Generalized Structured Component Analysis with Latent Interactions

Generalized structured component analysis (GSCA) is a component-based approach to structural equation modeling. In practice, researchers may often be interested in examining the interaction effects of latent variables. However, GSCA has been geared only for the specification and testing of the main effects of variables. Thus, an extension of GSCA is proposed to effectively deal with various types of interactions among latent variables. In the proposed method, a latent interaction is defined as a product of interacting latent variables. As a result, this method does not require the construction of additional indicators for latent interactions. Moreover, it can easily accommodate both exogenous and endogenous latent interactions. An alternating least-squares algorithm is developed to minimize a single optimization criterion for parameter estimation. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to investigate the parameter recovery capability of the proposed method. An application is also presented to demonstrate the empirical usefulness of the proposed method.     

Individual differences in online spoken word recognition: Implications for SLI

Thirty years of research has uncovered the broad principles that characterize spoken word processing across listeners. However, there have been few systematic investigations of individual differences. Such an investigation could help refine models of word recognition by indicating which processing parameters are likely to vary, and could also have important implications for work on language impairment. The present study begins to fill this gap by relating individual differences in overall language ability to variation in online word recognition processes. Using the visual world paradigm, we evaluated online spoken word recognition in adolescents who varied in both basic language abilities and non-verbal cognitive abilities. Eye movements to target, cohort and rhyme objects were monitored during spoken word recognition, as an index of lexical activation. Adolescents with poor language skills showed fewer looks to the target and more fixations to the cohort and rhyme competitors. These results were compared to a number of variants of the TRACE model (McClelland & Elman, 1986) that were constructed to test a range of theoretical approaches to language impairment: impairments at sensory and phonological levels; vocabulary size, and generalized slowing. None of the existing approaches were strongly supported, and variation in lexical decay offered the best fit. Thus, basic word recognition processes like lexical decay may offer a new way to characterize processing differences in language impairment.     

CONSISTENT VISUAL ANALYSES OF INTRASUBJECT DATA

Visual inspection of single‐case data is the primary method of interpretation of the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable in applied behavior analysis. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the results of DeProspero and Cohen (1979) by reexamining the consistency of visual analysis across raters. We recruited members of the board of editors and associate editors for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis to judge graphs on a 100‐point scale of experimental control and by providing a dichotomous response (i.e., “yes” or “no” for experimental control). Results showed high interrater agreement across the three types of graphs, suggesting that visual inspection can lead to consistent interpretation of single‐case data among well‐trained raters.     

In search of a new paradigm for cultural psychology

It is my privilege to be invited to write a response to K.S. Yang's reply to my critique of the methodology he used in his empirical research on individual modernity in Taiwan (Hwang, 2003). Yang's reply consists of three parts: The first part provides a quick overview of the methodology used in his individual traditionality and modernity (T/M) research in Taiwan. The second part presents his reply to my methodological criticisms. The third part is a plea for more and better individual T/M research in Asia. My response consists of three corresponding sections, although I will concentrate on the second part of Yang's text.     

Perceived Peer Norms,Casual Sex,and AIDS Risk Prevention1

To facilitate more effective AIDS education with heterosexual college students, an etiological study of AIDS risk behavior was conducted on a sample of 1,035 students at a large western university. In this study, “AIDS risk behavior” refers to participation in casual sex, failure to use condoms, and resistance to changing casual sex activity. Knowledge regarding AIDS had no significant correlation with AIDS-risk behavior. However, “perceived peer norms” (termed Peer Norm in this study) was a major predictor variable in AIDS risk behavior. Peer Norm was defined as perceived AIDS-risk attitudes and the behavior of one's peers. These findings contrast some what with those of Emmons et al.'s (1986) study of homosexual men. This difference may be due to the focus in the present study upon heterosexual university students as subjects. For this group, our results suggest that programs targeting the peer group in AIDS prevention education are especially needed. These might include peer-based AIDS education, emotion-oriented discussion sessions, encounters with “Peers-with-AIDS” models, and role-playing of assertive responses.     

Reliability and validity of the Korean Youth Depression Adjective Check List (Y-DACL).

To develop a Korean version of the Youth Depression Adjective Check List (Y-DACL), bilingual Koreans achieved consensus in their translation of the 22 adjectives. Four hundred and seventeen male and 412 female adolescents from 8th through 12th grade of four Korean public schools (mean age ranged from 13.4 to 17.3) completed the state form of the Y-DACL, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Internal consistency was high (alpha = .87), split-half reliability was moderately high (.72), and test-retest reliability was low (.26) as expected. Estimates of concurrent validity indicated a moderate level of correlation between the Y-DACL and the BDI and SDS. The findings suggest that the Korean Y-DACL is suitable for use in research.     

Enhanced proliferation of progenitor cells following long-term potentiation induction in the rat dentate gyrus

The dentate gyrus (DG) is among the few areas in the mammalian brain where production of new neurons continues in the adulthood. Although its functional significance is not completely understood, several lines of evidence suggest the role of DG neurogenesis in learning and memory. Considering that long-term potentiation (LTP) is a prime candidate for the process underlying hippocampal learning and memory, these results raise the possibility that LTP and neurogenesis are closely related. Here, we investigated whether or not LTP induction in the afferent pathway triggers enhanced proliferation of progenitor cells in the DG. LTP was induced by tetanic stimulation in perforant path-DG synapses in one hemisphere, and the number of newly generated progenitor (BrdU-labeled) cells in the DG was quantified. Compared with the control hemisphere (stimulated with low-frequency pulses), the LTP-induced hemisphere contained a significantly higher number of newly generated progenitor cells in the dorsal as well as ventral DG. When CPP, an NMDA receptor antagonist, was administered, tetanic stimulation neither induced LTP nor enhanced progenitor cell proliferation, indicating that NMDA receptor activation, rather than tetanic stimulation per se, is responsible for enhanced progenitor proliferation in the control animal. Our results show that tetanic stimulation of perforant path sufficient to induce LTP increases progenitor proliferation in adult DG in an NMDA receptor-dependent manner.     

Postural fluctuations during pointing from a unilateral or bilateral stance

An experiment was conducted to compare the effects of bilateral and unilateral stance on postural fluctuations and intralimb coordination during active balance control. Fifteen participants stood bilaterally and unilaterally while conducting a pointing task with an outstretched arm. Excursion of center of foot pressure (CoP) and limb movements were recorded with a force plate and eight dual-axis accelerometers, respectively. Compared to bilateral stance, unilateral stance resulted in wider CoP trajectories and greater postural fluctuations, especially in the lower limbs. The limb-dependent postural fluctuations during unilateral stance were associated with an increased coupling between the upper limb segments and a decreased coupling between the segments of the stance leg. Unilateral stance further resulted in greater regularity and spectral changes in postural fluctuations of the trunk and lower limb due to increased central oscillations (8-15 Hz). The observed structural differences in postural fluctuations between unilateral and bilateral stance strongly suggested that the postural control system modulates joint stiffness in a stance-dependent manner. Probably, in unilateral stance, attentive control was shifted to the stance leg at the expense of increasing arm stiffness to reduce movement redundancy.     

Is peer victimization related to body esteem in 10-year-old girls and boys?

Several studies show that a history of exposure to appearance-related teasing is linked to body dissatisfaction. This study extends those findings by examining the impact of bullying, and other forms of peer victimization, on different aspects of 10-year-old girls’ and boys’ body esteem. Participants were 960 Swedish 10-year-olds, 515 girls and 445 boys. Principal results show that social exclusion is related to 10-year-olds’ evaluations of their general appearance, to evaluations of their weight, and to beliefs about how others perceive their appearance. Furthermore, bullied girls have poorer body esteem in terms of beliefs of how others perceive their appearance than do bullied boys. Appearance teasing was associated with girls’ poorer body esteem in terms of general appearance and beliefs of others views of their appearance. For boys, teasing was associated with poorer body esteem on all dimensions. Thus, this study implies that a wider range of peer victimization relates to children's negative self-perceptions than was former known.