Semantic involvement in reading aloud: evidence from a nonword training study

The current research uses a novel methodology to examine the role of semantics in reading aloud. Participants were trained to read aloud 2 sets of novel words (i.e., nonwords such as bink): some with meanings (semantic) and some without (nonsemantic). A comparison of reading aloud performance between these 2 sets of novel words was used to provide an indicator of the importance of semantic information in reading aloud. In Experiment 1, in contrast to expectations, reading aloud performance was not better for novel words in the semantic condition. In Experiment 2, the training of novel words was modified to reflect more realistic steps of lexical acquisition: Reading aloud performance became faster and more accurate for novel words in the semantic condition, but only for novel words with inconsistent pronunciations. This semantic advantage for inconsistent novel words was again observed when a subset of participants from Experiment 2 was retested 6-12 months later (in Experiment 3). These findings provide support for a limited but significant role for semantics in the reading aloud process.     

The relationship between induced emotional arousal and amnesia

An experiment was conducted to test a hypothesis emanating from a similarity in data pattern between studies on amnesia and studies on the effects of arousal on memory. The hypothesis was that arousal and amnesia might be related, or more precisely, that amnesia induced in the laboratory might be mediated by high levels of arousal. Subjects in this experiment were presented with a thematic, short story in pictorial form. One version of the story consisted of a traumatic, arousal-inducing event placed between neutral events. A second version of the story contained the same neutral events in the beginning and the end, but also a neutral event in the middle. Palmar skin conductance, heart rate, and subjective self-ratings were used to determine that the manipulation made had caused different degrees of emotional arousal for the two groups of subjects presented with the different versions of the story. The methods used to determine memory performance were recall and recognition. The data obtained indicate that amnesia induced in the laboratory is mediated by emotional arousal in terms of concepts of attention and reconstruction.     

Reactions to DMT as related to psychotic and borderline personality organization

Thirty-one inpatients in a psychiatric clinic were assessed with DMT and the Structural Interview. In order to assemble every relevant reaction that an individual might have to a percept-genesis, 130 DMT variables were formed. The results were first subjected to a quality control of the DMT-scores and then subjected to partial least squares in latent variables (PLS) discriminant analysis. The analysis showed that it is possible to separate patients with psychotic PO (PPO) from those with borderline PO (BPO) by means of the 130 variables. The BPO group is characterized by aggressive manifestations, sensitivity to threat, identity lability and various transformations of the Hero gestalt. The PPO group, on the other hand, is characterized by high threshold values for perception, lack of identity, denial and repression of the peripheral person at a late-phase level. There are other perceptual reactions that are important predictors of PO than the defence categories of the manual. These perceptual reactions do not correspond to the traditional psychodynamic defence mechanisms. Our conclusion is that principal component analysis (PCA) and PLS are useful methods of finding discriminating patterns of perceptual reactions to the DMT for patients with different PO.     

Attending to forty-nine spatial positions at once.

Simultaneous attention to 49 spatial positions resulted in the processing of threshold information from one of those positions essentially identical to the processing when the subject knew in advance that that position would be tested. This result held true when the task consisted of detection of the presence of a briefly presented dot. The same result held true for 9 spatial positions when the task consisted of report of the briefly presented letter in the target position.     

Initial memory deficits and subsequent recovery in two cases of head trauma

This study describes initial and one-year follow-up findings on verbal memory testing of two patients who sustained moderate head injuries. The two main purposes were (a) to capture the specific patterns of memory disorders shown by these two head-trauma patients, and (b) to explore the nature of the recovery of these disorders. Several episodic memory tests and semantic memory tests were employed as well as questions about autobiographical events having occurred prior to and after the trauma, and about various aspects of the accident itself causing the trauma. The main conclusions to be drawn from the study are that the memory disorders demonstrated are based on difficulties in memory organization, and that the two patients differ in the nature of the recovery of the deficits.     

Randomized controlled trial of a prenatal focused coparenting consultation for unmarried black fathers and mothers: One-year infant and family outcomes

In the infant mental health field, scant conceptual attention has been given to coparenting and family adaptations of non-white family systems, with no evidence-based, community-informed coparenting interventions responsive to unmarried Black mothers’ and fathers’ life circumstances. This study examined 1-year post-partum child and family outcomes of a novel, modest dosage (six sessions) prenatal focused coparenting consultation (FCC) using randomized controlled trial methodology. One-hundred-thirty-eight expectant families (one or both parents identified as Black/African American) were randomized to an intervention (N = 70) or treatment-as-usual (TAU; control) condition (N = 68). TAU families received navigational support in accessing existing community services for pregnant families. Intervention families received TAU plus 6 dyadic FCC sessions led by a Black male-female Community Mentor team. When infants were three and 12 months old, parents reported on coparenting, father engagement, interparental aggression, depressive symptoms, and infant social and emotional adjustment. Intent-to-treat analyses focusing on 12-month post-partum data indicated significant intervention effects on coparenting, interparental psychological aggression, and infants’ emotional adjustment. Improvement was also seen in depression and father engagement, with gains for both groups. Results suggest FCC delivered by same-race Community Mentors to unmarried Black coparents transitioning to parenthood supports infant and family adaptation during the first year of life.     

Inventoried and observed stress in parent-child interactions

It has been hypothesized that parental stress results in poor parent-child interactions. However, this has not been adequately researched due to the difficulty in measuring and quantifying parenting stress and parent-child interaction quality. Two measures were employed in the present study to evaluate the parent-child relationship. The Marschak Interaction Method (MIM) was used to provide a context in which to assess the quality of parent-child interactions, and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) was used as a measure of stress in the family system. The present study (1) developed a standardized behavioral rating system for the MIM, (2) tested 46 parent-child dyads with the MIM and PSI, and (3) assessed which subscales of the PSI were the best predictors of parent-child behavior observed during the MIM. Parents reporting more stress on the PSI were rated as displaying significantly lower quality (more negative) parentchild interactions. In addition, parents’ socioeconomic status accounted for 65 % of the variance, and parental stress accounted for an additional 9% of the variance, in MIM behavior ratings.