Lists of Spanish sentences with equivalent predictability, phonetic content, length, and frequency of the last word

This paper presents a pool of Spanish sentences designed for use in cognitive research and speech processing in circumstances in which the effects of context are relevant. These lists of sentences are divided into six lists of 25 equivalent high-predictability sentences and six lists of 25 low-predictability sentences according to the extent to which the last word can be predicted by the preceding context. These lists were also equivalent in phonetic content, length and frequency of the last word. These lists are intended for use in psycholinguistic research with Spanish-speaking listeners.     

Original thinking in preschool children: A validation of ideational fluency measures

This investigation examined the original thinking of preschool children (N=48). The instruments were lenient and stringent solution‐standard measures of original problem solving and two subsets of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Scores for popular and original responses were computed for the lenient and stringent measures. Findings supported the construct validity of conceptualizations of original problem solving based on ideational fluency within the lenient measures, but not within stringent measures. Findings also indicated that the lenient measures are better predictors of real‐world original behavior than stringent measures, especially for young children. The need for development of more reliable and valid measures for assessing real‐world creative behavior is discussed.     

Limitations of the Mnemonic-Keyword Method

The effectiveness of the mnemonic-keyword method was investigated in 4 experiments in which participants were required to learn the lst-language (L₁, Spanish) equivalents of a list of 30 2nd-language words (L₂, Latin). Experiments 1 (adolescents) and 2 (adults) were designed to assess whether the keyword method was more effective than the rote method; the researcher supplied the keyword, and the participants were allowed to pace themselves through the list. Experiments 3 (adolescents) and 4 (adults) were similar to Experiments 1 and 2 except that the participants were also supplied with a drawing that illustrated the relationship between the keyword and the L₁ target word. All the experiments were performed with groups of participants in their classrooms (i.e., not in a laboratory context). In all experiments, the rote method was significantly more effective than was the keyword method.     

Knowledge About Hand Shaping and Knowledge About Objects

Our two experiments investigated associations between cognitive representations of objects and hand-shape categories. Hand configurations were partitioned according to prehensility and the size of the contacting surface, resulting in the classes: pinch, poke, palm, and clench. Experiment 1 elicited object names in response to configuration-name cues, provided ratings of the relevance of each configuration to a set of objects, and probed for the functions determining such relevance. Cueing with a configuration class elicited an associated object category with substantial intersubject agreement, and vice versa. Both the object categories and the functions associated with the four hand-configuration classes differed substantially, although the same object could be associated to some extent with multiple configurations, given variations in function. Experiment 2 elicited the names of hand-configuration classes in response to unfamiliar forms, which varied systematically in depth and the size of the projecting picture-plane surface. The modal response, response time, and degree of intersubject agreement were directly related to these variables. These structural variables, however, did not adequately predict shaping responses to real objects, as ascertained from Experiment 1. The results have implications for cognitive representation of motor categories and hand shaping in response to objects.     

Stability of the MCMI Among Depressed Psychiatric Outpatients

The Milton Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) is a promising, yet somewhat unproven psychometric inventory developed to identify clinical syndromes and personality traits consonant with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. [DSM-III]; American Psychiatric Association, 1980). The stability of its measures for both the theoretically more stable personality characteristics and the clinical syndromes was investigated in a group of depressed psychiatric outpatients. In this test-retest design with a 3-month interval between tests, clinical syndrome scales of relevance changed significantly as expected. However, many of the personality scales also changed significantly. Only four of the personality scales met a two-fold test of stability. Findings are discussed in terms of characteristics of self-report inventories such as the MCMI, the uniqueness of the depressed population, and characteristics of personality disorders.     

Preference for Sex of Child Among Primiparous Women

Primiparous American women (N = 140) were questioned during their third trimester concerning their choice of sex of offspring and their willingness to use sex preselection techniques (if available). Eighty-two women expressed no preference for sex of offspring; of the remaining 58, 33 chose girls and 25 chose boys. Of the 26 women who indicated they would have used preselection technology, 13 chose boys and 13 chose girls. Fifty-three percent of the sample indicated they would not have used preselection techniques; 29% were undecided. These results were at variance with earlier studies that indicated a consistent choice of male firstborns, especially in nonpregnant samples. The discrepancy is discussed in terms of a move from boy preference to no preference and a gradual weakening of societal bias against women.     

Efectos de anticipación y de stroop en tareas de denominación y categorización de dibujos y de palabras

Resumen

Se llevó a cabo un experimento con vistas a estudiar el procesamiento de dibujos y de palabras en el marco de los paradigmas de Stroop y de anticipación. Las variables de tarea, modalidad y de relación semántica fueron equivalentes en ambos paradigmas. Según el intervalo temporal entre los estímulos se establecieron tres condiciones experimentales: condición previa—anticipación—, condición simultánea—Stroop—, y condición previa y simultánea—Stroop y anticipación—. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la existencia de efectos de facilitación e interferencia de signo opuesto que se atribuyen a la interacción entre la secuencia temporal entre los estímulos componentes, las demandas de las respectivas tareas y la modalidad en la memoria activa. Los resultados se discuten en relación con el diferente procesamiento a que se someten los dibujos y las palabras y la naturaleza del formato de representación.     

Niveles experimentales de conflicto social e influencia minoritaria: Límites en la definición de influencia indirecta

Resumen

El propósito de la presente investigación es desarrollar una jerarquía experimental que estudie las características más importantes del conflicto social en los procesos de influencia minoritaria. También se hace un análisis de los límites de la influencia latente minoritaria. Se defiende así la idea de que la influencia indirecta de las minorías reposa sobre una relación de naturaleza binaria no transitiva entre las posiciones minoritarias y las opiniones y actitudes objeto de influencia. Para ello se elaboró una serie de experimentos que combinan las siguientes variables, pertenencia categorial y presentatividad de la fuente minoritaria, en un diseño factorial 3 x 2. Los sujetos, 107 escolares (110 mujeres y 87 varones) fueron distribuidos en seis condiciones experimentales resultantes de la combinación de dos clases de variables: fuente de influencia perteneciente a un intragrupo, a un extragrupo, o a una minoría sin categorización social; fuente minoritaria representativa o no representativa. Los resultados subrayan la importancia del conflicto social en la producción de la influencia minoritaria y parecen confirmar la hipótesis de los límites en la influencia indirecta minoritaria.     

An Oral Proof in a Geometry Class: How Linguistic Tools Can Help Map the Content of a Proof

Recommendations that teachers promote argument and discourse in their mathematics classrooms anticipate researchers' needs for methods for examining and analyzing such talk. One form of discourse is oral arguments, including proofs. We ask: How can we track the development of an oral argument by a teacher and her/his students? We illustrate a method that combines Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Toulmin's argumentation scheme to examine how speakers logically connect different parts of an argument. We suggest that conjunction analysis can aid a researcher to map the content of a proof that has been constructed in class discussion. Using data from a discussion of a geometry proof, we show that different types of conjunctions enabled the teacher and the students to connect various components of an argument and, also, different arguments. The article illustrates how conjunction analysis can support and deepen what Toulmin's scheme for arguments can reveal about oral discussions.     

Social comparison,coping and depression in people with spinal cord injury

The present study among 70 people with spinal cord injury examined the prevalence and correlates of identification (seeing others as a potential future) and contrast (seeing others in competitive terms) in social comparison as related to coping and depression. The most prevalent social comparison strategy was downward contrast (a positive response to seeing others who were worse-off), followed by upward identification (a positive response to perceiving better-off others as a potential future), downward identification (a negative response to perceiving worse-off others as a potential future), and upward contrast (a negative response to seeing others who were better-off). Those with less severe lesions reported the highest levels of upward contrast, coping through blaming others, and depression. Downward contrast was particularly related to constructive coping, and upward identification to wishful thinking. The less adaptive social comparison strategies, i.e., upward contrast and downward identification, were quite strongly related to wishful thinking and blaming others. Particularly upward contrast, i.e., feeling bad as response to seeing that others are better-off, was related to depression.