Goal neglect and Spearman's g: competing parts of a complex task

In goal neglect, a person ignores some task requirement though being able to describe it. Goal neglect is closely related to general intelligence or C. Spearman's (1904) g (J. Duncan, H. Emslie, P. Williams, R. Johnson, & C. Freer, 1996). The authors tested the role of task complexity in neglect and the hypothesis that different task components in some sense compete for attention. In contrast to many kinds of attentional limits, increasing the real-time demands of one task component does not promote neglect of another. Neither does neglect depend on preparation for different possible events in a block of trials. Instead, the key factor is complexity in the whole body of knowledge specified in task instructions. The authors suggest that as novel activity is constructed, relevant facts, rules, and requirements must be organized into a "task model." As this model increases in complexity, different task components compete for representation, and vulnerable components may be lost. Construction of effective task models is closely linked to g.     

Age of acquisition and word frequency effects in picture naming: a dual-task investigation

In 2 experiments, the authors explored age of acquisition (AoA) and word frequency (WF) effects in picture naming using the psychological refractory period paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants named a picture and then, a short time later, categorized 1 of 3 possible auditory tones as high, medium, or low. Both AoA (Experiment 1A) and WF (Experiment 1B) effects propagated onto tone discrimination reaction times (RTs), with the effects of AoA being stronger. In Experiment 2, the to-be-named picture followed the auditory tone by a varying interval. As the interval decreased, picture naming RTs increased. The relationship between the interval and AoA (Experiment 2A) was reliably underadditive; AoA effects were eliminated at the shortest interval. In contrast, WF (Experiment 2B) was additive with the effects of the interval. These results demonstrate an empirical dissociation between AoA and WF effects. AoA affects processing stages that precede those that are sensitive to WF. The implications for theories of picture naming are discussed.     

Autobiographical elaboration reduces memory distortion: cognitive operations and the distinctiveness heuristic

Retrieval monitoring enhances episodic memory accuracy. For instance, false recognition is reduced when participants base their decisions on more distinctive recollections, a retrieval monitoring process called the distinctiveness heuristic. The experiments reported here tested the hypothesis that autobiographical elaboration during study (i.e., generating autobiographical memories in response to cue words) would lead to more distinctive recollections than other item-specific encoding tasks, enhancing retrieval monitoring accuracy at test. Consistent with this hypothesis, false recognition was less likely when participants had to search their memory for previous autobiographical elaborations, compared to previous semantic judgments. These false recognition effects were dissociated from true recognition effects across four experiments, implicating a recollection-based monitoring process that was independent from familiarity-based processes. Separately obtained subjective measures provided converging evidence for this conclusion. The cognitive operations engaged during autobiographical elaboration can lead to distinctive recollections, making them less prone to memory distortion than other types of deep or semantic encoding.     

Infant crying and maternal holding in the first 2 months of age: an Italian diary study

This study aims to confirm previous North American and North European findings about the normal developmental pattern of infant crying by studying the crying of Italian babies. A cohort of 70 healthy, full‐term Italian infants was assessed longitudinally at 2, 5 and 8 weeks of age. Mothers were asked to fill in 24‐h behaviour diaries for 3 consecutive days at each age. Results show significant differences in the amount of daily crying between 2 and 8 weeks and between 5 and 8 weeks. Different from other similar studies, no significant cry peak at 5 weeks was found in the Italian babies, but the amount of time Italian mothers spent holding their babies showed a peak at 5 weeks. Infants cried more during the evenings and mothers carried them most during this part of the day. Significant correlations between maternal holding and infant crying were found both concurrently and predictively. The amount of infant crying at 2 weeks predicted the amount of holding at 5 weeks. Results confirmed previous findings about the individual stability of daily crying in the first 8 weeks of age, but future research should take account of cultural variations in maternal holding in studying infant crying in different societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of precedence on Navon-induced processing bias in face recognition

Macrae and Lewis (2002) showed that repeated reporting of the global dimension of Navon stimuli improved performance in a subsequent face identification task, whilst reporting the features of the Navon stimuli impaired performance. Using a face composite task, which is assumed to require featural processing, Weston and Perfect (2005) showed the complementary pattern: Featural responding to Navon letters speeded performance. However, both studies used Navon stimuli with global precedence, in which the overall configuration is easier to report than the features. Here we replicate the two studies above, whilst manipulating the precedence (global or featural) of the letter stimuli in the orientation task. Both studies replicated the previously reported findings with global precedence stimuli, but showed the reverse pattern with local precedence stimuli. These data raise important questions as to what is transferred between the Navon orientation task and the face-processing tasks that follow.     

An evaluation of a hospital-based trainee counselling psychology practitioner's service

Counselling psychology is in its infancy in the National Health Service. There is a professional need to evaluate what its practitioners do and with what outcomes. This study is of the work of a trainee counselling psychologist, in a clinical psychology department, and covers his work over 30 months from first appointment. Numerical data were accessed from historical records relating to the author's three working areas: a psychiatric hospital's outpatient department; a university's student health service; and a short-contact primary care counselling clinic. A sample of closed-case clients from the hospital outpatients and the student health service was contacted, and sent questionnaires to elicit their views on the service received. Primary care clients were excluded from this part of the study because of service dissimilarity to the other working domains and access problems. Case loads, case types, frequencies and distributions of client attendances and non-attendances were examined, compared and contrasted using tables, graphs and statistical methods. Clients’ questionnaire responses were tabulated and commented on. It was apparent that although the same general pattern of anxiety-clustered cases predominated in each working area, in other respects the service demands were different. The data have relevance for service design, staffing and management.     

Consumer behaviour in restructured electricity markets

With many electricity markets around the world now open to retail competition, it is increasingly valuable to understand the attitudes, motivations and behaviour of residential electricity purchasers. Drawing upon two sets of survey results from an Ontario (Canada) community, this paper answers two questions. First, what ‘kinds’ of people are more or less likely to switch electricity supplier? Secondly, what motivates those who are more or less likely to switch electricity supplier? After answering these questions, the paper advances marketing strategies for new retail electricity suppliers and proposes business plans for established municipal electric utilities. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

Population sex differences in IQ at age 11: the Scottish mental survey 1932

There is uncertainty whether the sexes differ with respect to their mean levels and variabilities in mental ability test scores. Here we describe the cognitive ability distribution in 80,000+ children—almost everyone born in Scotland in 1921—tested at age 11 in 1932. There were no significant mean differences in cognitive test scores between boys and girls, but there was a highly significant difference in their standard deviations (P<.001). Boys were over-represented at the low and high extremes of cognitive ability. These findings, the first to be presented from a whole population, might in part explain such cognitive outcomes as the slight excess of men achieving first class university degrees, and the excess of males with learning difficulties.     

Regrets and Advice from Mothers who have Disclosed their HIV + Serostatus to their Young Children

Qualitative interviews were conducted with mothers (N = 47) who had disclosed their HIV status to their child. Mothers described their preparation and the process of the disclosure event, and discussed any regrets they had about disclosing or the process of disclosing. They were also asked what advice they had for other HIV-positive mothers who were trying to determine whether to disclose their serostatus to their young children. Overall, the majority of the mothers (68%) did not regret disclosing their HIV status. Regrets fell into five categories: preparation, timing, context, content, and outcomes of the disclosure event. Based on these findings, mothers who have not disclosed their serostatus to their children need assistance with behavioral practice and support in order to prepare for the process. Furthermore, follow-up support for the children may be beneficial.