Parsing to Learn

Learning a language by parameter setting is almost certainly less onerous than composing a grammar from scratch. But recent computational modeling of how parameters are set has shown that it is not at all the simple mechanical process sometimes imagined. Sentences must be parsed to discover the properties that select between parameter values. But the sentences that drive learning cannot be parsed with the learner's current grammar. And there is not much point in parsing them with just one new grammar. They must apparently be parsed with all possible grammars, in order to find out which one is most successful at licensing the language. The research task is to reconcile this with the fact that the human sentence parsing mechanism, even in adults, has only very limited parallel parsing capacity. I have proposed that all possible grammars can be folded into one, if parameter values are fragments of sentential tree structures that the parser can make use of where necessary to assign a structure to an input sentence. However, the problem of capacity limitations remains. The combined grammar will afford multiple analyses for some sentences, too many to be computed on-line. I propose that the parser computes only one analysis per sentence but can detect ambiguity, and that the learner makes use of unambiguous input only. This provides secure information but relatively little of it, particularly at early stages of learning where few grammars have been excluded and ambiguity is rife. I consider three solutions: improving the parser's ability to extract unambiguous information from partially ambiguous sentences, assuming default parameter values to temporarily eliminate ambiguity, reconfiguring the parameters so that some are subordinate to others and do not present themselves to the learner until the others have been set. A more radical alternative is to give up the quest for error-free learning and permit parameters to be set without regard for whether the parser may have overlooked an alternative analysis of the sentence. If it can be assumed that the human parser keeps a running tally of the parameter values it has accessed, then the learner would do nothing other than parse sentences for comprehension, as adults do. The most useful parameter values would become more and more easily accessed; the noncontributors would drop out of the running. There would be no learning mechanism at all, over and above the parser. But how accurate this system would be remains to be established.     

The need for an evolving concept of validity in industrial and personnel psychology: Psychometric, legal, and emerging issues

The Trinitarian view of validity (namely content, criterion-related, and construct) has dominated psychology for almost a half century. In industrial and personnel psychology especially, content and criterion-related (in particular) forms of validity have served as workhorses. Such a limited focus has lead to a stagnation of the area and the inability to incorporate more theory into the research and practice of personnel psychology. Therefore, we review the evolution of the concept of validity in the psychology discipline, with a particular emphasis on industrial and personnel psychology. We then review the legal and statutory history within industrial and personnel psychology that has helped to shape the concept of validity over the years. Finally, we examine some emerging trends in industrial and personnel psychology, including the issue of graduate training, which may have important consequences on how we conceptualize validity in the future in both our research and practice of personnel psychology.     

Reliability of the Wraparound Observation Form: An Instrument to Measure the Wraparound Process

Within the past decade, the wraparound approach has gained significant popularity in providing services to children with challenging social and family needs. While a plethora of wraparound programs have been developed and studies have been conducted to assess their effectiveness, the need to develop instruments that measure the implementation of wraparound services is clear. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of a scale that measures wraparound services. In this study, the Wraparound Observation Form (WOF), was developed to evaluate the implementation of the wraparound process in treatment planning meetings. The WOF includes 34 closed-ended items that requires the respondent to note the occurrence or non-occurrence of specific events or behaviors at treatment planning meetings. In the present study, two data collectors attended planning meetings and independently completed the WOF. The inter-rater reliability was 95%. The WOF appears to be a reliable instrument and be appropriate in evaluating wraparound services.     

An Example of Assessment's Role in Career Exploration

A new ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) 18/19 Career Exploration Program was made available to United States secondary and postsecondary schools in July 1992. The program allows individual students to use their aptitude test results, an inventory of their interests, and personal preferences to identify occupations with characteristics that seem to be consistent with their own. This capability of matching student characteristics to occupations is derived from extensive analyses based on work performed by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Defense.     

Detection of feigned cognitive impairment: The two-alternative forced-choice method compared with selected conventional tests

A two-alternative forced-choice test, two putative malingering tests, and four neuropsychological tests were administered to 105 prison inmates (51 males and 54 females) and 108 university students (54 males and 54 females) in one of three conditions: naive faking, coached faking, and control. Six of the seven tests differentiated faking subjects from controls, but only the forced-choice test differentiated between naive and coached faking. Even though only 11% of the faking subjects performed below the level of chance on the forced-choice test, this test was more sensitive than other tests in distinguishing between faking subjects and controls. The putative malingering tests were the least sensitive measures. The most salient difference between inmates and students was that faking inmates did not respond to a bogus difficulty manipulation in the forced-choice test. The results indicate that the forced-choice method is a sensitive means of detecting dishonest performance even when scores do not fall below chance.     

Relationships between Perceived Paternal and Maternal Sacrifice and Developmental Outcomes of Chinese Adolescents Experiencing Economic Disadvantage

Parental sacrifice is an important feature of Chinese socialization. According to Walsh’s family resilience framework, perceived parental sacrifice serves as a familial protective factor that enhances adolescent positive development in the context of adversity and economic hardship. Based on a sample of 716 Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage in Hong Kong, this study examined the main and interaction effects of perceived paternal and maternal sacrifice on adolescent developmental outcomes (indexed by self-identity, self-determination and self-efficacy) in Chinese families. We also examined the differences between paternal and maternal sacrifice perceived by adolescents. Results showed that adolescents perceived maternal sacrifice to be stronger than paternal sacrifice. Moreover, there were main and interaction effects of perceived paternal sacrifice and maternal sacrifice on adolescents’ self-identity, self-determination and self-efficacy. When paternal sacrifice was at higher levels, maternal sacrifice positively predicted adolescents’ self-identity, self-determination and self-efficacy. However, when paternal sacrifice was at lower levels, the influence of maternal sacrifice on adolescent self-identity, self-determination and self-efficacy became non-significant. The study underscored the importance of paternal and maternal sacrifice and illustrated their interaction in shaping the developmental outcomes of economically disadvantaged adolescents. The theoretical and practical implications for family intervention work were discussed.

     

Associations Between Lower Order Facets of Personality and Dimensions of Mental Disorder

Although there is a plethora of research documenting the relations between broad personality traits and psychopathology, there is decidedly less on the relations between lower order facets and psychopathology. In the current study, we explored the associations between lower order personality traits and dimensions of mental disorder. A combined sample of undergraduates and outpatients completed self-reports of personality and mental disorder. Symptom counts of mental disorders were factor analyzed, and a higher order three-factor solution emerged. One factor was substance use disorder (SUD), and internalizing branched into distress and fear. These dimensions were regressed on facets from the Big Five model of personality. SUD was significantly predicted by high excitement-seeking from the extraversion domain and low self-discipline from conscientiousness. Distress and fear were indistinguishable from one another but showed a different pattern of relations from SUD. High anxiety and depression from neuroticism, low gregariousness from extraversion, high aesthetics and low actions from openness, low trust and high tender-mindedness from agreeableness, and low self-discipline from conscientiousness significantly predicted distress and fear. The findings demonstrate that lower order traits within a single domain have complex relations with psychopathology, which are shrouded when examining broad, higher order traits. Assessment and treatment implications are discussed.     

Women, Motivation, and Achievement

Women's educational and occupational achievements are crucial to the economic productivity and prosperity of the nation, as well as to the mental health of women and their families. In this article we review psychological research on motivation and on educational achievement, focusing on gender and the contributions that have been made by feminist researchers. Feminist psychologists noted the sex bias and methodological flaws in traditional research on achievement motivation and proposed vastly improved models, such as Eccles's expectancy x value model of achievement behavior. Contrary to stereotypes, gender similarities are typically found in areas such as mathematics performance. Policymakers should be concerned about gender bias in the SAT and about the Female Underprediction Effect. Additional threats to girls' and women's achievements include stereotype threat and peer sexual harassment in the schools.