Interpreting dissociations between regular and irregular past-tense morphology: Evidence from event-related potentials

Neuropsychological dissociations between regular and irregular English past-tense morphology have been reported using a lexical decision task in which past-tense primes immediately precede present-tense targets. We present N400 event-related potential data from healthy participants using the same design. Both regular and irregular past-tense forms primed corresponding present-tense forms, but with a longer duration for irregular verbs. Phonological control conditions suggested that differences in formal overlap between prime and target contribute to, but do not account for, this difference, suggesting a link between irregular morphology and semantics. Further analysis dividing the irregular verbs into two categories (weak irregular and strong) revealed that priming for strong verbs was reliably stronger than that for weak irregular and regular verbs, which were statistically indistinguishable from one another. We argue that, although we observe a regular-irregular dissociation, the nature of this dissociation is more consistent with single- than with dual-system models of inflectional morphology.     

Depression in Women with Heart Disease: The Importance of Social Role Performance and Spirituality

Compared with men, women are more likely to experience depression, and depression increases risk of morbidity and mortality in individuals with heart disease. Psychosocial interventions have been developed for depressed patients with heart disease; however, women's experience of chronic disease differs from men's and women may benefit from interventions tailored to address their difficulties. Spirituality and social roles have been related to depressive symptoms in other populations. To identify the relationship between depression and spirituality and social role performance (i.e., role concerns, role rewards and confidence in ability to fulfill roles) in women with heart disease, we assessed depressive symptoms, spirituality, social role functioning and medical history in 125 women with heart disease. After controlling for age and severity of medical conditions, spirituality, role confidence and role concerns were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Consideration of spirituality and aspects of social role performance may be important when developing psychosocial interventions for depressed women with heart disease.     

The Knowledge of Child Development Inventory

The need for an instrument that measures knowledge of child development and is comprehensible to lay populations and young adolescents has led to the development of the Knowledge of Child Development Inventory (KCDI). The KCDI is a 56-item multiple-choice test of knowledge of child development from birth to age three in the areas of emotional, cognitive, physical, and social development. Normative data were obtained on the KCDI from a sample population of 434 adolescent and adult females from varying racial backgrounds. The instrument has a reading level of 8.0 (Fry Reading Index), a minimum of technical terminology, reliability of .93 (Cronback's alpha coefficient of internal consistency), and criterion validity of .83. The KCDI would be relevant in educational settings where pre- and post-assessment of knowledge of child development is desired, i.e., high school courses in child development, prenatal classes, Head Start parent-training programs, and early childhood/special education parent-training programs. In addition, the KCDI would be relevant in clinical settings where the assessment of a person's concepts of child development are of importance i.e., adoption agencies, abuse centers, and teenage pregnancy centers.     

Gender schema theory and sex role inventories: some conceptual and psychometric considerations

In this study we assessed whether the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the PRF ANDRO are appropriate for investigations of gender schema theory (Bem, 1981a). Because these instruments were developed for entirely different theoretical purposes, it is important to empirically examine the validity of these measures for investigating the construct of gender schema. On the basis of the propositions of gender schema theory, we made several predictions about the psychometric properties that should be exhibited by a valid measure of this construct. Responses to the PRF ANDRO and the BSRI were factor analyzed separately for sex-typed and non-sex-typed groups. Results show consistent and theoretically predictable differences in the factor solutions of these two groups. The sex-typed or gender-schematic group obtained bipolar factors, with masculine items loading with one sign, whereas feminine items loaded with the other sign on each factor. Also, sex of subject loaded highly on almost every factor for this group. The non-sex-typed group, however, obtained few such distinctly dichotomous factors, and sex of subject loaded only on the weaker factors. Results are interpreted as providing support for the construct validity of at least the BSRI and the PRF ANDRO for use in researching the implications of this approach.     

Lexical and Nonlexical Spelling Deficits in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Written spelling was assessed in 16 subjects with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) using an information processing approach. The results were compared to the performance in a group of healthy elderly subjects. The Alzheimer subjects scored significantly lower in word spelling and nonword spelling ability than the controls (F(1, 7) = 187,p< .0001), and both the lexical and the nonlexical spelling strategies were affected. The results did not support the hypothesis that nonlexical ability is preserved in DAT. In the DAT group, spelling correlated significantly (p< 0.01) with the severity of dementia, but spelling performance was not associated with the age of onset of dementia or family history of dementia.     

Individual differences in entrainment of mood to the weekly calendar

This study addressed two questions: Do daily fluctuations in mood exhibit a 7-day (circaseptum) cycle, and are there reliable individual differences in how entrained people's moods are to such a weekly cycle? Spectral analysis of daily mood over 84 occasions revealed a strong weekly rhythm in the temporal organization of mood in a sample of 74 undergraduates. A sine wave with a period of 7 days accounted for 40% of the variance in the daily mood data. Individual differences were also found in how entrained subjects' moods were to this weekly rhythm. We predicted that extraverts (compared with introverts) should be less entrained to a weekly cycle. Results suggest that the novelty- and sensation-seeking behavior of extraverts most likely serves to lessen the cyclical predictability of their day-to-day moods. The origin and psychological meaning of the 7-day week are discussed.     

MRI evaluation of the size and symmetry of the planum temporale in adolescents with developmental dyslexia

MRI technique was used to examine the size and symmetry of the plana temporale in 19 dyslexic students in grade 8 and in carefully matched control subjects. The results demonstrated a high frequency of planum symmetry among the dyslexics (70%) whereas symmetry was observed in only 30% of the control subjects. It was not possible to demonstrate any clear association between symmetry/asymmetry of planum temporale and handedness. Word-reading strategies among the dyslexics and control subjects were investigated with computerized tasks where accuracy and naming latency were recorded. All subjects with pure phonological deficits in reading had symmetrical plana temporale indicating a possible neuroanatomical basis for a characteristic symptom of linguistic processing deficiency in developmental dyslexia.     

Measuring efficiency of selection from briefly exposed visual displays: a model for partial report

In the proposed model for partial report, performance reflects the number of targets in a short-term memory buffer. The total number of items (targets, distractors, or extraneous noise) entering the buffer is independent of the number of targets and distractors in the stimulus. Entrance is determined by selective sampling according to a Luce (1959) ratio rule. The model was tested in a variety of conditions with partial reports based on brightness, color, shape, or alphanumeric class. With three parameters, the model accounted for 99% of the variance with number of targets and number of distractors in data obtained by averaging across conditions. Parameter K (number of items entering the buffer) showed little variation with the selection criterion, and estimates for parameter epsilon (total impact of extraneous noise with impact per target as the unit) were rather small. Estimates for parameter alpha (impact per distractor with impact per target as the unit) varied widely across conditions. Parameter alpha is a measure for the efficiency of selecting targets rather than distractors.     

The effects of knowledge of child development and social-emotional maturity on adolescent attitudes toward parenting

This study investigated the relationship between the combined effect of knowledge of child development and level of social-emotional maturity, and the extent to which this relationship affects adolescent attitudes toward parenting. The analysis of the data (multiple regression and canonical analysis) suggested that there were significant relationships among these variables. In general, the relationships indicated that subjects' negative attitudes toward parenting were associated with lack of knowledge of child development and low levels of social-emotional maturity, while subjects' positive attitudes toward parenting were associated with knowledge of child development and high levels of social-emotional maturity. The joint impact of knowledge of child development and social-emotional maturity factors on attitudes toward parenting accounted for 51% of the variation among the variables.