Comparing techniques for estimating automatic retrieval: effects of retention interval

Results from implicit memory (IM) tasks suggest that automatic retrieval remains stable or decreases over time. In contrast, results from the process dissociation approach (PDA) suggest that automatic retrieval may actually increase over time. One explanation for these discrepant results is that performance on IM tasks is contaminated by controlled retrieval strategies, thereby overestimating automatic retrieval, particularly at short retention intervals, when controlled retrieval strategies are high. An alternative explanation is that automatic and controlled retrieval are positively correlated, rather than independent as assumed by the PDA. If so, the PDA would underestimate automatic retrieval, particularly when controlled retrieval strategies are high. Results from a speeded IM task suggest that a standard IM task provided an accurate estimate of automatic retrieval, whereas the PDA underestimated automatic retrieval at a short retention interval. This pattern of underestimation by the PDA supports the conclusion that automatic and controlled retrieval were positively correlated rather than independent.     

Using culturally sensitive theories and research to meet the academic needs of low-income African American children

The economic and social barriers to the academic and social success of many African American children remain in place as the new millennium begins. These realities provide impetus for developing community-based partnership education programs designed to self-empower African American children for academic and social success under any socioeconomic conditions that exist in their lives. Progress toward effective program development, however, has been hindered by a dearth of culturally sensitive theories and research. The Research-Based Model Partnership Education Program (Model Program) is an effective, community-based, university-school-community partnership education program for self-empowering African American children for success. The formative and summative research of the Model Program is described in hopes of advancing theory and research for meeting the academic and social needs of low-income African American children.     

United Kingdom legislation on pack sizes of analgesics: background,rationale, and effects on suicide and deliberate self-harm

Following increasing concern in the UK about the mortality and morbidity associated with self-poisoning with analgesics, especially paracetamol (Tylenol, acetaminophen), legislation was introduced in 1998 to modify packs sold over-the-counter. The most important change was a reduction in the maximum size of packs. In this paper the background to the legislation, the rationale behind it, and its early impact are reviewed. The changes have had significant positive initial benefits on the mortality and morbidity associated with self-poisoning with analgesics.     

The rereading effect: Metacomprehension accuracy improves across reading trials

Guided by a hypothesis that integrates principles of monitoring from a cue-based framework of metacognitive judgments with assumptions about levels of text representation derived from theories of comprehension, we discovered that rereading improves metacomprehension accuracy. In Experiments 1 and 2, the participants read texts either once or twice, rated their comprehension for each text, and then were tested on the material. In both experiments, correlations between comprehension ratings and test scores were reliably greater for participants who reread texts than for participants who read texts only once. Furthermore, in contrast to the low levels of accuracy typically reported in the literature, rereading produced relatively high levels of accuracy, with the median gamma between ratings and test performance being +.60 across participants from both experiments. Our discussion focuses on two alternative hypotheses--that improved accuracy is an artifact of when judgments are collected or that it results from increased reliability of test performance--and on evidence that is inconsistent with these explanations for the rereading effect.     

Effects of titles on the processing of text and lexically ambiguous words: Evidence from eye movements

Providing titles for passages improves the comprehension and memorability of text. Titles have generally been thought to facilitate comprehension at later stages of processing. Consistent with prior research, we found that passages presented with titles were better recalled than those without titles. Furthermore, in Experiment 1, the presence of titles led to fewer regressive eye movements, shorter end-of-sentence reading times, and shorter fixation times on target nouns. Experiments 2 and 3, using ambiguous target words, indicated that except when a very infrequent sense of a word is required, titles provide a strong enough context to allow for ambiguous words to be processed as quickly as control words. The results of the three experiments suggest that titles affect processing at both integrative and lexical stages of reading.     

The role of working memory in analogical mapping

The impact of a working-memory load on analogical mapping was examined in two experiments, using a dual-task paradigm. In Experiment 1, we used a phonological working-memory load; in Experiment 2, we used a phonological working-memory load and an executive working-memory load. The subjects were required to identify correspondences between visual scenes, either for single objects or for three objects simultaneously. The results indicated that the imposition of either a phonological or an executive working-memory load decreased the frequency with which the subjects identified correspondences between scenes based on relations and increased the frequency with which they identified correspondences based on object attributes. The frequency with which subjects made relational mappings was increased by the instruction to find correspondences for multiple objects in a scene simultaneously, rather than for just one. These results indicate that mapping on the basis of relations places greater demands on both modality-specific buffers and executive components of working memory than does mapping on the basis of object attributes.     

Findings on Disruptive Behavior Disorders from the First Decade of the Developmental Trends Study

The paper summarizes the first decade of the Developmental Trends Study, a prospective longitudinal study of 177 boys. Initially, they were referred to mental health clinics in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), and Georgia (Athens and Atlanta). Since 1987, the boys, their parents, and their teachers have been followed up almost annually. The study is unique because the cooperation rate of participants has remained very high over the years, psychiatric diagnoses were derived from structured interviews (especially disruptive behavior disorders), and many risk factors were measured over the years. The present paper summarizes key findings on the development of disruptive behavior, especially Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. The paper also highlights results on risk factors and comorbid conditions of disruptive behaviors.     

Investigating the effects of a set of intercorrelated variables on eye fixation durations in reading

The present experiment investigated the influence of 5 intercorrelated variables on word recognition using a multiple regression analysis. The 5 variables were word frequency, subjective familiarity, word length, concreteness, and age of acquisition (AoA). Target words were embedded in sentences and eye tracking methodology was used to investigate the predictive power of these variables. All 5 variables were found to influence reading time. However, the time course of these variables differed. Both word frequency and familiarity showed an early but lasting influence on eye fixation durations. Word length only significantly predicted fixation durations after refixations on the target words were taken into account. This is the 1st experiment to demonstrate concreteness and AoA effects on eye fixations.     

Prototypical analysis of adolescent psychopathy: investigating the juvenile justice perspective

The past ten years have seen a dramatic increase in the empirical investigation of psychopathic characteristics in children and adolescents. In general, the focus of this research has been on the validation of assessment instruments to evaluate psychopathy as well as concurrent and predictive validity. Little attention has been directed toward elucidating the core characteristics of this construct. The current study expands on previous research by asking juvenile justice personnel (424 juvenile detention and probation officers) to identify the core characteristics of the construct via prototypical analysis for both male and female adolescents. Results of separate factor analyses by gender revealed five identifiable dimensions: juvenile delinquency, serious/violent conduct problems, narcissistic/manipulation of others, impulsivity/acting out, and family problems. The results suggest that juvenile justice personnel focus on a wide range of behavioral indicators as indicative of adolescent psychopathy in addition to affective and interpersonal characteristics typically viewed as crucial to the construct by clinicians.