Language acquisition context and language organization in bilinguals

A distinction between compound and coordinate bilingualism has been employed to conceptualize linguistic organization in bilinguals. Compound bilinguals are those who acquired their languages in a joint context and therefore are presumed to store linguistic information interdependently. Coordinates include those who acquired their languages in separate contexts and therefore are presumed to maintain independent linguistic stores. To study the usefulness of this distinction, Spanish-English and English-Spanish, compound, and coordinate bilinguals were asked to give intra-and interlingual free and restricted word associations to equivalent English and Spanish stimuli for which the responses of monolingual speakers were not equivalent. As predicted, compound bilinguals gave significantly more equivalent responses and responded significantly faster than did coordinates. However, since these differences were only modest in size, they cannot be interpreted as supporting the usefulness of the compound-coordinate distinction. None of the predictions regarding the effect of proficiency on performance were supported. Differences as a function of native language, type of association task, and association conditions were obtained and are discussed.This research was supported by USPHS Grant HD 01368 to Dr. Klaus Riegel, University of Michigan, and was included as one portion of a doctoral dissertation submitted by the author to the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan.     

Effects of knowledge that attributions will be observed by others

The current study was conducted to determine if attribution statements would be affected by subjects' knowledge that their attributions of success or failure would be observed by an opposite-sex peer. At the time subjects recorded their attributions, half of them anticipated that their attributions would soon be observed in their presence by an opposite-sex peer, while the other half recorded their attributions anonymously. Results indicated that attributions of success and failure were affected by the social context. Observed subjects evidenced less tendency to attribute their failure to low ability than did nonobserved subjects. Subjects who succeeded on an identity-relevant task reported higher ability attributions under observation conditions than under nonobservation conditions. Observed subjects evidenced significantly greater willingness to attribute failure to lack of effort than did nonobserved subjects. For a task intended to be of minimal relevance to subjects' identities, nonobserved subjects attributed failure to task difficulty to a significantly greater degree than did observed subjects. Results were discussed in relation to Bradley's contention that self-serving biases in attribution can usefully be conceptualized as strategic self-presentations.     

The vocational interests of homeless,unemployed men

This study examines the vocational interests and personality characteristics of 69 homeless, unemployed men using the Vocational Preference Inventory. Results indicate significant occupational interest, comparable to data reported on employed adults, and numerous vocational “types.” Personality scales, however, were not consistent with these vocational measures. Rather, they were indicative of possible behavioral and employment problems. Findings are discussed in terms of previous research on populations whose level of achievement was incongruous with their aspirations.     

Two subjective scales of number

The way in which the apparent magnitude of numbers grows with their absolute magnitude was measured with a modified version of the direct technique Marks and Slawson (1966) used to determine the psychophysical exponent for loudness. This modified technique required subjects to estimate how evenly and randomly a sequence of integers appeared to sample the numerical continuum. The results indicate that the apparent magnitude of numbers increases with a decelerated power function of their arithmetic magnitude when a series samples from an open-ended range. However, when an upper boundary of the range is specified, the subjective scale seems to be linear. Random productions of numbers parallel the results found with judgments of presented sequences. The two scales of number provide the basis for an interpretation of the difference between magnitude and category scales: that subjects use numbers differently when the response scale is open-ended Imagnitude estimation than when it has a fixed upper limit tcategory scale. Given the assumption that subjects use numbers in this way in the two tasks, the qualitative relation between magnitude and category scales is predicted.     

The role of symmetry in the good continuation ratings of two-part tonal melodies

Subjects heard a series of two-part melodies, in which each part was a random sequence of eight pitches (Experiment 1) or five pitches(Experiment 2) from the diatonic scale. The task was to rate each melody on how well the second part followed the first. It was predicted that the presence of symmetry between the two parts would increase the perception of good continuation. In Experiment 1, two symmetrical relat/lons—(itinversion) and (itretrograde)—yielded melodies that were more highly rated than the control melodies, which consisted of nominally (itdifferent) parts. A third symmetry, the (itretrograde inversion), did not enhance good continuation ratings. In Experiment 2, inversions and retrograde inversions were compared with control melodies, using shorter sequences and pitches with equal durations. Again, inversions, but not retrograde inversions, were significantly preferred. The results suggest that the aesthetic judgment of good continuation depends at least partially on a cognitive analysis of the relation between the melody parts. The positive symmetry effects are further discussed in relation to other studies of symmetry transformations in the contexts of both musical sequences and visual arrays.     

The fallacy of “two years below grade level for age” as a diagnostic criterion for reading disorders

The use of grade equivalent scores contrasted against grade placement is widespread in the diagnosis of dyslexia and other reading disabilities. This method substantially overstates disabilities at upper grade levels while underestimating the severity of difficulties in the early grades. Other difficulties and difficulties and distortions of this methods are also pointed out. An accurate, alternative method for reliably determining aptitude/achievement discrepancies is presented and its use discussed.