A further investigation of category learning by inference

Categories are learned in many ways besides by classification, for example, by making inferences about classified items. One hypothesis is that classifications lead to the learning of features that distinguish categories, whereas inferences promote the learning of the internal structure of categories, such as the typical features. Experiment 1 included single-feature and full-feature classification tests following either classification or inference learning. Consistent with predictions, inference learners did better on the single tests but worse on the full tests. Experiment 2 further showed that inference learners, unlike classification learners, were no better at classifying items that they had seen at study compared with equally typical items they had not seen at study. Experiment 3 showed that features queried about during inference learning were classified better than ones not queried about, although even the latter features showed some learning on single-feature tests. The discussion focuses on how different types of category learning lead to different category representations.     

Ethnic identity and acculturation in Hispanic early adolescents: mediated relationships to academic grades, prosocial behaviors, and externalizing symptoms

This study examined acculturative stress and self-esteem as mediators of the association of ethnic identity and acculturation with psychosocial outcomes. The study sample consisted of 347 Hispanic adolescents in a "new" immigrant-receiving community in the Midwest. The authors expected acculturation to influence psychosocial adjustment through acculturative stress and ethnic identity to influence psychosocial adjustment through self-esteem. Results indicated that relationships of ethnic identity to academic grades and to externalizing symptoms were mediated by self-esteem and that both U.S. and Hispanic acculturation orientations were directly associated with prosocial behavior. The relationships of U.S. cultural orientation to academic grades and to behavior problems were mediated through acculturative stress and self-esteem. Implications of these findings for the study of Hispanics in more monocultural receiving communities are discussed.     

Familiarization effects for bilingual letter detection involving translation or exact text repetition.

In two experiments, English-Spanish bilinguals read passages, performing letter detection on some passages by circling target letters as they read. Detection passages were sometimes familiarized (primed) by prior reading of the same passage or a translation of it. Participants detected letters in English passages in Experiment 1 and in Spanish passages in Experiment 2. For both experiments, a missing letter effect occurred (depressed detection accuracy on frequent function words relative to less frequent content words). Familiarization promoted overall improvements in letter detection only for English passages, suggesting that reprocessing benefits depend on high language fluency. For Spanish passages, cognates engendered greater error rates than noncognates; the visual similarity of Spanish and English cognates apparently enabled faster identification of Spanish cognates in a way unaffected by familiarization of the whole text passage. Priming by familiarized text was significantly higher when the passages were in the same language than when they were in different languages, suggesting that the reprocessing benefits are at the word level instead of the semantic level. These results are consistent with the GO model of reading (Greenberg, Healy, Koriat, & Kreiner, 2004) but require an expanded consideration of attention redistribution processes in that model.     

Infants’ Brain Responses to Looming Danger: Degeneracy of Neural Connectivity Patterns

Abstract

A fundamental property of most animals is the ability to see whether an object is approaching on a direct collision course and, if so, when it will collide. Using high-density electroencephalography in infants and a looming stimulus approaching under three different accelerations, we previously found how visual information for impending collision is sustained in the young human nervous system. In the present study, using longitudinal data on 25 infants at 4–5?months and 12–13?months, we show that infants’ looming-related brain activity is clearly localized in the visual cortex (V1) following retinotopic mapping, but is highly adaptive in its organization otherwise. Analyzing the orientation of electrical source flow, we provide evidence for a high degree of variability, spread across a relatively large area of the visual cortex. The findings reveal a highly dynamic functional organization, with connectivity patterns constantly emerging and changing in many different directions between trials. This suggests degeneracy of neural connectivity patterns through reentry principles, where neurons temporarily assemble to enable an appropriate looming response with the necessary precision.     

Health information on the Internet and people living with HIV/AIDS: information evaluation and coping styles.

Individuals who seek information on the Internet to cope with chronic illness may be vulnerable to misinformation and unfounded claims. This study examined the association between health-related coping and the evaluation of health information. Men (n = 347) and women (n = 72) who were living with HIV/AIDS and reported currently using the Internet completed measures assessing their Internet use. Health Web sites downloaded from the Internet were also rated for quality of information. HIV-positive adults commonly used the Internet to find health information (66%) and to learn about clinical trials (25%); they also talked to their physicians about information found online (24%). In a multivariate analysis, assigning higher credibility to unfounded Internet information was predicted by lower incomes, less education, and avoidant coping styles. People who cope by avoiding health information may be vulnerable to misinformation and unfounded claims that are commonly encountered on the Internet.     

Cognitive testing of an instrument to evaluate acceptability and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis products among women

Given the range of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) products currently being tested to prevent HIV in women, a standardized Acceptability and Use of PrEP Products Among Women Tool may facilitate comparisons of product acceptability and use across different geographies, trials, and users. We conducted three rounds of cognitive interviewing over 2 months in 2016, with 28 South African women who had experience participating in a range of PrEP product trials. The final instrument contained 41 items, including five new items that improved construct validity and 22 items modified for clarity. Changes were made due to unclear wording, difficulty answering, participant embarrassment, low response variability, and administrative formatting. Cognitive interviewing provided a means to address issues that would have inhibited this tool's ability to accurately collect data otherwise. This rapid, low-cost study provided valuable insight into participants' understanding of questions and demonstrated the utility of cognitive interviewing in international clinical trials.     

Coping With Vicarious Trauma in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster

This study documents the vicarious psychological impact of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti on Haitians living in the United States. The role of coping resources—family, religious, and community support—was explored. The results highlight the importance of family and community as coping strategies to manage such trauma. Este estudio documenta el impacto psicológico vicario que tuvo el terremoto de 2010 en Haití sobre los residentes haitianos que viven en Estados Unidos. Se explora el papel de los recursos de afrontamiento—apoyo familiar, religioso y comunitario. Lo resultados destacan la importancia de la familia y la comunidad como estrategias de afrontamiento para superar un trauma de esas características.     

Millon's Evolutionary Model of Personality Assessment: A Case for Categorical/Dimensional Prototypes

Theodore Millon (1928–2014) was arguably one of the most influential figures in conceptualizing and detailing personality styles and disorders in the latter 20th and early 21st centuries. A prominent member of the Axis II Work Group of DSM–III, III–R, and IV, Millon continued refining his evolutionary model long after his active involvement with these committees, and remained focused on the future of personality assessment until his death in 2014. This article is an exploration of his latter works, critiques of recent DSM–5 developments, and commentary on the usefulness of his deductive methodology as it continues to apply to the study, classification, and clinical application of personality assessment.     

Three peas in the pod of consumer imagination: Purchase task,involvement, and ad information

The research investigates the mediating role of the consumer imagination in persuasion, depending upon level of involvement, nature of the purchase task, and ad information. The consumer imagination is conceptualized as combining triggered information from memory with incoming ad information to simulate a yet‐to‐be‐experienced event. The research reveals how obstacles to information flowing from memory or information from incoming peripheral ad claims suppress the enhancing effects of the consumer imagination. Across three studies, the findings indicate that few incoming peripheral ad claims are an obstacle to the consumer imagination in a utilitarian context, regardless of involvement, because preferred peripheral claims are reduced. Low involvement is an obstacle to the consumer imagination in a hedonic context, because it reduces the need to rely on triggered memories. However, this effect is reversed with more peripheral ad claims, because increased claims help to build up the imagination when reliance on triggered memories is reduced. Theoretical discussion is provided about how the imagination expands the elaboration of ad details by retrieving relevant experiences from memory to create mental rehearsals. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intergenerational associations linking identity styles and processes in adolescents and their parents

Identity formation is a lifelong task, yet much research focuses on adolescence and emerging adulthood. Little is known about whether parents' identities are related to their adolescent children's identities. The present studies were designed to examine intergenerational associations. Specifically, we focused on identity styles (Study 1 with 191 mother–adolescent and 170 father–adolescent dyads) and exploration and commitment processes (Study 2 with 230 mother–adolescent and 214 father–adolescent dyads). In Study 1, the information-oriented and normative styles, especially among mothers, were positively associated with these same styles among adolescents. Fathers' use of the normative and diffuse-avoidant style was positively associated with adolescents' use of these same styles. In Study 2, parental identification with commitment was positively associated with adolescent commitment making and negatively with adolescent ruminative exploration. Maternal exploration in depth was positively associated with adolescent exploration in depth and ruminative exploration. In sum, parents may function as role models for adolescent identity formation, although longitudinal research is needed to support more authoritative claims.