Relationship between language skills and academic achievement in first grade

The ability of scores on the Early Prevention of School Failure battery to predict Stanford Achievement Test scores was examined. Participants included 280 first-grade students who were administered the battery at the beginning of kindergarten and the Stanford Achievement Test at the end of first grade. Principal factor analysis based on the oblique rotation exhibited simple structure between scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, the Preschool Language Scale, and the Stanford Achievement Test (verbal or language factor), with the Draw-A-Man test and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-Revised loading on a separate factor (motor factor). Results suggest that language-based skills were highly associated with later academic performance in school-aged children.     

When the central executive lets us down: schemas, attention, and load in a generative working memory task

Participants were asked to generate a single sequence of numbers in between two bounds. By varying the requested sequence length and way in which the question is posed, this paradigm enables assessment of the contributions to central executive functioning of schema, focus of attention, and load. With sequences of three or four numbers, a quarter of the sample failed fully to comply with the instructions. They generated an incorrect number of numbers or went outside the specified bounds. With sequences of six numbers, more than half of the sample infringed one or more of the constraints. Participants consistently generated sequences with particular generic properties. The overall frequency and patterns of infringements suggest that a substantial proportion of participants focused their conceptual attention on sequence content and often neglected the problem of how thelength and boundary constraints were going to be evaluated either before or during response delivery.     

COMPETITION BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF ESCAPE BEHAVIOR

We compared the effects of reinforcing compliance with either positive reinforcement (edible items) or negative reinforcement (a break) on 5 participants' escape-maintained problem behavior. Both procedures were assessed with or without extinction. Results showed that compliance was higher and problem behavior was lower for all participants when compliance produced an edible item rather than a break. Treatment gains were achieved without the use of extinction. Results are discussed regarding the use of positive reinforcement to treat escape behavior.     

Scenting movie theatre commercials: The impact of scent and pictures on brand evaluations and ad recall

We utilize a novel advertising context—commercials seen in a simulated movie theater setting while ambient scent is emitted into the atmosphere—to explore the effects of multisensory cues on brand evaluation and advertising recall. Although both pictorial and olfactory cues enhance brand evaluations and ad recall overall, we find that olfactory (vs pictorial) cues generate more positive feelings toward the brand and enhance recall to a greater extent. We also find that, after a long time delay, re‐experiencing the scent activates pictures' ability to facilitate recall. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Karl Abraham's revolution of 1916: from sensual sucking to the oral-aggressive wish of destruction

The author argues that "The First Pregenital Stage of the Libido" (Abraham 1916-1917) expounds a new conception of orality, i.e., of purposeful oral aggression directed against an object during the first stage of psychic development. This conception is shown to be contrary to Freud's view of orality as elaborated in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), as well as in other writings of late 1914 and 1915. Abraham's conception ignores fundamental dimensions of Freud's thinking during these years, namely, the difference between autoerotism/narcissism and object love, on the one hand, and also between the leading role of sexuality and the secondary role of aggression, on the other. Thus, Abraham's thinking represents a basic theoretical change that had far-reaching consequences for psychoanalytic practice.     

The Relation between Parent Mental Health and Child Internalizing Symptoms in Parent–Child Interaction Therapy

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The present study evaluated whether families receiving Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) experienced significant improvements in both parent and...     

Assessing vividness of mental imagery: The Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire

Mental imagery may occur in any sensory modality, although visual imagery has been most studied. A sensitive measure of the vividness of imagery across a range of modalities is needed: the shorter version of Bett's Questionnaire upon Mental Imagery (Sheehan, 1967 , J. Clin. Psychology, 23, 386) uses outdated items and has an unreliable factor structure. We report the development and initial validation of the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (Psi‐Q) comprising items for each of the following modalities: Vision, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, Bodily Sensation, and Emotional Feeling. An exploratory factor analysis on a 35‐item form indicated that these modalities formed separate factors, rather than a single imagery factor, and this was replicated by confirmatory factor analysis. The Psi‐Q was validated against the Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (Reisberg et al., 2003 , Appl. Cogn. Psychology, 17, 147) and Marks' ( 1995 , J. Mental Imagery, 19, 153) Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire‐2 (VVIQ‐2). A short 21‐item form comprising the best three items from the seven factors correlated with the total score and subscales of the full form, and with the VVIQ‐2. Inspection of the data shows that while visual and sound imagery is most often rated as vivid, individuals who rate one modality as strong and the other as weak are not uncommon. Findings are interpreted within a working memory framework and point to the need for further research to identify the specific cognitive processes underlying the vividness of imagery across sensory modalities.