Two-year-olds' search strategies and visual tracking in a hidden displacement task

Children younger than 3 years have difficulty with search tasks that involve hidden displacement. Partial visual information was provided about a ball's path as it moved toward a hiding place. Children (2.0 and 2.5 years old) saw a ball rolling down a ramp placed behind a transparent screen with 4 opaque doors. A wall, placed on the ramp and directly behind 1 of the doors, protruded above the screen and stopped the ball. Children were asked to find the ball. The transparency of the screen permitted visual tracking of the ball between the doors, but its final resting place was obscured. Both age groups were equally proficient at tracking the ball as it rolled behind the screen, but the 2.5-year-olds were more likely to reach to the correct door. Looking behavior was related to errors in the younger group in that tracking that stopped short or continued past the correct door was associated with incorrect choices.     

Age differences in coping resources and satisfaction with life among middle-aged,young-old,and oldest-old adults

The authors examined age differences in perceived coping resources and satisfaction with life across 3 older-adult age groups (45-64, 65-74, and 75 years and older). The 98 participants represented healthy, socially active, community-residing adults. Group comparisons were made on 12 individual coping scales, and an overall coping resource effectiveness score was computed. No significant differences were found for 11 of the coping resources or for overall coping resource effectiveness. Similar consistencies in life satisfaction were found across the 3 age groups. The findings indicate that (a) for healthy adults, the oldest old cope at least as effectively as their younger counterparts, despite their likelihood of encountering increased levels of stress; and (b) psychologically, old age may be viewed as a time of resilience and fortitude.     

Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: a meta-analytic and theoretical review

Although the merits of parents using corporal punishment to discipline children have been argued for decades, a thorough understanding of whether and how corporal punishment affects children has not been reached. Toward this end, the author first presents the results of meta-analyses of the association between parental corporal punishment and 11 child behaviors and experiences. Parental corporal punishment was associated with all child constructs, including higher levels of immediate compliance and aggression and lower levels of moral internalization and mental health. The author then presents a process-context model to explain how parental corporal punishment might cause particular child outcomes and considers alternative explanations. The article concludes by identifying 7 major remaining issues for future research.     

Assault victimization and suicidal ideation or behavior within a national sample of U.S. adults

Data from a nationally representative sample of 5,238 U.S. adults were used to examine the extent to which physical assault victimization was associated with suicidal ideation or behavior (SIB). The results from multivariable logistic regression analyses indicate that physical assault victimization was positively associated with SIB after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and alcohol use (OR = 3.6; 95% CI = 2.4-5.5). Those who were injured during the most recent physical assault (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.2-6.0) and those who were assaulted by a relative (OR = 3.4; 95% CI= 1.0-11.0) or intimate partner (OR = 7.7; 95% CI = 2.7-22.5) were significantly more like to report SIB than victims who were not injured or were assaulted by a stranger. Also, those who were victimized but not injured (OR = 5.6; 95% CI = 3.8-8.2) and those who were victimized by a stranger (OR = 2.9; 95% CI = 1.4-6.0) were more likely to report SIB than non-victims. These results highlight the need for legal, medical, mental health, and social service providers to address the co-occurrence of violent victimization and suicidal ideation, particularly, but not exclusively, victimization by family members and intimates.     

Partner Violence, Social Support, and Distress Among Inner-City African American Women

This study examined the role of social support in the partner violence–psychological distress relation in a sample of African American women seeking medical care at a large, urban hospital (n = 138). Results from bivariate correlational analyses revealed that partner violence was related to lower perceived social support and greater psychological distress, and lower social support was related to more distress. Furthermore, findings based on path analysis indicated that low levels of social support helped account for battered women's increased distress. Findings point to the need for service providers to screen for partner violence in nontraditional sites, such as hospital emergency rooms, and to address the role of social support resources in preventive interventions with African American battered women.     

An historical commentary on the physiological effects of music: Tomatis, Mozart and neuropsychology.

This article provides an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of the Tomatis Method, along with a commentary on other forms of sound/music training and the need for research. A public debate was sparked over the "Mozart Effect." This debate has turned out to be unfortunate because the real story is being missed. The real story starts with Alfred Tomatis, M.D., scientist and innovator. Dr. Tomatis was the first to develop a technique using modified music to stimulate the rich interconnections between the ear and the nervous system to integrate aspects of human development and behavior. The originating theories behind the Tomatis Method are reviewed to describe the ear's clear connection to the brain and the nervous system. The "neuropsychology of sound training" describes how and what the Tomatis Method effects. Since Dr. Tomatis opened this field in the mid 20th century, no fewer than a dozen offshoot and related systems of training have been developed. Though each new system of treatment makes claims of effectiveness, no research exists to substantiate their claims. Rather, each simplified system bases its "right to exist and advertise" on the claimed relationship to Tomatis and his complex Method. Research is desperately needed in this area. The 50 years of clinical experience and anecdotal evidence amassed by Tomatis show that sound stimulation can provide a valuable remediation and developmental training tool for people of all ages. Offshoot systems have watered down the Tomatis Method without research to guide the decisions of simplifying the techniques and equipment.     

The task-specific nature of domain-general reasoning

This paper develops a theory of how interpretative processes constrain inferential performance on conditional reasoning tasks. Experiment 1 investigated the hypothesis that performance on common reasoning tasks is mediated by different interpretive variables. Necessity and sufficiency relations predicted performance on the conditional arguments task, whereas on the Wason task, performance was predicted by whether the conditional statement instantiated a deontic or a factual relation. Performance on the truth-table task was predicted by both sets of variables. Experiment 2 explored the mapping relation between interpretation, representation, and inference. It was observed that conditional responses to the Wason and arguments tasks were based on different representations of the conditional relationship. These data rule out a simple model of the interplay between interpretation and reasoning in which the interpretation of a statement is driven solely by its content, and instead, indicate that the interpretation of conditional relations is task-specific.     

An interval size illusion: the influence of timbre on the perceived size of melodic intervals

In four experiments, we investigated the influence of timbre on perceived interval size. In Experiment 1, musically untrained participants heard two successive tones and rated the pitch distance between them. Tones were separated by six or seven semitones and varied in timbre. Pitch changes were accompanied by a congruent timbre change (e.g., ascending interval involving a shift from a dull to a bright timbre), an incongruent timbre change (e.g., ascending interval involving a shift from a bright to a dull timbre), or no timbre change. Ratings of interval size were strongly influenced by timbre. The six-semitone interval with a congruent timbre change was perceived to be larger than the seven-semitone interval with an incongruent timbre change (interval illusion). Experiment 2 revealed similar effects for musically trained participants. In Experiment 3, participants compared the size of two intervals presented one after the other. Effects of timbre were again observed, including evidence of an interval illusion. Experiment 4 confirmed that timbre manipulations did not distort the perceived pitch of tones. Changes in timbre can expand or contract the perceived size of intervals without distorting individual pitches. We discuss processes underlying interval size perception and their relation to pitch perception mechanisms.