The role of specificity in the lexical encoding of participants

In addition to information about phonology, morphology and syntax, lexical entries contain semantic information about participants (e.g., Agent). However, the traditional criteria for determining how much participant information is lexically encoded have proved unreliable. We have proposed two semantic criteria (obligatoriness and selectivity) that jointly identify the participants that are lexically encoded in verbs. We tested whether one of these criteria, semantic selectivity, makes psychologically real distinctions between participant information that is lexically encoded and participant information that is not. We examined how readers integrated syntactically optional WH-constituents in filler-gap sentences when the participant information conveyed by the WH-filler was specific to a restricted class of verbs (i.e., source locations) and when it was not (i.e., event locations). Our results provide support for the role of specificity in the lexical encoding of participant information of syntactically optional constituents.     

Infants' early ability to segment the conversational speech signal predicts later language development: a retrospective analysis

Two studies examined relationships between infants' early speech processing performance and later language and cognitive outcomes. Study 1 found that performance on speech segmentation tasks before 12 months of age related to expressive vocabulary at 24 months. However, performance on other tasks was not related to 2-year vocabulary. Study 2 assessed linguistic and cognitive skills at 4-6 years of age for children who had participated in segmentation studies as infants. Children who had been able to segment words from fluent speech scored higher on language measures, but not general IQ, as preschoolers. Results suggest that speech segmentation ability is an important prerequisite for successful language development, and they offer potential for developing measures to detect language impairment at an earlier age.     

Is knowing believing? The role of event plausibility and background knowledge in planting false beliefs about the personal past

False memories are more likely to be planted for plausible than for implausible events, but does just knowing about an implausible event make individuals more likely to think that the event happened to them? Two experiments assessed the independent contributions of plausibility and background knowledge to planting false beliefs. In Experiment 1, subjects rated 20 childhood events as to the likelihood of each event having happened to them. The list included the implausible target event “received an enema,” a critical target event of Pezdek, Finger, and Hodge (1997). Two weeks later, subjects were presented with (1) information regarding the high prevalence rate of enemas; (2) background information on how to administer an enema; (3) neither type of information; or (4) both. Immediately or 2 weeks later, they rated the 20 childhood events again. Only plausibility significantly increased occurrence ratings. In Experiment 2, the target event was changed from “barium enema administered in a hospital” to “home enema for constipation”; significant effects of both plausibility and background knowledge resulted. The results suggest that providing background knowledge can increase beliefs about personal events, but that its impact is limited by the extent of the individual’s familiarity with the context of the suggested target event.     

Effects of a cognitive-behavioural internet program on depression, vulnerability to depression and stigma in adolescent males: a school-based controlled trial

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a cognitive behaviour therapy Internet program (MoodGYM) for depressive symptoms, attributional style, self-esteem and beliefs about depression, and on depression and depression-vulnerable status in male youth. A total of 78 boys age 15 and 16 years were allocated to either undertake MoodGYM or to standard personal development activities. Outcomes were measured before commencement, post-program and 16 weeks post-program. There were no significant between-group differences in change scores pre- to post- or pre- to follow-up using the intention to treat sample or for participants with post- and/or follow-up data. For boys completing 3 or more modules there were small relative benefits of MoodGYM for depressive symptoms (Effect Size, ES = 0.34), attributional style (ES = 0.17) and self-esteem (ES = 0.16) at post-program, although only the effect for self-esteem was sustained at follow-up. Both groups showed improvement in their beliefs about depression at follow-up, with the control group showing a moderate relative benefit (ES = 0.40). While the numbers are small, there was a reduction in the risk of being depressed in the MoodGYM group of 9% at post-treatment compared with a slightly increased risk for the control group. The risk of being classified as vulnerable to depression reduced by 17% in the MoodGYM group at post-treatment compared with no change in risk for the control group. These reductions in risk for the MoodGYM group were not sustained at follow-up. The limitations of the study highlight several important challenges for MoodGYM and other self-directed Internet cognitive behaviour therapy programs. These include how to ensure enough of the program is received and that people who could potentially benefit access the program and continue to remain engaged with it, and how to enhance the sustainability of any benefits.     

Self-esteem and likability: Separating fact from fantasy

Much research has demonstrated the “vicious cycle” of low self-esteem in nonsocial task performance settings. The present study explores the possibility that social situations may also provide opportunities for low (and high) selfesteem individuals to respond in ways that maintain their self-image. More specifically, it has been shown that low self-esteem individuals believe that others like them to a lesser extent than do high self-esteem persons; such beliefs are bound to perpetuate individuals' self-esteem levels. This study is designed to investigate whether the self-perceptions of either or both groups are consistent with reality (as measured by others' actual liking for them), or are merely reflective of the perceiver's attitude. Unacquainted, opposite sex dyads completed self-esteem and self-likability measures before engaging in a “getting acquainted” conversation. Participants then rated their liking for their partners and estimated their partners' liking for them. Relative to high self-esteem participants, low self-esteem subjects rated themselves as less likable prior to the conversation and estimated that their partners liked them to a lesser extent after the conversation. However, low self-esteem subjects were actually rated by their partners as equally likable as the high self-esteem participants. Alternative explanations, limitations, and implications are discussed.     

Remaking the She-Devil: A Critical Look at Feminist Approaches to Beauty

Cosmetic surgery provides a problematic case for feminist theorizing about femininity and women's relationship with their bodies. Feminist accounts of femininity and beauty are unable to explain cosmetic surgery without undermining the women who opt for it. I argue that cosmetic surgery may have less to do with beauty and more to do with being ordinary, taking one's life into one's own hands, and determining how much suffering is fair.     

Response cost in mainstreamed settings

This study illustrates the use of a response cost token system to decrease inappropriate behaviors of mainstreamed students in the regular classroom milieu. Data were taken on a student's inappropriate request for teacher attention and another student's inappropriate verbalizations. A reversal design was employed. Results showed that a response cost token system was a viable and effective method for decreasing inappropriate behaviors of mainstreamed students in the regular classroom. Reasons for the effectiveness of this technique were discussed.     

Reliability of the AAMD adaptive behavior scale-public school version

Interrater reliability and stability of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale- Public School Version, Part I was investigated. Thirty-one children enrolled in resource classes for the educable mentally handicapped were rated by their parent, special education teacher, regular classroom teacher, and an independent observer. Raters completed the scale a second time 2 weeks after the initial ratings. Significant differences were found between raters, although ratings were stable over time. In general, ratings of special education teachers were lower than those of parents, regular classroom teachers, and the observer.     

Effects of knowledge and development on subordinate level categorization

Children and adults with high, moderate, and low levels of dinosaur knowledge were provided with a series of tasks to determine the relative effects of knowledge and development on subordinate category extension, differentiation, and subsequent revision. As knowledge increased, individuals generated higher proportions of category underextensions and lower proportions of overextensions. Adults, but not children, who were highly knowledgeable about dinosaurs demonstrated similar patterns of extension for unfamiliar categories, suggesting that knowledge transfer is mediated by age-related strategies. Adults at all levels of knowledge were more likely to revise their category extensions than children were. The relation between intelligence and expertise in object domains is considered and a preliminary model of the effects of knowledge and development on skill at categorization is presented.