Masked syllable priming of English nouns.

This study investigates the role of sublexical units in the phonological encoding of English single-word production in a word-naming task (Experiment 1) and a picture-naming task (Experiment 2). Targets corresponded to bisyllabic English nouns with word-initial stress which varied on the structure of their first syllable: CV (e.g., pi.lot), CVC (e.g., pic.nic), or CV[C] (e. g., pi[ll]ow).1 Targets were preceded by a visually masked prime that either matched their first syllable (e.g., pi%%% - pi.lot) or that was one segment longer (e.g., pil%% - pi.lot) or shorter (e.g., pi%%%% - pic.nic) than the first syllable. Response times were compared to a neutral control condition (e.g., %&$%% - pi.lot) to measure the priming effects (either facilitation or inhibition). Results showed significant facilitation for both the CV and the CVC conditions. However, contrary to previous findings, there was no interaction between the syllabic structure of the prime and the target.     

Frequency of perseveration in normal subjects

Although perseveration is a recognized sign of disturbed brain function, it also occurs in normal individuals. Determination of the frequency of perseveration in normal subjects would enable clinicians to use perseveration as a marker of possible pathology. The purpose of this study was to document the extent of perseveration in normal young and older subjects. Thirty young normal individuals between the ages of 20 and 35 years and 30 older normal individuals between the ages of 60 and 75 years were given four tasks on which perseveration has been reported in brain-damaged individuals. Four percent of all responses were perseverative. No age or gender effects on frequency were observed. Of the four neuropsychological tasks, the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test elicited the greatest number of perseverations.     

The medico-legal status of young sex offenders: forensic psychiatric evaluations in Sweden 1988-1995.

Young sex offenders (YSOs) attract significant public and professional concern. YSOs might be perceived as more psychologically deviant or dangerous than other offenders. This study focused on how often YSOs subjected to forensic psychiatric investigation (FPI) were declared medico-legally insane as compared to young non-sex offenders and adult sex offenders. Logistic regression models were applied to data from all major FPIs performed in Sweden between 1988 and 1995 (N=4354) to explore factors affecting the likelihood of receiving a medico-legal insanity declaration. When we adjusted for the statistical effects of age, sex offender status, and psychopathology, YSOs (n=47) were three to four times more likely to be declared insane in the medico-legal sense. The results indicate that YSOs in Sweden constitute a medico-legally distinct subgroup of forensic psychiatric examinees.     

A longitudinal study of negative affect and self-perceived competence in young adolescents.

In a 4-wave, 2-year longitudinal design, the authors obtained measures of negative affect (NA) and self-perceived competence from 220 boys and 216 girls who were 7th graders at the beginning of this study. NA was operationalized as the common dimension underlying self-reports of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and negative emotions. Self-perceived competence consisted of 2 higher order constructs: a well-behaved/good-student factor and an attractive/athletic/popular factor. Structural equation modeling revealed very high stability estimates for all constructs. Nevertheless, self-perceived competence in the attractive/athletic/popular domain predicted changes in NA. Conversely, NA predicted changes in self-perceived competence in the well-behaved/good-student domain. The primacy of NA versus self-cognitions depends, in part, on the type of self-cognitions being examined.     

Parents' Attitudes and Expectations About Children's Cross-Gender Behavior

The goals of the present study were to assessparents' attitudes toward crossgender boys and girls, aswell as to explore possible reasons for differentialevaluations. A total of 224 White parents of five-year old children completed questionnaires probingtheir attitudes toward cross-gender behavior inchildren, and their expectations regarding the futureadult behavior of typical boys, typical girls,cross-gender boys and cross-gender girls. The resultsrevealed that cross-gender boys were more negativelyregarded than crossgender girls and thatmen perceivedmore societal acceptance of cross-gender boys thanwomen. Cross-gender children were predicted tocontinue to show cross-gender behavior in adulthood andto be less psychologically welladjusted as adults thantypical boys and girls. Cross-gender boyswere expected to be less psychologicallywell-adjusted than cross-gender girls. When predictingfuture sexual orientation, cross-gender boys were deemedto have a greater likelihood of being gay thancross-gender girls of being lesbian. Men expectedcross-gender boys to be more likely to show male-malesexual behavior than typical boys inadulthood while women predicted typicalgirls to be more likely to show female-female sexual behavior in adulthoodthan cross-gender girls.     

Knowledge level learning and the power law: A soar model of skill acquisition in scheduling

Zusammenfassung. Das hier vorgestellte Modell lernt graduell, Planungsaufgaben aus der Klasse der Maschinenbelegungsprobleme (job-shop-scheduling problems) zu lösen. Mit Hilfe des Chunking-Mechanismus von Soar wird episodisches Wissen über die Belegungsreihenfolge von Aufträgen auf Maschinen memoriert. Bei der Entwicklung des Modells wurden zahlreiche qualitative (z. B. Transfereffekte) und quantitative Befunde (z. B. Bearbeitungszeiten) aus einer früheren empirischen Untersuchung berücksichtigt. In einer Validierungsstudie wurden dieselben Aufgaben von 14 Probanden und dem Modell bearbeitet. Die Passung von Simulationsdaten und empirischen Ergebnissen fiel insgesamt gut aus. Allerdings löst das Modell die Aufgaben schneller und zeigt auch einen etwas besseren Lernverlauf als die Probanden. Das Modell liefert eine Erklärung für das Rauschen, das typischerweise bei Bearbeitungszeiten zu beobachten ist: es handelt sich um erworbenes Wissen, das mehr oder weniger gut und auch unterschiedlich häufig auf neue Situationen übertragen wird. Der Lernverlauf der Probanden entspricht nur für aggregierte Daten einer Potenzfunktion (power law). Der vorgestellte Mechanismus zeigt, wie ein symbolisches Modell der Informationsverarbeitung graduelle Verhaltensänderungen generiert und wie der offensichtliche Erwerb allgemeiner Prozeduren ohne explizites Lernen von deklarativen Regeln erfolgen kann. Es wird nahegelegt, daß es sich hier um die Modellierung einer Form impliziten Lernens handelt. Summary. The model presented here gradually learns how to perform a job-shop scheduling task. It uses Soar's chunking mechanism to acquire episodic memories about the order to schedule jobs. The model was based on many qualitative (e.g., transfer effects) and quantitative (e.g., solution time) regularities found in previously collected data. The model was tested with new data where scheduling tasks were given to the model and to 14 subjects. The model generally fit these data with the restrictions that the model performs the task (in simulated time) faster than the subjects, and its performance improves somewhat more quickly than the subjects' performance. The model provides an explanation of the noise typically found in problem solving times - it is the result of learning actual pieces of knowledge that transfer more or less to new situations but rarely by an average amount. Only when the data are averaged (i.e., over subjects) does the smooth power law appear. This mechanism demonstrates how symbolic models can exhibit a gradual change in behavior and how the apparent acquisition of general procedures can be performed without resorting to explicit declarative rule generation. We suggest that this may represent a type of implicit learning.     

The puzzle of language evolution

Linguistics must again concentrate on the evolutionary nature of language, so that language models are more realistic with respect to human natural languages and have a greater explanatory force. Multi-agent systems are proposed as a possible route to develop such evolutionary models and an example is given of a concrete experiment in the origins and evolution of word-meaning based on a multi-agent approach.     

Construct validity of the Sivik Psychosomaticism Test and test of operational style: correlations with Karolinska Scheme of Personality.

To evaluate the construct validity (convergent and divergent) of Sivik Psycho Somaticism test (SPS) and test of Operationality (OPER), Pearson correlation coefficients between SPS scales and subscales and Karolinska Scheme of Personality (KSP) were calculated. Seventy-eight healthy individuals and 196 psychosomatic patients completed the SPS and OPER tests and KSP. The results show that the SPS and OPER subscales are significantly correlated to most KSP subscales. The correlations were higher for the psychosomatic group than for the normal population. The results confirm the validity of the SPS and OPER constructs.