Co‐speech gesture as input in verb learning

People gesture a great deal when speaking, and research has shown that listeners can interpret the information contained in gesture. The current research examines whether learners can also use co‐speech gesture to inform language learning. Specifically, we examine whether listeners can use information contained in an iconic gesture to assign meaning to a novel verb form. Two experiments demonstrate that adults and 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐year‐old children can infer the meaning of novel intransitive verbs from gestures when no other source of information is present. The findings support the idea that gesture might be a source of input available to language learners.     

Improving multiple behaviors for colorectal cancer prevention among african american church members.

The WATCH (Wellness for African Americans Through Churches) Project was a randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of 2 strategies to promote colorectal cancer preventive behaviors among 587 African American members of 12 rural North Carolina churches. Using a 2 X 2 factorial research design, the authors compared a tailored print and video (TPV) intervention, consisting of 4 individually tailored newsletters and targeted videotapes, with a lay health advisor (LHA) intervention. Results showed that the TPV intervention significantly improved (p <.05) fruit and vegetable consumption (0.6 servings) and recreational physical activity (2.5 metabolic task equivalents per hour) and, among those 50 and older (n = 287), achieved a 15% increase in fecal occult blood testing screening (p =.08). The LHA intervention did not prove effective, possibly because of suboptimal reach and diffusion.     

Enhancing moral growth: is communication the key?

Traditional approaches in stimulating moral growth following Turiel's (1966) "+1" intervention strategy have been only marginally successful. This failure rate may be due to (a) the inconsistent control of both the cognitive and social perspective-taking prerequisites to moral growth, and (b) an overestimation of subjects' interpersonal communication skills. In this study, 17 college undergraduates (8 males, 9 females), possessing either basic or consolidated formal operations, received eight weeks of interpersonal skills training, along with pre- and posttraining assessments of social perspective-taking and moral reasoning. It was expected that gains in moral reasoning would be related to subjects' possessing the prerequisite cognitive and perspective-taking competencies necessary for moral growth. Results showed that posttraining changes in moral reasoning were in the predicted direction. In addition, gender differences in social perspective-taking were evident; males had significantly lower social perspective-taking scores at pretraining and showed significant gains in perspective-taking at posttesting. Females, however, scored relatively high in social perspective-taking at pretraining and showed no significant change in ability at posttesting. The results are interpreted as supportive of existing theoretical models regarding these domains of development.     

Book reviews

Form and Validity in Indian Logic. Vijay Bharadwaja, 1990. Simla, Indian Institute of Advanced Study. 127 pp.

The Word and The World: India's Contribution to the Study of Language. Bimal Krishna Matilal, 1990 Delhi, Oxford University Press ix+189pp., Rs175.00

The Basic Ways of Knowing. Govardhan P. Bhatt, 1989 Delhi, Banarasidas xxviix+435 pp.

The Quest for Man. J. Van Nispen & D. Tiemersma (Eds), 1991 Assen/Maastricht, Van Gorcum ix+203 pp., Dfl39.50

Muslim‐Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions. William Montgomery Watt, 1991 London, Routledge 164 pp.

Socrates in Mediaeval Arabic Literature. Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, Texts and Studies Vol. X. Ilai Alon, 1991. Leiden: E. J. Brill/Jerusalem, The Magnes Press. pp. 198, US$50

Tsung‐mi and the Sinification of Buddhism. Peter N. Gregory, 1991 Princeton, Princeton University Press 368 pp., US$49.50

Modern Civilization: A Crisis of Fragmentation. S. C. Malik, 1989. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications. 182 pp., Rs 150.00

Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy. J. Baird Callicott & Roger T. Ames (Eds), 1989 Albany, NY, State University of New York Press 335+xxi pp., US$16.95     

The role of emotion control and emotional rumination in stress management training

The present paper reports on three outcome studies evaluating the effectiveness of a new stress management training program. In contrast to conventional stress management, which tends to emphasize life-events, the symptoms of stress and relaxation, the new program is based on emotional rumination, emotion control, and attention control. The training developed from a series of experimental studies on the role of emotional inhibition and rumination in prolonging physiological recovery from stress, and the findings reported here were obtained from a series of applied studies involving police officers from a police force in the North of England. The first two studies employed both self-reported and objective measures of change to demonstrate that the training produced significant increases in job satisfaction and reduced absenteeism, while the results of the final study showed that the benefits of the program were enhanced by follow-up training.