Global context effects on processing lexically ambiguous words: Evidence from eye fixations

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read biased ambiguous target words in the context of a short paragraph. Two aspects of context were manipulated. The global context was presented in the topic sentence of the paragraph and instantiated either the dominant or the subordinate meaning of biased ambiguous target words (those with highly dominant meanings). Local contextual information either preceded or followed the target word and was always consistent with the subordinate interpretation. Consistent with prior research, we obtained a subordinate bias effect wherein readers looked longer at the ambiguous words than control words when the preceding context instantiated the subordinate meaning. More importantly, the magnitude of the subordinate bias effect was the same when global context alone, local context alone, or local and global context combined were consistent with the subordinate meaning of the ambiguous word. The results of this study indicate that global contextual information (1) has an immediate impact on lexical ambiguity resolution when no local disambiguating information is available, (2) has no additional effect when it is consistent with local information, but (3) does have a slightly delayed effect when inconsistent with local information.     

The importance of monitoring and self-regulation during multitrial learning

Theory suggests that accuracy of metacognitive monitoring and self-regulation of study will affect test performance, but there is little empirical evidence linking these variables. I examined the relation among these variables in a multitrial learning task. Regression analyses showed that monitoring accuracy and self-regulation were reliably related to test performance--greater monitoring accuracy and more effective self-regulation were associated with greater test performance. These analyses were contrasted with analyses typically conducted in previous research, to show the importance of using a multitrial learning task and of attending to the theoretically based causal relation among variables when evaluating how monitoring accuracy and self-regulation are related to test performance. The results of this investigation may help to explain why previous research has failed to link these variables.     

Does contextual strength modulate the subordinate bias effect? A reply to Kellas and Vu

In their reply to Binder and Rayner (1998), Kellas and Vu (1999) raised questions about the criteria we used to exclude items from the Kellas, Martin, Yehling, Herman, and Vu (1995) stimulus set. In this reply, we further document these criteria and also address the issue of local versus published norms. We continue to believe that the stimulus set used by Kellas et al. (1995) was problematic. We also address the issue of strength of context, a concept used in earlier research that dealt with the subordinate bias effect. We argue that the contexts used by Kellas et al. (1995) were no stronger than the contexts previously used that established this effect. Therefore, we continue to think that our finding that context does not eliminate the subordinate bias effect is valid.     

New Approaches to Teaching Early Confucianism

Teachers are often tempted to present early Confucianism as an abstract ethical philosophy whose wisdom stands outside of time and space. Nevertheless, this kind of rarefied treatment makes it difficult for students to understand. Instead, one should try to make Confucianism more tangible by firmly placing it in its historical and intellectual context. This can be done in the following ways: Use indigenous nomenclature for words like “Confucius” and “Confucianism.” Closely examine the history and character of the Confucian community. Draw attention to the overwhelming importance of ritual in Confucian doctrine. Underline the all-encompassing nature of Confucian religiosity. Show the popular stories and images by which Confucians transmitted their teachings. Although these methods focus on the otherness of early Confucianism and thereby might make it less appealing to modern tastes, they will provide students with a lively and vivid image of the early tradition and its advocates.     

On the nature of international sales and sales management research: a social network–analytic perspective

This research uses a combination of text mining, co-word analysis, and social network analysis (SNA) to review 132 international sales and sales management (ISSM) articles published between 1980 and 2017. The study provides a unique view of the past and future of ISSM research and provides three principal contributions. First, from a social network–analytic perspective, it offers a unique examination of the ways ISSM research topics are interconnected, as reflected by keyword network structure. Second, by conducting SNA across two periods (1980–1999 and 2000–2017) and examining the changes in network centrality measures, the study offers initial insights into the evolving nature of the ISSM literature. Third, the study reports keyword network disconnections (i.e., structural holes) to propose a fruitful agenda for future ISSM research. Taken together, this research offers a current perspective of the ISSM research domain's evolving nature.     

Distress in spouses of Vietnam veterans: associations with communication about deployment experiences

Emerging literature shows a consistent pattern of relationship and psychological distress in spouses or partners of combat veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One possible mechanism of partners' distress posited in clinical literature is that excessive discussion of traumatic events from deployment may have negative effects on partners. At the extreme, some partners are suggested to develop PTSD-like symptoms, or secondary traumatic stress. Despite these hypotheses, there have been few empirical tests of the effects of communicating about such events. In a sample of 465 combat veterans and their spouses who participated in the Family Interview Component of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, we explored how the extent of couples' deployment-related communication was associated with partner relationships and psychological distress, and whether such associations were moderated by the severity of veterans' PTSD symptoms. Results showed that Vietnam-specific communication correlated negatively with relationship distress, but the effect was negligible after controlling for overall communication in the relationship. On the other hand, Vietnam-specific communication did not correlate with psychological distress, but the association was significantly moderated by veterans' PTSD symptom severity. Specifically, communication about Vietnam was increasingly and positively associated with partners' psychological distress as veterans' symptoms of PTSD rose into the clinical range, but nonsignificantly and negatively associated with such distress as PTSD symptoms decreased below this level. The findings support previous clinical recommendations that couples' discussions of potentially traumatic events be approached cautiously, and they suggest a need to attend to the content of couples' communications when conducting dyadic interventions for PTSD.     

Predicting elections from the most important issue: A test of the take‐the‐best heuristic

We used the take‐the‐best heuristic to develop a model to forecast the popular two‐party vote shares in U.S. presidential elections. The model draws upon information about how voters expect the candidates to deal with the most important issue facing the country. We used cross‐validation to calculate a total of 1000 out‐of‐sample forecasts, one for each of the last 100 days of the ten U.S. presidential elections from 1972 to 2008. Ninety‐seven per cent of forecasts correctly predicted the winner of the popular vote. The model forecasts were competitive compared to forecasts from methods that incorporate substantially more information (e.g., econometric models and the Iowa Electronic Markets). The purpose of the model is to provide fast advice on which issues candidates should stress in their campaign. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Models of self and others and their relation to positive and negative caregiving responses

The burden of providing informal care to a family member can lead to caregiver depression and potentially harmful caregiving behavior. Given the interpersonal nature of caregiving, the relationship between caregivers and care recipients may impact caregiver responses. We applied attachment theory to understanding caregiver depression, and both potentially harmful and exemplary caregiving responses. We present data from 430 caregivers in the Family Relationships in Late Life (FRILL 2) Project, a multisite, longitudinal study of caregiving. Age, gender, and model of self were related to caregiving responses, suggesting that model of self may help identify caregivers at risk for poor responses.