Reading words with irregular decoding rules: A test of premorbid cognitive function?

The present study investigated the relation between level of general cognitive function and the oral reading of irregular words in Swedish. Swedish is an orthographically regular language, so many irregular words are loan words from other languages. A test comprising such words (irregularly spelled words (ISW)) was designed, and tested on a sample of 48 healthy Swedish adults, stratified according to age, gender, and level of education. The results confirmed that the ability to read words that do not follow the regular rules for decoding in Swedish was positively related to general cognitive level. ISW in combination with demographic variables gave a good estimate of general cognitive function and a better estimate than demographic variables alone. Exposure to written and spoken vocabulary during the lifespan may be indexed by ISW performance, for factor analysis suggested that this may constitute a discrete factor contributing to cognitive function.     

Written lists as mediating stimuli in the matching-to-sample performances of individuals with mental retardation.

Students with mental retardation learned to write lists in order to perform a matching task that they could not do otherwise. After an initial assessment phase, reinforcement was arranged in the computerized tasks to follow selection of the six pictures that were identical to those in the six-picture samples presented. In Study 1, even though the participants wrote a list of the names of the six sample pictures on each trial, read a list, or did both, they often made errors when a brief delay preceded picture selection. In contrast, performance was nearly perfect when a list was written, read, and remained available at the time of picture selection, suggesting that the list served to mediate the delays. Study 2 examined the stimulus control by two- and six-picture samples over the list writing. Early during testing, 1 participant refrained from writing lists on two-picture trials but wrote lists on six-picture trials, thereby maximizing reinforcement and minimizing its delay; the other participant showed this pattern of list writing after supplemental training. The studies suggest methods for establishing a rudimentary repertoire of mediating behavior that has relevance for teaching instruction-following skills in natural settings.     

TEACHING COMPUTER-BASED SPELLING TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL AND HEARING DISABILITIES: TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL TO WRITING TASKS

Computer-based instruction may yield widely useful handwritten spelling. Illustrative cases involved individuals with mental retardation and hearing impairments. The participant in Study 1 matched computer pictures and printed words to one another but did not spell the words to pictures. Spelling was then taught using a computerized procedure. In general, increases in the accuracy of computer spelling were accompanied by improvements in written spelling to pictures. Study 2 extended these results with a 2nd participant. After initial training, spelling improved in the context of a retrieval task in which the participant (a) wrote a list of the names of objects displayed on a table, (b) selected the objects from a shelf, and (c) returned the objects to the table. Nearly perfect accuracy scores declined on some retrieval trials conducted without a list, suggesting that the list may have served a mediating function during retrieval. Transfer of stimulus control of computer-based teaching to the retrieval task may have been attributable to the existence of stimulus classes involving pictures, objects, and printed words.     

Teaching reading and spelling: exclusion and stimulus equivalence

In Experiment 1, 7 nonreading children were exposed to a program designed to teach reading of 51 training words. The program featured an exclusion-based procedure in which the children (a) matched printed to dictated words and (b) constructed (copied) printed words with movable letters and named them. All children learned to read the training words. Five children also read generalization words and showed progress in spelling. Experiment 2 applied the program to 4 different children, omitting the word-construction task. They also learned to read the training words, but only 1 participant read generalization words. The data support a stimulus equivalence account of reading acquisition and suggest that reading generalization may be obtained, especially when the teaching program includes word construction.     

中学生英语词汇记忆的策略训练研究

词汇记忆在中学英语学习中有着举足轻重的地位。本研究从策略入手 ,致力于探索记忆策略训练对英语词汇学习的积极效果。研究者在综合前人的策略分类观点和参照英语词汇学习本身特点的基础上提出了五种基本策略 ,并对之作了训练研究。从训练结果可知 ,这些策略若训练充分得当 ,能大大提高学生的词汇记忆成绩。研究者还对如何在英语词汇学习中运用策略帮助记忆提出了一个粗略的模型。从该模型中 ,我们可以清晰地看到词汇记忆的整个过程 ,以及影响策略选择和使用的各种因素     

In-vivo rating of treatment acceptability by children: Effects of probability instruction on student's spelling performance under group contingency conditions

In prior studies, Shapiro and Goldberg (1986, 1990) failed to find a relationship between in-vivo ratings by children of treatment acceptability and treatment effectiveness. These studies involved the use of interdependent and dependent group contingencies designed to improve the spelling performance of sixth grade students. To investigate whether the failure to link treatment acceptability and effectiveness may have been due to the subjects' inability to understand the differences in treatment conditions, this study utilized a pre-intervention training package to enhance salient differences between two types of group contingencies. Results of this study showed that both group contingencies were successful at improving the spelling performance of students, particularly the poorer spellers. Prior to treatment, students preferred the interdependent condition, with the higher-achieving students expressing the strongest preference. After implementation of the training package, both conditions were now rated as equally acceptable. Pre- and post-test acceptability ratings of each condition tended to be significantly correlated but correlations between acceptability ratings and treatment effectiveness were negligible at all points in the study. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

图画与中、英文字词识别加工的比较

通过对不同材料进行加工的比较来探讨人脑的信息加工机制是认知心理学采用的主要研究方法之一。本研究采用了两个实验。实验一比较了图画、中文和英文字词在命名和分类任务中的差异。结果发现:中文是介于图画和英文之间的一种符号系统,在命名任务中,英文反应最快,图画反应最慢,中文居中;而在分类任务中,反应的快慢趋势却截然相反。实验二进一步探讨了言语及非言语信息的表征结构及加工特性,使用了图-图、图-字、字-图、字-字此四种组合材料进行命名一致性和语义分类两种任务,结果发现:字特征组(字-字,字-图)在命名一致性判断任务中的反应优于图特征组(图-图、图-字),而在语义一致性判断任务中则相反,这一结果很难用双编码理论和共同编码理论来解释。语词信息对语音码的接通是直接的,而对语义码的接通却是间接的,图画信息反之,而且由于某种策略产生了图特征组与字特征组的区别。     

Retention and generalization of spelling words acquired using a peer-mediated instructional procedure by children with mild handicapping conditions

A peer-mediated instructional procedure termed Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) has been shown to increase the rates and accuracy of student responses to academic tasks and to improve student performance on weekly spelling tests. In addition to replicating previous research, the present investigation evaluated the retention and generalization of words learned using CWPT. Students classified as mildly handicapped participated in daily practice of 10 spelling words using CWPT for 10 weeks. Short- and long-term retention of words practiced was assessed. Results indicated that the students average post-test score was over 84% correct on weekly tests, replicating previous results. When included in a dictation task the following week, 76.2% of previously tutored words were correctly spelled. Short- and longer-term retention measured on posttests was 72% and 69% correct, respectively. Modest improvements in students sight recognition of words practiced during CWPT were obtained. Student failure to learn particular words was attributable to fewer opportunities to practice these words. Further, students reported positive evaluation of CWPT and perceived positive social and self esteem outcomes.     

焦虑在歧义容忍度与英语学习成绩之间的中介作用分析

本研究采用问卷法,选取石家庄市210名普通高校大学生为被试,探讨了焦虑在歧义容忍度和英语学习之间的中介作用。结果发现:(1)在英语学习成绩方面,高歧义容忍度的学生显著优于低歧义容忍度的学生,中歧义容忍度的学生显著优于低歧义容忍度的学生;(2)高、中、低不同歧义容忍度的学生,在焦虑水平上存在显著差异。(3)焦虑感中介作用分析发现,焦虑在歧义容忍度和英语学习成绩之间关系有完全中介作用。     

A serious misunderstanding: synchronicity and the generation of meaning

Abstract: This paper points to the problem caused by the fact that numerous academic ‘Jung studies’ are conducted on the basis of the English translation of Jung's works without any knowledge of his original texts and illustrates it with the misconstrual that Jung's concept of synchronicity suffered in the studies of many recent authors, as exemplified by two articles in the September 2011 issue of the JAP. The translation of ‘sinngemäße Koinzidenz’ as ‘meaningful coincidence’ seduced those writers to take synchronistic ‘meaning’ as meaning the meaningfulness of life or even as ‘transcendent meaning’, which is incompatible with Jung's synchronicity concept, and to replace Jung's strictly intellectual project of establishing an explanatory principle for synchronistic events (in addition to the principle of causality for all other events) by the fundamentally different project of focusing on the impact that such events may have for the experiencing subjective mind, on ‘human meaning‐making’, and, with a decidedly anti‐intellectual bias, of hoping for ‘shifts into non‐rational states of mind’.