Letter-naming time as a function of set familiarity and symbol distinctiveness

Two symbol-naming experiments were conducted assessing the dependence of Fitts and Switzer's set-familiarity effect upon symbol distinctiveness. Sixty college males named printed letters presented in a strobotron tachistoscope, the letter always being selected from a preannounced set of three. A voice key detected the response. Experiment I found the Fitts and Switzer finding to be a joint effect: response latency for naming the symbol B in the unfamiliar but distinctive set, VBO, was intermediate to that for the familiar distinctive set, ABC, and the unfamiliar, homolographic set, PBE, the two sets used by Fitts and Switzer. Experiment II, a factorial combination of set familiarity and symbol distinctiveness yielded a significant interaction such that with homolographic symbols, set familiarity was associated with an increase in reaction time. The results were interpreted as consistent with an hypothesis that the set-familiarity effect relates to symbol-identification time as opposed to response-identification time.     

Are there qualitative differences in reading behavior between dyslexics and normal readers?

This study asked whether the reading behavior of dyslexics differs qualitatively from that of normal children. Thirty-seven children who had been identified is dyslexic (mean age 11 years, 9 months) were matched with 37 normal readers (mean age 8,6) on ability to read regular words. The dyslexics' and normals' levels of performance on nonsense words and exception words were strikingly close. Also, patterns of individual differences were similar for the two groups. The results suggest that these dyslexics are delayed in the development of both spelling-sound rules and word specific associations. They do not support the view that dyslexics have a specific deficit in the use of spelling-sound rules, or that dyslexics show more extreme individual differences than do normal readers.     

‘So you did what you wanted then’: Discourse analysis,personal agency,and psychotherapy

This paper explores issues concerning personal agency in discursive psychology and discourse analysis, with a particular emphasis on agency in terms of motivational accounts of the person. Issues are discussed in relation to the efficacy, acceptability, and accessibility of discourse analytic research for the practising psychotherapist. We suggest that such an approach may raise problems in four areas. First, we argue that without explicit theorization of the subject as language user, discourse analysis may be vulnerable to the charge of determinism. Second, theorization of the subject as language user may be required to account successfully for individual consistency and continuity of identity. Third, although claiming to critique commonsense notions of subjectivity, implicit dualist assumptions facilitate a reading of discursive psychology that is compatible with a motivational model of the person. Finally, we argue that discursive psychology itself implies a particular model of the strategically motivated language user. We conclude that, although these issues require clarification, discursive psychology and discourse analysis have much to offer psychotherapy research.     

Parenting Competency Across Pregnancy and Postpartum Among Urban Minority Women

Taking a life-course perspective, we explored the sense of parenting efficacy during the pregnancy-postpartum transition among a group under-represented in much of adult developmental research, minority women. Our intent was to describe the women's report of parenting competency in a major life transition occurring within the context of an impoverished urban environment. We also explored associations with depression, social support, and life events. One hundred and eighty-two African-American and Hispanic mothers at community health centers in low-income urban areas completed measures early in the third trimester and again at 3 months postpartum. Across time, the levels of reported parental efficacy and satisfaction increased while depressive symptoms decreased. Negative life events and levels of depressive symptomatology differentially influenced women's experience of parenting satisfaction and efficacy feelings before and after their babies were born.