Children's time perception as affected by order of stimulus presentation

Two groups of 5- to 6-yr.-old children estimated the time required to view 15 color slides containing an assortment of familiar objects. In one group, the pictures appeared in categorical order. A second group viewed the same 15 slides in a random order. The results showed that, although picture-recall was similar for the two groups, children in the category group estimated significantly longer durations than subjects in the random condition. The findings were discussed in the context of Ornstein's 1969 storage size hypothesis.     

Interpretation of homophones related to threat in anxiety states

In previous studies, we have established that anxiety states are characterized by an attentional bias that favors the processing of threatening stimuli. In the present study we extend this finding to ambiguous stimuli, specifically, homophones with spellings that correspond to either a threatening or a neutral meaning. As predicted, clinically anxious subjects used the threatening spellings relatively more than did controls, whereas recovered subjects were intermediate in this respect. Threatening words were associated with greater skin conductance responses than were neutral words, but the groups did not differ in their electrodermal reactions to homophones. We take these findings as evidence that, although the different meanings of ambiguous stimuli may be processed in parallel by all subjects, an interpretive bias operates such that anxiety-prone individuals tend to become preferentially aware of the more threatening meaning of such events.     

Holland's vocational models: A study of work groups and need satisfaction

This study was designed to investigate two topics: (1) the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed men, and (2) the pattern of needs associated with occupations exemplifying each of Holland's vocational models. Concurrent validity was investigated by administering the Vocational Preference Inventory to 230 male workers well established in occupational milieus that match Holland's six vocational environments. With the exception of the Realistic scale of the VPI, the five remaining vocational scales distributed eight work groups, identified as representative of each of Holland's six vocational models, in a comparable fashion according to their interests. Empirical results on two nonvocational scales (Masculinity and Status) support Holland's vocational models.     

Socioeconomic status and hippocampal volume in children and young adults

An individual's socioeconomic status (SES) is often viewed as a proxy for a host of environmental influences. SES disparities have been linked to variance in brain structures particularly the hippocampus, a neural substrate of learning and memory. However, it is unclear whether the association between SES and hippocampal volume is similar in children and adults. We investigated the relationship between hippocampal volume and SES in a group of children (n = 31, age 8–12 years) and a group of young adults (n = 32, age 18–25 years). SES was assessed with four indicators that loaded on a single factor, therefore a composite SES scores was used in the main analyses. Hippocampal volume was measured using manual demarcation on high resolution structural images. SES was associated with hippocampal volume in the children, but not in adults, suggesting that in childhood, but not adulthood, SES‐related environmental factors influence hippocampal volume. In addition, hippocampal volume, but not SES, was associated with scores on a memory task, suggesting that net effects of postnatal environmental factors, captured by SES, are more distal determinants of memory performance than hippocampal volume. Longitudinal investigation of the association between SES, hippocampal volume and cognitive functioning may further our understanding of the putative neural mechanisms underlying SES‐related environmental effects on cognitive development.