The priority of primary process categorizing: experimental evidence supporting a psychoanalytic developmental hypothesis

Earlier work has provided experimental evidence for the existence of the primary and secondary process mental organization posited by Freud and has demonstrated that primary process effects are the more active unconsciously (Brakel et al. 2000). Primary and secondary processes were assessed by a categorization test in which qualitatively different principles could be used. In new experiments using the same stimuli, another significant implication of Freud's model was tested: that primary process mental organization has developmental priority. In these experiments, which studied 559 participants ranging in age from 3 to 80, it was found (1) that primary process mentation predominates in preschoolers; (2) that it is not until around age 7 that primary process organization is supplanted by secondary process organization; and (3) that after age 7 the predominance of secondary process organization remains remarkably stable throughout the life span.     

The minimal unit of phonological encoding: prosodic or lexical word

Wheeldon and Lahiri (Journal of Memory and Language 37 (1997) 356) used a prepared speech production task (Sternberg, S., Monsell, S., Knoll, R. L., & Wright, C. E. (1978). The latency and duration of rapid movement sequences: comparisons of speech and typewriting. In G. E. Stelmach (Ed.), Information processing in motor control and learning (pp. 117-152). New York: Academic Press; Sternberg, S., Wright, C. E., Knoll, R. L., & Monsell, S. (1980). Motor programs in rapid speech: additional evidence. In R. A. Cole (Ed.), The perception and production of fluent speech (pp. 507-534). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum) to demonstrate that the latency to articulate a sentence is a function of the number of phonological words it comprises. Latencies for the sentence [Ik zoek het] [water] 'I seek the water' were shorter than latencies for sentences like [Ik zoek] [vers] [water] 'I seek fresh water'. We extend this research by examining the prepared production of utterances containing phonological words that are less than a lexical word in length. Dutch compounds (e.g. ooglid 'eyelid') form a single morphosyntactic word and a phonological word, which in turn includes two phonological words. We compare their prepared production latencies to those syntactic phrases consisting of an adjective and a noun (e.g. oud lid 'old member') which comprise two morphosyntactic and two phonological words, and to morphologically simple words (e.g. orgel 'organ') which comprise one morphosyntactic and one phonological word. Our findings demonstrate that the effect is limited to phrasal level phonological words, suggesting that production models need to make a distinction between lexical and phrasal phonology.     

The fit and implementation of sexual harassment law to workplace evaluations

Three studies used videotaped harassment complaints to examine the impact of legal standards on the evaluation of social-sexual conduct at work. Study 1 demonstrated that without legal instructions, college students' judgment strategies were highly variable. Study 2 compared 2 current legal standards, the "severity or pervasiveness test" and a proposed utilitarian alternative (i.e., the rational woman approach). Undergraduate participants taking the perspective of the complainant were more sensitive to offensive conduct than were those adopting an objective perspective. Although the utilitarian altemative further increased sensitivity on some measures, it failed to produce a principled judgment strategy. Finally, Study 3 examined the kinds of errors that full-time workers make when applying the "severity or pervasiveness" test to examine more closely the sensitivity of the subjective approach.     

A unified approach to exploratory factor analysis with missing data,nonnormal data,and in the presence of outliers

Factor analysis is regularly used for analyzing survey data. Missing data, data with outliers and consequently nonnormal data are very common for data obtained through questionnaires. Based on covariance matrix estimates for such nonstandard samples, a unified approach for factor analysis is developed. By generalizing the approach of maximum likelihood under constraints, statistical properties of the estimates for factor loadings and error variances are obtained. A rescaled Bartlett-corrected statistic is proposed for evaluating the number of factors. Equivariance and invariance of parameter estimates and their standard errors for canonical, varimax, and normalized varimax rotations are discussed. Numerical results illustrate the sensitivity of classical methods and advantages of the proposed procedures.This project was supported by a University of North Texas Faculty Research Grant, Grant #R49/CCR610528 for Disease Control and Prevention from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Grant DA01070 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The results do not necessarily represent the official view of the funding agencies. The authors are grateful to three reviewers for suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper.     

The pursuit of Leonardo's constraint

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) identified two stimulus situations that cannot be painted faithfully on a canvas: (a) when two objects are located in the same direction with respect to the painter's head, and (b) when parts of a surface are visible to one eye, but occluded from the other eye. He analysed these situations in terms of rays being emitted from the two eyes and, aside from the origin of the rays, the projective geometry he used was correct. His analyses showed that what can be seen from two vantage points cannot be represented on a canvas, because a 'correct' painting must be created from a single 'station point'. He was struck by the consequence of this fact that the depth seen on a canvas cannot match that of viewing the scene with two eyes. Subsequent visual scientists focused on Leonardo's observation about the lack of vivid depth in a picture. We argue that a complete understanding of what we see in the two stimulus situations requires consideration of visual direction in addition to visual depth. More specifically, we argue that the visual directions of the two objects, (a) above, and the visual direction of the monocular areas, (b) above, are dependent upon the constraint that two opaque objects cannot be represented in the same direction. Demonstrations that readers can perform, and that support this argument, are provided on the Perception website at http://www.perceptionweb.com/perc0102/ono.html.     

The Use of Multitrait–Multimethod Data for Detecting Nonlinear Relationships: The Case of Psychological Climate and Job Satisfaction

Previous monomethod research has found mixed support for nonlinear effects between certain job characteristics (e.g., job autonomy, job complexity) and outcome variables (e.g., job performance). We hypothesized that these weak nonlinear findings may be due to the prevalence of monomethod research that can lead to a lack of complete measurement and/or introduce common methods variance, either of which may mask the true shape of relationships. Using hierarchical regression analyses and a multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) research design, we found strikingly different results between monomethod and MTMM data when considering the relationships between three psychological climate variables and job satisfaction. While the monomethod results mirrored earlier inconclusive findings, the MTMM data indicated that nonlinear equations explained significantly more of the relationship between all three climate dimensions and job satisfaction. These results suggest that the use of MTMM data allows one to more effectively test for nonlinear effects. Furthermore, these nonlinear results suggest that the format of employee questionnaires should probably change from asking how much an employee has of certain constructs to asking does the employee want more or less of these constructs.     

Parenting and Family Stress Treatment Outcomes in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): An Empirical Analysis in the MTA Study

Parenting and family stress treatment outcomes in the MTA study were examined. Male and female (579), 7–9-year-old children with combined type Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), were recruited at six sites around the United States and Canada, and randomly assigned to one of four groups: intensive, multi-faceted behavior therapy program alone (Beh); carefully titrated and monitored medication management strategy alone (MedMgt); a well-integrated combination of the two (Comb); or a community comparison group (CC). Treatment occurred over 14 months, and assessments were taken at baseline, 3, 9, and 14 months. Parenting behavior and family stress were assessed using parent-report and child-report inventories. Results showed that Beh alone, MedMgt alone, and Comb produced significantly greater decreases in a parent-rated measure of negative parenting, Negative/Ineffective Discipline, than did standard community treatment. The three MTA treatments did not differ significantly from each other on this domain. No differences were noted among the four groups on positive parenting or on family stress variables. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and empirically documented importance of negative parenting in the symptoms, comorbidities and long-term outcomes of ADHD.     

Phonological similarity and the irrelevant speech effect: implications for models of short-term verbal memory

Three experiments studied the interaction between irrelevant speech and phonological similarity within both the remembered and the irrelevant auditory material. Phonological similarity within the remembered list impaired performance in both baseline and irrelevant speech conditions, whereas phonological similarity between the remembered and ignored irrelevant items did not influence performance. Although there was a tendency for similarity within the irrelevant items to reduce interference, this proved to be a less robust finding. Implications for the theoretical interpretation of the irrelevant speech effect are discussed.     

Secondary prevention interventions for young drug users: a systematic review of the evidence

This paper reviews the international scientific evidence on the effectiveness of secondary prevention interventions for young drug users. The review provides insight into the effectiveness of interventions that have been evaluated using moderately strong research designs. Most of the studies included are from the United States of America. Some interventions are effective in reducing drug use and associated problems while others have no or mixed effect. Those successful in reducing drug use include behavior therapy, Minnesota 12-step programs, residential care, and general drug treatment. Those with either no effect or mixed effect include schools interventions. Involving parents and other agencies may enhance an intervention's effect. There is a lack of good quality studies outside the USA. Future interventions should focus on either low- or high-risk groups of young drug users. Future research should be conducted on a wider range of services for young people and include non-medical outcomes such as communication skills, schooling, employment, family relations, and economic costs.