Psychology and "ordinary language"—a critique of Smedslund

This article takes up methodological issues of the kind raised by Jan Smedslund in earlier issues of this journal, concerning the status of psychological enquiry as a discipline. Arguments are presented which aim to show that Smedslund has failed to establish the thesis that all generally valid theoretical statements in psychology are explications of conceptual relationships embedded in ordinary language, i.e., analytic statements. Some specific examples of what Smedslund takes to be "ordinary language theorems" are examined. Doubts are expressed concerning the validity of the proof procedure Smedslund employs in the "demonstration" of a number of his alleged theorems. Finally, it is argued that the results produced by the situation-bound and culture-bound empirical research of the psychologist need not be viewed as "arbitrary" in Smedslund's sense of that term.     

Finite axiomatization for some intermediate logics

LetN. be the set of all natural numbers (except zero), and letD _n ^* = {k ∈N ∶k|n} ∪ {0} wherek¦n if and only ifn=k.x f or somex∈N. Then, an ordered setD _n ^* = 〈D _n ^* , ? _n , wherex? _ny iffx¦y for anyx, y∈D _n ^* , can easily be seen to be a pseudo-boolean algebra. In [5], V.A. Jankov has proved that the class of algebras {D _n ^* ∶n∈B}, whereB =,{k ∈N∶ ? \(\mathop \exists \limits_{n \in N} \) (n > 1 ≧n ² k)is finitely axiomatizable. The present paper aims at showing that the class of all algebras {D _n ^* ∶n∈B} is also finitely axiomatizable. First, we prove that an intermediate logic defined as follows: $$LD = Cn(INT \cup \{ p_3 \vee [p_3 \to (p_1 \to p_2 ) \vee (p_2 \to p_1 )]\} )$$ finitely approximatizable. Then, defining, after Kripke, a model as a non-empty ordered setH = 〈K, ?〉, and making use of the set of formulas true in this model, we show that any finite strongly compact pseudo-boolean algebra ? is identical with. the set of formulas true in the Kripke modelH _B = 〈P(?), ?〉 (whereP(?) stands for the family of all prime filters in the algebra ?). Furthermore, the concept of a structure of divisors is defined, and the structure is shown to beH D _n ^* = 〈P (D _n ^* ), ?〉for anyn∈N. Finally, it is proved that for any strongly compact pseudo-boolean algebraU satisfying the axiomp ₃∨ [p ₃→(p₁→p₂)∨(p₂→p₁)] there is a structure of divisorsD _* ⁿ such that it is possible to define a strong homomorphism froomiH D _n ^* ontoH D _U . Exploiting, among others, this property, it turns out to be relatively easy to show that \(LD = \mathop \cap \limits_{n \in N} E(\mathfrak{D}_n^* )\) .     

Normative data on the Missouri Children's Picture Series and the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist with southern black children

Normative data are presented for Southern black children on two objective personality inventories for children: the Missouri Children's Picture Series (MCPS), a child picture-sorting task, and the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MBCL), a parent rating scale. The MCPS was administered to 615 black children attending public schools in a low socioeconomic area of the southeast United States. Parents returned the MBCL on 437 of the children. Means and standard deviations on eight MCPS personality scales and six MCBL behavior rating scales are presented for black males and females at ages 5 through 16, and effects of age, sex, and various scale intercorrelations are discussed. Results suggest systematic age and sex differences on the various scales for black children that are quite atypical when compared with the MCPS in other samples. Various empirical questions regarding the validity of these instruments when used with Southern black children are raised.     

The effect of set size on hemifield asymmetries in letter recognition

Single letters were presented tachistoscopically in the left or right hemifield to right-handed observers. Superior recognition of letters on the right was found for letters chosen from subsets containing four items, but no differences were found when any letter, or any symmetrical letter, could appear. In a second experiment, the right hemifield advantage was found under conditions requiring the subject to determine the subset only when the subset chosen was appropriate. Results were discussed in terms of the adequacy of language-based explanations of hemifield asymmetries in letter recognition.     

Relationship between response to graded exposure and marital satisfaction in agoraphobics

Agoraphobics who were satisfied in their marriage responded well to graded exposure and maintained their improvement to 3-months follow-up. Satisfaction with self and partner remained unchanged in patient and spouse. Agoraphobics who were dissatisfied with their marriage improved initially with graded exposure but later lost most of their gains and reported no change in general neurotic symptoms. Marital dissatisfaction also remained unchanged. Patients' dissatisfaction with their spouses, measured before therapy, predicted outcome in the sample as a whole.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING WRITTEN ARITHMETIC: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

This study is concerned with the manner in which Western mathematics is assimilated by children raised in traditional African cultures. It was predicted that after an initial period of difficulty in learning school arithmetic, African children (Baoulé and Dioula from the Ivory Coast) acquire basic concepts, develop invented strategies, and make errors similar to those of American children. Further, it was predicted that Dioula children, since they are members of a commercial culture, perform at a somewhat higher level than the Baoulé, members of a farming culture which does not seem to stress computational activity. To investigate these hypotheses, American, Baoulé, and Dioula children at two age levels were given a variety of arithmetic problems involving basic skills (e.g., reading numbers), number knowledge (e.g., place value), and calculational abilities (e.g., written computation). The results showed that, in general, older African and American children (fifth- and sixth-graders) were quite similar in all respects. The only large and significant differences occurred in the case of younger children (second- and third-graders). At this level American children generally performed at a higher level than Africans, as predicted, and Dioula occasionally at a higher level than Baoulé, also as predicted. At the same time, qualitative aspects of African and American children's performance were similar: for example, both groups made the same types and proportions of errors in written calculations. The results generally support the hypotheses and can be explained in terms of both educational and cognitive factors.     

Performance of dyslexic children on speech perception tests

Several researchers who have compared the performance of dyslexic and normal-reading children on a variety of different tasks have suggested that dyslexic children may have subtle deficits in the phonemic analysis of spoken as well as written language. Thus it is of interest to know how children who have extraordinary difficulty learning to read can perform explicity auditory-phonetic tasks. Seventeen dyslexic children (10 years of age) and a group of 17 controls were administered tests of identification and discrimination of synthesized voiced stop consonants differing in place of articulation. These were tests of the type used to study categorical perception in adults, adapted for use with young children. Significant differences between dyslexics and controls were found in both kinds of tasks; the pattern of identification and discrimination differences suggests an inconsistency in the dyslexics' phonetic classification of auditory cues. A significant relationship was found between reading level and speech discrimination.