Author Index 106, 2001

Authors Index

Author Index 106, 2001     

Gravity biases in a non-human primate?

Pre-school children expect falling objects to travel in a straight line even when there are clear physical mechanisms that deviate the object's path (Hood, 1995). The current study set out to determine whether this expectancy is limited to humans. Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus oedipus), a New World monkey species, were tested on Hood's (1995) experimental task where objects are dropped down a chimney connected by an opaque tube to one of three containers. Like human children, there was a significant tendency to search in the container underneath the chimney where the food was dropped on the first trial, even though aligned chimneys and containers were never connected. These search errors suggest that there may be a gravity bias that operates when both primate species fail to understand the constraints operating on object trajectories. Unlike human children however, tamarins were generally more likely to perseverate in making errors even though repeated testing and cost incentives were used.     

Mothers’ attuned responses to infant affect expressivity promote earlier achievement of language milestones

To investigate infants’ affective expressivity and maternal attuned responsiveness to infant expressivity in relation to early language achievement, 77 dyads were visited in their homes at 9 and 13 months, and mothers were interviewed about their children’s language between 9 and 21 months. Maternal responses that were attuned to infant affect, by selectively matching either the gradient features or the valence of infants’ affective expressions, were more predictive of children’s language achievement than maternal nonmatching responses; and maternal matching responses at 9 months were more predictive of children’s language achievements than maternal responses at 13 months. Moreover, maternal matching responses at 9 months predicted second-year language achievements over and above infant affect expressivity at 9 and 13 months, and over and above maternal matching responses at 13 months. Infants’ affective expressivity per se was not predictive.     

Examining the Use of Digital Storytelling and Immersion in a Multicultural Counseling Course

This article explored the use of digital storytelling as a method to support multicultural counseling competency. Thematic analysis examined the experiences of 9 students who created a digital story through an immersion activity in a multicultural counseling course. Qualitative data revealed 4 themes: (a) initial discomfort with technology, (b) initial reservations with group work, (c) digital storytelling as a learning tool, and (d) multicultural counseling competency. Recommendations for counselor education and future research are provided. Este artículo exploró el uso de la narrativa digital como método para apoyar la competencia en consejería multicultural. Un análisis temático examinó las experiencias de 9 estudiantes que crearon una historia digital mediante una actividad de inmersión en un curso de consejería multicultural. Los datos cualitativos revelaron 4 temas: (a) una carencia inicial de familiaridad con la tecnología, (b) reservas iniciales en cuanto al trabajo en equipo, (c) la narrativa digital como herramienta de aprendizaje y (d) la competencia en consejería multicultural. Se ofrecen recomendaciones para la educación de consejeros e investigaciones futuras.     

Book reviews

Campbell, B. A., Hayne, H., & Richardson, R. (Eds.) (1992). Attention and information processing in infants and adults. Perspectives from human and animal research. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pp. viii + 360. ISBN 0-8058-0782-9. £54.95 (Hbk).

McFarland, D. (1993). Animal behaviour: Psychobiology, ethology and evolution (2nd ed.). Harlow: Longrnan Scientific and Technical. Pp. xiv + 585. ISBN 0-582-06721-9. £23.99 (Pbk).

Ward, J. P., & Hopkins, W.D. (Eds.) (1993). Primate laterality: Current behavioral evidence of primate asymmetries. New York/Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Pp. xii + 356. ISBN 0-387-97961-1 13-540-97961-1. £34.50 (Pbk).

Zentall, T. R. (Ed.). (1993). Animal cognition. A tribute to Donafd A. Riley. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. xiv + 369. ISBN 0-8058-1 184-2. £22.95 (Pbk); ISBN 0-8058-1 183-4. £53.50 (Hbk).

Roitblatt, H. L., Herman, L. M., & Nachtigall, P.E. (Eds.) (1993). Language and communication. Comparative perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Pp. xvi + 502. ISBN 0-8058-0947-3. £26.95 (Pbk); ISBN 0-8058-0946-5. £59.95 (Hbk).

Bradshaw, J. L, & Rogers, L.J. (1993). The evolution of lateral asymmetries, language, roo1 use, and intellect. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Pp. xiii + 463. ISBN 0-12-124560-8. £58.00 (Hbk).

Ten Cate, C., Slater, P. J. B., & Kruijt, J. P. (Eds.) (1993). Song learning and imprinting. An inquiry into mechanisms of behavioural development. Amsterdam: Netherlands Zoology Society. Pp. 234. £13.00 (Pbk).     

Are Reaching Movements Planned to be Straight and Invariant in the Extrinsic Space? Kinematic Comparison Between Compliant and Unconstrained Motions

Two main questions were addressed in the present study. First, does the existence of kinematic regularities in the extrinsic space represent a general rule? Second, can the existence of extrinsic regularities be related to specific experimental situations implying, for instance, the generation of compliant motion (i.e. a motion constrained by external contact)? To address these two questions we studied the spatio-temporal characteristics of unconstrained and compliant movements. Five major differences were observed between these two types of movement: (1) the movement latency and movement duration were significantly longer in the compliant than in the unconstrained condition; (2) whereas the hand path was curved and variable according to movement direction for the unconstrained movements, it was straight and invariant for the compliant movements; (3) whereas the movement end-point distribution was roughly circular for the unconstrained movements, it was consistently elongated and typically oriented in the movement direction for the compliant movements; (4) whereas constant errors varied as a function of target eccentricity for the unconstrained movements, they were independent of this factor for the compliant movements; (5) the instruction to move the final effector along a straight line path influenced the characteristics of the unconstrained movements but not the characteristics of the compliant movements. When considered together, the previous observations suggest that compliant and unconstrained movements involve different planning strategies. Our data support the hypothesis that unconstrained motions, unlike compliant motions, are not programmed to follow a straight line path in the extrinsic space. This observation provides a theoretical frame of reference within which some apparently contradictory results reported in the movement generation literature may be explained.     

Intervention Styles With Suicidal Callers at Two Suicide Prevention Centers

Callers to suicide prevention centers are mainly helped by volunteers trained to face these crisis situations. This study evaluated this process of intervention in order to better understand the nature of the interventions and their determinants. A total of 617 calls with suicidal clients were classified with a 20-category rating instrument, the Helper's Response List. Cluster analysis determined that the 617 intervention profiles could match one of two styles: nondirective (“Rogerian”-391 calls) or directive (226 calls). Further analyses indicated that the particular style of intervention was related more to the characteristics of the callers themselves than to characteristics of volunteers.