The role of procedural memory in grammar and numeracy skills

The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of procedural memory to grammar and numeracy skills, which both involve the manipulation of abstract patterns. Seventy-six typically developing children between 5 and 7 years of age were assessed on grammar with a past tense production task and a sentence comprehension task, on numeracy with a counting task and a calculation task, and on procedural memory with a serial reaction time task. Moderate correlations were found between the measures of grammar and numeracy. Moreover, 4 hierarchical linear regressions indicated that procedural memory was associated with calculation but not with counting or grammar skills when age and working memory were taken into account. These novel findings suggest that procedural memory may have a role to play in the development of some numeracy skills. Several possible explanations for the absence of contribution to grammar are considered.     

The Struggle for the Nature of “Prejudice”: “Prejudice” Expression as Identity Performance

This article develops an identity performance model of prejudice that highlights the creative influence of prejudice expressions on norms and situations. Definitions of prejudice can promote social change or stability when they are used to achieve social identification, explanation, and mobilization. Tacit or explicit agreement about the nature of prejudice is accomplished collaboratively by persuading others to accept (1) an abstract definition of “prejudice,” (2) concrete exemplars of “prejudice,” and (3) associated beliefs about how a target group should be treated. This article reviews three ways in which “prejudice” can be defined in the cut and thrust of social interaction, namely, by mobilizing hatred and violence, by accusation and denial, and by repression. The struggle for the nature of prejudice determines who can be badly treated and by whom. Studying such ordinary struggles to define what counts (and does not count) as “prejudice” will allow us to understand how identities are produced, norms are set into motion, and populations are mobilized as social relations are reformulated.     

Face Recognition in Poor-Quality Video; Evidence From Security Surveillance

Security surveillance systems often produce poor-quality video, and this may be problematic in gathering forensic evidence. We examined the ability of subjects to identify target people captured by a commercially available video security device. In Experiment 1, subjects personally familiar with the targets performed very well at identifying them, but subjects unfamiliar with the targets performed very poorly. Police officers with experience in forensic identification performed as poorly as other subjects unfamiliar with the targets. In Experiment 2, we asked how familiar subjects can perform so well. Using the same video device, we edited clips to obscure the head, body, or gait of the targets. Obscuring body or gait produced a small decrement in recognition performance. Obscuring the targets' heads had a dramatic effect on subjects' ability to recognize the targets. These results imply that subjects recognized the targets' faces, even in these poor-quality images.     

What is the answer? And come to that, what are the questions?

In recent years, the topic of car-following has become of increased importance in traffic engineering and safety research. Models of this phenomenon, which describe the interaction between (typically) adjacent vehicles in the same lane, now form the cornerstone for many important areas of research including (a) simulation modelling, where the car-following model (amongst others) controls the motion of the vehicles in the network, and (b) the functional definition of advanced vehicle control and safety systems (AVCSS), which are being introduced as a driver safety aid in an effort to mimic driver behaviour but remove human error. Despite the importance of this area however, no overview of the models availability and validity exists. It is the intent of this paper therefore to briefly assess the range of options available in the choice of car-following model, and assess just how far work has proceeded in our understanding of what, at times, would appear to be a simple process.     

Change and development in adult life: Some implications for helpers

Adulthood is described as a legitimate if recent object of psychological study. The concept of a social time clock is discussed, and age-based stereotyping is contrasted with the empirical evidence available for differences between age groups on the basis of physical, intellectual and personality development. Theories of adult development are identified, along with some key issues which any theorist must consider. 'Development' is described as a useful, normative construct, and guidelines are suggested as an aid to all helpers in combating societal age-stereotyping.     

Social Support, Personality, and Burnout in Nurses

This study sought to find evidence for: (a) a relationship between increased levels of work-related social support and decreased burnout, (b) a relationship between personality traits and burnout, and (c) a significant interaction of social support and extraversion in relation to burnout. Seventy-six staff nurses and their supervisors at a private medical hospital participated as subjects. Two subscales of the Work Environment Scale measured social support. Personality was measured using an instrument known as PROSCAN, and Scale H of the 16PF. Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory. A strong negative correlation between work-related social support and burnout was found. Also, nurses whose supervisors received positive-feedback training showed significant reductions in emotional exhaustion, compared to those whose supervisors did not receive this training. Some dimensions of personality explained a significant amount of burnout. The study also provided further evidence of the interactive effect of social support and extraversion in relation to an emotional distress variable. That is, extraverted nurses required more work-related peer support than did introverts to avoid emotional exhaustion. Suggestions for further research are given.     

Five problems for the moral consensus about sins

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion - A number of Christian theologians and philosophers have been critical of overly moralizing approaches to the doctrine of sin, but nearly all...