An examination of the seductive details effect in terms of working memory capacity

Previous work on learning from text has demonstrated that although illustrated text can enhance comprehension, illustrations can also sometimes lead to poor learning outcomes when they are not relevant to understanding the text This phenomenon is known as the seductive details effect. The first experiment was designed to test whether the ability to control one's attention, as measured by working memory span tasks, would influence the processing of a scientific text that contained seductive (irrelevant) images, conceptually relevant images, or no illustrations. Understanding was evaluated using both an essay response and an inference verification task. Results indicated that low working memory capacity readers are especially vulnerable to the seductive details effect. In the second experiment, this issue was explored further, using eye-tracking methodology to evaluate the reading patterns of individuals who differed in working memory capacity as they read the same seductively illustrated scientific text Results indicated that low working memory individuals attend to seductive illustrations more often than not and, also, for a longer duration than do those individuals high in working memory capacity.     

Accessibility of potential referents following categorical anaphors

In 4 experiments, the authors investigated the accessibility of potential antecedents that were either referents or nonreferents of categorical anaphors using several methodologies. In 2 preliminary experiments, using an immediate probe recognition task, the authors replicated previous findings of inhibition for nonreferents following categorical anaphors. In Experiments 1-3, naming times to nonreferent probes were inhibited, but only at a delay and at the end of the sentence. Eye movements were monitored in Experiment 4, and reading times were found to be slower in end-of-sentence regions following the remention of the nonreferent but not on the nonreferent itself. These results suggest that decreases in nonreferent accessibility are due to postanaphoric processes, such as integrating the nonreferent into the discourse structure, and are not due to more immediate changes in activation occurring as part of the resolution process. Further, some inhibition effects may result from the use of probe tasks that require decisions.     

Parental pressure, self-esteem and adolescent reported deviance: bending the twig too far

Questionnaire responses from upper-status junior and senior high school students show the importance of perceived parental pressure in understanding adolescent self-esteem and deviant behavior. Adolescents who feel unduly pressured to achieve and succeed in school also are likely to have low self-esteem, to report deviant activity, and to feel they are incapable of reaching the goals set for them by their families.     

The best teacher: Mediating effects of experience with employed women on men managers' responses to subordinates' mistakes

What role does experience with working women play in determining men managers' views of women managers? To investigate this question, we analyzed responses of a small sample of experienced men managers with varying degrees of experience with working women. Of primary concern were men managers' attribution of causes for a woman manager's poor performance and their choice of response to such poor performance. The data confirmed that experience with women managers as colleagues and with employed wives affects the stability of men managers' causal attributions as well as the severity of their responses to a woman manager's poor performance. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Follow-up survey of pregnancies with diagnoses of chromosomal abnormality

A small clinical survey was undertaken at East Carolina University School of Medicine to examine the factors which influenced the decisions of five families to continue pregnancies after a chromosomal abnormality was detected. Little has been published concerning the psychosocial effects after continuing pregnancies in which the fetus was diagnosed with a chromosome abnormality by amniocentesis. In order to identify the factors that influenced their decisions, an interview with each couple was undertaken using a 25-part questionnaire. This paper addresses the method of interviewing, case material, and background concerning each couple and the summary of the results.     

Cognitive addition: strategy choice and speed-of-processing differences in young and elderly adults

Sixty young and 60 elderly adults completed a pencil-and-paper addition test and solved 40 computer-presented simple addition problems. Strategies and problem solution times were recorded on a trial-by-trial basis and were classified in accordance with the distributions of associations model of strategy choices. The elderly group showed a performance advantage on the ability measure and for the developmental maturity of the mix of problem-solving strategies, but the young group showed an advantage for overall solution times. A componential analysis of the overall solution times for memory retrieval trials, however, showed no reliable age difference for rate of retrieving addition facts from long-term memory but did suggest that the elderly adults might have been slower than the younger adults for rate of encoding digits and verbally producing an answer. Overall results are interpreted within the context of the strategy choice model.     

Studies in the learning function

The error function of the theoretical learning curve developed by Thurstone has been fitted to maze data from rats that have been subjected to cerebral cortical insult. There is a high degree of relationship between the number of errors necessary to complete learning as predicted from the curve and the experimental measure of learning, total-errors-minus-errors-first-trial. The procedure provides a method of analysis for individual learning records and it may be used to shorten the training period. The goodness of fit indicates that the underlying logic of the learning curve is plausible.A grant-in-aid from the National Research Council has made the present analysis possible. We are indebted to Professor L. L. Thurstone for aid and encouragement.     

“Heartbreaking” Referrals,Professional “Disgrace”: The Impact of Medicare Ineligibility on the Counseling Profession

To better understand the impact of the Medicare mental health coverage gap, the authors analyzed survey data provided by 1,859 members of the American Counseling Association using a conventional qualitative content analysis. One overarching theme, direct impact of Medicare policy on the counseling profession, is presented, along with 3 thematic categories: emotional impact on providers, economic toll on providers, and negative influence on profession's credibility. Implications for the counseling profession are discussed.     

Millennials’ (Lack of) Attitude Problem: An Empirical Examination of Generational Effects on Work Attitudes

Purpose  

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the sparse empirical literature on generational differences at work by examining (1) the effect of generation on work attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, job security, and turnover intentions) and (2) how Millennials’ work attitudes differ from prior generations.