Motion-Verb Generalizations in English and Spanish: Influences of Language and Syntax

English and Spanish speakers differ in the ways they talk about motion events, but how have these different modes of expression become instantiated as differing generalizations—as syntactic rules, lexical patterns, or both? In two studies, we asked English- and Spanish-speaking adults to interpret novel motion verbs presented in three types of sentence frames. Overall, English speakers expected novel verbs to encode the manner of motion, whereas Spanish speakers expected the verbs to encode the path of motion. The sentence frames also significantly affected how the speakers interpreted the novel verbs. We conclude that speakers of different languages represent their different generalizations about the composition of motion verbs both lexically and syntactically, and discuss how these generalizations might be important for issues of language acquisition and linguistic relativity.     

A Longitudinal Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action to Women's Career Behavior1

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), we hypothesized that young women's career intentions would be predicted by their gender-role attitudes and perceptions of their boyfriends' and parents' career-related preferences for them. Career intention was expected to predict future career behavior. The model was tested using longitudinal data from 105 women studied in 1973 and followed up 14 years later in 1987. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results supported the TRA: women's gender-role attitudes and their perceptions of important others' preferences predicted their career intentions, which predicted career behavior 14 years later. Implications for the study of women's careers and the longitudinal application of the TRA are discussed.     

Sex differences in same-sex friendship

Two studies examined sex differences in the same-sex friendships of college men and women. In a questionnaire study, self-reports were obtained of number of friends and frequency of interaction, typical and preferred kinds of interactions with friends, and emotional intimacy. A role-play study provided more direct information about conversations between friends. Men and women did not differ in quantitative aspects of friendship such as number of friends or amount of time spent with friends, nor in the value placed on intimate friendships. However, clear sex differences were found in both studies in the nature of interactions with friends. Women showed emphasis on emotional sharing and talking; men emphasized activities and doing things together. Results are discussed in terms of life-cycle constraints on friendship, and the possibility of sex differences in standards for assessing intimacy in friendship is considered.The authors express their appreciation to Jacqueline Goodchilds and Marianne Senko for assistance in designing and conducting the role-play study, and to Joseph Pleck for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Why Feynman Diagrams Represent

There are two distinct interpretations of the role that Feynman diagrams play in physics: (i) they are calculational devices, a type of notation designed to keep track of complicated mathematical expressions; and (ii) they are representational devices, a type of picture. I argue that Feynman diagrams not only have a calculational function but also represent: they are in some sense pictures. I defend my view through addressing two objections and in so doing I offer an account of representation that explains why Feynman diagrams represent. The account that I advocate is a version of that defended by Kendall Walton, which provides us with a basic characterization of the way that representations in general work and is particularly useful for understanding distinctively pictorial representations – in Walton’s terms, depictions. The question of the epistemic function of Feynman diagrams as pictorial representations is left for another time.     

Assessment of Tripartite Factors of Emotion in Children and Adolescents I: Structural Validity and Normative Data of an Affect and Arousal Scale

The authors developed and evaluated a self-report measure for children designed to assess factors of the tripartite model of emotion (Clark & Watson, 1991). Factor analytic results from a large, multi-ethnic sample (n = 1,289) supported the structural validity of the scale, with the additional suggestion that negative affect appeared to contain two lower order dimensions in the item pool. Confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample of 300 children and adolescents suggested favorable structure. Consistent with prediction, positive and negative affect emerged as relatively orthogonal dimensions. Physiological hyperarousal was found to be positively correlated with negative affect. Normative data are presented, and tests for differences by sex, grade level, and ethnicity demonstrated nonsignificant or minimal differences between groups. The implications for the assessment of tripartite factors and their relation to psychopathology in youth are discussed.     

REVIEWS

WOMAN-AFFIRMING SEX: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN's SEXUALITY
Sexual Salvation: Affrming Women's Sexual Rights and Pleasures, Naomi B. McCormick. Westport, CT:
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF A FEMINIST SEXOLOGIST
Sex is Not a Natural Act and Other Essays, Leonore Tiefer. Boulder, CO:
THE BATTLEGROUND OF OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
Male/Female Roles: Opposing Viewpoints. Jonathan S. Petrikin (Ed). San Diego, CA:
Feminism: Opposing Viewpoints. Carol Wekesser. (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
Sexual Values: Opposing Viewpoints. Charles P. Cozic (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
A "FADDISH PREOCCUPATION" COMES INTO ITS OWN
Women and Suicidal Behavior, Silvia Sara Canetto and David Lester (Eds.). New York:     

The Impact of Social Roles on Stereotypes of Gay Men

Past research demonstrates that heterosexuals perceive gay men to have traditionally feminine characteristics. Guided by Social Role Theory (Eagly, 1987), we predicted that this stereotype would differ depending on a gay man’s specific social role. To test this idea, participants rated five gay targets (father, single man, hairdresser, truck driver, typical gay man) on stereotypically masculine (e.g., ambitious, leader) and feminine (e.g., affectionate, sensitive) personality attributes. Gay men in traditionally masculine roles (truck driver, single man) were rated as less feminine than gay men in traditionally feminine roles (hairdresser, parent). In addition, gay men in feminine roles were perceived as more similar to the typical gay man than were those in masculine roles. Suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Fear of success in dating couples

A study of 91 college-age dating couples explored the relationship between women's fear of success and characteristics of their boyfriends. No relationship was found between women's fear of success and any of seven measures of men's sex-role attitudes. Boyfriends of women with high fear of success were more advanced in school and scored higher on SAT math than other men, but did not differ in college grades or SAT verbal scores. There was a tendency for women high in fear of success to anticipate problems in their relationship due to differences in intelligence or to their own desire for independence. It is suggested that boyfriends do not affect the strength of women's underlying motive to avoid success but can arouse the motive in specific situations. There was also a lack of relationship between women's fear of success and measures of their own sex-role attitudes and achievement.This research was supported by a doctoral dissertation grant from the Department of Psychology and Social Relations, Harvard University, to the author; and by a National Science Foundation grant to Zick Rubin, Harvard University. Special thanks are due Zick Rubin, Matina Horner, Joseph Pleck, and Charles T. Hill for their important help in this research.     

Feasibility of a Simplified and Dynamic Bayesian System for Use in Structured Diagnostic Interviews

An important goal of clinical assessment is to balance cost-effectiveness, administration demands, and accuracy (G. Young, J. O'Brien, E. Gutterman, & P. Cohen, 1987). The incorporation of Bayesian logic into diagnostic interviewing may assist with this goal, but in previous examinations, such methods have been prohibitively complex. In this study, analysis of a simplified Bayesian system showed overall classification error rates as good or better than traditional structured interviewing, and reduction in error was positively related to the psychometric properties of the predictor used in the actuarial functions. A dynamic system using simplified Bayesian logic appears to function well in the context of a structured interview and requires comparatively less data than previously tested Bayesian approaches. This type of system appears suitable for further research with clinical populations to determine its performance in applied settings.     

Mandarin learners use syntactic bootstrapping in verb acquisition

Mandarin Chinese allows pervasive ellipsis of noun arguments (NPs) in discourse, which casts doubt concerning child learners' use of syntax in verb learning. This study investigated whether Mandarin learning children would nonetheless extend verb meanings based on the number of NPs in sentences. Forty-one Mandarin-speaking two- and three-year-olds enacted sentences with familiar motion verbs. The presence of an extra postverbal NP led the toddlers to extend causative meanings to intransitive verbs, and the absence of a postverbal NP led them to extend noncausative meanings to transitive verbs. The effects of adding or subtracting an NP were statistically indistinguishable. Thus, the number of NPs in a sentence appears to play a role in verb learning in Mandarin Chinese.