A semantics-based approach to the "no negative evidence" problem

Previous studies have shown that children retreat from argument-structure overgeneralization errors (e.g., * Don't giggle me ) by inferring that frequently encountered verbs are unlikely to be grammatical in unattested constructions, and by making use of syntax-semantics correspondences (e.g., verbs denoting internally caused actions such as giggling cannot normally be used causatively). The present study tested a new account based on a unitary learning mechanism that combines both of these processes. Seventy-two participants (ages 5–6, 9–10, and adults) rated overgeneralization errors with higher (* The funny man's joke giggled Bart ) and lower (* The funny man giggled Bart ) degrees of direct external causation. The errors with more-direct causation were rated as less unacceptable than those with less-direct causation. This finding is consistent with the new account, under which children acquire—in an incremental and probabilistic fashion—the meaning of particular constructions (e.g., transitive causative = direct external causation) and particular verbs, rejecting generalizations where the incompatibility between the two is too great.     

Relationship between heart rate variability and cognitive function during threat of shock

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between resting heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive functions during threat of shock. A Continuous Performance Task and a Working Memory Task were used to measure cognitive functions. Sixty-five male participants from the Royal Norwegian Navy participated. HRV was measured during baseline, test conditions and recovery. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat and threat groups. Based on the median split of the high frequency (HF) spectral power, groups were divided into two additional groups. Overall, the high HRV participants showed superior performance on cognitive tasks independent of non-threat or threat conditions. During threat condition the low HRV group showed improved performance. Thus, individuals with high HRV were more stress tolerant and resilient in the face of environmental changes. The results from the study might have implications with regard to performance in operational settings, but also for other fields of psychological research such as individual differences, anxiety and coping.     

Regional cerebral glucose metabolism in aphemia: A case report

Local cerebral metabolism was determined in a patient suffering aphemia following cerebral infarction using the 18FDG-PET technique. The syndrome was characterized by profound ictal nonfluency with sparing of other language functions. Speech subsequently improved so that content and grammar were appropriate but mild dysprosody persisted. Conventional CT showed no lesion of the left hemisphere while PET revealed a discrete focus of hypometabolism on the left which partially resolved on serial studies. The metabolic lesion could be localized to the region of the inferior precentral gyrus and the adjacent subcortical space.     

Older (but not younger) preschoolers understand that knowledge differs between people and across time

We examined 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds' understanding of general knowledge (e.g., knowing that clocks tell time) by investigating whether (1) they recognize that their own general knowledge has changed over time (i.e., they knew less as babies than they know now), and (2) such intraindividual knowledge differences are easier/harder to understand than interindividual differences (i.e., Do preschoolers understand that a baby knows less than they do?). Forty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds answered questions about their current general knowledge (‘self‐now’), the general knowledge of a 6‐month‐old (‘baby‐now’), and their own general knowledge at 6 months (‘self‐past’). All age groups were significantly above chance on the self‐now questions, but only 5‐year‐olds were significantly above chance on the self‐past and baby‐now questions. Moreover, children's performance on the baby‐now and self‐past questions did not differ. Our findings suggest that younger preschoolers do not fully appreciate that their past knowledge differs from their current knowledge, and that others may have less knowledge than they do. We situate these findings within the research on knowledge understanding, more specifically, and cognitive development, more broadly.     

A cross-cultural survey of the effects of anxiety on the relationship between child rearing and cognition

A cross-cultural study involving a basic pool of 44 societies throughout the world was conducted to analyze the effect of anxiety on the relationship between certain child-rearing variables and cultural measures of cognitive complexity and self-esteem. The research demonstrated that societies utilizing anxiety-arousing techniques did so consistently across a variety of apparently contradictory child-rearing variables. The introduction of anxiety to the rearing experience had the general effect of changing previously established patterns of interaction, sometimes with major sex differences. Thus, socialization toward group norms and away from independent activity was positively associated with indicators of cognitive development (Zern, 1983). When anxiety over the socialization experience existed, however, no systematic relationship was demonstrated for either sex. Self-esteem was also positively related to pressures to socialize when no anxiety existed. For women, when anxiety was introduced, there was a strong negative relationship. For men, anxiety caused no systematic connections of any kind between pressures to socialize and self-esteem.     

Slowed lexical access in nonfluent aphasia: a case study.

A list priming paradigm (LPP) was used to examine the hypothesis that nonfluent aphasics are literally slowed down in automatic access to lexical information. In this paradigm, words are presented visually, and the subject's task is to make a lexical decision on each word as quickly as possible after its presentation. As soon as a lexical decision is made on one word, that word is removed and, after a predetermined interword interval, the next word is presented. In this way, a continuous "list" effect is obtained. Prior studies with both college-age and elderly subjects using the LPP have shown that, independently of age, on the LPP, priming obtains at interword delays of 500 to 800 msec, but not at either shorter or longer interword delays. In the study reported here, the LPP was used to examine delays at which priming obtained for LD, a nonfluent aphasic with a lesion primarily in the left frontal region. Examining interword delays ranging from 500 to 1800 msec, the subject showed priming only at a delay of 1500 msec, a considerably longer delay than that at which neurologically intact subjects have shown priming. Based on these results, it is argued that while automatic access is retained, that access is much slower in a nonfluent aphasic than in neurologically intact elderly subjects. These results are discussed in terms of how slowed lexical access might impact on discourse comprehension.     

Examining the generality of eyewitness hypermnesia: A close look at time delay and question type

Three studies investigated whether requiring eyewitnesses to provide multiple accounts of a crime prompted them to exhibit more accurate and complete recall (i.e. hypermnesia) or towards providing more inaccurate and confabulated testimony. Subject-witnesses viewed videotapes enacting several types of crimes. Subjects exhibited hypermnesia in two studies in which they were asked to provide accounts of the incident via a free-recall procedure. Indeed, there tended to be roughly a 10–20 per cent increase in the number of facts accurately recalled from the initial interview to the third. The number of incorrect recollections and confabulations did not reliably increase. In the second experiment, hypermnesia was observed even when eyewitness memory was degraded by delaying the initial interview until a week after the witness viewed the crime. In a third study, which employed a multiple-choice questioning procedure, subjects exhibited neither hypermnesia nor heightened incorrect responding. Discussion centres on possible factors influencing the hypermnesia effect and implications of the present research for theory on hypermnesia.