Is there a natural order for expressing semantic relations?

All languages rely to some extent on word order to signal relational information. Why? We address this question by exploring communicative and cognitive factors that could lead to a reliance on word order. In Study 1, adults were asked to describe scenes to another using their hands and not their mouths. The question was whether this home-made "language" would contain gesture sentences with consistent order. In addition, we asked whether reliance on order would be influenced by three communicative factors (whether the communication partner is permitted to give feedback; whether the information to be communicated is present in the context that recipient and gesturer share; whether the gesturer assumes the role of gesture receiver as well as gesture producer). We found that, not only was consistent ordering of semantic elements robust across the range of communication situations, but the same non-English order appeared in all contexts. Study 2 explored whether this non-English order is found only when a person attempts to share information with another. Adults were asked to reconstruct scenes in a non-communicative context using pictures drawn on transparencies. The adults picked up the pictures for their reconstructions in a consistent order, and that order was the same non-English order found in Study 1. Finding consistent ordering patterns in a non-communicative context suggests that word order is not driven solely by the demands of communicating information to another, but may reflect a more general property of human thought.     

The interactive effects of conscientiousness and agreeableness on job performance

The authors hypothesized that the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance would be stronger for persons high in agreeableness than for those low in agreeableness. Results of hierarchical moderated regression analyses for 7 independent samples of employees across diverse occupations provided support for the hypothesis in 5 of the samples. In samples supporting the hypothesis, among the highly conscientious workers, those low in agreeableness were found to receive lower ratings of job performance than workers high in agreeableness. One explanation for lack of an interaction between conscientiousness and agreeableness in the other 2 samples is that those jobs were not characterized by frequent, cooperative interactions with others. Overall, the results show that highly conscientious workers who lack interpersonal sensitivity may be ineffective, particularly in jobs requiring cooperative interchange with others.     

Exploring the mental health of Mexican migrant farm workers in the Midwest: psychosocial predictors of psychological distress and suggestions for prevention and treatment

The purposes of the present study were threefold: (a) to assess the prevalence levels of anxiety and depression in a sample of Mexican migrant farm workers in the midwestern United States; (b) to explore the relationships among acculturative stress, anxiety, and depression; and (c) to examine the variables that best predict anxiety and depression. The overall sample revealed elevated levels of anxiety and depression. Migrant farm workers with heightened levels of acculturative stress were more likely to report high levels of anxiety and depression. Family dysfunction, ineffective social support, low self-esteem, lack of agreement with the decision to migrate, high education levels, high levels of acculturative stress, and high levels of anxiety were significantly associated with high depression levels. The overall findings suggest that migrant farm workers who experience elevated levels of acculturative stress may be at risk for experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression. The findings highlight the importance of establishing prevention and treatment services for migrant farm workers that aim to increase levels of emotional support, self-esteem, and coping skills.     

Revisiting bias effects in word-initial phonological priming

The phonological priming paradigm, in which participants respond to the second of 2 consecutively presented spoken words, has the potential to be a useful tool with which to study lexical processing. Concerns about response biases distorting the results have persisted since its introduction. This study explored the manifestation of biases by modifying the standard priming experiment such that the magnitude of priming effects using the same items could be compared at different points during the testing session. Four experiments investigated whether a recent dissociation of response biases and priming effects is evidence of lexical inhibition when the prime and target overlap by the first 3 word-initial phonemes (M. Hamburger & L. M. Slowiaczek, 1996). Biases were found in conditions previously thought to prevent their influence.     

The accuracy of abstracts in psychology journals

This article provides an empirically supported reminder of the importance of accuracy in scientific communication. The authors identify common types of inaccuracies in research abstracts and offer suggestions to improve abstract-article agreement. Abstracts accompanying 13% of a random sample of 400 research articles published in 8 American Psychological Association journals during 1997 and 1998 contained data or claims inconsistent with or missing from the body of the article. Error rates ranged from 8% to 18%, although between-journal differences were not significant. Many errors (63%) were unlikely to cause substantive misinterpretations. Unfortunately, 37% of errors found could be seriously misleading with respect to the data or claims presented in the associated article. Although deficient abstracts may be less common in psychology journals than in major medical journals (R. M. Pitkin, M. A. Branagan, & L. F. Burmeister, 1999), there is still cause for concern and need for improvement.     

MMPI-A scores and high points of male juvenile delinquents: scales 4, 5, and 6 as markers of juvenile delinquency

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) clinical, supplementary, and content scale score patterns for 655 male delinquents were examined. Low scores on Scale 5 (Masculinity/Femininity) were found to be the most frequent deviation, followed by elevations on Scales 6 (Paranoia) and 4 (Psychopathic Deviate). This is consistent with previous research, although the importance of Scale 5 deviations has been little noted because of the traditional focus on scale elevations only. Classification analysis indicated that a combination of MMPI-A scales discriminated between this delinquent sample and the normative sample, with a sensitivity of 90%-95% and a specificity of 80%-85%. This level of sensitivity was maintained in a replication sample (N = 473).     

Temporal tuning in the acquisition of cognitive skill

Thetemporal tuning hypothesis suggests that individuals adjust the timing of cognitive performances to achieve temporal coordination of mental processes and the data on which they operate, and that this adjustment becomes more precise with practice. Participants in two experiments performed self-paced multiple-step arithmetic tasks in which the information needed for each step was briefly displayed at the participants’ request. Timing constraints were manipulated by varying between subjects the delay between requests and displays of information. In Experiment 1, both operators and operands appeared step by step, and participants achieved a modest degree of temporal adjustment that did not change with practice. In Experiment 2, participants could preview operators while operands appeared step by step. In that experiment, participants achieved more precise temporal adjustment, and the amount of adjustment increased with practice. These results demonstrate the phenomenon of temporal tuning in symbolic cognitive skills and suggest some constraints on the ability to anticipate the time course of one’s mental processes.     

Psychosocial predictors of anxiety among immigrant Mexican migrant farmworkers: implications for prevention and treatment

This study examined predictors of anxiety symptomatology among immigrant Mexican migrant farmworkers in the Midwest. Its purposes were to assess the prevalence of anxiety symptoms, to examine the relationship between acculturative stress and anxiety, and to determine the variables that best predict anxiety. Heightened levels were found for overall anxiety and in the cognitive, affective, and physiological expressions of anxiety. Elevated acculturative stress, low self-esteem, ineffective social support, lack of control and choice in living a migrant farmworker lifestyle, low religiosity, and high education were significantly related to high anxiety. Findings suggest that migrant farmworkers who experience elevated acculturative stress are susceptible to the development of anxiety-related disorders and highlight the importance of establishing prevention and treatment services for migrant farmworkers.     

Australian influences on Elton Mayo: the construct of Revery in industrial society

Elton Mayo was born in Australia and spent most of his first 42 years living in that country. This article explores the Australian context in which he developed his views views of Australia compared with that of the United States during the time that Mayo developed his approach to psychology and the role of workers in industry. In addition, the social context in which Mayo established his career was shaped by significant political events in Australia. The construct of revery, which describes a specific state of consciousness, is central to Mayo's early theorizing and was developed by Mayo partly in reaction to political and industrial conflict occurring in Australia.