Letter-detection patterns in German: A window to the early extraction of sentential structure during reading

Letters are more difficult to detect in function words than in content words, presumably because function words serve to cue sentential structure but recede to the background as meaning unfolds. This function disadvantage was found for the definite article in German for all three genders and all four cases, but it was more pronounced when the article appeared in a nominative noun phrase than in an object noun phrase. It was also more pronounced for the typical subject-predicate-object sentential format than for the object-predicate-subject sentential format and also when the definite article unequivocally specified the case of a phrase than when it was ambiguous. The results suggest that the structural frames established on line in reading are finely tuned to both phrase-level and sentence-level organization.     

Mechanisms of aural encoding: IV. Hear-see,say-write interactions for vowels

Six vowel sounds were presented in rondom orders for recall from short-term memory. Four groups of 25 Ss each in a2by 2 design either heard or saw the words, and either had to say them or write them. In general, accuracy was greater when the sounds were seen rather than heard, especially when they were verbatty reported. The major concern was the degree to which the major distinctive feature systems could predict the intrusion errors in each of the four conditions. The best prediction occurred in the auditory-input/verbal-output condition, as would be expected from the models on which distinctive feature specifications are based. However, as in a previous study by these authors, the most accurate predictions were not always made by the same combination of distinctive features. It is concluded that distinctive features are identifled in the initial encoding bef ore any retrieval processes are activated and that further errors made at the time of retrieval are aho related to distinctive features. Most importantly, however, both at initial registration and at retrieval, different features are implicated, depending upon the sound presented for recall and the input-output modalities involved.     

Processing of sequentially presented letters

The effect on the number of letters S can report of the duration of each sequentially presented letter was compared with that of processing time, defined as the time from the onset of a letter to the onset of the next letter. Four Ss were each shown 1250 common English words, from four to eight letters long, one letter at a time. Each letter acted as a visual noise field for the preceding letter. The duration of each letter and the interval between letters was varied independently. The S reported the letters he saw after each word was displayed. It was found that the processing time (onset to onset) predicted the number of letters correctly reported, regardless of the partition between on time and off time. A calculation was made of the number of milliseconds of on plus off time that are needed to ensure correct report of each letter. This time was independent of the duration of the processing time, but was positively correlated with the number of letters in the word. This correlation is probably in part artifactual, so that no claim can be made that it takes longer to process a letter of a long as compared to a short word.     

The psychoanalytic treatment of a preschool boy with a gender identity disorder

A three-year, nine-month-old boy began analysis by wishing he was a girl and pretending he was a superheroine. Over the course of almost five years, the cross-gender defense against fear of loss of the object, anal loss, and castration by the object reorganized in all libidinal phases through early latency. Developmental arrests seemed to occur during the anal rapprochement and oedipal phases that led to observable cross-gender strivings by two and a half years of age. The role of early childhood illness, narcissistic vulnerability, mother's childhood wish for a sister, the mother's adult wish for a daughter, a shared fantasy between mother and child, identification with the perceived power and beauty of mother and grandmother, pathological sibling rivalry that influenced identification with his sister, were demonstrated in his play during sessions. Interwoven in the background was the impact of an emotionally absent father, a dying grandfather, and an accident-prone uncle. This paternal matrix seemed to discourage budding masculinity and encourage feminine identifications. The analyst's approach and the child's responses to interpretation of the transference manifestations, cross-gender behavior, fantasies, and play are presented. Finally, the gradual resolution of the conflicted wish to be a girl was supplanted by the emergence of appropriate gender identification. A two-year followup appeared to confirm his postanalytic gender stance and continuing consolidation of stable gender development.