Mental Arithmetic: A Componential Analysis of Speed-of-Processing Across Monolingual,Weak Bilingual,and Strong Bilingual Adults

Two experiments compared rates of solving simple and complex addition and multiplication problems in groups of speakers of French or English in Experiment 1 (n = 35) and Spanish or English in Experiment 2 (n = 84). Subjects were divided into groups of English unilinguals, weak bilinguals, and strong bilinguals according to their performance on a naming task. In both experiments, simple problems consisted of two single-digit numbers. At least three single-digit numbers were used for complex problems in Experiment 1 and double-digit numbers in Experiment 2. Mean solution times, particularly for complex problems, were lowest for the monolingual group, followed in turn by the weak bilingual and strong bilingual groups, but these differences were not statistically reliable in either experiment. In Experiment 2, however, componential analyses of solution times indicated that strong bilingual subjects were slower at executing the carry operation when solving complex problems, relative to the two remaining groups. Results were interpreted in terms of the relationship between bilingualism and the representation and processing of numerical information.     

Stressors, Stress Mediators, and Emotional Weil-Being Among Spouses of Soldiers Deployed to the Persian Gulf During Operation Desert Shield/Storm

The Family Factors Field Study of Operation Desert Shield/Storm (ODS) was designed to collect data on the impact of the Persian Gulf deployment on soldier/family well-being, and the effectiveness of Army and community resources in assisting and supporting families of deployed soldiers. In October 1990, a task force was assembled, and multi-agency research teams visited several Army installations. Informal individual and group interviews were conducted with spouses, unit family support leaders, unit rear detachment personnel, garrison leaders, and local Army program/service providers. The questions were aimed at identifying key stressors which spouses and children experienced in relation to the sudden deployment, as well a stress mediators such as social supports and personal coping skills. Anecdotal information collected during the site visits, combined with findings from previous research on Army families, was used to develop a questionnaire designed to quantify those variables which emerged as relevant to a study of stressors and stress mediators in the context of the ODS deployment.     

Interpersonal loss and self-mutilation

Self-mutilation was hypothesized to increase in frequency during periods of interpersonal loss in a treatment program for seriously disturbed adolescents. The study examined changes in the frequency of acts of self-mutilation, aggression, and running away for 32 teenagers who experienced interpersonal loss when staff members left employment. Data were collected for a 4-year period. Statistical findings indicated that the frequency of self-mutilation increased significantly during the time period of anticipated loss, 2 weeks prior to staff terminations. There was no significant increase in the frequency of self-mutilation immediately following the staff terminations. Also, there was no significant change in the rates of aggression or running away either before or after the loss events. It was concluded that the time of anticipated loss was the period of highest risk for these adolescents in terms of self-mutilative behavior.     

Burnout in Spurned Medical Caregivers and the Impact of Job Expectancy Training

This study represents an extrapolation to the practical realm of a theoretical model that has been supported thus far only by laboratory studies. The model regards the rejection of help by people in need as being stressful for caregivers partly because it violates their expectations of acceptance and threatens their self-image as competent caregivers. It was hypothesized that high levels of perceived rejection by patients and others at work would contribute to burnout in medical caregivers. It was also predicted that high levels of stress preparation in caregivers' training with regard to job expectancies and patient (non)compliance would lessen burnout and buffer the effects of spurning. Responses to a questionnaire by a sample of physicians and hospital nurses revealed a direct association of perceived spurning, as well as an inverse association of stress preparation with burnout, and gave some indication of buffering, as hypothesized. Expressions of violated expectancies and of job disillusionment were directly associated with burnout and inversely associated with stress preparation. Informal job expectancy shaped by coworkers was found to be directly associated with burnout in physicians, but it was inversely associated with burn out in nurses. The implications of these findings are considered     

An External Validation of Laboratory Evidence for Earned Dignity

Both theoretical arguments and laboratory evidence indicate that society awards earned dignity (worth) to persons perceived as voluntarily performing praiseworthy behaviors. Laboratory research, as well as common observation, indicates also that society accords an intrinsic dignity unconditionally to all people. On a questionnaire given in class, college students reported increased dignity earned by the Russians from their praiseworthy (i.e., embracing freedom) and voluntary rejection of the attempted coup in 1991. The questionnaire also revealed a general belief in intrinsic dignity. External evidence for earned dignity is shown by increased international support for the Russians after rejection of the coup. This convergence of laboratory and external data validates the laboratory techniques for studying social perception of human dignity.     

Stimulus-independent thought depends on central executive resources

Stimulus-independent thoughts (SITs) are streams of thoughts and images unrelated to immediate sensory input. Four experiments examined the contribution of aspects of working memory to production of SITs. In Experiments 1 and 2, interventions that were targeted on, respectively, phonological and visuospatial components of working memory both interfered with production of SITs, but there was evidence that these tasks also made demands on central executive resources. Experiments 3 and 4 specifically examined the hypothesis that production of SITs and control of nonproceduralized tasks both depend on central executive resources, and so should show mutual interference. In Experiment 3, prior practice on pursuit rotor and memory tasks reduced the interference with SITs from concurrent task performance. In Experiment 4, randomness within a task involving random-number generation was less when SITs were being produced concurrently than it was when they were not. The results suggest that production of SITs depends on central executive resources.     

Perceived sex differences in managerially relevant characteristics

A national sample of 884 male managers completed a survey of managerially relevant perceived sex differences. Females were rated lower on the following scales: (a) aptitudes, skills, and knowledge; (b) motivation and job interest; (c) temperament; and (d) work habits and attitudes. Moreover, lower ratings of women were prevalent among males in a variety of jobs, organizations, and industries.     

Behavioral thresholds for tones during infancy

An adaptive up-down tracking procedure was used in combination with a visually reinforced head turn response to examine auditory sensitivity for 500, 2000, and 8000-Hz tone bursts in infants 6 to 18 months of age. Six- and 10-month-old infants were tested with headphone presentation of stimuli, while 10-, 14, and 18-month-olds were tested in sound field. Infant threshold estimates for both headphone and sound field were within 15 dB of adult comparisons for all frequencies and age groups. Six-month-olds were significantly less sensitive to the 8000-Hz tone than to either of the lower frequency stimuli, but older infants demonstrated approximately equal sensitivity for all three frequencies tested.     

Tests of a two-stage model of visual matching

Predictions from a model of visual matching were tested in two experiments. The model consists of a wholistic comparison process followed by an element-by-element comparison process. All stimuli are processed by the first stage but only those that permit a decision based on a wholistic comparison produce responses. When discrimination is difficult and a decision cannot be reached by a wholistic comparison, the second stage of processing is initiated. Degree of discriminability and stimulus duration (100 and 1000 msec.) were varied in both experiments. In Exp. 1, the stimulus elements were arranged in a square configuration to facilitate a wholistic comparison. As predicted, the hard-different stimuli took longer to match than the same or easy-different stimuli. The hard-different stimuli presented for 1000 msec. took longer to match than those presented for 100 msec. There was no difference in accuracy between responses to hard-different pairs at the two durations. In Exp. 2, the stimulus elements were arranged in a horizontal row and placed one above the other to facilitate element-by-element comparison. As predicted, these stimuli produced slower and more accurate responses for same and hard-different stimulus pairs only when they were exposed for 1000 msec. Responses to easy-different stimulus pairs were made quickly and accurately.     

A comparison of male and female reactions to career advancement opportunities

Male and female managerial, professional, and technical employees participated in a study to test for the existence of sex differences in (1) attitudes toward the risks and sacrifices associated with career advancement and (2) salary increments required to accept a promotion opportunity. Results showed no differences in male and female attitudes toward career advancement. In addition, men and women appeared to hold highly similar ideas about the size of salary increments necessary to induce acceptance of various hypothetical promotion opportunites. Findings are discussed in relation to common stereotypes regarding the career mobility of women.