Difference and ratio information in children's and adults' memory representations.

A study was made of the choice reaction times of 8-, 10-, 12-year-olds and adults in order to investigate whether length information stored in memory was coded to preserve numerical relations between stimuli. Subjects learned unique line length-color associations and were later presented with pairs of colors and were instructed to choose the color that had been associated with the longer line. For all age groups, choice reaction times were related to both differences and ratios. These results were interpreted as supporting the analog theory of representation.     

Effect of a means-end contingency on young children's food preferences.

This study showed that a means-end relationship between two snacks exerts a negative influence on preference for the means snack in the contingency. Two snacks ranked of approximately equal medium appeal were individually chosen from an array by each of 86 children (ages 4 years, 4 months to 7 years, 2 months). Children were then assigned to a means-end condition (where one snack was eaten as a means of gaining the other), a temporal order control group (where one snack was presented and eaten before the other), or a mere exposure control group (where the children chose the order in which they ate the two snacks). Post-treatment rankings of the snacks showed that children in the means-end group came to devalue the means snack relative to the reward snack, despite the demonstrably equal prior appeal of the two snacks. Children in the temporal order and mere exposure control groups did not come to prefer the two snacks preferentially. Implications of the finding that adults can affect children's preferences by relatively minor variations in the manner of presentation are discussed.     

Conservation acquisition, maintenance, and generalization by mentally retarded children using equality-rule training.

To teach conservation to mildly retarded, preoperational preadolescents (9 to 12 years old), a number-representational system was used to mediate the invariance of quantity as part of "equality-rule" training. Before viewing a perceptually misleading configuration of either two equal quantities or two unequal quantities entailing the dimensions of number or length, participants learned that equality involved the assignment of two identical numbers and inequality the assignment of two different numbers. These numbers were then applied to the actual quantities and became the basis for rule statements that were rehearsed, memorized, and subject-generated each time the quantities were transformed into a new configuration. Following equality training, correct judgments and verbal justifications of conservation were high (M greater than or equal to 85%) during both immediate and delayed post-tests and for near-generalization (number and length) and far-generalization (weight, liquid substance, and solid substance) tasks. In contrast, the post-test levels of comparable participants given learning-set (LS) training, LS plus verbal-rule training (a combination of statements about identity, negation, and compensation), or no training at all were substantially and significantly lower. Equality training is of theoretical and practical interest because of its potential to teach a symbolic representational rule that directly and meaningfully articulates the quantitative properties of objects and counteracts the overreliance on task-specific and faulty perceptual cues inherent in the conservation task.     

Hypermnesia using auditory input.

The author investigated whether hypermnesia would occur with auditory input. In addition, the author examined the effects of subjects' knowledge that they would later be asked to recall the stimuli. Two groups of 26 subjects each were given three successive recall trials after they listened to an audiotape of 59 high-imagery nouns. The subjects in the uninformed group were not told that they would later be asked to remember the words; those in the informed group were. Hypermnesia was evident, but only in the uninformed group.     

Some perceptual and cognitive factors in mirror tracing: their limits.

Three mirror tracing experiments were conducted to investigate the connection between perception and motor behavior. In the first experiment, some subjects traced a hex-maze, other subjects traced a hex-maze after observing a model trace, others traced a hex-maze after reading instructions on mirror images, and others traced a hex-maze after having observed a model and heard the instructions. There were no significant differences between the groups' error scores, but their time scores differed significantly, although not always in the predicted direction. In Experiment 2, the subjects were to trace selected letters of the alphabet. Error scores for the second experiment did not differ much from those for the first experiment. In Experiment 3, the experimenter gave each subject commands for the correct directions of movement, using the subject's body as a frame-of-reference. There was little improvement in motor performance. These results suggest that the visual information presented in the mirror captured the subjects' attention and blocked their motor tracing program.     

Exposed eye area (EEA) in the expression of various emotions.

Exposed eye area (EEA) was measured in photographs of Indian adults who modeled six emotions--happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust--as well as a neutral expression. The data were analyzed with a 2 x 6 (Eyes x Emotions) factorial analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). EEA for neutral expression was used as the covariate measure. The EEAs of the two eyes did not differ significantly during the expression of emotion. The EEAs for fear and surprise were significantly larger, and the EEA for disgust was significantly smaller than those for either other emotions or neutral expression.     

Retraining Displaced Workers: Factors Affecting Success in Training Programs

In this study 21 displaced workers were interviewed regarding factors affecting their participation in training programs funded by the Job Training Partnership Act. Differences between program participants and nonparticipants, differences among program participants, and differences among nonparticipants were identified.     

The Career Exploration Inventory: Expanding Options for the Unemployed

The Career Exploration Inventory, an innovative interest inventory that measures work and leisure interests throughout the life span, can be used by employment counselors to assist their clients in the exploration of the interaction of work and leisure interests.     

Effects of Response Set on the Infrequent Response Index of the Strong Interest Inventory

Associations of two different response sets on the Infrequent Response Index of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII) were examined. In one, participants responded to each item randomly; in the other, participants deliberately misrepresented their responses. The finding of scores higher than those proposed in the SII manual for the Infrequent Response Index suggests an alternative interpretation of this critical index.     

Career Aspirations of Pregnant Teens

This study examined the career aspirations of pregnant teens enrolled in a program designed to minimize their chances of dropping out of high school. The teens completed a demographic data form that included questions on their career aspirations. The data were coded by Holland type using the Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes. Trends were discussed in light of the future labor market and critical need for career counseling for this at-risk population.