Returning the tables: language affects spatial reasoning

Li and Gleitman (Turning the tables: language and spatial reasoning. Cognition, in press) seek to undermine a large-scale cross-cultural comparison of spatial language and cognition which claims to have demonstrated that language and conceptual coding in the spatial domain covary (see, for example, Space in language and cognition: explorations in linguistic diversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, in press; Language 74 (1998) 557): the most plausible interpretation is that different languages induce distinct conceptual codings. Arguing against this, Li and Gleitman attempt to show that in an American student population they can obtain any of the relevant conceptual codings just by varying spatial cues, holding language constant. They then argue that our findings are better interpreted in terms of ecologically-induced distinct cognitive styles reflected in language. Linguistic coding, they argue, has no causal effects on non-linguistic thinking--it simply reflects antecedently existing conceptual distinctions. We here show that Li and Gleitman did not make a crucial distinction between frames of spatial reference relevant to our line of research. We report a series of experiments designed to show that they have, as a consequence, misinterpreted the results of their own experiments, which are in fact in line with our hypothesis. Their attempts to reinterpret the large cross-cultural study, and to enlist support from animal and infant studies, fail for the same reasons. We further try to discern exactly what theory drives their presumption that language can have no cognitive efficacy, and conclude that their position is undermined by a wide range of considerations.     

“How good are you in math?” The effect of gender stereotypes on students’ recollection of their school marks

Two studies examined the effect of gender stereotypes on students’ recollection of their school marks in stereotypically feminine (arts) and masculine (mathematics) domains. As predicted, the results of Study 1 indicated that the more students believed in gender stereotypes prior to recall, the more they biased their reported marks, compared to their actual marks, in a stereotype-consistent way (female students underestimated their marks in mathematics and male students underestimated their marks in arts). Study 2, in which the salience of gender stereotypes was manipulated prior to recall, yielded similar findings. The recall of school marks was more stereotype-consistent in a condition of high salience than in a condition of low salience of gender stereotypes. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.     

Externalising behaviour from infancy to mid-adolescence: Latent profiles and early predictors

The overall aim of the current study was to identify typical trajectory classes of externalising behaviour, and to identify predictors present already in infancy that discriminate the trajectory classes. 921 children from a community sample were followed over 13 years from the age of 18 months. In a simultaneously estimated model, latent class analyses and multinomial logit regression analyses suggested a five-class solution for developmental patterns of externalising problem behaviours: High stable (18% of the children), High childhood limited (5%), Medium childhood limited (31%), Adolescent onset (30%), and Low stable (16%). Six risk factors measured at 18 months significantly discriminated among the classes. Family stress and maternal age discriminated the High stable class from all the other classes. The results suggest that focusing on enduring problems in the relationship with the partner and partners' health may be important in preventive and early intervention efforts.     

On the power of autobiographical memories: from threat and challenge appraisals to actual behaviour

Autobiographical memories are a major feature of mental life in humans. However, research on the influence of autobiographical recall on actual behaviour is scarce. We predicted and found that general memories of failure and specific memories of success resulted in worse performance than general memories of success and specific memories of failure. This performance pattern was mediated by task appraisal, suggesting that autobiographical memories (of failure and success) impact performance by shaping the perception of the upcoming task. Combined with the fact that these effects occurred even when the content of autobiographical memories was unrelated to the upcoming task, the present research represents an important step forward in understanding how autobiographical recall influences actual behaviour.     

Traumatic Incidents and Experiences of Racism and Sexism: Examining Associations with Components of Critical Consciousness for System‐Involved Girls of Color

Scholarship identifies critical consciousness as a key developmental asset in promoting the well‐being of adolescents experiencing multiple socio‐structural axes of oppression. Girls of color at acute risk for legal system involvement or re‐involvement are absent from this literature. They are a critical population in which to examine this construct given their experiences of oppression and the myriad benefits of critical consciousness. The current study addresses this gap by examining traumatic incidents and experiences of racism and sexism as correlates of critical reflection and action among a sample of girls (N = 220; Mean age = 14.5 years; SD = 1.3 years). Using path analysis and multigroup modeling, we examine direct associations between these three manifestations of structural oppression and critical consciousness and explore the interplay of traumatic incidents, and racism and sexism in girls’ critical consciousness development. Findings suggest that experiences of sexism and racism, uniquely and positively predict critical action, but not critical reflection. Surprisingly, girls’ experiences of traumatic incidents do not predict reflection or action. Finally, multigroup analyses show no evidence that these associations vary by the interplay of traumatic incidents, racism, and sexism. Implications for community psychology values and juvenile legal system practice and policy are discussed.     

Investigating Subjective and Objective Quality of Life in Rural Areas: the Case of Tehran Province in Iran

Given the importance of measuring QOL and the need for sound and efficient planning to improve and enhance the well-being of citizens, the objective of this study was to investigate QOL in rural areas of Tehran province, Iran. To this end, the relevant literature and secondary sources were used to develop a questionnaire whose validity was determined by a panel of experts. To the best knowledge of the authors, no similar study has assessed QOL in rural areas of Tehran province and none of them has compared objective and subjective QOL in rural areas. The findings showed that in terms of objective QOL, which indicates the minimum living standards, the villagers in Tehran province were in a moderate to high status, but in the subjective QOL, about 20% of the villagers were rated as poor. According to the findings, there was a significant difference between the residents of different rural areas of Tehran in terms of objective and subjective QOL at the 99% level, but the differences were not the same. This calls for policymakers’ attention. In this regard, policies should be put on the planning agenda to reduce rural migration by adopting a coordinated approach to rural and urban development and improving the physical and environmental conditions of rural communities to provide welfare services and reduce the disparity between urban and rural areas.

     

Anxiety,self-discrepancy,and regulatory focus theory: acculturation matters

Previous research has found that Asians (vs. Caucasians) exhibit higher levels of ought and undesired self-discrepancies and prevention focus, all of which have been linked with anxiety. We examined these ethnic differences in the context of acculturation. Participants (N=155) completed two sessions scheduled a week apart. In Session 1, participants completed a computer task to measure self-discrepancy and prevention focus. In Session 2, participants' ought self-discrepancies and closeness to an undesired self were primed. Moderation analyses indicated that Asian participants who were highly assimilated to an Asian culture exhibited higher levels of a prevention focus. Acculturation also had significant moderation effects for affect when self-discrepancies were primed. Our results suggest that interventions based on these systems (i.e., self-system therapy) should consider acculturation when treating diverse individuals.     

Prolonged Exposure Therapy Following Awareness Under Anesthesia: A Case Study

Awareness during surgery is estimated to effect between 40,000 to 140,000 patients per year in the United States, and there is a growing literature suggesting that this event can lead to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current article describes treatment implemented from a manualized protocol of a woman diagnosed with PTSD following awareness during a routine surgery. Prolonged exposure therapy was delivered to the client over 12 sessions. Treatment consisted of psychoeducation, imaginal exposure, in-vivo exposure, breathing retraining, progressive muscle relaxation, and homework assignments. At treatment completion and at follow-up 10 weeks after completion of therapy, the client no longer met criteria for PTSD. Prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD is an effective treatment that alleviates symptoms of PTSD from awareness during surgery.     

A Comparative Study of the Intelligence of Jewish Preschool Boys and Girls of Orthodox Parentage

Children aged 2-51/2 to 5-1/2 were pretrained on two three-choice simple discrimination problems presented consecutively, which were followed by training on 10 unique oddity sets. Transfer data were obtained from those Ss who learned the oddity problems by presenting five new oddity sets.

All three Groups learned the second pretraining problem more quickly than the first, although on both problems the two older Groups learned faster than the youngest Group. Nearly all the Ss learned to select the correct stimuli on the 10 three-choice oddity sets. Sixty-four percent of the children between 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 evidenced transfer to the five new oddity sets, indicating comprehension of the oddity relationship and the ability to respond on the basis of this higher-order solution. This finding is contrary to that predicted by contemporary theories of cognitive development (e.g., 3, 8).

The remaining Ss had either learned to choose the odd stimulus, but were unable to maintain a relational choice when presented with new sets, or solved the original discrimination by applying specific solutions to a 10-problem simultaneous three-choice discrimination problem.     

The Socioeconomic Status,Intelligence, and Psychometric Pattern of Native-Born White Homeless Men

Build-up of proactive interference (PI) with visual-picture and auditory-verbal input modalities and the subsequent release from PI following a change in modality was investigated in three experiments with boys and girls, as follows: Experiment I (n = 64) at two mean age levels, 7–6 and 10–5; Experiment II (n = 64) at mean age 7–6; and Experiment III (n = 48) at age 11–4. PI build-up occurred in both modalities for all ages tested. Release from PI occurred following a change from auditory to visual input but not following a visual to auditory shift. In the final experiment, this asymmetrical improvement in performance was dependent upon an interaction between the modality of the input and distractor task on the final or release trial; changing to visual input produced a release effect regardless of the distractor task modality, while auditory input was associated with improvement in recall if a visual distractor task was employed whether or not a shift in input modality had occurred. This improvement was hypothesized to represent a decrease in retroactive interference rather than a release from proactive interference.