Exploring the Relation Between Memory, Gestural Communication, and the Emergence of Language in Infancy: A Longitudinal Study

The relationship between recall memory, visual recognition memory, social communication, and the emergence of language skills was measured in a longitudinal study. Thirty typically developing Swedish children were tested at 6, 9 and 14 months. The result showed that, in combination, visual recognition memory at 6 months, deferred imitation at 9 months and turn-taking skills at 14 months could explain 41% of the variance in the infants' production of communicative gestures as measured by a Swedish variant of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). In this statistical model, deferred imitation stood out as the strongest predictor.     

Is There Social Consensus Regarding Researcher Conflicts of Interest?

Consensus around what constitutes researcher conflicts of interest (COIs) and awareness of their influence on our research are two critical steps in ensuring the integrity of our science. In this research, data were collected from individual scholars via 2 surveys 5 years apart and from journals and associations to examine the level of social consensus and moral awareness among scholars, journals, and associations regarding researcher COIs. Although we observed increases in level of social consensus and moral awareness between 2012 and 2017, results still revealed limited agreement about what relationships constitute a COI and limited awareness about the presence of and the ethical issues surrounding COIs. Although all journals and associations we examined supported COI disclosure, most did not provide researchers with detailed COI-related information, guidance, or disclosure tools. Limited social consensus and moral awareness regarding COIs is problematic because it inhibits the recognition, disclosure, and management of COIs and limits ethical decision making. We need to continue and enhance discussions about COIs and aim to create consensus and awareness where we do not have it with the goal of reducing potential scientific misconduct related to COIs.     

The Motivation for Learning Music (MLM) questionnaire: Assessing children’s and adolescents’ autonomous motivation for learning a musical instrument

Motivation and Emotion - The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and construct validity of The Motivation for Learning Music (MLM) questionnaire, designed to measure...     

Age‐related changes in the control of episodic retrieval: an ERP study of recognition memory in children and adults

We examined developmental aspects of the ability to monitor the temporal context of an item’s previous occurrence while event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. In a continuous recognition task, children between 10 and 12 years and young adults watched a stream of pictures repeated with a lag of 10–15 intervening items and indicated recurrences. In a second run, these already familiar pictures were repeated as non‐targets along with new pictures, while subjects were instructed to indicate only recurrences within the run. Young adults were able to maintain high performance levels in both tasks, whereas children had longer response times and committed a large number of false alarms to non‐targets. ERPs in both age groups showed similar parietal old/new effects for target repetitions within runs. In addition, adults’ ERPs showed similar old/new effects at frontal electrodes for repetitions and non‐targets, presumably reflecting assessments of familiarity, whereas for children repeated relative to first presentations were associated with more negative‐going waveforms at anterior frontal recording sites. Together, these results suggest a continuing maturation of the brain networks assessing novelty or familiarity. Recollection as indexed by parietal old/new effects appeared similar between young adults and children, but the development of controlled episodic retrieval, resulting in recollection of non‐target information, appears to continue well into adolescence.     

Imitative reactions among 14–21 day old infants

Imitative reactions in 11 infants, 14–21 days old, were observed. Stimuli were presented by the infant's mother, who protruded her tongue, opened her mouth, or interacted spontaneously. No conclusive overall group effects of the modeled action were found. However, when the responses of the infants were matched with the mothers' judgments concerning whether imitation had occurred, 6 infants showed imitative responses. It is concluded that observations on early imitation are influenced by individual differences between infants and that there may exist two different subgroups: High and low imitators.     

A visual approach to statistical power analysis on the microcomputer

Computer programs for statistical power analysis typically require the user to provide a series of values and respond by reporting the corresponding power. These programs provide essentially the same functions as a published text, albeit in a more convenient form. In this paper, we describe a program that instead uses innovative graphic techniques to provide insight into the interaction among the factors that determine power. For example, fort tests, the means and standard deviations of the two distributions, sample sizes, and alpha are displayed as bar graphs. As the researcher modifies these values, the corresponding values of beta (also displayed as a bar graph) and power are updated and displayed immediately. By displaying all of the factors that are instrumental in determining power, the program ensures that each will be addressed By allowing the user to determine the impact that any modifications will have on power, the program encourages an appropriate balance between alpha and beta while working within the constraints imposed by a limited sample size. The program also allows the user to generate tables and graphs to document the impact of the various factors on power. In addition, the program enables the user to run on-screen Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate the importance of adequate statistical power, and as such, it can serve as a unique educational tool.     

Heart-Rate responses (HRR) to lateralized visual stimuli

Direction of changes in heart-rate responses (HRR) were investigated in three separate experiments as a measure of differential cognitive and emotional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. Visual stimuli were presented via the visual half-field technique in all three experiments. Slides with different contents were flashed for 200 msec on each trial either to the left or right of a center LED fixation point. The LED went on 5 seconds prior to slide onset. HR changes were scored as second-by-second deviations during 10 seconds after LED onset from pre-LED base line. In the first experiment it was hypothesized that emotionally relevant stimuli initially projected to only the right hemisphere would result in more anticipatory acceleration than when the same stimulus was initially projected to the left hemisphere. A picture of a snake and of a geometric figure were repeatedly briefly flashed to the right of the LED for half of the subjects, and to the left for the other half. There were 25 trials with an intertriai interval of 25–40 seconds. Results showed significant effects of deceleration as a function of the slide stimulus in all groups on seconds 5, 6, or 7 after onset of the center LED. Furthermore, an anticipatory acceleration was observed during the first trial-block on seconds 3 and 4 in the right hemisphere groups only with no differences between the neutral and emotional stimuli. In Experiments 2 and 3, a letter-string of six letters and a complex symmetric pattern were used as stimuli. These stimuli were chosen because previous research has clearly implicated the hemispheres to be differentially specialized in their ability to process verbal and visuo-spatial stimuli. The set-up was identical to Experiment 1, with the exception that differences in response to the two types of stimuli were evaluated on a within-subjects basis. The results from Experiments 2 and 3 showed stimulus-related deceleration, peaking on seconds 5–7 in all groups and an anticipatory acceleration peaking on seconds 3 and 4 in the right hemisphere groups, with decelerations during the corresponding seconds in the left hemisphere groups. The results are discussed in relation to recent findings by Walker and Sandman (1982) about the possibility of hemispheric specialization in psychologic influences on heart rate changes in response to environmental demands.     

Sadomasochism in the neuroses conceived of as a pathological compromise formation.

Masochistic phenomena in adults are discussed as derivatives of conscious and/or unconscious fantasies. These masochistic fantasies are always associated with conscious and/or unconscious narcissistic and sadistic fantasies. These fantasies, like all fantasies in adults, are conceived of as compromise formations. After a selected review of the literature, analytic data are presented to highlight the clinical advantages of a contemporary elaboration of the structural hypothesis for the understanding of sadomasochistic and sadonarcissistic phenomena.     

A re-examination of local contrast in multiple schedules

Pigeons were presented with multiple schedules of alternating 90-sec components. When components in which grain was never presented alternated with components in which grain was presented on a variable-interval schedule, the average rate of responding in the variable-interval components increased, showing overall positive behavioral contrast. Unlike previous reports, this study found that the response rates for all birds increased toward the end of the variable-interval components as training proceeded. This increase in local response rate disappeared when the multiple schedule was composed solely of variable-interval components and reappeared when the variable-interval components were again alternated with extinction. This finding cannot be predicted or explained by recent theories of behavioral contrast based on autoshaping, and thus questions their sufficiency. We suggest that this local response-rate increase results from the predictable change from high to low density of reinforcement at the end of the fixed-duration component. Thus, the present effect apparently illustrates a different type of interaction between components of a multiple schedule than that described by previous theories of contrast. In a given procedure, either or both types of interaction may occur; neither provides a complete account of behavioral contrast.     

The significance of occupations in work careers: An empirical and theoretical review

The central position of occupations in work careers has been a widely accepted position in the study of careers. Furthermore, it has also been commonly believed that most work careers follow the temporal sequence of occupational choice, occupational preparation and training, and occupational entry and retention. An analysis of research findings, however, shows that most individuals do not make stable occupational choices as the first step in their work careers, nor do they show a strong commitment to a particular occupation during their work careers. On the contrary, occupational mobility is far more characteristic of most work careers than occupational stability. One possible explanation of the high rates of occupational mobility is that individuals are responding to opportunities that develop during the course of their careers. As opportunities unfold during work careers, individuals use those opportunities to make future career and occupational choices. Thus, careers may be more accurately considered as a series of responses to a succession of opportunity situations than the effort to realize a predetermined occupational goal.