Perceptual adjustment to time-compressed speech: A cross-linguistic study

Previous research has shown that, when hearers listen to artificially speeded speech, their performance improves over the course of 10–15 sentences, as if their perceptual system was “adapting” to these fast rates of speech. In this paper, we further investigate the mechanisms that are responsible for such effects. In Experiment 1, we report that, for bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, exposure to compressed sentences in either language improves performance on sentences in the other language. Experiment 2 reports that Catalan/Spanish transfer of performance occurs even in monolingual speakers of Spanish who do not understand Catalan. In Experiment 3, we study another pair of languages— namely, English and French—and report no transfer of adaptation between these two languages for English—French bilinguals. Experiment 4, with monolingual English speakers, assesses transfer of adaptation from French, Dutch, and English toward English. Here we find that there is no adaptation from French and intermediate adaptation from Dutch. We discuss the locus of the adaptation to compressed speech and relate our findings to other cross-linguistic studies in speech perception.     

Kritischer realismus und induktionsproblem

Ohne ZusammenfassungIch danke Herrn Dr. Rainer Trapp und Herrn Ulrich Kohlenbach für ihre kritischen Bemerkungen bezüglich bestimmter Punkte dieser Arbeit.     

HYPNOSIS AS SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE

Å s , A. & O sstvold , S. Hypnosis as subjective experience. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1968, 9, 33–38.—Fifty female students were interviewed about their subjective experiences during experimental hypnosis. A majority of the experiences correlated positively with measured depth of hypnosis. A factor analysis suggested three experiential factors, differently correlated with hypnotic depth.     

Neuroticism and Depression in Children: The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies

This study's general objective was to analyze whether different types of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS), namely adaptive strategies—specifically positive refocusing and positive reappraisal—and maladaptive strategies—self-blame, catastrophizing, and rumination—mediated the neuroticism-depression relationship in children 9–12 years old, and whether gender and school transition moderated the relationships proposed. A self-reporting measure was administered to 315 children to evaluate said variables. The resulting data were analyzed using structural equations. The study verified that maladaptive CERS partially mediated neuroticism's relationship with depression, while adaptive CERS, though negatively associated with depression, did not show a mediating effect on this relationship. The results provide evidence of the mediating function of maladaptive CERS on the neuroticism-depression relationship. Gender and school transition did not moderate the relationships proposed. Because, by their very nature, these strategies are modifiable, these results constitute an important finding that can be transferred to the design and content of child mental health prevention and promotion programs.     

Disorganization and Individual Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia: A Case Report of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy

Despite being a characteristic symptom of schizophrenia, implications for therapy with persons experiencing prominent disorganization have received less attention in the psychotherapy literature than have other aspects of the disorder. As such, formal thought disorder may be viewed largely as a barrier to effective participation in therapy. In contrast, though, a range of writers from varied traditions have stressed that this feature of schizophrenia is meaningful and improved coherence of speech is an important and viable component of treatment and recovery. This paper suggests that an emergent integrative psychotherapy, metacognitive reflection and insight therapy (MERIT), may be well-suited for work with persons experiencing disorganization symptoms. A brief overview of MERIT is provided, followed by a case report of an 18-month course of therapy with a man with severely disorganized speech.     

Continuous Response Monitoring of Relative Time-to-Contact Judgments: Does Effective Information Change During an Approach Event?

In many previous studies of time-to-contact (TTC) judgments of approaching objects, a response was measured after observers viewed the entire event and was used to infer the informational basis for the judgment. Such measures primarily reflect the information used at the end of the approach event and may not reveal whether observers used different information at different times during the event. Evidence indicates that observers use multiple information sources and that the effectiveness of information varies with distance. We introduce a method in which observers continuously report which of 2 approaching objects would reach them first, throughout the approach. We identified the occurrence and time of response reversals. Most observers changed their relative TTC judgments during the event. The pattern of responses indicated that observers did not use tau early during the approach when objects were far and did not use optical size later when the objects were closer. Most observers relied on either optical size or optical expansion rate early during the approach and expansion rate later during the event, although there were individual differences. A single relative TTC judgment measured after observers view an approach event may not reflect judgments or their informational basis throughout the entire event.     

Contextual Control in Visuospatial Perspective‐Taking Skills in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of this study was to teach left/right (Experiment 1) and near/far (Experiment 2) discrimination with reference both to self and to another person. The procedures used involved teaching discrimination in expressive language (speaker behavior) and then testing the transfer of learning into receptive language (listener behavior). A total of six intellectually disabled adults took part in the study, four in Experiment 1 and two in Experiment 2. The results showed that the subjects learned the target behavior in expressive language and performed correctly in tests to confirm the transfer of learning to receptive language. Experiments to analyze the function of the stimuli involved in receptive language share a certain amount of common ground with research into conditional discrimination under contextual control. The procedures used in such experiments may additionally enhance the teaching of visuospatial perspective‐taking skills. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.