Effects of syntactic expectations on speech segmentation

Although the effect of acoustic cues on speech segmentation has been extensively investigated, the role of higher order information (e.g., syntax) has received less attention. Here, the authors examined whether syntactic expectations based on subject-verb agreement have an effect on segmentation and whether they do so despite conflicting acoustic cues. Although participants detected target words faster in phrases containing adequate acoustic cues ("spins" in take spins and "pins" in takes pins), this acoustic effect was suppressed when the phrases were appended to a plural context (those women take spins/*takes pins [with the asterisk indicating a syntactically unacceptable parse]). The syntactically congruent target ("spins") was detected faster regardless of the acoustics. However, a singular context (that woman *take spins/takes pins) had no effect on segmentation, and the results resembled those of the neutral phrases. Subsequent experiments showed that the discrepancy was due to the relative time course of syntactic expectations and acoustics cues. Taken together, the data suggest that syntactic knowledge can facilitate segmentation but that its effect is substantially attenuated if conflicting acoustic cues are encountered before full realization of the syntactic constraint.     

Are perceptions of fairness relationship-specific? The case of noblesse oblige

Research in experimental economics suggests that decision making in strategic interactions is often guided by a concern for fairness. However, experimental economics studies routinely place participants of equal social status and no prior social history in anonymous interactions, a context that would tend to foster the adoption of an egalitarian fairness norm. Extensive research in anthropology (Fiske, 1991) and psychology (Bugental, 2000) suggests that social norms, including fairness norms, are relationship-specific, raising doubts about whether the concern for egalitarian fairness observed in the experimental economics literature would generalize to a wider range of social relations. In this paper we focus on an alternative social norm characteristic of hierarchical relationships: noblesse oblige—the obligation of high-ranking individuals to act honorably and beneficently towards subordinates. In a series of five experiments, we show that the norm of noblesse oblige predicts tolerance of free riding better than individual self-interest does.     

Cognitive operations in the generation effect on a recall test: role of aging and divided attention

Generation effect (generated words are better memorized than read words) of anagrams, rhymes, and associates of target words was examined in young, elderly, and very old subjects. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that only young subjects benefit from the generation effect in a free-recall test when the rule is of a phonological nature. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 showed that the generation effect of rhymes was due to a resources-dependent self-initiated process. Experiments 4 and 5 showed that in a divided-attention situation, generation effect of rhymes is not significant in young subjects, but that the generation effect of semantic associates remains significant for both groups (Experiment 5). The results are discussed within the environmental support framework and the transfer-appropriate processing framework.     

Simultaneity constancy

Sound and light take different amounts of time to reach their respective receptors, to be transduced, and to be transmitted to the cortex. Their processing times also vary with factors such as intensity and retinal eccentricity. We assessed the capability of subjects to perceive simultaneity correctly despite these variations. Temporal asynchronies of up to 200 ms were introduced between the components of sound/light pairs. Using the method of constant stimuli, seven subjects judged which came first. Distance, and hence the times of arrival of paired visual and auditory targets, was varied from 1 to 32 m. Visual intensity was varied by viewing the target through 1.8 dB attenuating glasses, and a retinal eccentricity of 20 degrees was compared to central presentation. Despite large differences in reaction times, which varied in a predictable way with the stimulus parameters, the timing of sound/light pairings judged as simultaneous corresponded to when the light and sound left the source simultaneously. Almost complete compensation was found in all conditions tested, showing that these substantial but predictable variations in timing can be taken into account in creating simultaneity constancy.     

Observing the preservation and decline of abilities in dementias

The Brief Cognitive Rating Scale facilitated observation of the preservation and decline of abilities due to dementias among 73 female and 52 male residents at nursing homes in a northeastern and southwestern state. They ranged in age from 41 to 102 years (M=78, SD = 10.5). Dementia diagnoses included presenile Alzheimers, senile Alzheimers, Vascular Dementia, Dementia secondary to Huntington's Disease, Dementia due to Pick's Disease, and Korsakoff Dementia secondary to chronic alcoholism. Their ratings on tasks of the scale were submitted to an order analysis procedure to explore the order of decline and preservation of abilities. Results for these nursing home residents show an apparent order: loss singly or concurrently of the abilities of concentration and recent memory, followed by past memory and functioning and self-care that also appeared to be unpredictably lost or preserved singly or concurrently by different individuals, and, finally, by orientation that was preserved in 82% of the subjects.     

The Yin and Yang of cell cycle progression and differentiation in the oligodendroglial lineage

In white matter disorders such as leukodystrophies (LD), periventricular leucomalacia (PVL), or multiple sclerosis (MS), the hypomyelination or the remyelination failure by oligodendrocyte progenitor cells involves errors in the sequence of events that normally occur during development when progenitors proliferate, migrate through the white matter, contact the axon, and differentiate into myelin-forming oligodendrocytes. Multiple mechanisms underlie the eventual progressive deterioration that typifies the natural history of developmental demyelination in LD and PVL and of adult-onset demyelination in MS. Over the past few years, pathophysiological studies have mostly focused on seeking abnormalities that impede oligodendroglial maturation at the level of migration, myelination, and survival. In contrast, there has been a strikingly lower interest for early proliferative and differentiation events that are likely to be equally critical for white matter development and myelin repair. This review highlights the Yin and Yang principles of interactions between intrinsic factors that coordinately regulate progenitor cell division and the onset of differentiation, i.e. the initial steps of oligodendrocyte lineage progression that are obviously crucial in health and diseases.     

Peer influence on risk taking, risk preference, and risky decision making in adolescence and adulthood: an experimental study

In this study, 306 individuals in 3 age groups--adolescents (13-16), youths (18-22), and adults (24 and older)--completed 2 questionnaire measures assessing risk preference and risky decision making, and 1 behavioral task measuring risk taking. Participants in each age group were randomly assigned to complete the measures either alone or with 2 same-aged peers. Analyses indicated that (a) risk taking and risky decision making decreased with age; (b) participants took more risks, focused more on the benefits than the costs of risky behavior, and made riskier decisions when in peer groups than alone; and (c) peer effects on risk taking and risky decision making were stronger among adolescents and youths than adults. These findings support the idea that adolescents are more inclined toward risky behavior and risky decision making than are adults and that peer influence plays an important role in explaining risky behavior during adolescence.     

Distortions of perceived length in the frontoparallel plane: tests of perspective theories

The perceived length of a line segment in a frontoparallel plane is sometimes affected by the presence of other line segments in the visual field. Perspective theories attribute such interactions to size-constancy scaling: The configuration of line segments present in the visual field includes depth cues that trigger size scaling of each line segment. In three experiments, we test this claim for a range of simple configurations composed of two line segments joined at a point. These configurations include the inverted T configuration of the bisection illusion, as well as the L configuration of the horizontal-vertical illusion. We conclude that the available depth cues, even when supplemented by known biases in perspective interpretations, do not account for observed distortions in judgments of relative length.     

Constructing knowledge. The role of graphs and tables in hard and soft psychology

Because graphs provide a compact, rhetorically powerful way of representing research findings, recent theories of science have postulated their use as a distinguishing feature of science. Studies have shown that the use of graphs in journal articles correlates highly with the hardness of scientific fields, both across disciplines and across sub-fields of psychology. In contrast, the use of tables and inferential statistics in psychology is inversely related to subfield hardness, suggesting that the relationship between hardness and graph use is not attributable to differences in the use of quantitative data in subfields or their commitment to empiricism. Enhanced "graphicacy" among psychologists could contribute to the progress of psychological science by providing alternatives to significance testing and by facilitating communication across subfields.     

Observed classroom behavior of children with ADHD: relationship to gender and comorbidity

Examined hypothesized gender and comorbidity differences in the observed classroom behavior of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The behavior of 403 boys and 99 girls with ADHD, ages 7–10, was compared (a) to observed, sex-specific classroom behavior norms, (b) by sex, and (c) by comorbid subgroups. Boys and girls with ADHD deviated significantly from classroom norms on 15/16 and 13/16 categories, respectively. Compared to comparison girls, girls with ADHD had relatively high rates of verbal aggression to children. Boys with ADHD engaged in more rule-breaking and externalizing behaviors than did girls with ADHD, but the sexes did not differ on more neutral, unobtrusive behaviors. The sex differences are consistent with notions of why girls with ADHD are identified and referred later than boys. Contrary to hypothesis, the presence of comorbid anxiety disorder (ANX) was not associated with behavioral suppression; yet, as hypothesized, children with a comorbid disruptive behavior disorder (DBD) had higher rates of rule-breaking, and impulsive and aggressive behavior, than did children with ADHD alone and those with ADHD+ANX. Elevated rates of ADHD behaviors were also observed in children with comorbid DBD, indicating that these behaviors are truly present and suggesting that reports of higher ADHD ratings in this subgroup are not simply a consequence of negative halo effects and rater biases.