The Role of Speech-Gesture Synchrony in Clipping Words From the Speech Stream: Evidence From Infant Pupil Responses

How do young infants discover that a segment of the sound stream refers to a particular aspect of the visual world around them? Speakers do not enunciate each word separately, even to infants; rather, whattheysayrunstogether. To relate an object (say, an apple) to its referent, infants must notice the interactant's target of attention (the apple) and at the same time single out the word that refers to it as the other person speaks (Lookattheapple!). We contend that caregivers through their actions assist by directing and educating an infant's attention, particularly through the use of a show gesture. The onset/offset, rhythm, tempo, and duration of these show gestures are synchronous with the saying of the words referring to the target objects. Our prior research using eye tracking found that show gestures lead an infant to look at the object presented as the word for it is uttered and that show gestures facilitate word learning. In this research we tested the hypothesis that show gestures also lead to enhanced attentional processing as measured through pupil dilation. Comparing pupil diameters while words were introduced with a show, static, or asynchronous dynamic gesture, we found that pupil dilation occurred for the show gesture condition and was positively correlated with word learning.     

Social-class indicators differentially predict engagement in prevention vs. detection behaviours

Objective: Few systematic studies have examined the contexts in which social-class variables will predict engagement in health-relevant behaviours. The current research examined whether the impact of social-class on health behaviours depends upon how social-class is assessed and the category of health behaviour under consideration.

Method: Our sample was drawn from the Health Information National Trends Survey in 2012 (N = 3959). Participants reported their income and education as well as their engagement in a variety of prevention and detection behaviours.

Results: Consistent with our hypothesised framework, we found that income predicted engagement in a variety of detection behaviours above and beyond education, whereas education predicted engagement in a variety of prevention behaviours above and beyond income.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that income and education operate on health behaviours via different pathways and have implications for public health policy and intervention.     

On the Construct Validity of Integrity Tests: Individual and Situational Factors as Predictors of Test Performance

Although integrity tests are widely applied in screening job applicants, there is a need for research for examining the construct validity of these tests. In the present study, a theoretical model examining the causes of destructive behavior in organizational settings was used to develop background data measures of individual and situational variables that might be related to integrity test scores. Subsequently, 692 undergraduates were asked to complete these background data scales along with (a) two overt integrity tests – the Reid Report and the Personnel Selection Inventory, and (b) two personality‐based measures – the delinquency and socialization scales of the California Psychological Inventory. When scores of these measures were correlated with and regressed on the background data scales, it was found that relevant individual variables, such as narcissism and power motives, and relevant situational variables, such as alienation and exposure to negative peer groups, were related to scores on both types of integrity tests. However, a stronger pattern of validity evidence was obtained for the personality‐based measures and, in all cases, situational variables were found to be better predictors than individual variables. The implications of these findings for the validity of inferences drawn from overt and personality‐based integrity tests are discussed.     

Gathering Diverse Perspectives to Tackle “Wicked Problems”: Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Educational Placement

Among students receiving behavioral health and special education services, racial/ethnic minority students are consistently overrepresented in settings separate from general classrooms. Once separated, many young people struggle to improve academically and face significant difficulty upon trying to return to a general education setting. Given the complex, ongoing, and multifaceted nature of this challenge, racial/ethnic disproportionality can be identified as a “wicked problem,” for which solutions are not easily identified. Here, we describe our community-engaged research efforts, eliciting perspectives from relevant partners in an ongoing dialogue, to better integrate diverse stakeholders’ perspectives when attempting to address such disparities. We conducted focus groups and qualitative interviews with members of three stakeholder groups: community-serving organizations, individuals with lived experience of behavioral health conditions, and state-level policymakers, with a shared interest in addressing racial and ethnic disparities. Participant responses illustrated the “wickedness” of this problem and highlighted the need for additional supports for students, families, and school personnel, increased collaboration across relevant systems and agencies, and reduced barriers related to funding. Overall, this methodology bridged differing perspectives to develop, in concert with our partners, a shared language of the problem and a core set of issues to consider when seeking to effect change.