Hemispheric specialization for language according to grapho-phonemic transformation and gender. A divided visual field experiment

This behavioral study aimed at assessing the effect of two variables on the degree of hemispheric specialization for language. One of them was the grapho-phonemic translation (transformation) (letter-sound mapping) and the other was the participants’ gender. The experiment was conducted with healthy volunteers. A divided visual field procedure has been used to perform a phoneme detection task implying either regular (transparent) grapho-phonemic translation (letter-sound mapping consistency) or irregular (non-transparent) grapho-phonemic translation (letter-sound mapping inconsistency). Our results reveal a significant effect of grapho-phonemic translation on the degree of hemispheric dominance for language. The phoneme detection on items with transparent translation (TT) was performed faster than phoneme detection on items with non-transparent translation (NTT). This effect seems to be due to faster identification of TT than NTT when the items were presented in the left visual field (LVF)-right hemisphere (RH). There was no difference between TT and NTT for stimuli presented in the right visual field (RVF)-left hemisphere (LH). This result suggests that grapho-phonemic translation or the degree of transparency can affect the degree of hemispheric specialization, by modulating the right hemisphere activity. With respect to gender, male participants were significantly more lateralized than female participants but no interaction was observed between gender and degree of transparency.     

Translating subjective language in letters of recommendation: the case of the sexist professor

Letters of recommendation typically use subjective language that is open to interpretation. In three studies, participants “translated” letters of recommendation for female and male applicants written by sexist, anti-sexist, or “control” professors. Predictions were based on the shifting standards model [Biernat, Manis, & Nelson, 1991 ], the attributional principle of augmentation [Kelley, 1971 , and models of “correction” for contamination [e.g., Wilson & Brekke, 1994 ]. Participants translated equivalent letters as indicating lesser ability in female than male applicants, particularly when the letter writer was described as sexist, but own impressions of the candidate diverged from those of the sexist writer. Differential standard use and attributional augmentation did not appear to be responsible for these effects. Instead, writer sexism triggered dislike and corrective processes in impression formation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Traditional Explanation for Resistance Versus Attitude Accessibility

This investigation compared the traditional explanation for the way inoculation confers resistance to influence with an alternative rationale for resistance based on attitude accessibility. Four hundred forty‐three participants took part in the investigation in four phases spanning 54 days. The combined multiple regression and structural equation modeling results suggest that the traditional and alternative explanations for the way that inoculation confers resistance involve separate processes; counterarguing and accessibility appear to be distinct tracks en route to resistance, but the two explanations also are overlapping processes in which elicited threat plays an integral role.     

“P300” and memory: Individual differences in the von Restorff effect

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited by words in a free recall paradigm that included a novel item. The P300 component of the ERP is elicited by novel, task-relevant events, and we tested the hypothesis that P300 is a manifestation of the cognitive processing invoked during “context updating.” If the degree to which current representations in working memory need revision is related to P300 amplitude, then the P300 elicited by a given item should be related to the ability to recall that item on a subsequent test. Forty lists were presented to 12 subjects in each of two sessions. The lists were 15 words long, and 1 word, in position 6 through 10, was “isolated” by changing its size. Most subjects recalled these isolated words more often than other words in the same positions (von Restorff effect), and these words also elicited larger P300s than other words. Analysis of variance on the component scores from a principal components analysis revealed that words recalled had a larger amplitude P300 (on initial presentation) than words not recalled. Striking individual differences emerged, and there were strong relationships between the von Restorff effect, overall recall performance, mnemonic strategies, and the association between components of the ERP and recall performance. The overall recall performance of subjects who reported simple (rote) mnemonic strategies was low, but they showed a high von Restorff effect. For these subjects the amplitude of the P300 elicited by words during initial presentation predicted later recall. In contrast, subjects who reported complex mnemonic strategies remembered a high percentage of words and did not show a von Restorff effect. For these subjects P300 did not predict later recall, although a later “slow wave” component of the ERP did. The initial response to isolated items was the same for all subjects (a large P300), and all subjects recognized the isolates faster than other words in a recognition test given at the end of each session. The subjects in whom P300 did not predict recall reported mnemonic strategies that involved organizing the material. These strategies continue long after the time period reflected by P300 (600 msec). Because they were so effective they may have overshadowed the relationship between P300 and recall, which is based on the initial encoding of an event. Our interpretations were further confirmed and clarified from data obtained in a final grand recall and in the recognition test.     

Intelligence, reaction times, and peripheral nerve conduction velocity

Two studies (with sample sizes of 85 and 88) are reported that investigated relationships among measures of intelligence, speed of information processing, and peripheral nerve conduction velocity (NCV). In both studies, NCV was significantly correlated with IQ scores (rs = .42 and .48) and with reaction times (RTs; rs = −.28 and −.18): Thus, faster NCV was associated with higher IQ scores and faster speed of processing. In both studies, NCV and RTs contributed significantly, in combination, to the prediction of fullscale IQ (shrunken multiple Rs = .53 and .57), but the expected pattern of causal relationships between the variables was not borne out. The results are interpreted in terms of a “neural efficiency” model of intelligence, which has recieved support from other studies of physiological correlates of human intelligence.     

A trilevel approach to motivators for retraining

A three-level taxonomy of the reasons for vocational retraining is proposed. The compliance level is characterized by the necessity of immediate acquisition of a profession. At the identification level retraining is motivated by the need for a satisfying self-definition through the profession. With the internalization level the profession is chosen to suit one's capabilities and self-fulfillment. Participants in retraining programs filled out the following questionnaires: locus of control, vocational maturity attitudes, level of motivation for retraining, evaluation of the retraining program, and new job satisfaction. Internalization level motivators positively correlated with internal locus of control and vocational maturity attitudes. No such correlations were found for identification or compliance level. Subjects who retrained because of high compliance motivation were less satisfied by the programs, more inclined to drop out, and less apt to seek employment in jobs for which they had retrained than those high on the other levels of motivation. No difference in job satisfaction was determined for those who did work in the new profession.     

Developmental Pragmatics in Normal and Abnormal Children

We propose a critical review of current theories of developmental pragmatics. The underlying assumption is that such a theory ought to account for both normal and abnormal development. From a clinical point of view, we are concerned with the effects of brain damage on the emergence of pragmatic competence. In particular, the paper deals with direct speech acts, indirect speech acts, irony, and deceit in children with head injury, closed head injury, hydrocephalus, focal brain damage, and autism. Since no single theory covers systematically the emergence of pragmatic capacity in normal children, it is not surprising that we have not found a systematic account of deficits in the communicative performance of brain injured children. In our view, the challenge for a pragmatic theory is the determination of the normal developmental pattern within which different pragmatic phenomena may find a precise role. Such a framework of normal behavior would then permit the systematic study of abnormal pragmatic development.