Imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words

We provide imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words (as supplementary materials that may be downloaded with the article from www.springerlink.com ). Imageability is a widely studied lexical variable believed to influence semantic and memory processes (see, e.g., Paivio, 1971). In addition, imageability influences basic word recognition processes (Plaut, McClelland, Seidenberg, & Patterson, 1996). In fact, neuroimaging studies have suggested that reading high- and low-imageable words elicits distinct neural activation patterns for the two types e.g., Bedny & Thompson-Schill (Brain and Language 98:127-139, 2006; Graves, Binder, Desai, Conant, & Seidenberg NeuroImage 53:638-646, 2010). Despite the usefulness of this variable, imageability estimates have not been available for large sets of words. Furthermore, recent megastudies of word processing e.g., Balota et al. (Behavior Research Methods 39:445-459, 2007) have expanded the number of words that interested researchers can select according to other lexical characteristics (e.g., average naming latencies, lexical decision times, etc.). However, the dearth of imageability estimates (as well as those of other lexical characteristics) limits the items that researchers can include in their experiments. Thus, these imageability estimates for disyllabic words expand the number of words available for investigations of word processing, which should be useful for researchers interested in the influences of imageability both as an input and as an outcome variable.     

内隐领导理论的中国研究——与美国的研究进行比较

内隐领导理论代表了某种特定文化中人们内心对领导概念化的构成方式。本研究发现,中国人的内隐领导理论的内容由“个人品德”、“目标有效性”、“人际能力”和“多面性”四个因素构成。与美国的八因素有很大的差异。这也许是中美文化不同所造成的。本研究获得了与CPM领导行为评价模式非常类似的结果,从而验证了CPM模式是不同于西方文化的中国模式。     

Age of acquisition ratings for 3,000 monosyllabic words

Age of acquisition (AoA) ratings made on a 1-7 scale for 3,000 monosyllabic words were obtained from 32 participants across four blocks of 750 trials (two blocks of 750 trials were completed in each of 2 days). These results, as well as those of the regression analyses and reliability and validity measures that were originally reported in Cortese and Khanna (2007), are summarized here. Here, we also report high interblock correlations across items, indicating that participants were consistent in their ratings across blocks. The norms for the 3,000 words are important for researchers interested in word processing and may be downloaded from the Psychonomic Society's Norms, Stimuli, and Data archive at www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Revisiting distinctive processes in memory

In three experiments, we examined the relationship between orthographic and phonological distinctiveness and incidental recall. In each experiment, participants were given a surprise free recall test after they read words aloud as quickly and accurately as possible. The pattern of results replicated those reported in Cortese, Watson, Wang, and Fugett (2004) for intentional and explicit free recall and recognition memory tasks in which items were read silently. Specifically, we found that phonological-to-orthographic neighborhood size influenced recall performance, whereas orthographic-to-phonological consistency and phonological-to-orthographic consistency did not. Also, we failed to replicate the orthographic-tophonological consistency effect reported by Hirshman and Jackson (1997), and argue that their results were due to a confounding of consistency with phonological neighborhood size. Our results suggest that the processing of words sharing both orthography and phonology with a large number of words produces interference that reduces one’s ability to remember them.     

Group CBT for Externalizing Disorders in Urban Schools: Effect of Training Strategy on Treatment Fidelity and Child Outcomes

Public schools are an ideal setting for the delivery of mental health services to children. Unfortunately, services provided in schools, and more so in urban schools, have been found to lead to little or no significant clinical improvements. Studies with urban school children seldom report on the effects of clinician training on treatment fidelity and child outcomes. This study examines the differential effects of two levels of school-based counselor training: training workshop with basic consultation (C) vs. training workshop plus enhanced consultation (C +) on treatment fidelity and child outcomes. Fourteen school staff members (counselors) were randomly assigned to C or C +. Counselors implemented a group cognitive behavioral therapy protocol (Coping Power Program, CPP) for children with or at risk for externalizing behavior disorders. Independent coders coded each CPP session for content and process fidelity. Changes in outcomes from pre to post were assessed via a parent psychiatric interview and interviewer-rated severity of illness and global impairment. Counselors in C + delivered CPP with significantly higher levels of content and process fidelity compared to counselors in C. Both C and C + resulted in significant improvement in interviewer-rated impairment; the conditions did not differ from each other with regard to impairment. Groups did not differ with regard to pre- to- posttreatment changes in diagnostic severity level. School-based behavioral health staff in urban schools are able to implement interventions with fidelity and clinical effectiveness when provided with ongoing consultation. Enhanced consultation resulted in higher fidelity. Enhanced consultation did not result in better student outcomes compared to basic consultation. Implications for resource allocation decisions with staff training in EBP are discussed.