Bigram Frequency,Number of Syllables and Morphemes and Their Effects on Lexical Decision and Word Naming

There has been an increasing volume of evidence supporting the role of the syllable in word processing tasks. Recently it has also been shown that orthographic redundancy, related to the pattern of bigram frequencies, could not explain the syllable number effect on lexical decision times. This was demonstrated on a large sample of words taken from the British Lexicon Project. In this study we extend this research by examining both lexical decision and word naming times taken from the English Lexicon Project . There was a syllable number effect for both tasks in the expected direction, and this effect was independent of the presence of a bigram trough. The research also examined the role of other bigram related variables and the number of morphemes on lexical decision and word naming times. The number of morphemes had a significant effect on both word processing tasks, with words with more morphemes producing faster reaction times and also fewer errors. This pattern was reversed for nonword lexical decision times. The results are discussed in the light of recent developments in models of reading.     

Biases in ratings of disruptive behavior in children: effects of sex and negative halos

OBJECTIVE: Behavior disorders are more prevalent among boys than girls, but the etiology of this difference is unclear. Studies have not tested for sex bias in ratings as a contributing factor to the differential sex prevalence rates. However, there are several studies showing "negative halo effects" in ratings of boys (i.e., the presence of one type of behavior artificially inflating ratings of another behavior). These findings have only been extended to girls in one recent study. The current study is designed to test for sex difference in (a) ratings of boys and girls who exhibit the same degree of disruptive behavior and (b) negative halo effects. METHOD: Two hundred and thirty-nine college students participated. Sex differences in ratings are not found. Nonetheless, bidirectional negative halo effects are found for boys and girls (i.e., the presence of oppositionality artificially increased ratings of inattention and hyperactivity; the presence of inattention and hyperactivity artificially increased oppositionality).     

Goal-directed memory: the role of cognitive control in older adults' emotional memory

The present study revealed that older adults recruit cognitive control processes to strengthen positive and diminish negative information in memory. In Experiment 1, older adults engaged in more elaborative processing when retrieving positive memories than they did when retrieving negative memories. In Experiment 2, older adults who did well on tasks involving cognitive control were more likely than those doing poorly to favor positive pictures in memory. In Experiment 3, older adults who were distracted during memory encoding no longer favored positive over negative pictures in their later recall, revealing that older adults use cognitive resources to implement emotional goals during encoding. In contrast, younger adults showed no signs of using cognitive control to make their memories more positive, indicating that, for them, emotion regulation goals are not chronically activated.     

Restrained eating: an experimental disentanglement of the disinhibiting variables of perceived calories and food type

The influence of food type on the restrained eating pattern was examined. In Study 1, subjects rated the degree to which each of 149 foods were dietary permissable or dietary forbidden. The number of avoided foods correlated positively with restraint score. Study 2 compared Herman and Mack's (1975) 1- and 2-milk shake preloads to two nonforbidden preloads of equivalent calories. Food type, and not perceived calories, was found to be the element of the preload required to cause disinhibition among restrained eaters, both within the experiment and outside the experimental setting. Study 3 examined the effects of anticipated consumption (varying food type and calories) on the restrained eating pattern. Only restrained eaters anticipating a forbidden food (whether high or low in calories) were disinhibited. The restrained literature was reconsidered in light of the forbidden food hypothesis.     

Effects of frontal lobe damage on interference effects in working memory

Working memory is hypothesized to comprise a collection of distinct components or processes, each of which may have a unique neural substrate. Recent neuroimaging studies have isolated a region of the left inferior frontal gyrus that appears to be related specifically to one such component: resolving interference from previous items in working memory. In the present study, we examined working memory in patients with unilateral frontal lobe lesions by using a modified version of an item recognition task in which interference from previous trials was manipulated. In particular, we focused on patient R.C., whose lesion uniquely impinged on the region identified in the neuroimaging studies of interference effects. We measured baseline working memory performance and interference effects in R.C. and other frontal patients and in age-matched control subjects and young control subjects. Comparisons of each of these groups supported the following conclusions. Normal aging is associated with changes to both working memory and interference effects. Patients with frontal damage exhibited further declines in working memory but normal interference effects, with the exception of R.C., who exhibited a pronounced interference effect on both response time and accuracy. We propose that the left inferior frontal gyrus subserves a general, nonmnemonic function of selecting relevant information in the face of competing alternatives and that this function may be required by some working memory tasks.     

Models of Clergy Spouse Involvement in Protestant Christian Congregations

While all adults in the paid labor force face the difficult task of managing the competing pressures of work and family life, clergy families encounter an added dynamic in the way spouses are integrated into the church. Yet spouses approach involvement in unique and varied ways, making intentional choices over how much or little to participate in the congregations their husbands and wives pastor. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 46 pastors and clergy spouses in five Protestant Christian denominations, this study describes three models of clergy spouse participation showing the diverse ways women and men interpret and enact their role through the ongoing management of boundaries. I consider several social factors informing the model a clergy spouse embraces—pressure from congregants or one’s own ideas, congregational precedent, gender and stage in the life cycle—shedding light on the interaction between individual preferences and contextual factors. In doing so, I argue that although the women and men in this study are continually recreating what it means to be a clergy spouse, they remain heavily rooted in a traditional expectation that pastors’ wives and husbands provide support to their spouse’s church and calling to pastoral ministry.     

Medical Family Therapy: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) is a relatively young sub-specialty founded initially at the intersection of Family Therapy and Family Medicine. The purpose of this article is to synthesize and review scholarly literature covering almost 30?years of history, growth, and available research on MedFT. Eighty-two articles that met specific inclusion criteria were reviewed and the literature was categorized into four distinct themes: (a) Emergence of MedFT in the literature; (b) Contemporary MedFT skills and applications; (c) Punctuating the ??family therapy?? in MedFT; and (d) MedFT effectiveness and efficacy research. What was learned was that MedFT is growing so rapidly there is now a need for a current definition, identification of core curriculum standards and competencies for training, as well as a commitment to produce rigorous research on its effectiveness and efficacy. Recommendations to advance efforts across the foci are provided.