The contingent smile: a meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling

The authors present a meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling based on 448 effect sizes derivedfrom 162 research reports. There was a statistically significant tendency for women and adolescent girls to smile more than men and adolescent boys (d = 0.41). The authors hypothesized that sex differences in smiling would be larger when concerns about gender-appropriate behavior were made more conspicuous, situational constraints were absent or ambiguous, or emotion (especially negative) was salient. It was also predicted that the size of the sex difference in smiling would vary by culture and age. Moderator analysis supported these predictions. Although men tend to smile less than women, the degree to which this is so is contingent on rules and roles.     

Meaning through syntax: language comprehension and the reduced relative clause construction

A new explanation is proposed for a long standing question in psycholinguistics: Why are some reduced relative clauses so difficult to comprehend? It is proposed that the meanings of some verbs like race are incompatible with the meaning of the reduced relative clause and that this incompatibility makes sentences like The horse raced past the barn fell unacceptable. In support of their hypotheses, the authors show that reduced relatives of The horse raced past the barn fell type occur in naturally produced sentences with a near-zero probability, whereas reduced relatives with other verbs occur with a probability of about 1 in 20. The authors also support the hypotheses with a number of psycholinguistic experiments and corpus studies.     

Longitudinal hierarchical linear models of the memory functioning questionnaire

Three hypotheses about the nature of self-rated memory as measured by the Memory Functioning Questionnaire (MFQ; M. J. Gilewski, E. M. Zelinski, & K. W. Schaie, 1990) were tested: that ratings reflect memory performance, that personality traits underlie ratings, and that ratings reflect implicit theories of memory change. Baseline scores and 19 year change slopes for the 4 MFQ factor ratings of a sample of 97 participants aged 30-81 were investigated. There were significant mean declines for all MFQ ratings except Frequency of Forgetting and significant individual differences in slopes for Frequency, Retrospective Functioning, and Mnemonics. Personality predicted baseline Frequency and Seriousness ratings and list and text recall slopes predicted Mnemonics slopes. Different mechanisms may underlie baseline ratings and changes in ratings for different factors.     

On-line story representation in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face an increased risk of poor achievement in school. Thus, knowledge of the cognitive processing abilities of children with ADHD is critical to understanding and improving their academic performance. Although many studies have focused on the specific nature of the attention deficit experienced by children with ADHD, few have examined higher order cognitive processing such as comprehension of stories. The present study examined the processes of encoding story information, building a story representation, and modifying a story representation in boys with ADHD and nonreferred boys. Boys were asked to narrate a story from a picture book twice. Boys with ADHD showed deficits in representing goals and goal plans in their narrations, as compared to nonreferred boys. Boys with ADHD also committed more errors than nonreferred boys, but did correct certain types of errors on their second telling. Implications are discussed in terms of future research needed to identify the cognitive deficits that account for these narrative deficits.     

Parceling Component Effects of a Multifaceted Prevention Program for Disruptive Elementary School Children

This study examined predictors and outcomes of attendance in two standard components of a multifaceted preventive intervention aimed at children with early-onset disruptive behavior after 3 years of intervention. Mean rate of attendance in the Family Program, but not the Summer School Program, differed by level of child disruptiveness (grouping variable). Although predictors of attendance (SES, single-parent status, child IQ) did not differ across high- and low-disruptive groups, predictors of outcome were moderated by level of child disruptiveness for academic achievement and aggression outcomes, but not for social competence. Higher attendance in the Summer Program was associated with higher child social competence at Year 3 for all children. For academic achievement, higher attendance in the Summer Program was associated with higher scores for mild/moderately disruptive children and lower scores for highly disruptive children in Year 3. Higher attendance in the Family Program was associated with lower aggression scores for mild/moderately disruptive children. Findings highlight the importance of matching intervention components to the assessed or expressed needs of client subgroups.     

A prospective study of memory for child sexual abuse: new findings relevant to the repressed-memory controversy

Previous research indicates that many adults (nearly 40%) fail to report their own documented child sexual abuse (CSA) when asked about their childhood experiences. These controversial results could reflect lack of consciously accessible recollection, thus bolstering claims that traumatic memories may be repressed. In the present study, 175 individuals with documented CSA histories were interviewed regarding their childhood trauma. Unlike in previous studies, the majority of participants (81%) in our study reported the documented abuse. Older age when the abuse ended, maternal support following disclosure of the abuse, and more severe abuse were associated with an increased likelihood of disclosure. Ethnicity and dissociation also played a role. Failure to report CSA should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence that the abuse is inaccessible to memory, although inaccessibility or forgetting cannot be ruled out in a subset of cases.     

Six-year-olds' contradictory judgments about knowledge and beliefs

By around the age of 4 years, children acknowledge that people can have false beliefs about the world. Six-year-olds are still inclined, however, to confuse their own knowledge with that of more ignorant others. In a recent paper, Hulme, Mitchell and Wood offer a novel explanation for six-year-olds' tendency to make such errors when asked to choose a picture to put in a story character's thought bubble.     

Construct-oriented Biodata: Capturing Change-related and Contextually Relevant Future Performance

This study highlights an approach to the development of performance and predictor constructs that has the potential to permit context and culture relevant selection. Task, contextual and adaptive measures of performance were used as criterion data in a selection study involving 325 staff in the hotel industry. Construct-oriented biodata were developed to predict adaptive and contextual performance and the validities were contrasted with measures of cognitive ability and personality. The results provided construct support for the separation of adaptive performance from task and contextual performance and for the predictive validity of change-related biodata after controlling for cognitive ability. The pattern of correlations among the personality measures, biodata scales and cognitive tests supported the construct validity of the biodata scales. Results are discussed in relation to the context in which the data were collected, and the general relevance of the procedure across countries or cultures.     

The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: Test-Retest and Inter-Rater Reliability

Two studies are reported addressing the reliability of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS). The first study investigated test-retest reliability over a two-week period to determine the stability of the measure over time. The second study investigated inter-rater reliability between two teachers or classroom aides who were familiar with a student to determine the consistency with which the measure can be used by different individuals. In each study, samples were drawn from populations of students identified with emotional or behavioral disorders as specified by federal statutes. Reliability coefficients in each study were above .80, the standard recommended for screening tests that are reported individually, and in most cases above .90. Implications for use of the BERS are discussed.