The influence of category coherence on inference about cross-classified entities

A critical function of categories is their use in property inference (Heit, 2000). However, one challenge to using categories in inference is that most entities in the world belong to multiple categories (e.g., Fido could be a dog, a pet, a mammal, or a security system). Building on Patalano, Chin-Parker, and Ross (2006), we tested the hypothesis that category coherence (the extent to which category features go together in light of prior knowledge) influences the selection of categories for use in property inference about cross-classified entities. In two experiments, we directly contrasted coherent and incoherent categories, both of which included cross-classified entities as members, and we found that the coherent categories were used more readily as the source of both property transfer and property extension. We conclude that category coherence, which has been found to be a potent influence on strength of inference for singly classified entities (Rehder & Hastie, 2004), is also central to category use in reasoning about novel cross-classified ones.     

The Knowledge of Child Development Inventory

The need for an instrument that measures knowledge of child development and is comprehensible to lay populations and young adolescents has led to the development of the Knowledge of Child Development Inventory (KCDI). The KCDI is a 56-item multiple-choice test of knowledge of child development from birth to age three in the areas of emotional, cognitive, physical, and social development. Normative data were obtained on the KCDI from a sample population of 434 adolescent and adult females from varying racial backgrounds. The instrument has a reading level of 8.0 (Fry Reading Index), a minimum of technical terminology, reliability of .93 (Cronback's alpha coefficient of internal consistency), and criterion validity of .83. The KCDI would be relevant in educational settings where pre- and post-assessment of knowledge of child development is desired, i.e., high school courses in child development, prenatal classes, Head Start parent-training programs, and early childhood/special education parent-training programs. In addition, the KCDI would be relevant in clinical settings where the assessment of a person's concepts of child development are of importance i.e., adoption agencies, abuse centers, and teenage pregnancy centers.     

Gender schema theory and sex role inventories: some conceptual and psychometric considerations

In this study we assessed whether the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the PRF ANDRO are appropriate for investigations of gender schema theory (Bem, 1981a). Because these instruments were developed for entirely different theoretical purposes, it is important to empirically examine the validity of these measures for investigating the construct of gender schema. On the basis of the propositions of gender schema theory, we made several predictions about the psychometric properties that should be exhibited by a valid measure of this construct. Responses to the PRF ANDRO and the BSRI were factor analyzed separately for sex-typed and non-sex-typed groups. Results show consistent and theoretically predictable differences in the factor solutions of these two groups. The sex-typed or gender-schematic group obtained bipolar factors, with masculine items loading with one sign, whereas feminine items loaded with the other sign on each factor. Also, sex of subject loaded highly on almost every factor for this group. The non-sex-typed group, however, obtained few such distinctly dichotomous factors, and sex of subject loaded only on the weaker factors. Results are interpreted as providing support for the construct validity of at least the BSRI and the PRF ANDRO for use in researching the implications of this approach.     

Vowel perception: A neuroradiological localization of the perception of vowels in the human cortex

Whether the perception of vowels takes place in the right or left cerebral hemisphere, or is dependent on bilateral cortical processes, is of importance in our treatment of patients with language deficiencies. To investigate this problem a phonetic test with a series of vowellike stimuli was administered to 68 right-handed adult patients with cerebral lesions, mainly of vascular origin. The results were compared to the results in a control group of 19 speech therapists. Second, a neuroradiologic method was developed in order to visualize the anatomic site of Wernicke's area in the left hemisphere on CT scans. This method formed the basis for an evaluation of the extent and localization of the patients' lesions in Wernicke's area. Of 46 patients with lesions in the left hemisphere, 19 had no perceptual disturbances and 27 had severe perceptual disturbances with lesions predominantly located in Wernicke's area. Twenty-two patients with lesions in the corresponding area in the right hemisphere showed no perceptual disturbances. The results of this investigation appear to indicate that the perception of vowels in right-handed persons is unilaterally located in Wernicke's area in the left hemisphere.     

Correlation of eye color on self-paced and reactive motor performance.

Researchers continue to examine the distinctiveness of motor performance by dark- versus light-eyed individuals. Dark-eyed individuals generally perform better at reactive type tasks (boxing, hitting a ball, defensive positions in football, rotary pursuit), while light-eyed individuals perform better at self-paced tasks (bowling, golf, pitching baseballs). Subjects performed two tasks, rotary pursuit and ball tossing (with light and dark background). Eye color (light or dark) and accuracy of performance were recorded for each subject. No significant difference was found between eye color and performance on the pursuit rotor (reactive activity). A significant difference was found between men's and women's performance in throwing a ball (self-paced activity) at a light-colored background.     

Lexical and Nonlexical Spelling Deficits in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Written spelling was assessed in 16 subjects with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) using an information processing approach. The results were compared to the performance in a group of healthy elderly subjects. The Alzheimer subjects scored significantly lower in word spelling and nonword spelling ability than the controls (F(1, 7) = 187,p< .0001), and both the lexical and the nonlexical spelling strategies were affected. The results did not support the hypothesis that nonlexical ability is preserved in DAT. In the DAT group, spelling correlated significantly (p< 0.01) with the severity of dementia, but spelling performance was not associated with the age of onset of dementia or family history of dementia.     

PERCEPTIONS OF BEHAVIORAL CONSISTENCY:

Abstract— Actors view behavior relevant for personality traits as more variable than observers do. This study was designed in replicate this actor-observer effect (AOE) in a common-target paradigm, test whether actors, observers, or both are intuitively aware of the AOE, and examine the effects of social projection on people's awareness of the AOE. Within each actor-observer pair, subjects described the actor on a series of trait adjectives and rated the consistency of relevant behavior. They then predicted the other person's ratings. The AOE emerged, and actors, but not observers, were aware of the effect On average, actors correctly predicted that observers rated actors' behavior as more consistent than actors themselves did Correlational analyses showed that actors and observers were equally prone to project their own ratings lo their matched partners     

PHYSICAL AND PSYCHIATRIC CORRELATES OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

We tested the model that sexist discrimination, measured by the Schedule of Sexist Events (SSE), would account for additional variance in women's physical and psychiatric symptoms, above and beyond that accounted for by generic stressors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses, predicting symptoms on 10 different symptom outcome measures from generic stress and sexist stress (discrimination) were conducted, with the generic stressors entered on the first step and sexist discrimination on the second. Results revealed that sexist discrimination contributed significantly to the variance in women's symptoms, accounting for additional variance in those symptoms. Furthermore, sexist discrimination accounted for more of the variance than did generic stressors in premenstrual, depressive, obsessive-compulsive, somatic, and total psychiatric and physical symptoms. These findings varied with the age and ethnicity of the women and with the symptom measure used, but nonetheless suggest that sexist discrimination plays a significant role in women's most prevalent symptoms.