A probe trial procedure for the study of children's discrimination learning and transfer

A discrimination reversal problem was presented to 192 children varying in age from 3 to 5 years. At the end of both the initial learning and transfer trials, probe trials were introduced to ascertain the response rule describing children's choices. Results were analyzed in terms of a binary division of the children according to their responses to the probe stimuli; children who responded errorlessly (concept responders) were contrasted with children who made errors on the probes (instance responders). Using this criterion, it was found that many children transferred in a way different from the way they learned the initial problem. There was no difference in the proportion of younger and older children responding conceptually to the original problem, but older children were more likely to transfer conceptually when standard geometric blocks were used as stimuli. Future studies must consider the possiblity that learning and transfer may be accomplished by different processes whose application differs with age, the nature of the stimuli, and the stage of training.     

Coping as a mediator between personality and stress outcomes: a longitudinal study with cataract surgery patients

Personality and coping were specified as predictors of emotional outcomes of a mildly stressful medical procedure. Situation-specific coping was examined in contrast to dispositional coping, and it was tested whether one or the other would mediate the relationship between higher-order personality factors and stress outcomes. Cataract patients (N=110) participated at four measurement points in time during a six-week period surrounding their scheduled surgery. Dispositional coping did not mediate the personality–outcome relationship. In contrast, situation-specific coping acquired a mediator status between personality and adaptational criteria and accounted for independent outcome variance once personality traits were included as predictors in the models. Thus, the data suggest that whether or not coping mediates between personality factors and affective outcomes may be related to the methodological approaches of its operationalization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.