Recognizing cognates and interlingual homographs: Effects of code similarity in language-specific and generalized lexical decision

In four experiments, we investigated how cross-linguistic overlap in semantics, orthography, and phonology affects bilingual word recognition in different variants of the lexical decision task. Dutch-English bilinguals performed a language-specific or a generalized lexical decision task including words that are spelled and/or pronounced the same in English and in Dutch and that matched one-language control words from both languages. In Experiments 1 and 3, "false friends" with different meanings in the two languages (e.g., spot) were presented, whereas in Experiments 2 and 4 cognates with the same meanings across languages (e.g., film) were presented. The language-specific Experiments 1 and 2 replicated and qualified an earlier study (Dijkstra, Grainger, & Van Heuven, 1999). In the generalized Experiment 3, participants reacted equally quickly on Dutch-English homographs and Dutch control words, indicating that their response was based primarily on the fastest available orthographic code (i.e., Dutch). In Experiment 4, cognates were recognized faster than English and Dutch controls, suggesting coactivation of the cognates' semantics. The nonword results indicate that the bilingual rejection procedure can, to some extent, be language specific. All results are discussed within the BIA+ (bilingual interactive activation) model for bilingual word recognition.     

African American students' ratings of Caucasian and African American counselors varying in racial consciousness

African American college students (63 female, 30 male) rated vignettes of counselors varying in racial consciousness (high vs. low) and race (African American vs. Caucasian). Participants then completed a counselor rating scale and the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Short Form; T. A. Parham & J. E. Helms, 1981). African American counselors were rated more favorably than White counselors, and high racially conscious counselors were rated more favorably than low racially conscious counselors. The African American counselor with high racial consciousness was rated the most favorably. Several significant correlations were found between participants' racial identity attitudes and their ratings of counselors. Implications for the training of both African American and White counselors are considered.     

Anxiety sensitivity: association with intensity of retrospectively-rated smoking-related withdrawal symptoms and motivation to quit

The present cross-sectional study evaluated the associations between anxiety sensitivity, intensity of retrospectively-rated nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and motivation to quit smoking. Participants were 127 young adult (mean age 20.4 years (SD 4.6)) regular smokers (mean cigarettes per day 10.2 (SD 5.1)). Anxiety sensitivity predicted intensity of retrospectively rated withdrawal symptoms during the first week of the most recent quit attempt as well as concurrent and lifetime indices of motivation to quit smoking even after controlling for theoretically-relevant smoking (e.g. nicotine dependence) and affect (e.g. panic attack history) factors. These results are discussed in relation to better understanding panic-related vulnerability factors in smoking cessation.     

Refining the experimental analysis of academic skills deficits: part II. Use of brief experimental analysis to evaluate reading fluency treatments

The technology of brief experimental analysis is just beginning to be used for identification of effective treatments for individual students who experience difficulty with oral reading fluency. In this study, the effect of a reading fluency treatment package was examined on easy and hard passages, and generalization was assessed on passages with high content overlap. The results suggest that the treatment package increased reading fluency for all 3 students. Effects were moderated by difficulty level for all 3 students. Results are discussed in terms of future refinements to the procedures, validation of the methods, and potential applications in clinical and school settings.     

The moderating roles of self-esteem and neuroticism in the relationship between group and individual undermining behavior

The authors developed and tested a multilevel interactive model of the relationship between group undermining and individual undermining behavior in 2 multiwave studies of group members. Integrating the literature on group influences on individual behavior with the individual difference literature, the authors predicted a 3-way Group Undermining x Self-Esteem x Neuroticism interaction, such that the relationship between group and individual undermining would be strongest among those simultaneously high in self-esteem and neuroticism. The 3-way interaction was supported in Study 1 (457 participants in 103 groups) and replicated in Study 2 (415 participants in 93 groups) with additional controls and alternative measures of key constructs. The authors discuss the implications of the research and identify future research directions.     

Mother-child play and emerging social behaviors among infants from maltreating families

Mother-child play of 12-month-old infants (N=130) from maltreating (N=78) and non-maltreating (N=52) families was analyzed as a context that integrates infants' developing social and cognitive skills. Play was coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms. No group differences were found in infants' play maturity. Infants from abusing families demonstrated more imitative play than infants from non-maltreating families, and engaged in less independent play than infants from both neglecting and non-maltreating families, suggesting a delay in emerging social behaviors. Mothers from abusing and non-maltreating families differed in attention directing behaviors. Maternal behaviors predicted child play style variables, but did not mediate the effects of maltreatment. Findings discuss the influence of an early maltreating environment upon the development of the emergent self. Implications for early intervention are underscored.     

The relationships among trauma, stress, ethnicity, and binge eating

The present study investigated whether trauma, stress, and discriminatory experiences influenced binge eating among 93 African American and 85 Caucasian women. Trauma and stress were significantly related to binge eating for both groups, although the stress- binge eating relationship was stronger for Caucasian women. Ethnicity did not moderate the relationship between trauma and binge eating, but did moderate the stress-binge eating relationship. Finally, the hypothesis that trauma and stress would influence binge eating through their effects on function of eating was partially supported; the relationship between stress and binge eating was partially mediated by function of eating among Caucasian women. The implications of these findings for our understanding of binge eating are discussed.     

Memory for frequency of bizarre and common stimuli: limitations of the automaticity hypothesis

In 2 experiments, the influence of intention to process frequency on accuracy of memory for frequency of bizarre and common sentences was investigated. The results from multiple regression analyses indicated that intentional processing increased the accuracy of frequency judgments when memory for frequency was tested after a 2-min (Experiment 1) and after a 48-hr (Experiment 2) retention interval. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 2 indicated that unintentional processors tended to overestimate frequencies of bizarre relative to common items after a delay. The implications of the results are discussed with regard to L. Hasher and R. T. Zacks's (1984) automaticity hypothesis, human performance, and the accuracy of judgments of frequency of occurrence of unusual events.     

Actual versus self-reported scholastic achievement of litigating postconcussion and severe closed head injury claimants

Psychologists typically rely on patients' self-report of premorbid status in litigated settings. The authors examined the fidelity between self-reported and actual scholastic performance in litigating head injury claimants. The data indicated late postconcussion syndrome (LPCS) and severe closed head injury litigants retrospectively inflated scholastic performance to a greater degree than nonlitigating control groups. The LPCS group showed the highest magnitude of grade inflation, but discrepancy scores did not significantly correlate with a battery of malingering measures or with objective cerebral dysfunction. These findings support previous studies, which showed self-report is not a reliable basis for estimation of preinjury cognitive status. Retrospective inflation may represent a response shift bias shaped by an adversarial context rather than a form of malingering.