Clustering by aphasics in free recall

Aphasic performance was compared to normal and left hemiplegic controls in the use of clustering to aid recall of a list of words in a multitrial free recall experiment. Use of clustering correlated with increased recall scores. Left hemiplegic performance was superior to aphasic and inferior to normal suggesting that the presence of brain damage decreased clustering but that this decrease was greater in the presence of aphasia. A second experiment examined the possibility of remediating aphasic clustering behavior by providing cues as a training device. Cues, which aided normals, did not benefit the majority of aphasics. Results are interpreted in terms of their relationship to cognitive functioning.     

Influence of aging on recovery from aphasia in polyglots

We analyzed patterns of recovery, according to the rules of Pitres [1895, Revue de Medecine (Paris), 15, 873–899] and Ribot (1881, Les Maladies de la Memoire, Paris: Libraire Germer Baillere et Cie, pp. 146–147), in polyglot aphasics divided into subgroups by age. The rule of Ribot did not apply predictably for any age group. Pitres' rule clearly applied, but only for the nonelderly groups. Aging and its concomitant deterioration of recent memory seem to influence patterns of recovery from aphasia in polyglots.     

The development of career choices: The relationship between patterns of commitment and career outcomes in adulthood

This study was designed to examine the theoretically predicted adult career outcomes of individuals who engage in different developmental patterns of commitment to choice. It was hypothesized, based on D. E. Super's formulations, that those who engage in increasing commitment and who do not revert to earlier behaviors would experience the most desirable outcomes in adulthood. This hypothesis was tested using an analysis of longitudinal data in relation to career outcomes at two points in adulthood. Minimal support for the hypothesis was found in combination with some findings to suggest that developmental patterns of increasing commitment may not lead to the predicted desirable outcomes. Implications for theory revision and future research are discussed.     

The role of the right hemisphere in the apprehension of complex linguistic materials

To secure information on which aspects of linguistic functioning might be mediated by the nondominant hemisphere, a test battery assessing sensitivity to narrational and humorous materials was administered to a population of right-hemisphere-damaged patients, as well as relevant control groups of normal, aging, and aphasic individuals. While elementary linguistic functioning was adequate, the right-hemisphere-injured groups exhibited consistent difficulties in respecting the boundaries of a fictive entity, assessing the plausibility of elements within a story or joke, selecting the appropriate punch line for a joke, and integrating elements of a story into a coherent narrative. Certain elements—specifically emotional content and noncanonical facts injected into a narrative—also posed characteristic difficulties for these patients. The results suggest that, in contrast to the other populations, right-hemisphere patients exhibit special difficulties in processing complex linguistic entities and in utilizing the surrounding context as they assess linguistic messages.     

The coding and transformation of spatial information

The present paper examines the mental processes involved in inferring perspective changes that result either from the rotation of a spatial array or from the rotation of the viewer of that array. Piaget has shown that viewer-rotation problems are difficult when children must choose among pictures or models of an array from differing perspectives. We showed earlier that, with parallel tasks, array-rotation problems are much easier than viewer-rotation problems. We proposed that in solving these problems, subjects interpret the instructions literally, recoding the position of the viewer vis-à-vis the array for viewer-rotation problems and recoding the array with respect to its spatial framework for arrayrotation problems. At that time, we proposed a second principle to explain why Piagetian perspective problems are so difficult; namely, that children have special difficulty in recoding viewer position (egocentrism). The present experiments show that, when subjects are asked a different sort of question on such tasks, viewer-rotation problems become easy and array-rotation problems become difficult. The results show that the difficulty of the Piagetian perspective task is not due to egocentrism; i.e., to difficulty recoding viewer position. The results of all these rotational-transformation tasks can be explained if we add a different second principle to the principle of literalness of problem interpretation. This new second principle posits that the array is fixed vis-à-vis the spatial context rather than that the viewer is fixed vis-à-vis the array.     

FROM PRUDENCE TO MORALITY: A Case for the Morality of Some Forms of Nondualistic Mysticism

Several contemporary philosophers have charged that there is a conceptual tension between nondualistic types of mystical awareness—an awareness of some particular conception of the divine as an all‐pervasive unity within which there are no distinct substances—and the social character of morality. However, some nondualistic mystics have conceptualized enlightenment not only as being compatible with moral virtue—specifically, compassion and care—but as providing a foundation for it. I here offer a conceptual model for this grounding, at least according to Dōgen Zenji and Meister Eckhart. Briefly, the model suggests that some forms of nondualistic mystical awareness are accompanied by the mystics' prudential concerns extending to include the well‐being of “others” under their scope. Finally, utilizing this model, I suggest possible responses to two common arguments for the claim that nondualistic mysticism is essentially amoral.