Orthographic onsets as functional units of adult word recognition

Five experiments are described. Experiments 1 to 3 used a case-change methodology to test the hypothesis that orthographic onsets serve as units of visual word recognition. It was assumed that presenting words in mixed case would disrupt processing more strongly when the case change occurred within a subunit of word recognition than when the case change occurred between subunits of word recognition. The orthographic onset hypothesis was supported in two of three experiments. The sensitivity of the case-change methodology as a means of testing the orthographic onset hypothesis was examined in two further experiments using case change to disrupt orthographic rimes. Again, mixed results were observed. Given the abundance of evidence that, for skilled readers, ortho-graphic rimes serve as functional units of print and independent arguments that the case-change methodology represents an inherently conservative test of hypotheses concerning multiletter units of print, the current results provide preliminary evidence for the ortho-graphic onset as a functional unit of print.This research was funded by the Australian Research Council. I would like to thank Julie Hansen, Mataji Kennedy, and Anne O'Brien for their assistance with testing. The writing of this paper was completed at Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut.     

Meditation and psychosocial adaptation: An exploratory study

The current study examined differential patterns of interrelationships between meditators and nonmeditators on issues pertaining to psychosocial adaptation. Subjects (N=66) were randomly selected from mailing lists provided by theAssociation of Transpersonal Psychology or were solicited via classified advertising in theChicago Tribune and theDallas Morning News. The findings of the current study indicate that there are no differences between meditators and nonmeditators on level of psychosocial adaptation. However examination of the zero-order correlations between dependent measures revealed differential patterns of interrelationships within the meditator and nonmeditator groups. The findings suggest that further research is needed which expands upon the influence of meditation on psychosocial adaptation by addressing topics specific to meditative practice. The implications for the development of qualitative research methods designed to investigate psychosocial parameters in transpersonal psychology are discussed.     

Black and white college women's maternal employment outcome expectations and their desired timing of maternal employment

In an attempt to better understand college women's maternal employment plans, this study compared the ability of different types of maternal employment outcome expectations to predict college women's desired timing of their maternal employment. A mailed questionnaire examined Black (n= 113) and White (n= 189) college women's maternal employment timing preference and their perceptions of the likelihood of 30 possible outcomes of maternal employment. Regressions showed that White women's expectations about the benefits for themselves and the costs for their children predicted their desired maternal employment timing. No variables predicted the timing preference of Black women. Additionally, the Black compared to White respondents expected maternal employment would bring fewer personal costs and more benefits for their children and they desired employment earlier in their child's life. Discussion focuses on Black and White women's conceptions of the integration of the employment and domestic roles.     

Crime and religion: An international comparison among thirteen industrial nations

At the individual level of analysis, evidence has accumulated in support of the hypothesis that persons who are most religious commit crimes at lower rates than those who are least religious. This study examined the relationship at a societal level, based on 1990–1991 data from 13 industrial nations. Overall, the findings revealed that more religious countries have lower crime rates than less religious countries, at least regarding property crimes (as opposed to either aggressive or victimless offenses). As has been reported when comparing individuals, this relationship was more pronounced in the case of “overt” aspects of religiosity (especially church attendance and church membership) than in the case of any specific religious beliefs. The results were discussed in the context of four theories that predict an inverse religiosity-criminality relationship: control theory, rational choice theory, moral reasoning theory, and arousal theory. Findings from the present study seemed most consistent with moral reasoning theory and arousal theory.     

Intrusions in preschoolers’ recall of traumatic childhood events

We investigated the presence of intrusions in preschoolers’ memories for traumatic incidents by examining 30-, 36-, and 48-month-olds’ initial and 6-month recall of traumatic events that required emergency room treatment. The basic findings were (1) the number of preschoolers who produced an intrusion at the 6th month’s interview declined with age, (2) only the youngest preschoolers produced reliably more intrusions at 6 months than initially, (3) the amount of intruded information did not vary with age, and (4) the amount of information correctly recalled about the target traumatic event increased with age and was not affected by the presence of intrusions at any age. That preschoolers were able to recall considerable information concerning the target event, regardless of whether they did or did not produce intrusions, has implications for the veracity of their memories of trauma in real-life situations over extended retention intervals.     

Matching words to concepts in two languages: A test of the concept mediation model of bilingual representation

A categorization paradigm was used to investigate the relations between lexical and conceptual connections in bilingual memory. Fifty-one more fluent and less fluent English-French bilinguals viewed category names (e.g.,vegetable) and then decided whether a target word (e.g.,peas) was a member of that category. The category names and target words appeared in both English and French across experimental conditions. Because category matching requires access to conceptual memory, only relatively fluent bilinguals, who are able to directly access meaning for their second language, were expected to be able to use category information across languages. The performance of lessfluent bilinguals was expected to reflect reliance on lexical-level connections between languages, requiring translation of second-language words. The results provided evidence for concept mediation by more-fluent bilinguals, because categorization latencies were independent of the language of the category name. However, the performance of less-fluent bilinguals indicated that they did not follow a simple lexical translation strategy. Instead, these subjects were faster at categorizing words in both languages when the language of the category name matched the language of the target word, suggesting that they were able to access limited conceptual information from the second language. A model of the development of concept mediation during second language acquisition is described.     

College students' perceptions of mothers: Effects of maternal employment-childrearing pattern and motive for employment

This study examined primarily middle-class Caucasian college students' (n = 460) perceptions of mothers as a function of their employment-child-rearing pattern (continuous employment following 6 weeks of maternity leave, interrupted employment until the child was in first grade, or discontinued employment after the child's birth) and employment motive (fulfillment, financial, or unstated). Results showed that continuously employed compared to other mothers were perceived as less communal and were less positively evaluated. Further, continuously employed mothers were seen as less communal if their employment was for fulfillment rather than financial necessity. Inferences about the mother's perceived commitment to the maternal role help explain some of the communality findings, and perceived maternal role commitment and communality explain the evaluation findings. Discussion focuses on college students' views of normative roles and characteristics for women.     

The Family Environment Scale: comparison with the construct of Expressed Emotion

The Family Environment Scale (FES) was completed by parents of 30 children with conduct disorders (CD), 30 children with emotional disorders (ED), and 30 well-functioning controls. Parents were also interviewed and rated for Expressed Emotion (EE), and mothers completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Clinical families had significantly lower ratings of Cohesion, Expressiveness, Intellectual-Cultural and Active-Recreational Orientation. These differences were not specific to either diagnostic group. Maternal Criticism was associated with reported conflict in the CD group. The EE scales of Criticism and Warmth (absence of warmth) were correlated with child behaviour ratings in the CD group, in contrast with FES sub-scales. Maternal scores of Cohesion were significantly associated with social competence in the ED and the control group. Maternal ratings of Conflict predicted dropping-out of treatment (CD group), and ratings of Cohesion and Control had some value in predicting clinical outcome. The implications for the future use of the Family Environment Scale and other self-rated measures of family functioning are discussed.