Word superiority over isolated letters: The neglected case of forward masking

Previous research shows that when briefly presented alphabetic stimuli are followed by pattern masks, letters in words are reported more accurately than are isolated letters (the “Word-Letter Phenomenon,” or WLP); however, when these masks are replaced by blank fields, the WLP disappears. These findings have led to the popular notion that the WLP reflects selective masking of ongoing stimulus processing and so critically depends on the use of poststimulus masks. Here we report three experiments which re-examine the role of masking in the WLP by contrasting the effects of postmasked displays with the effects of premasked displays in which words and isolated letters werepreceded by a pattern mask and followedby a completely blank field. Despite the critical role generally assigned to poststimulus pattern masks, similar WLPs were obtained with pre- and postmasked displays. Implications for theories of word and letter recognition are discussed.     

Spiritual health,illness, and death

This essay outlines a view of spiritual health in middle life, particularly as it relates to an individual's confrontation with mortality. It was originally offered as part of a symposium on “Living and Dying” at the twenty-fifth reunion of the Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1968 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in June, 1993.     

Book reviews

Private Practice Youngstown, Ohio 44512     

Deriving ultrametric tree structures from proximity data confounded by differential stimulus familiarity

This paper presents a new procedure called TREEFAM for estimating ultrametric tree structures from proximity data confounded by differential stimulus familiarity. The objective of the proposed TREEFAM procedure is to quantitatively filter out the effects of stimulus unfamiliarity in the estimation of an ultrametric tree. A conditional, alternating maximum likelihood procedure is formulated to simultaneously estimate an ultrametric tree, under the unobserved condition of complete stimulus familiarity, and subject-specific parameters capturing the adjustments due to differential unfamiliarity. We demonstrate the performance of the TREEFAM procedure under a variety of alternative conditions via a modest Monte Carlo experimental study. An empirical application provides evidence that the TREEFAM outperforms traditional models that ignore the effects of unfamiliarity in terms of superior tree recovery and overall goodness-of-fit.     

An adttechment-dtheoretical perspectice on the use of splitting defences

The present investigation examined relationships among childhood emotional bonds with parents, current stress, adult attachment styles and the tendency to employ splitting defences within a nonclinical sample of college students. Our jindings indicated that (a) participants' childhood recollections of parental care and warmth had a significant, although modest, direct effect on splitting scores and (b) controlling for early parental care, both current Stress levels and adult attachment styles had significant direct and interactive effects on splitting scores. In general, secure and dismissive students evidenced significantly lower splitting scores than did their preoccupied and fearful peers; however, when the splitting scores of distressed and nondistressed participants within each attachment style group were compared, only distressed persons in the three insecurely attached groups exhibited modestly to prominently elevated splitting scores. Implications of our findings to counselling practice are discussed.     

Teacher practices associated with students' sense of the classroom as a community

Data from observations of 232 elementary classrooms and from student questionnaires were used to test a model linking teacher classroom practices to students' sense of the classroom as a community (assessed by questionnaire) through intermediate effects on students' classroom behavior. The model was generally confirmed and showed that teacher practices (emphasis on prosocial values, elicitation of student thinking and expression of ideas, encouragement of cooperation, warmth and supportiveness, andreduced use of extrinsic control) were related to student classroom behaviors (engagement, influence, andpositive behavior), which, in turn, were related to students'sense of community. Teachers' encouragement of cooperative activities appeared to be particularly important in this sequence. The appropriateness of the model was tested for schools serving populations that were both high and low in level of poverty, and all estimates of path coefficients were found to be invariant across these groups.     

University Residence Hall Assistants as Mediators: An Investigation of the Effects of Disputant and Mediator Relationships on Intervention Preferences1

The present research investigated whether (a) preexisting affiliation (bias) between a mediator and 1 disputant and (b) interpersonal hostility between 2 disputants affected university Residence hall Assistants' (RAs') mediation strategies. Respondents (N = 45) read 1 of 4 versions of a dispute scenario; versions varied independent variables according to a 2 × 2 design (high vs. low mediator affiliation and high vs. low disputant hostility). Respondents indicated the probability of using 18 mediation techniques. Results suggested that both independent variables significantly affected strategy selection. When friends with the complainant, the RA was likely to first avoid mediating. Hostility between disputants was related to less problem solving. In all conditions. RAs mentioned techniques consistent with stage theories of mediation, moving from problem definition to problem solving to pressing the parties.     

Infants' sensitivity to effects of gravity on visible object motion.

A preference method probed infants' perception of object motion on an inclined plane. Infants viewed videotaped events in which a ball rolled downward (or upward) while speeding up (or slowing down). Then infants were tested with events in which the ball moved in the opposite direction with appropriate or inappropriate acceleration. Infants aged 7 months, but not 5 months, looked longer at the test event with inappropriate acceleration, suggesting emerging sensitivity to gravity. A further study tested whether infants appreciate that a stationary object released on an incline moves downward rather than upward; findings again were positive at 7 months and negative at 5 months. A final study provided evidence, nevertheless, that 5-month-old infants discriminate downward from upward motion and relate downward motion in videotaped events to downward motion in live events. Sensitivity to certain effects of gravity appears to develop in infancy.