psychotherapy research enjoyable and productive. A full research paper is in preparation.