Relational and imageric recall in young and older adults under conditions of high task demand

Research indicates the presence of an age-related pictorial processing deficit, for which the elderly may attempt to compensate through the use of relational information. Cognitive asynchrony theory, a recent synthetic formulation which unites elements of the generalized slowing hypothesis, environmental support theory, and the item-specific/relational information distinction, has proven useful in a number of experiments in explaining these aspects of visual cognitive aging. The present experiments tested this theoretical formulation under high processing demand conditions in both the relational and the pictorial/item-specific realm. Young and older adults yielded a complex pattern of results consistent with the cognitive asynchrony synthesis of these theoretical considerations. The present experiments add to the growing body of findings indicating that the cognitive subsystems of memory decline at different rates, that the differences in cognitive processing between young and older adults tend to be more quantitative than qualitative, and that the global age-related memory deficits of popular belief are in fact relatively circumscribed and specific. This research was supported by grant AG11605 from the National Institute on Aging, and by a grant from the College of Science and Mathematics, California State University.     

The Development and Validation of Brief and Ultrabrief Measures of Values

Values are a central personality construct and the importance of studying them has been well established. To encourage researchers to integrate measures of values into their studies, brief and ultrabrief instruments were developed to recapture the 10 values measured by the 40-item Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ; Schwartz, 2003 Schwartz, S. H. (2003). A proposal for measuring value orientations across nations. In Questionnaire development report of the European Social Survey (pp. 259–319). Retrieved from http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/index.php?option=com_docman&;task=doc_view&;gid=126&;Itemid=80 [Google Scholar]). Rigorous psychometric procedures based on separate derivation (N = 38,049) and evaluation (N = 29,143) samples yielded 10- and 20-item measures of values, which proved to be successful at capturing the patterns and magnitude of correlations associated with the original PVQ. These instruments should be useful to researchers who would like to incorporate a values scale into their study but do not have the space to administer a longer measure.     

Cognition at risk: Gestalt/feature-intensive processing, attention deficit, and substance abuse

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is associated with elevated levels of substance abuse, but the cognitive linkages involved have been little explored. The present study builds upon earlier work showing that more gestalt, as opposed to feature-intensive, styles of processing are conductive to substance abuse, especially in those with ADHD symptoms. The work reported here indicates that a protective factor against substance abuse may lie in relatively efficient heuristic processing, especially synthetic or inferential heuristic processing, but further demonstrates that those with ADHD symptoms tend to have poorer abilities in this regard, even at the subclinical, nondiagnosed level. Results are discussed in terms of the gestalt/featureintensive processing theory of cognition.     

Counsellor-delivered HIV risk reduction intervention addresses safer sex barriers of people living with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

This study developed an HIV risk reduction intervention for people living with HIV (PLWH) obtaining care at primary healthcare clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa by (1) conducting elicitation research to understand the dynamics of risk behaviour among PLWH, (2) modifying an existing HIV risk reduction intervention based on research findings and (3) conducting a pilot study to evaluate feasibility, acceptability and fidelity of the modified intervention implemented by trained lay counsellors at a rural clinic in KwaZulu-Natal. A total of 61 healthcare providers and 77 HIV+ patients from four primary healthcare clinics participated in 14 focus groups and 20 individual interviews to identify informational, motivational and behavioural skills (IMB) factors contributing to PLWH's sexual risk behaviour. Elicitation research findings were incorporated into a revised version of Options for Health, an evidence-based risk reduction intervention for PLWH in clinical care. In a 5-day training, lay counsellors learned strategies to address IMB barriers to safer sex identified in elicitation research. The revised intervention, which was implemented by six counsellors with 39 patients, was feasible to implement, acceptable to patients and counsellors, and implemented with good fidelity. This study makes an important contribution towards development of a theory-based HIV risk reduction intervention for PLWH linking prevention with treatment in South Africa.     

The role of error‐correction procedures in the reinforcement of errors

In Study 1 three different error‐correction procedures and a trial‐and‐error procedure were implemented in a Japanese word/phrase receptive identification task. Training procedures differed in the specific type of error that evoked error‐correction feedback. Outcomes indicated that when the error‐correction consequence was contingent on incorrect responses, incorrect responses predominated initially. When this feedback consequence followed no response, non‐responding initially prevailed. Task mastery was achieved in fewer trials with error‐correction procedures than with the no prompt/trial‐and‐error. However, post‐mastery probes 1 week after mastery indicated retention was greater for participants in the trial‐and‐error training condition. These patterns indicated that the feedback prompt itself could be functioning as a positive reinforcer. Demonstration of this effect would have been more definitive had individual participants been exposed to each experimental condition, and the limited number of participants in the trial‐and‐error group weakened conclusions from Study 1. These outcomes necessitated procedural replication. The initial question remained unanswered: if feedback were delivered contingent on trainee request and not contingent on errors, how would this affect errors and retention? Study 2, with a prompt‐request (‘Show me’) answered this question. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Empiricist Conception of the Relation Between Metaphysics and Science

It is widely acknowledged that metaphysical assumptions, commitments and presuppositions play an important role in science. Yet according to the empiricist there is no place for metaphysics as traditionally understood in the scientific enterprise. In this paper I aim to take a first step towards reconciling these seemingly irreconcilable claims. In the first part of the paper I outline a conception of metaphysics and its relation to science that should be congenial to empiricists, motivated by van Fraassen’s work on ‘stances’. There has been a considerable about of recent work devoted to van Fraassen’s ‘stance’ view, but it has not on the whole been noticed that the view has the potential to motivate a general empiricist conception of the relation between science and metaphysics. In the second and third sections I discuss two examples from biology to illustrate this conception: metaphysical punctuationism, and its relation to and influence on the thesis of punctuated equilibrium; and dialectical biology as defended by Levins and Lewontin.

     

Long-term motor programming improvements occur via concatenation of movement sequences during random but not during blocked practice

According to S. T. Klapp (1995, 1996), extensive practice serves to induce the concatenation of multiple-element responses. One benefit of the chunking process, argued Klapp, is more efficient execution of motor programming. The authors conducted the present study with 30 participants to investigate that proposition. The chunking process was found to be very transient following some practice regimes. Specifically, compared with exposure to random practice, extensive blocked practice resulted in only temporary movement sequence consolidation. The present results provide support for the claim that random practice not only leads to improvements in the completion of intratrial movement planning processes but also affects the structure of the memory developed during practice. Both components are important contributors to long-term improvements in movement preparation associated with a high contextual-interference practice condition.     

Coping dimensions, life stress, and adolescent substance use: a latent growth analysis

The relation of seven coping dimensions to substance (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) use was tested with a sample of 1,668 participants assessed at mean age 12.5 years and two yearly follow-ups. An associative latent-growth model showed one index of engagement (behavioral coping) to be inversely related to initial level of adolescent use and growth over time in peer use. Three indices of disengagement (anger coping, helpless coping, and hangout coping) were positively related to initial levels of peer use and adolescent use and to growth in adolescent use. Life stress was positively related to initial levels for peer use and adolescent use and to growth in adolescent use. Moderation tests indicated that effects of coping were significantly greater at higher level of stress; behavioral coping buffered the effects of disengagement. Effects of life stress were greater for girls than for boys. Results are discussed with reference to mechanisms of coping-substance use relationships.     

Dyadic Influence of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Counseling Implications for Mental and Relational Health

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predict physical and mental health. We examined dyadic differences in intimate partner relationship health by ACE score among couples with low to moderate income enrolled in a relationship education program. Overall, we found a high prevalence of ACEs, disproportionate representation in the highest risk ACE group, and a significant effect between ACEs and indicators of mental and relational health. Implications for counselors include support for an ACE‐informed approach to couples counseling services, as well as a holistic and systemic view of mental and relational health.     

Choice in transition: Replication and extension to preschool children in a naturalistic setting

This study replicated previous basic research into the dynamics of choice and extended this analysis to children's behavior in a naturalistic setting. Two preschoolers with disabilities were observed interacting with their teachers at baseline and during an experimental analysis involving four pairs of concurrent variable‐interval schedules of adult attention implemented by an experimenter. Each child was exposed to four experimental phases in which the relative reinforcer rates for on‐ and off‐task behavior were 10:1, 1:1, 1:10, and reversed back to 10:1. The 10:1 phase was designed to mimic the same schedules and types of adult attention observed at baseline. We used the generalized matching equation to model steady‐state behavior at the end of the transition phases and to evaluate changes in sensitivity at various points throughout the phases. Choice in transition was evaluated by plotting log behavior ratios by session, cumulated time on‐ and off‐task and cumulated attention for on‐ and off‐task behavior by session, and interreinforcer behavior ratios following different sequences of the first four reinforcer deliveries. The generalized matching equation accounted for a large proportion of variance in steady‐state responding, sensitivity values increased steadily throughout the phases, patterns of choice in transition were similar to those reported in basic research, and interreinforcer preference generally shifted toward the just‐reinforced alternative. These findings are consistent with previous basic research and support the generality of the dynamics of choice to children's on‐ and off‐task behavior reinforced by adult attention.