A grouping interpretation of the modality effect in immediate probed recognition

In a series of experiments on immediate probed recognition for eight 3-digit numbers, it was shown that if the target modality involved auditory components and the effect of the similarity of the modality of the probe to that of the targets was controlled, unequivocal evidence was obtained for an auditory superiority effect (modality effect) for hit rates for the final items of the list. Moreover, false-alarm rates were significantly lower following targets with an auditory component than they were following silently seen targets. It is argued that this pattern of hits and false alarms is consistent with the idea that targets that have an auditory component yield memory representations that are better grouped as units than are those for targets that are only silently seen; in particular, if a new probe has a first digit that accidentally matches the first digit of a target item, it is more likely that the subject will mistakenly identify this new probe as old (give a false alarm) if the target has only been partially encoded because it was only silently seen.     

Semantic Contribution to Immediate Serial Recall Using an Unlimited Set of Items: Evidence for a Multi-level Capacity View of Short-term Memory

The purpose of this study was to assess the respective roles of lexical and semantic levels of representations in immediate serial recall, by testing participants with items that varied on both these dimensions. Contrary to most studies where a small fixed set of words are repeated over trials, the current items were tested once by sampling them from an unlimited set of items without replacement. Participants recalled three classes of words under articulatory suppression: nonwords, function words, and content words. Results indicated an advantage for function words over nonwords, confirming a specifically lexical contribution to immediate serial recall. Additionally, content words were more frequently recalled than function words, confirming a semantic contribution. These results imply that non-phonological factors influence immediate serial recall and are consistent with a multi-level capacity view of short-term memory.     

When Interviewers Desire Accurate Impressions: The Effects of Notetaking on the Influence of Expectations1

The present study explored the possibility that notetaking would help accuracy-minded interviewers to avoid cognitive expectation biases. Interviewers in simulated employment interviews were given bogus pre-interview expectations about their applicants and were either encouraged or not encouraged to take extensive notes. Consistent with past research on accuracy-motivated interviewers, both notetaking and non-notetaking interviewers avoided creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Of central interest, notetaking reduced the cognitive biasing effect of negative expectations on interviewers' overall impressions of their applicants, but failed to reduce cognitive bias in interviewers' evaluations of expectation-specific applicant characteristics. In conjunction with the motivation to form accurate impressions, notetaking can help to reduce the impact of erroneous pre-interview expectations in interviewer final evaluations.     

Think Women, Think Warm: Stereotype Content Activation in Women with a Salient Gender Identity, Using a Modified Stroop Task

We examined whether a salient gender identity activates gender stereotypes along the dimensions of sociability and ability (Fiske et al. 2002). A sample of US undergraduates (40 men, 38 women) instructed to think about women subsequently took longer to name the colors of words associated with sociability than ability on a modified Stroop task. Solo women in another sample of US undergraduates (45 women) showed the same response pattern. Women in a third sample of US adults (20 men, 16 women) showed a similar pattern. Meta-analysis of the three samples suggests women with a salient gender identity experience relative activation of only the positive dimension of a stereotype (e.g. “woman” equals warm).     

Interactive braille output for blind computer users

Blind readers were tested using two methods of reading text displayed by an Apple microcomputer. The first method employed an Optacon system, a device that displays tactile representations of single characters, and the second used an interactive single electronic braille cell that displayed grade 1 braille characters. The results demonstrated no difference in accuracy or reading speed between these two methods. Thus, the serial presentation of braille characters at a single position appears to be a viable method of information transfer between computers and braille readers.     

An Associative Interpretation of the Indirect McCollough Effect

Following an induction procedure in which a coloured grid is alternated with a square of a complementary colour, subjects report colour after-effects on both the grid orientation present during induction and the orthogonal non-induced grid orientation. The after-effect reported on the induced grid orientation is called the McCollough effect (ME). The aftereffect reported on the non-induced grid orientation is called the indirect ME. There is evidence that the ME represents an instance of Pavlovian conditioning. The present results support a conditioning interpretation of the indirect ME and are inconsistent with interpretations of the indirect ME that attribute the phenomenon to special orthogonal coding mechanisms within the visual system.     

Parenting,corpus callosum,and executive function in preschool children

In this longitudinal population-based study (N?=?544), we investigated whether early parenting and corpus callosum length predict child executive function abilities at 4 years of age. The length of the corpus callosum in infancy was measured using postnatal cranial ultrasounds at 6 weeks of age. At 3 years, two aspects of parenting were observed: maternal sensitivity during a teaching task and maternal discipline style during a discipline task. Parents rated executive function problems at 4 years of age in five domains of inhibition, shifting, emotional control, working memory, and planning/organizing, using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version. Maternal sensitivity predicted less executive function problems at preschool age. A significant interaction was found between corpus callosum length in infancy and maternal use of positive discipline to determine child inhibition problems: The association between a relatively shorter corpus callosum in infancy and child inhibition problems was reduced in children who experienced more positive discipline. Our results point to the buffering potential of positive parenting for children with biological vulnerability.     

Development of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention Program to Treat Anxiety and Social Deficits in Teens with High-Functioning Autism

Anxiety is a common co-occurring problem among young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication problems, and stereotyped behavior and restricted interests, this group of disorders is more prevalent than previously realized. When present, anxiety may compound the social deficits of young people with ASD. Given the additional disability and common co-occurrence of anxiety in ASD, we developed a manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program to target anxiety symptoms as well as social skill deficits in adolescents with ASD [Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention: MASSI]. In this paper, we describe the foundation, content, and development of MASSI. We also summarize data on treatment feasibility based on a pilot study that implemented the intervention.