Hemispheric control of spatial attention

According to the activation-orienting hypothesis the distribution of attention in space is biased in the direction contralateral to the more activated hemisphere. The present investigation tested this proposal and evaluated the nature of hemispheric differences in orienting control. Activation imbalance was produced by a unilateral visual stimulus. The distribution of attention was measured using a modified line bisection task in which subjects judged the location of an intersect on a tachistoscopically presented horizontal line. The first three experiments suggest that (a) attention is biased in the direction contralateral to the stimulated hemisphere, and (b) the biases do not depend on the task relevance or hemispatial position of the stimulus producing the activation imbalance. The final three experiments suggest that when orienting conflict is introduced the rightward bias becomes more robust than the leftward bias. The findings are consistent with the activation-orienting hypothesis. Each hemisphere generates a contralateral attentional bias and the rightward bias of the left hemisphere is stronger. The relevance of these findings to understanding unilateral neglect resulting from parietal damage is discussed.     

Pause loci in stuttered and normal speech

The mainstream of research comparing types of disfluency in stuttered and normal speech has typically omitted consideration of pause. In contrast, psycholinguisticresearch addressed to disfluency in normal speech alone has revealed the salience of pause in the study of fluency/disfluency. The research reported here, which focused on the antecedents and sequelae of filled pauses, revealed substantial differences in pattern of pause occurrence between stuttered and normal speech samples obtained from 20 matched subjects. The results are discussed in reference to relevant findings from the research on pause in normal speech.     

Comprehending quantified sentences: The relation between sentence-picture and semantic memory verification

People were timed as they decided whether quantified sentences like All (some) of the round figures are red were true or false of an accompanying picture. The response latency was a function of the quantifier and the relation between the sets mentioned in the subject and predicate of the sentence. The pattern of latencies was similar to the pattern found for sentences that refer to concepts in semantic memory, e.g., All (some) dogs are animals (Meyer, 1970). This result suggests that the same process may be operating in both domains. Two alternative models of the process are considered. One model assumes that the common process consists of computing the relation between the two sets mentioned in the sentence. The other model assumes that the common process consists of comparing the representation of the sentence to the representation of information computed from the second source. Both models are integrated with broader theories of performance in various comprehension tasks.     

Intellectual differences in relation to personal and family handedness

Right, mixed and left-handed college students were given the complete WAIS, and a series of cognitive factor tests. Results showed left- and mixed-handed individuals to have a significantly lower full scale I.Q. than right-handers. There was no difference between the mixed and left-handers. In all three handedness groups, subjects with a positive family history of sinistrality had a lower full scale I.Q. than did subjects without left-handed relatives. Neither handedness nor family history differentially affected the Verbal or Performance subscales, nor did they have a significant effect on scores in the other cognitive tests. These results are discussed with respect to Levy's theory of hemispheric specialization, and to the role of inheritance and brain damage in the causation of left- and mixed-handedness.     

Fusion frequency as a function of number and phase of binocular stimuli

The relation of fusion hertz to the number of pulses in a train was explored under three conditions: monoptically, dichoptically inphase, and dichoptically antiphase. All three conditions show an increase in fusion hertz as the number of pulses in the stimulating train increases. Over the range of pulse numbers investigated, fusion hertz varies principally with the number of pulses delivered to one eye regardless of the stimulating condition of the other eye.     

Are prepared fears less severe, but more resistant to treatment?

In order to investigate the relationship between the extent to which clinical fears are prepared and clinically relevant characteristics of these fears (i.e. severity, age of onset and treatment outcome). the records of 63 obsessional and phobic patients were examined. Four independent raters scored the usable records (N = 55) on preparedness. The preparedness scores were combined and related to objective indices of severity (patients' scores on the Fear Survey Schedule, the Zung Depression Scale and the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, as well as the treatment duration), onset ages and treatment outcomes (pre-treatment minus post-treatment MOCI scores, for a subsample of obsessional patients only). In contrast to earlier studies, it was found that product-moment correlations among preparedness ratings were relatively low and that prepared fears did not make up a majority in the sample. Indices of severity either did not correlate at all or correlated negatively with preparedness ratings. The positive correlation between preparedness and onset ages reached borderline significance. Evidence suggestive of a resistance to treatment of prepared fears was obtained.     

Early position and stuttering occurrence

Early sentence position is one of several features of verbal expression frequently reported to be associated with stuttering occurrence. Some studies also have reported the concurrence of these features with normal disfluencies. A review of the pertinent literature reveals that, among these features, early position is associated significantly more often with stuttering than with normal dysfluencies. Results of a study investigating stress patterns in the fluent utterances of stuttering and normal speakers yielded contrasts which speak pointedly to the relationship between early position and stuttering occurrence.     

Subgroups of developmental language impairment

Nineteen children with developmental language impairments were given tests which measured syntactic and phonological skills in both comprehension and production conditions, semantic ability, syllable sequencing, and digit span. The results of discriminant function analysis show that the children could be divided into two groups. Group 1, expressive, was characterized primarily by deficits in the production of syntax and phonology. Group 2, expressive-receptive, was more impaired on measures of phonological discrimination, digit span, and semantic ability in addition to showing global syntactic deficits. An auditory-perceptual basis for the language impairments was not supported.     

Child care quality and Dutch 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds' socio‐emotional outcomes: Does the amount of care matter?

High amounts of early child care have sometimes been linked to higher levels of behaviour problems, while high‐quality child care has more often been related to fewer behaviour problems and more social competence. The current study investigated whether the level of centre emotional and behavioural support (child care quality) interacted with the amount of child care in predicting children's socio‐emotional behaviour. Participants were 417 children (mean age = 27 months) from 61 Dutch daycare centres. The amount of daycare ranged from 1 to 5 days per week (M = 2.3 days). Multi‐level analyses showed that, independent of the amount of daycare, high levels of centre emotional and behavioural support were related to more caregiver‐rated social competence 1 year later. In addition, children spending 3.5 days or more in highly supportive daycare centres showed the lowest levels of parent‐rated externalizing behaviour 1 year later. The findings emphasize (a) that the combined effects of the amount and quality of child care are important and (b) that high‐quality early child care is related to children's socio‐emotional development. Further policy, practice, and research implications are discussed.

Highlights

• We studied in a Dutch sample how the amount and quality of daycare interacted in relation to children's socio‐emotional outcomes.
• High levels of daycare quality were related to more teacher‐rated social competence.
• Children spending 3.5 days or more in highly supportive daycare centers showed less parent‐rated externalizing behavior.