The effect of phonemic processing on the retention of graphemic representations for words and nonwords

The three experiments reported in this study were each conducted in two phases. The first phase of Experiment 1 involved a same-different comparison task requiring “same” responses for both mixed-case (e.g., MAIN main) and pure-case (e.g., near near) pairs. This was followed by Phase 2, a surprise recognition test in which a graphemic effect on word retention was indicated by the superior recognition accuracy obtained for pure-case compared with mixed-case pairs. The first phases of Experiments 2 and 3 involved pronounceability and imageability judgment tasks, respectively. Graphemic retention was assessed by contrasting recognition accuracy for letter strings presented, during Phase 2, in their original Phase 1 case, with letter strings presented, during Phase 2, in. a graphemically dissimilar new case. The experiments provided evidence that there was minimal retention of the graphemic representations from which the phonemic representations of words are generated and, further, that the locus of this effect is probably postlexical. Nonwords were recognized more accurately than words in all three experiments. The latter result was attributed to differences between nonwords and words in both graphemic retention and semantic distinctiveness.     

The effects of control on perceived fairness of procedures and outcomes

On the basis of Thibaut and Walker's theory of procedural justice, it was predicted that subjects who experienced control through choosing a trial decision rule would be more satisfied with the outcome of a dispute and the conflict resolution procedure than would yoked subjects who were not given control. Two additional conditions were added to the design in order to investigate the extent to which control had an influence on trial evaluations independent of being allowed to discuss the rules and obtaining a preferred rule in the absence of actual choice. Regardless of role in the dispute (accuser, accused, or no knowledge) and the nature of the rule adopted, those subjects who exercised control through rule choice evaluated all aspects of the trial experience more positively than subjects who did not exercise control through rule choice. The results also revealed that discussion of the rules and obtaining the preferred rule without choice contributed positively to evaluations of the trial procedure and verdict.     

Persistence in seminary and in ministry

A follow-up study of 672 seminary students from 14 seminaries who took the Theological School Inventory in 1962 and 574 from 10 seminaries who took it in 1973 investigated factors involved in persistence in seminary and in ministry. Among those found were definiteness of decision, interest in parish ministry, a supportive spouse, unambivalent resolution of the authority problem, good role models in father and ministers. Motivations included redemptive outreach, pastoral care, Christian insight and scholarship, the encouragement of other people and a sense of effectiveness in ministry.Dr. Cardwell is Assistant Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Christian Theological Seminary, 1000 W. 42nd St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208. This study was the basis for her Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, June, 1978. TSI data for the 1973 subjects were made available by Richard A. Hunt, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, and Director of Ministry Inventories, P.O. Box 8265, Dallas, Texas 75205. TSI data for the 1962 subjects were coded and made available by Edgar W. Mills. Ph.D., presently visiting Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Texas, San Antonio, formerly Director, Ministry Studies Board. Special credit is due the 16 seminaries who cooperated by furnishing follow-up data.     

What did mummy say? Dyadic interactions between young "hard to manage" children and their mothers

Thirty preschoolers rated as hard to manage on Goodman's (R. Goodman, 1997) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and a group of matched control children were observed and recorded on audiotape at home, interacting with their mothers (Time 1). At the 18-month follow-up home visits (Time 2), the children and mothers were filmed across 4 observation settings. Mother–child interactions were rated on affect, control, responsiveness and connectedness of communication. At Time 1, mothers of the hard to manage group used more negative control and engaged in fewer connected conversations than did mothers in the control group. At Time 2, mothers of the hard to manage group displayed higher levels of negative control and lower levels of positive control. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of examining connected communication and different observation contexts when examining dyadic mother–child interactions.     

Neural mechanisms of affective interference in schizotypy

Negatively valenced stimuli foster cognitive impairment in schizotypy and schizophrenia. To identify relevant brain mechanisms, the authors had 16 positive-schizotypy and 16 control participants perform an emotional Stroop task, judging the ink color of negative and neutral words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of regional brain activity. Schizotypy individuals showed increased right and decreased left activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, indicating a deficit in maintenance of attentional set in the presence of negative emotional distractors. They also showed abnormal activity in ventral limbic areas, including decreased activity in nucleus accumbens and increased activity in hippocampus and amygdala, a circuit involved in the integration of cognitive and affective processes. These results indicate that aspects of emotion-cognition processes and the brain mechanisms that implement them are similar in schizotypy and schizophrenia.     

A case study of mediated learning, delayed auditory feedback, and motor repatterning to reduce stuttering

A case study of DW, an 11-yr. old monolingual, English-speaking boy who exhibits stuttering, language delay, and ADHD is presented. DW experienced only limited improvement during stuttering therapy received in public schools, according to parents and the public school clinician. The purpose of this case study was to assess whether fluency treatment which incorporated Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning would enhance progress. Therapy was delivered in two treatments, with each treatment being 5 wk. of intense therapy, separated by one year. Treatment 1 of combined Mediated Learning and Delayed Auditory Feedback yielded improvement in fluency, judged by parents and the teacher to be clinically significant. The improved fluency was maintained for one year when DW was pretested for participation in Treatment 2, which combined Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning Exercises. As no conclusions are possible, further study is needed.     

Recognition by humans and pigeons of novel views of 3-D objects and their photographs

Humans and pigeons were trained to discriminate between 2 views of actual 3-D objects or their photographs. They were tested on novel views that were either within the closest rotational distance between the training views (interpolated) or outside of that range (extrapolated). When training views were 60 degrees apart, pigeons, but not humans, recognized novel views of actual objects better than their pictures. Further, both species recognized interpolated views of both stimulus types better than extrapolated views, but a single distinctive geon enhanced recognition of novel views only for humans. When training views were 90 degrees apart, pigeons recognized interpolated views better than extrapolated views with actual objects but not with photographs. Thus, pigeons may represent actual objects differently than their pictures.