The effect of the repeated presentation of a standard interval on the reproduction of the standard

The Langley Porter Neuropsychiatrie Institute, San Francisco, California 94122 Eleven human Ss (five male and six female) reproduced intervals of 1, 2, and 3 sec delimited by clicks after the standard intervals had been repeated one, three, or five times. The absolute error of reproduction decreased with increasing repetition of the standard for intervals of 2 and 3 sec. The effect was more pronounced with increasing duration among female Ss.     

Gender and success-related attributions: Beyond individualistic conceptions of achievement

Two hundred male and 42 female senior public administrators responded to a questionnaire that explored gender differences in self- and social attributions for career success. Attributions to professional, personal, and political contacts were examined in addition to ability, hard work, and luck. Ability and hard work were found to constitute a central factor, labeled the “Alger factor,” in attributions for oneself as well as for colleagues of both sexes. Professional contacts were seen as more important than nonprofessional contacts or luck by both sexes; women, however, perceived the Alger factor as more important to their own success than to that of male colleagues, and viewed professional contacts as more important to male colleagues than even the Alger factor. There were gender differences in the relationship of luck to the Alger factor: self-attributions to luck and to the Alger factor were positively correlated for women but negatively correlated for men, perhaps because of a differential sense of entitlement for the sexes. While affirming the centrality of the Alger factor in causal attributions, this research underscores the need to reconceptualize current research paradigms based on individualistic conceptions of achievement.     

Tone matters for Cantonese–English bilingual children’s English word reading development: A unified model of phonological transfer

Languages differ considerably in how they use prosodic features, or variations in pitch, duration, and intensity, to distinguish one word from another. Prosodic features include lexical tone in Chinese and lexical stress in English. Recent cross-sectional studies show a surprising result that Mandarin Chinese tone sensitivity is related to Mandarin–English bilingual children’s English word reading. This study explores the mechanism underlying this relation by testing two explanations of these effects: the prosodic hypothesis and segmental phonological awareness transfer. We administered multiple measures of Cantonese tone sensitivity, English stress sensitivity, segmental phonological awareness in Cantonese and English, nonverbal ability, and English word reading to 123 Cantonese–English bilingual children ages 7 and 8 years. Structural equation modeling revealed a longitudinal prediction of Cantonese tone sensitivity to English word reading between 8 and 9 years of age. This relation was realized through two parallel routes. In one, Cantonese tone sensitivity predicted English stress sensitivity, and English stress sensitivity, in turn, significantly predicted English word reading, as postulated by the prosodic hypothesis. In the second, Cantonese tone sensitivity predicted English word reading through the transfer of segmental phonological awareness between Cantonese and English, as predicted by segmental phonological transfer. These results support a unified model of phonological transfer, emphasizing the role of tone in English word reading for Cantonese–English bilingual children.     

“Hooking Up” at College: Does Religion Make a Difference?

Recent attention from media, scholars, and religious leadership has focused on the dating activities of college students, particularly in relation to casual physical encounters or what some have termed "hooking up." In this article, we examine the impact of both individual and institutional religious involvement on "hooking up" in a national sample of college women ( N = 1,000). The results of our analysis reveal several important patterns. First, Catholic college women are more likely to have "hooked up" while at school than college women with no religious affiliation. Second, conservative Protestant college women are less likely to have "hooked up" while at school than college women with no religious affiliation; however, this difference is mediated or explained by church attendance, which is protective against "hooking up." Finally, women who attend colleges and universities with a Catholic affiliation are more likely to have hooked up while at school than women who attend academic institutions with no religious affiliation, net of individual-level religious involvement.     

The Relevance of People Versus Objects in Explaining Females’ Advantage over Males in Appearance Accuracy

Do females remember their surroundings better than males? Does it matter who or what is in those surroundings? In small groups, 108 undergraduates from a Midwestern university in the USA were instructed to pay attention to a videotaped person (target) while seated in an office with an experimenter (non-target). Afterwards, in a surprise recall task, participants’ memory for the appearance of the target, non-target, and office was tested. Females’ greater interpersonal orientation was predicted to give them an advantage over males in memory for only the people. Results showed that females had better memory for the target and non-target but not the office. Discussion centers on the importance of people versus objects in explaining females’ greater appearance accuracy.     

The Contribution of Music to Positive Aging: A Review

Many people value music as an important part of their everyday lives. The published literature reveals that the role of music in life is varied: it can be recreational, educational, social, emotional, therapeutic, and spiritual. The importance and relevance of music depends on the life needs and interests of the individual and the social group within which he/she lives. It is now widely recognized that music for many older people is crucial in supporting a sense of well-being. The article reviews the evidence on the role of music in promoting health and well-being, and how it can produce positive psychological and physiological benefits for individuals. The aim of this article is to increase awareness among health professionals of the importance of music and discuss how it can be used to add to older people's lives.     

Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3

Accumulating evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (fear of arousal-related sensations) plays an important role in many clinical conditions, particularly anxiety disorders. Research has increasingly focused on how the basic dimensions of anxiety sensitivity are related to various forms of psychopathology. Such work has been hampered because the original measure--the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI)--was not designed to be multidimensional. Subsequently developed multidimensional measures have unstable factor structures or measure only a subset of the most widely replicated factors. Therefore, the authors developed, via factor analysis of responses from U.S. and Canadian nonclinical participants (n=2,361), an 18-item measure, the ASI-3, which assesses the 3 factors best replicated in previous research: Physical, Cognitive, and Social Concerns. Factorial validity of the ASI-3 was supported by confirmatory factor analyses of 6 replication samples, including nonclinical samples from the United States and Canada, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain (n=4,494) and a clinical sample from the United States and Canada (n=390). The ASI-3 displayed generally good performance on other indices of reliability and validity, along with evidence of improved psychometric properties over the original ASI.     

Psychosocial mediation of religious coping styles: a study of short-term psychological distress following cardiac surgery

Although religiousness and religious coping styles are well-documented predictors of well-being, research on the mechanisms through which religious coping styles operate is sparse. This prospective study examined religious coping styles, hope, and social support as pathways of the influence of general religiousness (religious importance and involvement) on the reduced postoperative psychological distress of 309 cardiac patients. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that controlling for preoperative distress, gender, and education, religiousness contributed to positive religious coping, which in turn was associated with less distress via a path fully mediated by the secular factors of social support and hope. Furthermore, negative religious coping styles, although correlated at the bivariate level with preoperative distress but not with religiousness, were associated both directly and indirectly with greater post-operative distress via the same mediators.     

A preliminary investigation of acceptance and commitment therapy as a treatment for marijuana dependence in adults

In this investigation, 3 adults who met criteria for marijuana dependence were treated using an abbreviated version of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The treatment was delivered in eight weekly 90-min individual sessions. The effects of the intervention were assessed using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Self-reported marijuana use, confirmed through oral swabs, reached zero levels for all participants at posttreatment. At a 3-month follow-up, 1 participant was still abstinent and the other 2 were using but at a lower average level of consumption compared to baseline. Depression, anxiety, withdrawal symptoms, and general levels of experiential avoidance generally improved. This preliminary test suggests that additional development and testing of ACT for marijuana use are warranted.