Using Predictability for Lexical Segmentation

This study investigates a strategy based on predictability of consecutive sub‐lexical units in learning to segment a continuous speech stream into lexical units using computational modeling and simulations. Lexical segmentation is one of the early challenges during language acquisition, and it has been studied extensively through psycholinguistic experiments as well as computational methods. However, despite strong empirical evidence, the explicit use of predictability of basic sub‐lexical units in models of segmentation is underexplored. This paper presents an incremental computational model of lexical segmentation for exploring the usefulness of predictability for lexical segmentation. We show that the predictability cue is a strong cue for segmentation. Contrary to earlier reports in the literature, the strategy yields state‐of‐the‐art segmentation performance with an incremental computational model that uses only this particular cue in a cognitively plausible setting. The paper also reports an in‐depth analysis of the model, investigating the conditions affecting the usefulness of the strategy.     

Ethnic Differences in Perceived Impairment and Need for Care

Latino children in the U.S. have high rates of unmet need for mental health services, perhaps due to biased perceptions of impairment and need for care by parents and providers. We tested this argument using an experimental vignette design. Vignettes described children with problems that varied on severity (mild vs. serious), nature of the problem (internalizing vs. externalizing), as well as gender and ethnicity (Latino vs. Anglo). Raters were Latino and Anglo parents (N = 185) and providers (N = 189). Vignettes with Latino names were viewed as more impaired by both parents and providers, and this effect was significantly stronger in Latino vignettes with less severe problems. Severity and Latino features of vignettes also interacted with judgments of need for service. At higher severity, vignettes with Anglo names were judged to need service more than vignettes with Latino names, despite the same judged levels of impairment. Results are discussed in the light of the unmet need for Latinos.     

Efficacy of the keyword mnemonic method in adults

Two experiments were used to assess the efficacy of the keyword mnemonic method in adults. In Experiment 1, immediate and delayed recall (at a one-day interval) were assessed by comparing the results obtained by a group of adults using the keyword mnemonic method in contrast to a group using the repetition method. The mean age of the sample under study was 59.35 years. Subjects were required to learn a list of 16 words translated from Latin into Spanish. Participants who used keyword mnemonics that had been devised by other experimental participants of the same characteristics, obtained significantly higher immediate and delayed recall scores than participants in the repetition method. In Experiment 2, other participants had to learn a list of 24 Latin words translated into Spanish by using the keyword mnemonic method reinforced with pictures. Immediate and delayed recall were significantly greater in the keyword mnemonic method group than in the repetition method group.     

Science–Practice Gap in e‐Recruitment

We conducted a content analysis of online job application forms used by companies listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange (i.e., Bolsa de Madrid). We collected data from 76 companies in 2005 and then again for 66 of these companies in 2009. We coded the type of information required on the application forms based on 24 categories related to potential illegal discrimination and personnel selection social context issues (i.e., fairness, intrusiveness, and privacy). Results indicated that the relative frequency of the 24 information categories has remained stable from 2005 to 2009. Moreover, averaging 2005 and 2009 results, a large percentage of companies require information that can be used for illegal discrimination and can be perceived as unfair, intrusive, and invasive of applicants' privacy such as age or date of birth (87%), nationality (61%), marital status (48%), place of birth (57%), passport number (47%), a photograph (23%), and number of children (11%). Our results document a science–practice gap in e‐recruitment because scholarly research suggests that requesting these types of information leads to negative applicant reactions ranging from negative perceptions and emotions to actually initiating legal action against the recruiting firm. Our results also point to e‐recruitment as an area that could be targeted as a good collaboration topic between scientists and practitioners because the resulting research has the potential to make important contributions toward bridging the science–practice gap.     

Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children in a Spanish sample

The objectives of the present study were to adapt and analyze the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C; Beidel, Turner, & Morris, 1995) in a Spanish population. The SPAI-C was applied to a sample of 1588 children and adolescents with ages ranging from 10 to 17 years. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed a four-factor structure: Public performance, Assertiveness, Fear and avoidance/escape in social encounters, and Cognitive and psychophysiological interferences. Internal consistency was high (.90) and test-retest reliability was moderate (.56). Significant differences were found in the variables sex and age, although the effect size was small in both variables and their interaction. Overall, the increase of the age value was inversely proportional to that of social anxiety measured with the SPAI-C; in participants of the same age, values were higher for girls than for boys. Results suggest that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory For Children is a valid and reliable instrument to assess social anxiety in Spanish children and adolescents.     

Extinction memory in the crab Chasmagnathus: recovery protocols and effects of multi-trial extinction training

A decline in the frequency or intensity of a conditioned behavior following the withdrawal of the reinforcement is called experimental extinction. However, the experimental manipulation necessary to trigger memory reconsolidation or extinction is to expose the animal to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of reinforcement. Recovery protocols were used to reveal which of these two processes was developed. By using the crab contextual memory model (a visual danger stimulus associated with the training context), we investigated the dynamics of extinction memory in Chasmagnathus. Here, we reveal the presence of three recovery protocols that restore the original memory: the old memory comes back 4 days after the extinction training, or when a weak training is administered later, or once the VDS is presented in a novel context 24 h after the extinction session. Another objective was to evaluate whether the administration of multi-trial extinction training could trigger an extinction memory in Chasmagnathus. The results evince that the extinction memory appears only when the total re-exposure time is around 90 min independently of the number of trials employed to accumulate it. Thus, it is feasible that the mechanisms described for the case of the extinction memory acquired through a single training trial are valid for multi-trial extinction protocols. Finally, these results are in agreement with those reports obtained with models phylogenetically far apart from the crab. Behind this attempt is the idea that in the domain of studies on memory, some principles of behavior organization and basic mechanisms have universal validity.     

Psychopharmakotherapie der Essstörungen

Es gibt eine Reihe von Studien zur Pharmakotherapie der Essst?rungen. Empfehlungen für die pharmakologische Behandlung von Essst?rungen (Anorexia nervosa (AN), Bulimia nervosa (BN), Binge Eating Disorder (BED)), basierend auf der verfügbaren Literatur, werden vorgestellt: Für AN gibt es Hinweise, dass eine ,,Zinksupplementierung“ oder der Einsatz von atypischen Antipsychotika hilfreich sein kann. Für BN zeigen die Studien positive Ergebnisse hinsichtlich des Einsatzes von Antidepressiva, insbesondere für Fluvoxamin und Fluoxetin. Auch für das Antiepilektum Topiramat gibt es positive Studienergebnisse. Bei BED k?nnen bestimmte Antidepressiva und Antiepileptika erfolgreich eingesetzt werden. Jedoch wird weitere Forschung für die Verbesserung der Behandlung von Essst?rungen ben?tigt. Speziell für Anorexia nervosa besteht ein Bedarf für weitere pharmakologische Behandlungsstrategien.     

The Relationship Between Personality and Peers’ Judgments of the Appropriateness of Accommodations for Individuals With Disabilities1

The purpose of this research was to provide a preliminary evaluation of how the personality characteristics of peers, as defined by the 5‐factor model of personality, explained their judgments of the appropriateness of accommodations given to disabled persons. We hypothesized that both agreeableness and openness to experience would be related positively to judgments of appropriateness and that conscientiousness would be related negatively. We also hypothesized that personality dimensions would interact with disability and accommodation types in determining judgments of appropriateness. We obtained partial support for our hypotheses in that the interactions of Disability × Accommodation × Agreeableness as well as Disability × Accommodation × Openness to Experience were significant, although the personality dimensions themselves did not produce significant results.     

The lay distinction between primary and secondary emotions: A spontaneous categorization?

In line with the psychological essentialism perspective, Leyens et al. ( 13 2000) have hypothesized that people attribute different essences to groups and that they attribute more uniquely human characteristics to their own group than to out‐groups. Leyens et al. have focused on two types of emotions, which in Roman languages have specific labels, such as sentimientos and emociones in Spanish. A cross‐cultural study showed that sentimientos (or secondary emotions) are considered uniquely human emotions whereas emociones (or primary emotions) are perceived as nonuniquely human emotions. The present study focuses on whether this categorization into primary and secondary emotions is a spontaneous distinction that people use in their everyday lives, or whether, on the contrary, it is the result of experimental demands. The paradigm “Who says what to whom” was used to test this question. Geometrical shapes of different colours were systematically associated with different stimuli that varied in meaningfulness. In a first condition, shapes were associated with small or large items of furniture (meaningful categories) and with primary and secondary emotions. In a second condition, the items of furniture were replaced by words ending with a vowel or a consonant (meaningless categories). Subsequently, participants had to recognize which shape was associated with each stimulus. Intra‐category errors were significantly more numerous than inter‐category errors, except for the words ending with a vowel or a consonant. Stated otherwise, types of emotions were recognized like the meaningful difference between items of furniture. These results show that the distinction between primary and secondary emotions is an implicit one that people use spontaneously, and not as a result of task demands. The findings are discussed from the perspective of psychological essentialism and inter‐group relations.