Looking where you listen: visual cues and auditory attention

In the non-laboratory environment, we are generally able to see the source of the sounds to which we are attending. In a preliminary examination of how and to what degree we might use this visual information, subjects shadowed one of two female voices when able to see the persons speaking (Experiment I) or when able to see, and thus precisely localize, the auditory loudspeakers (Experiment II). Selective performance was improved by being able to see the lip movements of the people whose voices were heard, and by being able to localize visually the sources of the voices.     

Self-esteem,race, and job satisfaction

The present study investigated relationships between self-esteem (SE) and job satisfaction among black and white employees. The sample consisted of 523 (45% black) employees of a large, urban school system. There was a positive relationship between SE and job satisfaction for members of both racial groups. In addition, the correlation between need satisfaction and job satisfaction was stronger for high SE persons than for low SE persons. The relationships between two social reference variables (the perceived satisfaction of other employees and improved standard of living) and job satisfaction were, as predicted, stronger for low SE whites than for high SE whites. Among blacks, however, the social reference variables were strongly related to job satisfaction regardless of level of SE.     

Hesitation and the production of verbal paraphasias and neologisms in jargon aphasia.

Techniques of hesitation analysis taken from studies of normal speakers were applied to the speech of a jargon aphasic. Neologisms were found to follow pauses indicating a word-finding difficulty. Other language functions—phonology, morphology, and syntax—appeared unimpaired, and further analyses of the linguistic and temporal characteristics indicated a single functional disorder in which there is a failure in the mechanisms which associate word-sounds with word-meanings. The patient strategically adapts to this functional impairment by substituting a neologism when lexical search fails. The source of a large class of neologisms, it is hypothesized, is a device which quasirandomly combines English phonemes in a phonotactically regular way. The implications for recovery patterns in jargon aphasia are discussed; and the implications of this case for models of normal language production are explored.     

Some aspects of language comprehension in anterior aphasia

The competency of language comprehension was evaluated in three groups: anterior aphasics, posterior aphasics, and normal control subjects. Test material was divided into two sentence groups (Fill in the Blank and True/False) emphasizing either (1) semantic, “real world,” identity words or (2) syntactic, relational words, and one paragraph interpretation task. Matching auditory and visual (written) presentations were given. The control subjects performed almost flawlessly but many errors were made by each aphasia group. Qualitative study revealed a marked difference in the comprehension problem of the two groups. The anterior aphasic group performed well on semantically weighted sentences but made errors on syntactically weighted material, regardless of mode of presentation. In contrast, the posterior aphasics made almost the same number of errors on both types of material, regardless of mode of presentation. These findings support the concept of defective language comprehension in anterior aphasia and further suggest that the defect centers on the syntactical structures which are also poorly handled in expressive output.     

Traditionality of choice and sex-role identification as moderators of the congruence of occupational choice in college women

This study examined the relationship of traditionality of occupational preferences and sex-role orientation to personality-occupational environment congruence in college women. Three-letter Holland personality codes were obtained for each of 184 college women based on same-sex normative scores from the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and on scores from the ACT Unisex Interest Inventory (UNIACT). Subjects' occupational preferences were classified as traditional, moderately traditional, or nontraditional based on the percentages of women in the occupation. Scores on the Bern Sex Role Inventory were used to classify subjects into one of four sex-role categories. Results indicated a strong association between congruence and traditionality of choice; women whose choices were in nontraditional career fields were significantly more likely to be making choices congruent with their personality type than were women choosing traditional career fields. Further, while sex-role orientation was not significantly related to either congruence or traditionality, masculine-typed women were most likely to make nontraditional and congruent career choices, while the majority of feminine-typed, androgynous, and undifferentiated women stated preferences for traditional career fields. Implications for the applicability of Holland's congruence postulate to women's vocational behavior are discussed.     

Restricted thresholds for interval orders: A case of nonaxiomatizability by a universal sentence

Let $\text{P}$_n be the class of all finite interval orders that can be interval-represented using no more than n interval lengths or threshold levels. Thus $\text{P}$₁ is the class of finite semiorders, and $\text{P}$, the union of the $\text{P}$_n, is the class of finite interval orders. While each of $\text{P}$₁ and $\text{P}$ is axiomatizable by a universal sentence in first-order logic, no $\text{P}$_n for $\text{n ≧ 2}$ is axiomatizable in the same sense.     

Sources of error in the psychoeducational diagnosis of children

A detailed exploration of the role of diagnostic practices is presented, with special attention given to such practices in school psychology. Basic principles related to diagnostic typology and concepts of reliability and validity are reviewed in the context of recent diagnostic decision-making research. Finally, the intrusion and eventual reduction of particular errors of consistency and inconsistency and psychodiagnosis are examined with a view toward improvements in future training and practice.