Actions and Events: Some Semantical Considerations

Since the publication of Davidson's influential article 'The Logical Form of Action Sentences', semantical considerations are widely thought to support the doctrine that actions are events. I shall argue that the semantics of action sentences do not imply that actions are events. This will involve defending a negative claim and a positive claim, as well as a proposal for how to formalize action sentences. The negative claim is that the semantics of action sentences do not require that we think of actions as events, even if these sentences are best formalized in the manner that Davidson himself favours . The positive claim is that the simplest way of formalizing actions sentences which captures all and only licit inferences requires quantification only , over the results of actions. If this is right, then the argument from semantics evaporates, and the claim that actions are events needs to be freshly argued for – or against.     

The value of being imitated

Theories and research on the topics of attraction, conformity, and imitation support the view that the relational stimulus arising from being imitated serves a reinforcing function. To examine this possibility, 48 preschool children performed a task in which some neutral stimuli were repeatedly associated with an adult's matching the behavior of the subject, and other neutral stimuli were associated with the same adult's mismatching the behavior of the subject. Preference for the stimuli associated with being matched was greater at the end of training than earlier, and the overall preference for the matched stimuli exceeded chance. The results are considered in terms of the thesis that similarity arising from being imitated served a reinforcing function and the thesis that response strategies were adopted by the children.     

Perceived aversiveness of recommended solution and locus of control as determinants of response to danger

As determined by their scores on Rotter's Locus of Control scale (Psychological Monographs, 1966, 80 (1, Whole No. 609)), internal and external subjects were exposed either to a high-, low-, or no-fear message on the dangers of exposure to a sunlamp. It was recommended to half the subjects in each condition that they apply a cream which was described as producing minimal skin irritation (low aversiveness), while half the subjects received recommendations to apply a cream described as producing considerable skin irritation (high aversiveness). It was predicted that (a) a high-fear message would be more effective than a low-fear message in getting subjects to use the cream, especially when the recommended behavior was perceived as low in aversivensss; and (b) a high-fear message would be more effective than a low fear message for subjects classified as internals. The second prediction was confirmed, and the first was tentatively supported. Results were interpreted in terms of the perceptual processes which may mediate the relationship between fear and action. The findings did not support the fear-drive model.     

PARENTAL TRAINING OF THE PLURAL MORPHEME IN NORMAL TODDLERS1

Experimental studies with young normal children can provide useful strategy for the functional analysis of language. Research by Whitehurst (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1972, 13 , 502–515) exemplifies this approach, in which 2-yr-old children were exposed to a training procedure that involved imitation and differential reinforcement for a two-word productive sequence of the adjective-noun form. Results indicated that these young children could be trained to produce rudimentary novel utterances that were grammatically appropriate. More recently, Hursh and Sherman (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1973, 15 , 328–339) reported the existence of a functional relationship between parental modelling and reinforcement of vocalizations, and increased instances of these vocalizations in young (15- to 20-month-old) children. These demonstrations relate to a summary of findings with linguistically deviant populations discussed by Sherman (Advances in Child Development, 1971). The present study attempts to extend these “generative” investigations to normal children and to provide useful information for those interested in teaching speech forms to them. Modelling and differential reinforcement were used by three mothers to establish the use of the plural morpheme in the speech of their 19- to 25-month-old children. During training trials, verbal praise was presented contingent on correct labelling of singular and plural items, while correct labelling was modelled if the child responded incorrectly. Children learned to label specifically trained sets of singular and plural items and also exhibited correct labelling when asked to label never-trained singular and plural items. After establishing correct usage, the same training procedures were used to train reversed labelling (plural responses to single items and singular responses to plural items). This produced a corresponding reversal of responding (both trained and untrained items) by each child for the plural items but not for singular items. Correct singular and plural labelling was recovered by returning to the initial procedures.     

FACTOR STRUCTURE AND VALIDATION OF THE JUNIOR EYSENCK PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE BASED ON A ROMANIAN SAMPLE

A cross-cultural and clinical validity study of Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ) was performed on a Romanian unselected sample of 865 children and a clinical sample of 387 children aged 10-15. The loading pattern of the original form of JEPQ on Romanian children was compared with the English loading pattern; disagreement was found for 17,6% of P items, 16.6% of E items, 15% of N items, and 15% of L items. Concordance between JEPQ scores and clinical diagnosis (conduct disorders, adjustment reactions, and schizoid disorder of childhood and adolescence) was high for E scale, lower, but acceptable for N scale, and reduced for P scale.     

THE ACQUISITION OF PERSON PRONOUNS IN FRENCH-SPEAKING CHILDREN*

The study reports data on the acquisition of person pronouns by 29 French-speaking children, aged between 18 and 30 months. The results show that this acquisition proceeds according to a regular developmental sequence, which parallels that found in research with English-speaking children. However, it appeared that the French-speaking children in this study learned the pronouns about 2-3 months later than had been reported for English-speaking children. The results are interpreted as giving evidence about the selective contribution of general developmental mechanisms and socio-cultural and linguistic factors to young children's learning of person pronouns.     

Free recall in boys of normal and poor reading levels as a function of task manipulations

Free recall of reading disabled boys, ages 9 to 11 years, was compared with that of boys showing no reading difficulty. During a baseline trial, poor readers recalled less items and tended to show less recall organization than normals. Recall and category clustering in a second trial were highest following a manipulation designed to produce semantic encoding of items and lowest when children were required to focus on items' physical features. In a condition requiring free sort prior to recall, reading disabled boys failed to organize or study as effectively as normals. Rather than lacking the ability to use semantic relations as a strategy for grouping items, the reading disabled had difficulty in spontaneously generating effective study techniques.