Dissociable lexical and phonological influences on serial recognition and serial recall

The impact of the lexicality of memory items on memory performance was compared in two paradigms, serial recall and serial recognition. Experiments 1 to 3 tested 7- and 8-year-old children. Memory accuracy was only mildly impaired in lists containing nonwords compared with words in a serial recognition task involving judgements of whether the items in two sequences were in the same order (Experiment 1), although a substantial advantage for word over nonword items from the same stimulus pool was found in serial recall (Experiment 2). A stronger influence of lexicality on serial recall than serial recognition was further demonstrated in Experiments 3A and 3B, and in 4A and 4B using adult participants. These experiments also established comparable degrees of sensitivity to the phonological similarity of the memory sequences in the two paradigms. The phonological similarity effect in serial recall was found to arise from increased phoneme order errors, whereas the lexicality effect was due principally to the greater frequency of phoneme identity errors for nonwords. It is proposed that the lexicality effect originates in the redintegration of item information just prior to recall, and that this process is largely bypassed in serial recognition.     

Correlates of unhealthy weight-control behaviors among adolescents: implications for prevention programs.

This study aimed to identify correlates of unhealthy weight-control behaviors in adolescents to guide the development of programs aimed at the primary prevention of disordered eating. A model explaining unhealthy weight-control behaviors was tested among 4,746 adolescents using structural equation modeling. Models fit the data well and explained 76% of the variance in unhealthy weight-control behaviors among girls and 63% among boys. Weight-body concerns were a strong correlate of unhealthy weight-control behaviors in both girls and boys. Models also emphasized the importance of weight-specific social norms within the adolescent's proximal environment. Findings suggest the importance of addressing weight-body concerns within prevention programs and extending interventions beyond classroom settings to ensure changes in weight-related norms among peer groups and family members.     

THE FEMALE SEXUAL SUBJECTIVITY INVENTORY: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MULTIDIMENSIONAL INVENTORY FOR LATE ADOLESCENTS AND EMERGING ADULTS

Three studies were conducted to develop and validate a theoretically derived multidimensional inventory of females' sexual self-conceptions ( sexual subjectivity ). Study 1 revealed five factors on the Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory (FSSI): sexual body-esteem, three factors of conceptions and expectations of sexual desire and pleasure (self, partner, and self-efficacy), and sexual self-reflection. A shorter revised version of the FSSI was tested in Study 2. In Study 3, a confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit to the data. The FSSI had a sound factorial structure and high reliability. Significant associations between the five scales in the FSSI and sexual self-awareness, safe sex self-efficacy, and sexual anxiety provided evidence of validity. Some FSSI scales were also associated with self-silencing in close relationships, resistance to sexual double standards, and self-esteem. Sexual subjectivity is a complex intraindividual phenomenon that includes cognitive and emotional components, some of which can be assessed with the FSSI scales.     

Auditory negative priming in speeded reactions and temporal order judgements

Two experiments are reported that demonstrate negative priming for auditory stimuli. Reaction times and temporal order judgements were used as the dependent measures in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. In Experiment 1, participants classified tones presented to one ear as wind or string instruments while ignoring tones presented to the other ear. The task was identical for both the prime and the subsequent probe presentations. Probe reactions were slower for previously ignored tones than for tones that had not occurred during the prime presentation. Probe reactions to previously attended tones were faster than reactions to nonrepeated tones. In Experiment 2, the probe reactions were replaced by temporal order judgements. The probability of accepting a tone as antecedent was lower for previously ignored primes than for new tones. No difference was observed between previously attended and new tones. The results are compatible with the conclusion that distractor inhibition is a necessary component of the processes that bring about observable negative priming phenomena.     

Development of memory for pattern and path: Further evidence for the fractionation of visuo-spatial memory

Evidence from a number of sources now suggests that the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSSP) of working memory may be composed of two subsystems: one for maintaining visual information and the other for spatial information. In this paper we present three experiments that examine this fractionation using a developmental approach. In Experiment 1, 5-, 8-, and 10-year old children were presented with a visuo-spatial working memory task (the matrices task) with two presentation formats (static and dynamic). A developmental dissociation in performance was found for the static and dynamic conditions of both tasks, suggesting that the activation of separable subsystems of the VSSP is dependent upon a static/dynamic distinction in information content rather than a visual/spatial one. A highly similar pattern of performance was found for a mazes task with static and dynamic formats. However, one strategic activity, the use of simple verbal recoding, may also have been responsible for the observed pattern of performance in the matrices task. In Experiments 2 and 3 this was investigated using concurrent articulatory suppression. No evidence to support this notion was found, and it is therefore proposed that static and dynamic visuo-spatial information is maintained in working memory by separable subcomponents of the VSSP.