Effects of number of items and visual display variability onsame-different discrimination behavior

We explored college students' discrimination of complex visual stimuli that involvedmultiple-item displays. The items in each of the displays could be all the same, all different, or diverse mixtures of some same and some different items. The participants had to learn which of two arbitrary responses was correct for each of the displays without being told about the sameness or differentness of the stimuli. We observed a general improvement in discrimination performance--a rise in choice accuracy and a fall in reaction time-as the number of icons in the display was increased, even when the participants had been trained from the outset with displays containing different numbers of items and when smaller numbers of items were not randomly distributed but grouped in the center of the display. The participants' discrimination behavior also depended on the mixture of same and different items in the displays. Striking individual differences in the participants' discrimination behavior disclosed that people sometimes respond as do pigeons and baboons trained with a similar task. This and previous related research suggest that variability discrimination may lie at the root of same-different categorization behavior.     

Scope of attention, control of attention, and intelligence in children and adults

Recent experimentation has shown that cognitive aptitude measures are predicted by tests of the scope of an individual's attention or capacity in simple working memory tasks and also by the ability to control attention. However, these experiments do not indicate how separate or related the scope and control of attention are. An experiment with 52 children (10 to 11 years old) and 52 college students included measures of the scope and control of attention, as well as verbal and nonverbal aptitude measures. The children showed little evidence of using sophisticated attentional control, but the scope of attention predicted intelligence in that group. In adults, both the scope and control of attention varied among individuals and accounted for considerable individual variance in intelligence. About one third that variance was shared between scope an d control, and the rest was unique to one or the other.Scope and control of attention appear to be related but distinct contributors to intelligence.     

Trajectories of perceived support in mother-adolescent relationships: the poor (quality) get poorer

The authors examined decreases across the early adolescent years in child reports of perceived support from mothers to determine whether the rate of decline differed as a function of the initial amount of perceived negativity in the mother-child relationship. Participants included a diverse sample of 197 girls and 116 boys who were in the 1st year of middle school (6th grade, ages 11 to 13 years) at the beginning of the study. Separate growth curve models revealed associations between the rate of change in child-reported perceived support and the initial level of both child-reported perceived negativity and mother-reported perceived negativity. Over-time declines in child-reported perceived support were larger for adolescents whose initial levels of perceived negativity were greater. The findings are consistent with the claim that mothers and children with the worst relationships at the outset of adolescence experience the greatest deterioration in relations across the early adolescent years.     

The ontomystical argument revisited

I argue that Alexander Pruss’s ontomystical arguments should not be endorsed without further argumentative support of their premises. My specific targets are his claims that (i) Śamkara’s principle is true and (ii) the high mystics had phenomenal experiences of radical dependence and as of a maximally great being. Against (i), I urge a host of counterexamples. The only ways I can see for Pruss to respond to these counterexamples end up falsifying (ii). The key problem which leads to this conclusion is that Pruss needs a criterion for distinguishing phenomenal experiences from non-phenomenal experiences according to which the experiences of the high mystics were phenomenal experiences while the experiences of those persons I discuss in my counterexamples to Śamkara’s principle are not. There appears to be no such criterion. I suggest that the future of the ontomystical arguments lies in developing them as inductive rather than deductive arguments.     

Comparison of Behavioral Belief Structures in the Physical Activity Domain

Behavioral belief structures were evaluated in the physical activity domain along 4 dimensions: positive–negative, affective–instrumental, distal–proximal, and specific motive. Participants completed 19 behavioral belief items and a measure of intention. These behavioral beliefs were subsequently classified on each dimension by 2 independent judges. Results using structural equation modeling showed that positive–negative, affective–instrumental, and proximal–distal dimensions each improved fit over a single behavioral belief construct. Division by affective–instrumental and positive–negative yielded the best fit, compared to single dimensions, but no division resulted in adequate model fit. Indeed, fit continued to improve as each dimension was added, but this specificity came with incumbent multicollinearity when trying to use the constructs for prediction purposes.     

Self-Efficacy and the Prediction of Domain-Specific Cognitive Abilities

ABSTRACT We evaluated predictors of performance in 4 specific cognitive ability domains: verbal, numerical, spatial, and mechanical. The predictors were individual differences in self-efficacy beliefs, self-enhancement tendencies, and cross-domain abilities. Our university students' beliefs about their verbal, numerical, and spatial capabilities correlated well with their actual performance on standardized tests (verbal r =.33, numerical r =.27, spatial r =.36). In contrast, the students' self-efficacy for mechanical tasks did relatively poorly in predicting mechanical test performance ( r =.10). Most interesting were two other findings: (a) The best predictor of domain performance was level of cross-domain performance by far, even for mechanical tasks, and (b) self-enhancement tendencies added to cross-domain abilities and self-efficacy beliefs in the prediction of performance. The results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms explaining how one's score on a maximal performance task can be affected by self-efficacy beliefs and self-enhancement tendencies.     

The Transition from Object Faith to Personal Faith: Transitional Subjects

In this article, I unmoor the concept of heresy from its religious, technical roots, using the metaphor heresies of the heart to depict the psychological and theological dynamics of the human proclivity to rely on the idea of Truth to alienate, depersonalize, and coerce other human beings. Using the concepts of the personal mode of existence and emotional intelligence, I define heresies of the heart as comprising (a) those emotional attitudes that involve the transformation of insecurity and anxiety into hostility and hatred toward the Other, (b) recognition and treatment of the Other as less than a person, and (c) unquestionable beliefs regarding one’s truth and the certainty of one’s innocence. Theologically, heresies of the heart signify the presence of idolatry, which is a type of bad faith that involves the use of a contingent object to contain anxiety by transforming it into hostility toward the Other.     

Moving from Principles to Practice: Recommended Policy Changes to Promote Family-Centered Care

This paper emphasizes the value of family-centered care. Discussion highlights family-centered philosophies (e.g., Systems of Care [SOCs]) and practice models (i.e., wraparound) and identifies discrepancies between conceptualizations and actual practice. Data from multiple sources detail issues in fidelity to family-centered values and needs and risks experienced by siblings of children with severe emotional disturbance and their caregivers. This discussion provides a springboard for policy recommendations to strengthen family support programming and enhance family-centered care, from modifying funding streams such that systems extend their reach beyond children with full-blown, diagnosable problems (those meeting standards of "medical necessity), to supporting prevention and early intervention initiatives that address families as targets for intervention. Recommendations include ensuring that communities with SOC funding address the needs of families; broadening Medicaid rules and definitions; expanding the range of reimbursable activities and services; and increasing funding for evaluating family-centered care models and family support programming.     

Remembering talk: Individual and gender differences in reported speech

This study examined individual and group differences in the nature and frequency of reports of past speech in the autobiographical memories of young adults. A sample of 108 participants (60 females, 48 males) responded in writing to six memory prompts. They also completed the Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence & Helmreich, 1978). The frequency with which participants used reported speech was correlated with agreeableness, openness, and expressivity; however, regression analyses indicated that narrators’ gender alone was the best predictor. Females used more reported speech than did males. The findings suggest that recollections of past speech are an under-appreciated yet important component of autobiographical memory.     

Remembering all that and then some: Recollection of autobiographical memories after a 1-year delay

We have previously shown that repeated retrievals of remote autobiographical memories over the course of one month led to an overall increase in reported detail (Nadel, Campbell, & Ryan, 2007). The current study examined the retrieval of those same memories 1 year later in order to determine whether the level of detail remained stable or whether the memories returned to their original state. Participants reported even more details than they had recalled at least 1 year earlier, including new details that were reported for the first time. This finding was consistent across both multiple and single retrieval conditions, suggesting that the critical factor leading to the increase in recall was the passage of time. These findings provide evidence for long-term effects of repeated retrieval on memory content.