Confronting complexity: insights from the details of behavior over multiple timescales

Young children tend to generalize novel names for novel solid objects by similarity in shape, a phenomenon dubbed 'the shape bias'. We believe that the critical insights needed to explain the shape bias in particular, and cognitive development more generally, come from Dynamic Systems Theory. We present two examples of recent work focusing on the real-time decision processes that underlie performance in the tasks used to measure the shape bias. We show how this work, and the dynamic systems perspective, sheds light on the controversy over the origins and development of the shape bias. In addition, we suggest that this dynamic systems perspective provides the right level for explanations of development because it requires a focus on the details of behavior over multiple timescales.     

Processing variant forms in spoken word recognition: the role of variant frequency

Recognition of a spoken word phonological variant--schwa vowel deletion (e.g., corporate --> corp'rate)--was investigated in vowel detection (absent/present) and syllable number judgment (two or three syllables) tasks. Variant frequency corpus analyses (Patterson, LoCasto, & Connine, 2003) were used to select words with either high or low schwa vowel deletion rates. Speech continua were created for each word in which schwa vowel length was manipulated (unambiguous schwa-present and schwa-absent endpoints, along with intermediate ambiguous tokens). Matched control nonwords were created with identical schwa vowel continua and surrounding segments. The low-deletion-rate words showed more three-syllable judgments than did the high-deletion-rate words. Matched control nonwords did not differ as a function of deletion rate. Experiments 2 and 3 showed a lexical decision reaction time advantage for more frequent surface forms, as compared with infrequent ones, for schwa-deleted (Experiment 2) and schwa-present (Experiment 3) stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of representations of variant forms of words based on variant frequency.     

Dynamic action units slip in speech production errors

In the past, the nature of the compositional units proposed for spoken language has largely diverged from the types of control units pursued in the domains of other skilled motor tasks. A classic source of evidence as to the units structuring speech has been patterns observed in speech errors--"slips of the tongue". The present study reports, for the first time, on kinematic data from tongue and lip movements during speech errors elicited in the laboratory using a repetition task. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that speech production results from the assembly of dynamically defined action units--gestures--in a linguistically structured environment. The experimental results support both the presence of gestural units and the dynamical properties of these units and their coordination. This study of speech articulation shows that it is possible to develop a principled account of spoken language within a more general theory of action.     

Toddlers can adaptively change how they categorize: same objects,same session,two different categorical distinctions

Two experiments demonstrate that 14‐ to 18‐month‐old toddlers can adaptively change how they categorize a set of objects within a single session, and that this ability is related to vocabulary size. In both experiments, toddlers were presented with a sequential touching task with objects that could be categorized either according to some perceptually salient dimension corresponding to a taxonomic distinction (e.g. animals vs. vehicles) or to some less obvious dimension (e.g. rigid vs. deformable). In each experiment, children with larger productive vocabularies responded to both dimensions, showing evidence of sensitivity to each way of categorizing the items. Children with smaller productive vocabularies attended only to the taxonomically related categorical grouping. These experiments confirm that toddlers can adaptively shift the basis of their categorization and highlight the dynamic interaction between the child and the current task in early categorization.     

Different is good: connectionism and dynamic systems theory are complementary emergentist approaches to development

Connectionist and dynamic systems approaches to development are similar in that they are both emergentist theories that take a very different perspective from more traditional symbolic systems. Moreover, they are both based on similar mathematical principles. Nevertheless, connectionism and dynamic systems differ in the approach they take to the study of development. We argue that differences between connectionist and dynamic systems approaches in terms of the basic components of the models, what they see as the object of study, how they view the nature of knowledge and their notions of developmental change mean that they each stand to make different and unique contributions to a more complete theory of development. We present an example from our work on how children learn to learn words that illustrates the complementary nature of connectionist and dynamic systems theories.     

Optimism and Revolt of the Oppressed: A Comparison of Two Polish Jewish Ghettos of World War II

One World War II Jewish ghetto that revolted, the Warsaw Ghetto, is compared to one that did not, the Lodz Ghetto, in order to examine the causes of violent resistance. This structured focused comparative method (George, 1979) illuminates problems with previous explanations for revolt and nonrevolt in Jewish ghettos and suggest psychological variables that might have led to or precluded organized violence. Specifically, it appears that these two ghettos differed in their perceptions about their future. The residents of the Warsaw Ghetto believed they had no hope of survival while residents of the Lodz Ghetto remained optimistic. These differing perceptions seem to have led to the different outcomes. Possible causes of these percetpions are also discussed.     

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers in a community-based setting: Improvements in parenting behavior,emotional availability,child behavior,and attachment

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers (PCIT-T) is a new attachment-based parenting intervention designed to meet the needs of children aged 12–24 months presenting with challenging behaviors. This study examined outcomes of the first phase of PCIT-T, Child Directed Interaction–Toddler (CDI-T), 4-months post treatment. Participants were 56 toddlers (Child Mage = 19.13 months) referred to receive CDI-T over an 8-week period at an Australian community-based child behavior treatment clinic for treatment of difficult toddler behaviors. Participants completed questionnaires and observational measures at baseline (Time 1), post-treatment (Time 2), and 4-month follow-up (Time 3). At both Time 2 and Time 3, there were statistically significant increases in observed positive parenting skills and emotional availability and decreases in negative parenting behaviors and child noncompliance. There were also significant improvements in parent-reported child externalizing and internalizing behaviors, parental stress, and maternal depression. There was a pattern of a shift away from attachment insecurity and attachment disorganization. Results suggest that the CDI-T phase of PCIT-T is a promising intervention for toddlers presenting with behavioral issues. Future studies should be conducted to assess efficacy in other settings, using larger samples and utilizing randomized controlled designs.     

Childless in the Land of Imperative Motherhood: Stigma and Coping Among Infertile Israeli Women

Drawing on Goffman's stigma framework, this in-depth study explored the experiences of 26 infertile Jewish women in Israel, the country with a strong pronatalist ideology, both institutional and popular. The findings are in line with the key postulates of the stigma concept: women's coping strategies included selective disclosure, avoidance of exposure of their “hidden disability,” and other information management techniques. Infertility became a “master status” for these women, undermining any other merits and achievements they might have. Most women fully internalized and endorsed the pronatalist discourse by way of pursuing long-term and burdensome infertility treatments, at any personal cost. The paper argues that resistance to stigma of infertility is only possible where women dare question the motherhood imperative, which is clearly not the case with most Israelis. Material and mental resources needed for resisting the stigma of infertility are found among few educated professional women. The paper suggests three theoretical inferences: (a) stigma as a psychological response is graded by the extent of individual's conformity with the dominant norms; (b) the stigma of childlessness is most devastating for the less educated women without career or other nonfamilial aspirations; and (c) in pronatalist societies, the coping and management approach to the study of infertility is more relevant than the resistance approach suggested by some authors.