How predictable is spelling? Developing and testing metrics of phoneme-grapheme contingency

Prior research has purported to show that words with infrequent phoneme-grapheme correspondences are more difficult to spell than words with frequent phoneme-grapheme correspondences. Defining exactly what a phoneme-grapheme relationship is, however, is not necessarily straightforward. There are a number of different assumptions that can be made. In this study, we developed four metrics of sound-spelling contingency based on all monosyllabic English words, including those with complex morphology. These metrics differed in the extent to which they included assumptions about spelling. The psychological reality of these different metrics was evaluated against data from a large-scale study of skilled adult spelling and a nonword spelling experiment. The results suggest that when spelling, people are sensitive to positional information, morphological status, vowel type, and a number of more idiosyncratic constraints.     

A cognitive analysis of number-series problems: Sources of individual differences in performance

Two experiments were conducted to identify the roles of three hypothesized procedures in the solution of simple number-series problems and to determine whether individual differences in these solution procedures are related to performance on a number-series subtest from a standardized test of intelligence. The three procedures are recognition of memorized series, calculation, and checking. Subjects verified whether number sequences formed rule-based series. True series included both memorized counting series (e.g., “5 10 1520”) and unfamiliar noncounting series (e.g., “14 710”). False series could not be described by simple rules. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that (1) counting series were verified more quickly than were noncounting series, and (2) partial counting information in false series facilitated rejection. In Experiment 2, reliable differences in recognition of memorized sequences and calculational efficiency were found between individuals who scored well on a standardized test of number-series completion and those who scored poorly. The results provide a basis for understanding how individual differences in knowledge influence performance on problems often used to assess inductive reasoning skill.     

Prediction of situational awareness in F-15 pilots

Situational awareness (SA) is a skill often deemed essential to pilot performance in both combat and noncombat flying. A study was conducted to determine if SA in U.S. Air Force F-15 pilots could be predicted. The participants were 171 active duty F-15 A/C pilots who completed a test battery representative of various psychological constructs proposed or demonstrated to be valid for the prediction of performance in a wide variety of military and civilian jobs. These predictors encompassed measures of cognitive ability, psychomotor ability, and personality. Supervisor and peer ratings of SA were collected. Supervisors and peers showed substantial agreement on the SA ratings of the pilots. The first unrotated principle component extracted from the supervisor and peer ratings accounted for 92.5% of the variability of ratings. The unrotated first principal component served as the SA criterion. Flying experience measured in number of F-15 hours was the best predictor of SA. After controlling for the effects of F-15 flying hours, the measures of general cognitive ability based on working memory, spatial reasoning, and divided attention were found to be predictive of SA. Psychomotor and personality measures were not predictive. With additional F-15 flying hours it is expected that pilots would improve their ratings of SA.     

Book Reviews

C larke , J.J. Jung and Eastern Thought: A Dialogue with the Orient
J acoby , M ario . Shame and the Origins of Self-Esteem: AJungian Approach
L ammers , A nn C onrad . In Cod's Shadow: The Collaboration of Victor White and C.G. Jung     

Factors Influencing Managerial Disclosure of AIDS Health Information to Coworkers

This research investigates the importance of legal concerns over lawsuits, fear of AIDS in the workplace, and gender as factors influencing a manager's decision to disclose AIDS health information to coworkers. Data was obtained from questionnaires administered to managers employed in service, manufacturing, and government organizations. Findings indicate that both fear of AIDS in the workplace and concern over lawsuits exhibited a significant relationship with the likelihood of sharing AIDS health information and gender was found to moderate the relationship between likelihood of sharing AIDS health information, and fear of AIDS in the workplace. Male managers exhibited a higher level of fear of AIDS than female managers and did female managers, were found to be somewhat less likely than male managers to share AIDS health information with coworkers. Study findings, suggestions for future research, and implications are discussed.     

A Property Level Analysis of Lexical Semantic Representation in Alzheimer′s Disease

In order to assess the hypotheses that Alzheimer′s disease (AD) results in a property level restructuring, loss, or degradation of lexical-semantic knowledge, Alzheimer′s patients and normal elderly subjects were presented with a property verification task in which they were asked to judge the truth value of telegraphic statements which paired objects with their properties (e.g., "Apple is red"). Objects with either high- or low-typical exemplars of categories (e.g., "oak" is a high typical exemplar of the category "tree," while "palm" is a less typical item). Properties were varied with respect to normatively determined dominance (e.g, "fins" is a high dominant property of "trout," while "slimy" is a less dominant property) and whether they were distinctive (i.e., served to distinguish between subsets of exemplars within a category) or shared among most or all category members (e.g., "stem" for the category "fruit"). Analyses of accuracy and reaction time data suggested that AD results in neither a loss per se of representation of properties, nor a reorganization of relations between objects′ properties. However, results were consistent with a property level degradation of AD patients′ object concepts. While there was no evidence for a differential degradation of distinctive vs shared properties, results suggested that AD patients have degraded representations of lower dominant properties and properties of low-typical category exemplars.     

Objective assessments of quality of life: How much do they agree with each other?

Information was collected on 14 objective measures of service quality in 15 staffed houses for people with learning disabilities. Measures or dimensions of the measures were grouped under six headings: (1) quality of housing; (2) social and community integration; (3) social interactions; (4) development; (5) activity; and (6) autonomy and choice. Rank order correlation coefficients were calculated to explore the extent to which different quality assessments within each category agreed. Overall, there was a reassuring level of agreement. Some of the lack of agreement found could be attributed to the fact that, even though addressing the same general area, measures were focused on subtly different facets of the phenomenon under study. Other disagreement seemed to stem from the interaction between the nature of the information and the process for obtaining it. Comparisons between measures which required staff to give an opinion about how the setting was organized, and those which either required staff to comment on resident activity or employed independent observation, tended to disagree. The study illustrates that the basis for translating a multidimensional definition of quality into measurable terms is developing. Further research to examine the interrelationship between measurement approaches is warranted.     

A legal look at the retention-promotion controversy

The authors find that courts generally defer to the promotion-retention decisions of school officials. However, courts may demand officials to provide additional justification for retention decisions based on a single criteria and are likely to overturn school retention decisions based on a single criteria that have a disproportionate impact on minority students.     

Storage and retrieval processes in sentence memory

Two experiments investigated how much time Ss take to verify a sentence with respect to a set of subject-verb-object (SVO) propositions they had learned. Three triplets of SVOs provided differing degrees of equivocation, including (1) unique SVOs, (2) a V with 3 SOs, and (3) an SV with 3 Os. A general class of models was proposed regarding the representation of prepositional trees in memory and an algorithm by which a probe tree might be verified against a set of trees in memory. In Expt I, verification times were least for Condition (1), slower and equal for Conditions (2) and (3). In Expt II, a fourth condition, an SO with 3 Vs, produced verification times as slow as those in Condition (3). Of several models considered, the closest-fitting one assumed parallel search processes proceeding simultaneously from S, V, and O positions of the probe, scanning through memory trees structered according to the HAM (Human Associative Memory) theory of Anderson and Bower.