Constituent-morpheme priming: Implications from the morphology of two-kanji compound words

Abstract: The diversity in the morphological structure of two‐kanji compound words is a matter of special concern for models of the Japanese mental lexicon. This study discusses two proposals for models of the Japanese mental lexicon – Hirose’s (1992, 1994, 1996 ) hypotheses and a Japanese lemma‐unit version of the multilevel interactive‐activation framework – in terms of their ability to cope with this diversity. As the proposals make different predictions concerning constituent‐morpheme priming, patterns of facilitation were examined in two experiments with five word‐formation principles as experimental conditions. Experiment 1, using the long stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 3000 ms employed by Hirose (1992 ), only found significant differences between the first‐ and second‐element conditions in one of the word‐formation conditions. Experiment 2, using a short SOA of 250 ms, confirmed the pattern of priming obtained in Experiment 1. These results are more consistent with the prediction from the Japanese lemma‐unit model.     

Ethnic Differences in Grade Trajectories During the Transition to Junior High

The transition from elementary to junior high school is difficult for some children, as indicated by a drop in grades in the new school setting from the beginning to end of the year. Finer-grain analysis of grade trajectories in the first year of junior high may reflect important differences among groups. In the present study, variables predicting linear and quadratic grade trajectories over the seventh grade were examined using a structural equation model (SEM, AMOS-4) and curve estimation procedures. Participants were 214 boys and 259 girls entering junior high (52% Anglo, 36% Hispanics, primarily of Mexican descent, and 12% Blacks). Three trajectory patterns were observed: “sliders,” students who showed a fairly steady grade decline over the year (characteristic of Anglos), “steadies,” students who varied little over the year (characteristic of Blacks), and “rebounders,” students whose grades dropped to a minimum in the fourth 6-week period, then showed limited recovery (characteristic of Hispanics). In the SEM, a lower intercept (representing the average of sixth grade grades) was associated with minority ethnic/racial status (Hispanic or Black), using more emotional discharge to cope, having a lower percentage of adults in the support network, poorer family functioning, and greater depression. Being Black was associated with a positive path coefficient to the linear slope of the grade trajectory, while a negative path coefficient was associated with using more emotional discharge in coping. The quadratic element (drop in grades with some recovery) was more pronounced for Hispanic participants, less pronounced for Black participants, and more pronounced when poorer family functioning was reported. Curve estimation procedures confirmed these ethnic/racial group differences. Reasons for such differences and their implications for schools and families are discussed.     

Levi on Causal Decision Theory and the Possibility of Predicting One's Own Actions

Isaac Levi has long criticized causal decisiontheory on the grounds that it requiresdeliberating agents to make predictions abouttheir own actions. A rational agent cannot, heclaims, see herself as free to choose an actwhile simultaneously making a prediction abouther likelihood of performing it. Levi is wrongon both points. First, nothing in causaldecision theory forces agents to makepredictions about their own acts. Second,Levi's arguments for the ``deliberation crowdsout prediction thesis' rely on a flawed modelof the measurement of belief. Moreover, theability of agents to adopt beliefs about theirown acts during deliberation is essentialto any plausible account of human agency andfreedom. Though these beliefs play no part inthe rationalization of actions, they arerequired to account for the causalgenesis of behavior. To explain the causes ofactions we must recognize that (a) an agentcannot see herself as entirely free in thematter of A unless she believes herdecision to perform A will cause A,and (b) she cannot come to a deliberatedecision about A unless she adoptsbeliefs about her decisions. FollowingElizabeth Anscombe and David Velleman, I arguethat an agent's beliefs about her own decisionsare self-fulfilling, and that this can beused to explain away the seeming paradoxicalfeatures of act probabilities.     

Authoritarianism and Political Impoverishment: Deficits in Knowledge and Civic Disinterest

Past research shows that authoritarian individuals hold strong opinions about a variety of political and social issues, such as race relations and military conflict. What has not been established, though, is the amount of general political knowledge that authoritarians possess. In this study, three groups of college students were administered Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale; most of them also received items assessing general political knowledge and specific knowledge about the 2000 presidential election, as well as items assessing interest in politics. Relative to students with low RWA scores, those with high scores possessed less political knowledge; moreover, they expressed less interest in learning about politics. In general, authoritarianism was unrelated to how individuals got their political information or how credible they found their sources. The implication that authoritarians hold strong attitudinal beliefs with weak political knowledge is discussed.     

Psychiatric illness and behavioural problems in adults with learning disability and epilepsy

We retrospectively collected data on the rate and type of psychiatric illness and behavioural problems on 143 adults with learning disability and epilepsy. 55% behavioural problems. 19% verbal aggression and temper tantrums, and 13% injurious behaviour. The overall rates of behavioural problems and different types of behaviours found in the current study cohort are similar to what was found before in learning disabled adults in general, as well as in epileptic and non-epileptic learning disabled adults. Psychiatric diagnosis was made in 12.6% combined diagnosis of schizophrenia, delusional disorder and schizo-affective disorder was most common (5%) diagnosis of depressive episode (3%) bipolar affective disorder.     

The Boundaries of the Analytic Encounter: Clinical and Ethical Dimensions: A Roundtable Discussion: January 15, 1998

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Book Reviews

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Sex-role stereotypes of feminists and nonfeminists

In light of recent attempts by feminists to upgrade the status of women by stressing the positive aspects of femininity, a comparison of sex-role stereotyping by women who endorse women's liberation with those who do not was made. Feminists showed a more positive perception of women; both groups stressed positive feminine traits in describing an ideal woman, but feminists would like to see more dominance in women. Two negative stereotypes, not previously documented, emerged from this analysis: the depiction of men as cooler, more boastful, awkward, and insensitive by the feminists and women's liberationists as more boastful, excitable, and unattractive by the nonfeminists.