Syllable onsets are perceptual reading units

Syllable onsets are defined as the initial consonant or consonant cluster in a syllable (e.g., BR in BREAD). In the present study, using a letter detection paradigm and French words, we tested whether syllable onsets are processed as units by the reading system. In Experiment 1, we replicated Gross, Treiman, and Inman's (2000) result of observing no difference between the detection latencies of letters embedded in a multi-letter syllable onset (e.g., c in ECLATER) relative to a single-letter syllable onset (e.g., C in ECARTER). In Experiment 2, participants took longer to detect the target letter when it was in the second position of a multi-letter onset (e.g., L in TABLIER) than when it was a single-letter onset (e.g., L in ECOLIER). In Experiment 3, this position effect was replicated for graphemes. In Experiment 4, we tested and ruled out an alternative explanation of the unitization effect, in terms of lateral masking. These results indicate that syllable onsets are processed as perceptual units by the reading system and that the unitization effect is position dependent.     

What makes a good story

Three different ways have been selected for analyzing a story's structure, each focusing on different types of information. (a) Episodic or story grammar approaches stories as problem-solving episodes, emphasizing goals and activities to achieve them. (b) Labov's high point structure emphasizes affective information and sees stories as organized around emotional high points or crisis events. (c) Deese's dependency analysis emphasizes linguistic complexity and, in particular, the way propositions are related to each other through a relationship of either coordination or subordination. Stories were scored according to how well they realized good structure in each system, and the three scoring systems were relatively independent of each other. Adults were asked to rate 3-to 9-year old children's personal narratives in terms of how good a story each was, and their ratings were compared to how the stories were scored in terms of all three systems. None of the systems completely explained the subjective quality ratings; rather, all three seemed to contribute in different ways to subjects' ratings, with the best narratives generally deemed sophisticated and complex in at least two of the three systems.The authors wish to acknowledge their great debt to James Deese and Christine Glenn. This research was supported by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant A-7911 to Carole Peterson.     

Vocal congruence in mother-infant play

Turn-taking is the fundamental temporal structure of adult dialogue. This structure defines two types of joint silence: intrapersonal pause (silence bounded by the vocalizations of a single speaker) and switching pause (silence bounded by the vocalizations of different speakers). Switching pauses mark the boundaries of the turn exchange. In adult conversation the mean durations of both types of pause are characteristically matched between partners. This matching, termed vocal congruence, occurs developmentally earlier in the case of switching pauses. We hypothesized and confirmed that mothers and infants match switching pauses but not intrapersonal pauses at 4 months, even though the infants' vocalizations are prelinguistic. Second, since there are known affective correlates of vocal congruence in adult conversation, we hypothesized a similar affective correlate for mother-infant vocal congruence. We found, for the intrapersonal pause only, that the degree of matching within a dyad correlated with infant affective engagement. We conclude, from switching pause congruence, that a turntaking dialogic structure is being regulated in the mother-infant pair at 4 months in the same way as seen in adult conversation. Thus, both the temporal structure of adult dialogue and its affective correlate are prelinguistic.Supported in part by NIMH grant No. 41675.     

Multidisciplinary teamwork in primary care: The role of the counsellor

Since other professionals have joined doctor and nurse to form multidisciplinary working groups, primary health care teams have made efforts, more or less successfully, to work together. This paper views the primary health care team as a medium-sized, multidisciplinary, family-like organization with very specific characteristics. Full of promise as a synergistic body, nevertheless the team frequently struggles with difficult and even self-destructive dynamics. The structures, problems and values of teamworking in this specialized context are examined, with particular attention given to ways in which the practice counsellor can support and encourage team working. Suggestions are offered regarding how primary health care teams might move towards a more team-oriented approach.     

THE USE OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC SPEAKING ABILITY

Research has shown that behavior can be successfully modified if behavioral goals are specified and the behavior is broken down into small workable units. The counselor and counselee can work together to state the desired outcome of the counseling process. This report presents a case study in which the method of successive approximations was used with a young male client to develop public speaking ability.     

The relative efficacy of thought-stopping and covert assertion

The relative efficacy of Rimm's (1973) thought-stopping and covert assertion, thought-stopping alone, covert assertion alone and a placebo control was tested. All three experimental treatments were predicted to be superior to the control and differences among the experimental treatments were expected. Thirty-six volunteers with a strong fear of harmless snakes were given one of the four treatments. Results demonstrated the efficacy of the combined treatment, as had been shown in previous research, but also demonstrated the efficacy of the individual components alone. Scheffée Planned Comparisons at the post test and four week follow-up indicated that the three experimental groups were superior to the control on the three self-report and behavioral tests of fear of snakes (p < 0.01 for each) but not on a test of fears in general. Scheffée Post Hoc Comparisons showed no significant differences between the experimental groups. The possible overlapping functions of the components are discussed.     

Male Partners' Role in Latinas' Amniocentesis Decisions

There has been relatively little research on men's experiences with fetal diagnosis or their role in their female partners' decisions about whether to be tested. This issue may be of particular salience in the delivery of genetic services to Latino groups, where it is often assumed that lower rates of genetic service utilization are linked to men's refusal to allow their wives to be tested. Here we present data from a multimethod study on the use of amniocentesis by Mexican-origin women in Southern California. We focus on the role male partners played in the women's amniocentesis decisions. Contrary to expectation, we found that women made the majority of the decisions about amniocentesis, although their partners' presence at the genetic consultation where the amniocentesis was offered proved an important predictive factor in amniocentesis uptake.     

Normative and psychometric data on the body image assessment--revised

After falling into disfavor in the early 1990s, the construct of body image, as measured by body-size estimation (BSE) techniques, has been the focus of increasing interest in the eating disorder literature because of recent theoretical, empirical, and methodological advances. However, no published BSE measure to date has been shown to be psychometrically sound, well normed, inexpensive, and straightforward. This article provides normative and psychometric data for an adapted silhouette BSE measure. Comprehensive normative data are presented on college women's cognitively and affectively based body-size estimates, as well as their desired body size and related discrepancy indexes (cognitive vs. desired, affective vs. desired, affective vs. cognitive). Preliminary data indicate that indexes from the new measure are moderately reliable over time, consistent with their theoretical link to fluctuations in body-related attitudes. Data also support the convergent validity of the measures. Affectively based BSE, alone or as part of a discrepancy measure with desired body size, was most strongly related to measures of eating pathology, body focus, body dissatisfaction, and depressed affect.     

Diversity: A Problem in Common

The more we live in densely populated environments in which we regularly encounter people of different ethnic origins, classes, sexual orientations, and gender identities, the more we tend to feel that we have a sophisticated relation to diversity. Being exposed to diversity and embracing it, however, are different things. The latter depends on a level of self-acceptance and self-understanding that can also develop in a less overtly diverse environment. Further, celebrating diversity is not the same as experiencing the essential oneness of humanity, including oneness with people whose political views we do not share. C. G. Jung's theory of psychological types offers a deep approach to embracing diversity, since the eight types of consciousness that Jung felt created differences between people also occur within each of us. Learning to identify each of the types within ourselves can be a step toward accepting both the psychological diversity around us and the inevitable limitations in being comfortable with the differences that all of us share.