Infant search strategies with containers that move but do not alter the location at which contents can be found

A number of hypotheses about infants' delayed search accuracy have been based upon the notion that a location associated with repeated retrieval of the object attains privileged status. Infants may need strong cues to search at a new location. However, a test is reported in which performance of 12- and 15-month-old infants was shown to be indifferent to the location. The results were reliable at an individual level. The data accord with previous research upon the canonicality effect in infant spatial search, an effect which is taken to index an experiential constraint on spatial discrimination. The experimental design thus serves as a discriminative test between three approaches: the original privileged location hypothesis, a newer spatial-contrast hypothesis, and a wider approach which focuses on experiential constraints on learning, including the canonicality effect.     

Do as I say, not as I do

The degree of agreement between responses to attitude questionnaires and responses in situations in which the content of the questionnaires is relevant is examined for the study of attitudes in general and for the study of environmental attitudes in particular. The observed low positive correlations of attitude and behaviour suggest that the notion that it is first necessary to change attitudes before one can change behaviour must be reevaluated. A review of the recent say-do correspondence literature is followed by a comparison of attitude-behaviour studies with say-do correspondence studies. A more empirical approach is urged for the future of environmental research which offers a unique arena for the study of attitude-behaviour congruence.     

The association of attitudes toward stuttering with selected variables

The Stuttering Inventory, designed to assess knowledge about and identify attitudes toward stuttering was completed by 203 subjects. The relative contributions of age, gender, years of education, knowledge about stuttering, number of people who stutter personally known, number of stuttering courses completed, and possession of the Certificate of Clinical Competence in speech-language pathology towards the prediction of attitudes toward people who stutter, their parents, and the efficacy of therapy were examined. Possessing the Certificate of Clinical Competence was the most reliable predictor of attitude scores. The limitations of this study and related research efforts using paper and pencil assessments of attitudes toward stuttering are discussed.     

Objectivity and the double standard for feminist epistemologies

The emphasis on the limitations of objectivity, in specific guises and networks, has been a continuing theme of contemporary analytic philosophy for the past few decades. The popular sport of baiting feminist philosophers — into pointing to what's left out of objective knowledge, or into describing what methods, exactly, they would offer to replace the powerful objective methods grounding scientific knowledge — embodies a blatant double standard which has the effect of constantly putting feminist epistemologists on the defensive, on the fringes, on the run.This strategy can only work if objectivity is transparent, simple, stable, and clear in its meaning. It most certainly is not. In fact, taking objectivity as a sort of beautiful primitive, self-evident in its value, and all-powerful in its revelatory power, requires careless philosophy, and the best workers in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science have made reworked definitions of objectivity absolutely central to their own projects. In fact, classic feminist concerns with exploring the impact of sex and gender on knowledge, understanding, and other relations between human beings and the rest of the world fall squarely within the sort of human and social settings thatare already considered central in most current analytic metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science. I argue that the burden of proof is clearly on those who wish toreject the centrality and relevance of sex and gender to our most fundamental philosophical work on knowledge and reality.I am especially indebted to Helen Longino, Bojana Mladenovic, Ina Roy, Jonathan Sills, and David Smith for their time, discussion, and criticism of drafts of this paper.     

Corrective Feedback in Oral Reading

We examined 24 studies to determine the effects on word recognition and reading comprehension of correcting errors during oral reading. Corrective feedback improved students' word reading accuracy on words in lists, and accuracy in reading words in passages. Some correction procedures had greater benefits than others. Successful error correction procedures share common characteristics, leading to recommendations about instruction: Teachers should (a) correct errors immediately; (b) require students to repeat the correct response; and (c) match correction procedure to the instructional situation and the learner. Several research recommendations are outlined.     

Comparison of Graphic Symbol Learning in Individuals with Aphasia and Right Hemisphere Brain Damage

This study compared the differences in performance on recognition of graphic symbols across time by individuals with aphasia, individuals with right-hemisphere brain damage, and neurologically normal adults. The subjects, seen individually, learned 40 Blissymbols. The symbols were selected so that the effects of symbol translucency and complexity on the recognition of graphic symbols could be examined. A paired-associate learning paradigm was used to teach the symbol–referent pairs to subjects. The results indicated that individuals with aphasia and neurologically normal adults do not differ significantly in recognition of graphic symbols. However, individuals with right-hemisphere damage recognized fewer symbols compared to individuals with aphasia and normal adults, suggesting that they have difficulty in associative learning of graphic symbols. Additionally, translucency was found to be a potent factor in the recognition of Blissymbols by all groups. The finding that individuals with severe chronic aphasia can learn and retain graphic symbols has significant clinical implications for aphasia rehabilitation.     

Piagetian tasks measure intelligence and intelligence tests assess cognitive development: A reanalysis

A reanalysis of the intercorrelations of Wechsler subtests, achievements tests, and Piagetian tasks originally published by Stephens et al. (1972) has corrected errors in the original design and has used models which allow both differences and similarities to appear. Unit weighted composites of the two sets of tests were formed after first partialling chronological age out of the complete table of intercorrelations. The correlation between the composites is .876 which corrects, using split-half estimates of reliabilities, to .918. Next the matrix of partial correlations was factored and the factors rotated to a hierarchical structure. Piagetian tasks contribute almost equally to the definition of the general factor in intelligence along with the Wechsler subtests and the achievement tests. The general factor, furthermore, makes the single largest contribution to the variance of most of the measures of both sets. The smaller group factors consist of an Academic Achievement factor and three Piagetian factors. Of the latter the largest and most clearly identified is the factor called Operational Thought in the earlier analysis, but is here described simply as Conservation. It is concluded that the evidence for communality in function far outweighs the differences between intelligence tests and Piagetian tasks.