Mental representations of spatial and nonspatial relations

Four experiments investigated the representation and integration in memory of spatial and nonspatial relations. Subjects learned two-dimensional spatial arrays in which critical pairs of object names were semantically related (Experiment 1), semantically and episodically related (Experiment 2), or just episodically related (Experiments 3a and 3b). Episodic relatedness was established in a paired-associate learning task that preceded array learning. After learning an array, subjects participated in two tasks: item recognition, in which the measure of interest was priming; and distance estimation. Priming in item recognition was sensitive to the Euclidean distance between object names and, for neighbouring locations, to nonspatial relations. Errors in distance estimations varied as a function of distance but were unaffected by nonspatial relations. These and other results indicated that nonspatial relations influenced the probability of encoding spatial relations between locations but did not lead to distorted spatial memories.     

ACHIEVEMENT STYLES OF WOMEN LEADERS AND THEIR PEERS: Toward an Understanding of Women and Leadership

Women's achievement was examined by studying the achievement styles and leadership outcomes of women college leaders as compared with those of a control sample of undergraduate men and women (Study 1) and with those of men college leaders (Study 2). Women leaders scored significantly higher than control women on six of nine achievement styles, scored higher than control men on three of nine, and derived satisfaction from a greater number of achievement sources than did women or men controls. Women leaders perceived more support from their institutions and attached more importance to contributing to their community and becoming an authority in their field than did men or women controls. Achievement style was related to leadership role, with endorsement of six styles correlated with attaining leadership. Achievement profiles of women leaders were replicated in Study 2. Men and women college leaders showed similar profiles on eight of nine achievement styles. However, women leaders were significantly less likely to derive satisfaction from competitive achievement than were men leaders.     

Is it beneficial to involve a family member? A meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions for chronic illness.

Links between chronic illness and family relationships have led to psychosocial interventions targeted at the patient's closest family member or both patient and family member. The authors conducted a meta-analytic review of randomized studies comparing these interventions with usual medical care (k=70), focusing on patient outcomes (depression, anxiety, relationship satisfaction, disability, and mortality) and family member outcomes (depression, anxiety, relationship satisfaction, and caregiving burden). Among patients, interventions had positive effects on depression when the spouse was included and, in some cases, on mortality. Among family members, positive effects were found for caregiving burden, depression, and anxiety; these effects were strongest for nondementing illnesses and for interventions that targeted only the family member and that addressed relationship issues. Although statistically significant aggregate effects were found, they were generally small in magnitude. These findings provide guidance in developing future interventions in this area.     

READING SKILL AND SUPPRESSION REVISITED

Abstract— In a previous issue of Psychological Science, we (Gernsbacher, 1993) reported that less skilled readers are less able than more skilled readers to quickly suppress irrelevant information (e.g., the contextually inappropriate meaning of a homonym, such as the playing-card meaning of spade, in the sentence He dug with the spade, or the inappropriate form of a homophone, such as patience, in the sentence He had lots of patients). In the current research, we investigated a ramification of that finding. If less skilled readers are less able to suppress a contextually inappropriate meaning of a homonym, perhaps less skilled readers might be better than more skilled readers at comprehending puns. However, intuition and previous research suggest the contrary, as do the results of the research presented here. On a task that required accepting, rather than rejecting, a meaning of a homonym that was not implied by the sentence context, more skilled readers responded more rapidly than less skilled readers. In contrast, on a task that required accepting a meaning of a homonym that was implied by the sentence context, more and less skilled readers performed equally well. We conclude that more skilled readers are more able to rapidly accept inappropriate meanings of homonyms because they are more skilled at suppression (which in this case involves suppressing the appropriate meanings).     

EFFECTS OF CONTINGENT REWARD AND INSTRUCTION ON ORAL READING PERFORMANCE AT DIFFERING LEVELS OF PASSAGE DIFFICULTY

This study examined the effects of reinforcement contingencies designed to increase the performance of existing reading skills as well as the effects of instruction—modeling and practice—designed to increase skill level for oral reading fluency across three levels of reading materials. Results showed that a combination of contingencies, modeling, and practice was effective in producing substantial increases in reading fluency for all participants at their assigned grade levels. These results demonstrate one strategy for experimentally determining those instructional components that are required to increase oral reading rate.