Neuropsychological significance of phonetically accurate and phonetically inaccurate spelling errors in younger and older retarded spellers

The performances of two groups of retarded spellers (who were equated with respect to the level of deficient performance in spelling, but who differed in the level of phonetic accuracy of their misspellings) at two different age levels were compared to those of normal spellers who had been matched for age and WISC Performance IQ with the retarded spelling groups. The results indicated very marked differences in a number of linguistic skills between the normal spellers and the retarded spellers whose misspellings were characterized by phonetic inaccuracy. The performances of the retarded spellers who produced a preponderance of phonetically accurate misspellings differed markedly from those of the normal spellers only when the task demands involved fairly complex linguistic-cognitive operations. For the most part, the differences among the three groups were in evidence only at the older age level studied.     

Visual field differences in verbal tasks: Effects of task familiarity and sex of subject

Four experiments using normal subjects investigated differences in magnitude of the right visual field (RVF) superiority as a function of word material (frequency and concreteness/imageability status), nonword letter strings (some of which were homophonic with nonpresented real words), and type of task (overt naming or lexical decision with discriminatory manual responses) as well as sex of the subject and the subject's familiarity with the material. Both latency and error measures showed that RVF superiority was more consistent when overt naming was required and with male subjects. For female subjects engaged in lexical decisions, a left visual field (LVF) superiority was often apparent, especially in the first half of an experimental sequence; when actually naming the items aloud, they showed field asymmetries similar to males. Except from an analysis of errors, there was little evidence to support differential right hemisphere mediation of high frequency concrete/imageable materials. It is suggested that in females, right hemisphere space normally reserved for visuospatial processing may have been invaded by secondary speech mechanisms. These mechanisms appear to operate at an essentially lexical level and may act in a supportive or auxiliary capacity for difficult or unfamiliar material; they seem to be equally concerned with both phonological and graphological processing and may account for the well-known female superiority in verbal tasks and inferiority in visuospatial tasks. Other findings are discussed such as the degree of consistency of the field differences, both for the same subjects and for the same stimulus materials under different task requirements and experimental conditions.     

Preparing Individuals for job Interviews: Suggestions From More Than 60 Years of Research

After a review of the existing literature on employment interviews, the findings are organized into a four-phase model for implementing training programs that prepare clients to interview more effectively. The four phases include developing realistic expectations, developing successful interviewing skills, using effective training procedures, and preparing clients to cope with rejection shock. The importance of active preparation for job interviews and the counselor's potential role in this process are emphasized.     

The changing pattern of perceptual analytic strategies and response selection with practice in a two-choice reaction time task

In the experiment reported here the primary hypothesis proposed, which was supported by the data, was that subjects performing a two-choice self-paced serial RT task would learn to change their strategy of perceptual analysis of signals presented to them as they became progressively more practised. Early in practice each signal is identified as a particular state of the display and an appropriate response is then made. Well practised subjects, however, select their responses by reference to the change or constancy between successive displays. This strategy implies that the assumptions made by the generally accepted simple S-R connectionist model of two-choice serial RT may be quite misleading, since the choice of any particular response must be determined not only by the display state but also by what the previous response had been.     

On the time constants of tachistoscopes

The time constants of commercially available, electronic tachistoscopes are shown to be much poorer than is widely assumed. When a band near the centre of the visible spectrum is isolated, the output of a typical tachistoscope lamp takes approximately 18 ms to reach 90% of its asymptotic value; the time to decay to 10% is also typically 18 ms and we demonstrate conditions under which the decaying trace remains visually effective against a dark field for more than 40 ms after the nominal offset of the lamps.

Many reports of tachistoscopic experiments published in the last two decades must be quantitatively in error; and we provide examples of experiments where qualitative conclusions may have been drawn invalidly.     

A neurophysiologic model for aggressive behavior in the cat

A neurophysiologic model for aggessive behavior in the cat is proposed. Stimulus-bound and seizure-bound aggression was evaluated in relation to limbic and basal ganglia induced seizures (after-discharges). Electrically induced limbic and basal ganglia afterdischarges were used because they are known to implicate septohypothalamic sites from which aggression can be elicited by direct stimulation. The occurrence of behavioral aggression is correlated with the discharge characteristics of a single discharging system and with two interacting discharging systems. Aggression is composed of autonomic and somato-motor components which poses relatively low and high thresholds, respectively, for their activation. Aggression occurring during a combined septum and amygdala discharge was more intense and prolonged than with a septum discharge alone. Participation of a slow frequency discharging basal ganglia system activated seizurebound aggression in an otherwise nonaggressive limbic seizure. The limbic and basal ganglia stimulations and after-discharges lowered the excitability threshold of the aggression system and made it more vulnerable to being activated by external stimuli, such as visual and auditory stimuli. These observations are reminiscent of patients with aggressive behavior associated with psychomotor seizures.     

A multipurpose activity platform utilized in the open-field setting

An automated multipurpose activity platform (MAP) that can be used to measure activity in the horizontal plane is described. Detection of the position of a small-bodied animal is based on completion of an electronic circuit in one or several cells of a 21 by 21 matrix below the floor. The MAP is constructed on the basis of an 11 by 11 matrix, but, through electronic averaging, operates functionally on the basis of a 21 by 21 matrix. The MAP has no built-in data storage facility and needs to be interfaced with a recording system. The system has been successfully utilized in measuring open-field activity of the rats.     

Comparative evaluation of the Job Club program with welfare recipients

About 1000 WIN welfare clients were selected in five cities: Harlem, New Brunswick, Milwaukee, Wichita, and Tacoma, and half were randomly assigned to the Job Club program. Of the continuing clients, 87% of the Job Club sample obtained jobs vs 59% of the Control sample at the 12-month follow-up and 80 vs 48% at 6 months. The Job Club was more effective in each of the five cities, for men and women, for high school graduates or dropouts, for blacks, whites, and Spanish, for handicapped or nonhandicapped, veterans or nonveterans, the young and the older, and for those required to participate as well as those who volunteered. The jobs obtained by the Job Club clients were comparable to the Control clients' jobs in terms of mean salary, full-time status, and type of job, and were more likely to be enduring, nonsubsidized, and obtained by the job-seeker's own efforts. Job Club members obtained employment in a median of six sessions (mean of 11); 90% obtained jobs within 23 sessions. Follow-up questionnaire data indicated comparable job retention in the two samples but slightly greater advancement and job satisfaction for the Job Club clients. The method appears to assure employment to virtually all participating welfare clients.     

Sex differences in realization of individual potential for achievement

Data from 4035 participants in Project TALENT were analyzed to examine the extent to which known sex differences in achievement held up when early potential for achievement was contolled. Original TALENT data, consisting of information on socioeconomic background, cognitive abilities, and educational and occupational aspirations, were collected in 1960 when members of the study sample were in Grade 9. Follow-up surveys measuring participants' educational and occupational attainment were conducted at 1, 5, and 11 years after the date of participants' expected graduation from high school. Women had higher high school grades and scored higher on a composite of academic ability tests taken in Grade 9 than did men. However, by 11 years after high school, men had acquired more education and were earning more money on the job. Sex differences in realization of achievement potential were found across all socioeconomic levels. At least part of the reason behind women's relative failure to translate potential into achievement may lie in the greater conflict, for women, between the roles of spouse/parent and the roles of student/worker: variables measuring the onset, duration, and extent of family-related commitments were more strongly related to female than to male realization of potential. Sex differences in achievement grew larger between the 5- and 11-year follow-ups as a greater proportion of women in the study sample became wives and mothers. The widening of the sex gap in achievement during this period was particularly pronounced among the subgroup of individuals who were in the top quartile of potential in Grade 9.     

Career perceptions of managerial and professional personnel

Stages of career development consistent with age were found in a group of employed managers and professionals. They tended to attribute career success to inherent abilities, education, and developmental experiences in the company studied. Trends among three age groups were similar in regard to factors they perceived as enhancing or adversely affecting their career development.