Qualitative differences between the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency in reading aloud and lexical decision: extensions to Yap and Balota (2007)

There have been multiple reports over the last 3 decades that stimulus quality and word frequency have additive effects on the time to make a lexical decision. However, it is surprising that there is only 1 published report to date that has investigated the joint effects of these two factors in the context of reading aloud, and the outcome of that study is ambiguous. The present study shows that these factors interact in the context of reading aloud and at the same time replicate the standard pattern reported for lexical decision. The main implication of these results is that lexical activation, at least as indexed by the effect of word frequency, does not unfold in a uniform way in the contexts reported here. The observed dissociation also implies, contrary to J. A. Fodor's (1983) view, that the mental lexicon is penetrable rather than encapsulated. The distinction between cascaded and thresholded processing offers one way to understand these and related results. A direction for further research is briefly noted.     

A Model of Mindful Parenting: Implications for Parent–Child Relationships and Prevention Research

This paper introduces a model of “mindful parenting” as a framework whereby parents intentionally bring moment-to-moment awareness to the parent–child relationship. This is done by developing the qualities of listening with full attention when interacting with their children, cultivating emotional awareness and self-regulation in parenting, and bringing compassion and nonjudgmental acceptance to their parenting interactions. First, we briefly outline the theoretical and empirical literature on mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions. Next, we present an operational definition of mindful parenting as an extension of mindfulness to the social context of parent–child relationships. We discuss the implications of mindful parenting for the quality of parent–child relationships, particularly across the transition to adolescence, and we review the literature on the application of mindfulness in parenting interventions. We close with a synopsis of our own efforts to integrate mindfulness-based intervention techniques and mindful parenting into a well-established, evidence-based family prevention program and our recommendations for future research on mindful parenting interventions.     

Reading Stories Activates Neural Representations of Visual and Motor Experiences

ABSTRACT— To understand and remember stories, readers integrate their knowledge of the world with information in the text. Here we present functional neuroimaging evidence that neural systems track changes in the situation described by a story. Different brain regions track different aspects of a story, such as a character's physical location or current goals. Some of these regions mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities. These results support the view that readers understand a story by simulating the events in the story world and updating their simulation when features of that world change.     

Aligning body and world: Stable reference frames improve young children’s search for hidden objects

This study investigated how young children’s increasingly flexible use of spatial reference frames enables accurate search for hidden objects by using a task that 3-year-olds have been shown to perform with great accuracy and 2-year-olds have been shown to perform inaccurately. Children watched as an object was rolled down a ramp, behind a panel of doors, and stopped at a barrier visible above the doors. In two experiments, we gave 2- and 2.5-year-olds a strong reference frame by increasing the relative salience and stability of the barrier. In Experiment 1, 2.5-year-olds performed at above-chance levels with the more salient barrier. In Experiment 2, we highlighted the stability of the barrier (or ramp) by maximizing the spatial extent of each reference frame across the first four training trials. Children who were given a stable barrier (and moving ramp) during these initial trials performed at above-chance levels and significantly better than children who were given a stable ramp (and moving barrier). This work highlights that factors central to spatial cognition and motor planning—aligning egocentric and object-centered reference frames—play a role in the ramp task during this transitional phase in development.     

Age changes in processing speed as a leading indicator of cognitive aging

Bivariate dual change score models were applied to longitudinal data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging to compare the dynamic predictions of 2-component theories of intelligence and the processing speed theory of cognitive aging. Data from up to 5 measurement occasions covering a 16-year period were available from 806 participants ranging in age from 50 to 88 years at the first measurement wave. Factors were generated to tap 4 general cognitive domains: verbal ability, spatial ability, memory, and processing speed. Model fitting indicated no dynamic relationship between verbal and spatial factors, providing no support for the hypothesis that age changes in fluid abilities drive age changes in crystallized abilities. The results suggest that, as predicted by the processing speed theory of cognitive aging, processing speed is a leading indicator of age changes in memory and spatial ability, but not verbal ability.     

A computational model of fractionated conflict-control mechanisms in task-switching

A feature of human cognition is the ability to monitor and adjust one's own behavior under changing circumstances. A dynamic balance between controlled and rapid responding is needed to adapt to a fluctuating environment. We suggest that cognitive control may include, among other things, two distinct processes. Incongruent stimuli may drive top-down facilitation of task-relevant responses to bias performance toward exploitation vs. exploration. Task or response switches may generally slow responses to bias toward accuracy vs. speed and exploration vs. exploitation. Behavioral results from a task switching study demonstrate these two distinct processes as revealed by higher-order sequential effects. A computational model implements the two conflict-control mechanisms, which allow it to capture many complex and novel sequential effects. Lesion studies with the model demonstrate that the model is unable to capture these effects without the conflict-control loops and show how each monitoring component modulates cognitive control. The results suggest numerous testable predictions regarding the neural substrates of cognitive control.     

What does integration mean? social insertion of Russian immigrants in Israel

This article is an effort to refine current understanding of social integration in the context of repatriate migration. The empirical basis for this analysis is a recent survey in a national sample of post-1990 Russian Jewish immigrants to Israel that examined the pace and determinants of their integration and acculturation. The proposed analytical framework in based on the four main indicators of integration among educated first-genaration immigrants: (a) the improving command of the host language and emerging bilingualism; (b) skilled occupation in the mainstream economy; (c) diversification of immigrants’ informal networks to include members of the host society; and (d) shifts in the cultural and media consumption from coethnic (i.e., Russian-based) to the mainstream (i.e., Hebrew/English-based) products. The study helps to sketch social profiles of the immigrants prone to social integration versus separatism; it also taps into the issue of cultural contact between the newcomers and non-immigrant Israelis measured on both sides of theencounter.     

Revised norms for the Lollipop Test for children ages 42 to 65 months

Lollipop Test scores were acquired for 1,402 preschoolers in southwestern Indiana. Means and standard deviations for both boys and girls by 6-mo. intervals from the ages of 42 through 65 months showed scores increased significantly across ages, with girls scoring significantly higher than boys in all age groups. Current mean scores are similar to those published in 1988 for boys and slightly higher for girls.