Delayed sidetone in relation to the reading of different materials

Several studies were conducted with speakers reading short phrases aloud while experiencing one amount or another of delayed sidetone (0.0–0.30 sec). The phrases represented different numbers of syllables, different types of syllables, different numbers of phonemes, and first and second languages. Additional syllables and unfamiliar material consistently increased the reading time of the speakers disproportionately. The reading of syllables of two and four sounds was apparently more retarded by delayed sidetone than ones of three sounds. Two-sound syllables comprised of vowel-consonants required more time to read than ones comprised of consonant-vowels. The effect of additional phonemes, with the type of syllables held constant, added linearly in the reading time of the phrases. The syllabic characteristics, the length, and probably the familiarity of the material affected the reading time nonlinearly.     

Evidence for Context Switching in the Effects of Average Item Length and Item-Length Variability on Internal Consistency

This investigation examined the effects of 3 item characteristics—the average number of words per item, within-scale variability in item length, and item “direction”—on internal consistency reliability and interitem correlation. In Study 1, we examined the effects of these variables on overall scale-level reliability using 444 subscales from 9 personality scales. In Study 2, we examined interitem correlation at the paired-item level using 477 nonredundant item pairs from 14 personality scales. Lower scale reliability was associated with more average words per item, greater within-scale variability in item length, and a greater percentage of reverse-keyed items. Similarly, smaller interitem correlations were associated with a greater degree of mismatch in item length between the paired items and with a mismatch (vs. match) in the items' respective “directions.” The pattern of results across both studies supports our notion that lower internal consistency results from increased context switching; that is, from the confusion that occurs when respondents must switch back and forth between the interpretive frames pertaining to short versus long items, or between items pertaining to one pole of a personality dimension and its “opposite” pole. Suggestions for maximizing the internal consistency of personality scales are proposed.     

Drugs,Sex, and Condoms: Identification and Interpretation of Race‐Specific Cultural Messages Influencing Black Gay and Bisexual Young Men Living with HIV

Black gay and bisexual young men carry a disproportionate burden of HIV in the United States. This study explored Black gay and bisexual young men living with HIV's identification and interpretation of race‐specific cultural messages regarding substance use, sexual activity, and condom use. A total of 36 Black gay and bisexual young men living with HIV (ages 16–24, mean = 20.6 years) from four geographically diverse regions of the United States participated in qualitative in‐depth interviews. Results from this study elucidate the ways in which these young men interpret various forms of race‐specific cultural messages and experiences regarding substance use, sexual activity, and condom use. Participants discussed cultural messages and experiences promoting and discouraging condoms and substance use. Regarding sexual activity, only messages and experiences promoting sex were reported. Across all three categories, messages and experiences promoting risk were predominant. Data further revealed that socially transmitted cultural messages received by young men emanated from multiple sources, such as family, peers, sexual partners, community/neighborhood, and the broader society. Race‐specific cultural messages and experiences should be addressed in interventions for this population, and programs should assist young men in developing a critical consciousness regarding these messages and experiences in order to promote health and well‐being.     

Feature Statistics Modulate the Activation of Meaning During Spoken Word Processing

Understanding spoken words involves a rapid mapping from speech to conceptual representations. One distributed feature‐based conceptual account assumes that the statistical characteristics of concepts’ features—the number of concepts they occur in (distinctiveness/sharedness) and likelihood of co‐occurrence (correlational strength)—determine conceptual activation. To test these claims, we investigated the role of distinctiveness/sharedness and correlational strength in speech‐to‐meaning mapping, using a lexical decision task and computational simulations. Responses were faster for concepts with higher sharedness, suggesting that shared features are facilitatory in tasks like lexical decision that require access to them. Correlational strength facilitated responses for slower participants, suggesting a time‐sensitive co‐occurrence‐driven settling mechanism. The computational simulation showed similar effects, with early effects of shared features and later effects of correlational strength. These results support a general‐to‐specific account of conceptual processing, whereby early activation of shared features is followed by the gradual emergence of a specific target representation.     

Animal Mindreading and the Principle of Conservatism

Skeptics about nonlinguistic mindreading often use an inferential rule of thumb—the principle of conservatism—to cast doubt on purported empirical evidence of mindreading abilities in nonlinguistic creatures. This principle, if warranted, would seem to count generally against explanatory hypotheses that posit nonlinguistic mindreading, instead favoring mere behavior‐reading hypotheses. Using a test case from research with chimpanzees, I show that this principle is best understood as an appeal to parsimony; that, regardless of how one conceives of parsimony, the principle is unwarranted; and that, once we put the principle aside, the prospects for nonlinguistic mindreading are brighter than traditionally thought.     

Are reporting errors due to encoding limitations or retrieval failure? Surveys of child vaccination as a case study

Surveys of childhood vaccinations are often highly inaccurate, due to parental misreporting. We conducted three experiments to examine the source of the inaccuracies. In Experiment 1, we provided parents with memory aids; these aids did little to improve reporting accuracy. Two further experiments asked whether parents forgot what they knew about their children's vaccinations, or whether they never knew the information. In Experiment 2 we surveyed parents both immediately and ten weeks after their child's medical visit. Accuracy was only slightly better than chance immediately afterwards; ten weeks later performance had not changed significantly. Experiment 3 compared reports in both recall and recognition conditions. Although the recognition condition lowered the response burden on parents it did not produce more accurate reports. We conclude that low levels of accuracy in parental reports on vaccinations appear to reflect poor initial encoding rather than retrieval failure. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.