Individual differences in procedures for knowledge acquisition from maps

This study investigated the procedures subjects use to acquire knowledge from maps. In Experiment 1, three experienced and five novice map users provided verbal protocols while attempting to learn a map. The protocols suggested four categories of processes that subjects invoked during learning: attention, encoding, evaluation, and control. Good learners differed from poor learners primarily in their techniques for and success at encoding spatial information, their ability to accurately evaluate their learning progress, and their ability to focus attention on unlearned information. An analysis of the performance of experienced map users suggested that learning depended on particular procedures and not on familiarity with the task. In Experiment 2, subjects were instructed to use (a) six of the effective learning procedures from Experiment 1, (b) six procedures unrelated to learning success, or (c) their own techniques. The effective procedures set comprised three techniques for learning spatial information, two techniques for using self-generated feedback to guide subsequent study behaviors, and a procedure for partitioning the map into sections. Subjects using these procedures performed better than subjects in the other groups. In addition, subjects' visual memory ability predicted the magnitude of the performance differential.     

The use of schemata in the acquisition and transfer of knowledge

A learning model based on “memory schemata” is presented. The model assumes that knowledge substructures in memory are shared by multiple representations of information from diverse contexts. These substructures, or schemata, are collections of concepts and associations that occur together repeatedly and act as unitary, higher-order concepts. When knowledge is represented in terms of a schema, associations from the schema to additional concepts specify the detailed information for that context. This organization of knowledge entails both costs and benefits for the acquisition and retention of new information that utilizes a schema. The use of a familiar encoding structure facilitates memory access at storage and retrieval time. Multiple uses of the shared structure produce interference among concepts from the various contexts. The predictions of the model were tested in two transfer experiments in prose learning. Experiment l demonstrated the simultaneous effects of both facilitation and interference in the learning of diverse information conforming to a single schema. Recall of information from the schema was a non-monotonic function of schema strength. In Experiment 2 facilitation was preserved while interference was eliminated by increasing the discriminability among competing contexts. Results from both experiments confirmed the predictions of the model.     

Development and Disequilibration: Predicting Counselor Trainee Gain and Loss Scores on the Supervisee Levels Questionnaire

Relative importance of adult cognitive development (according to Perry), education, and experience in predicting longitudinal gain and loss scores on a measure of counselor supervisee development (Supervisee Levels Questionnaire) was examined. Results indicated cognitive & #x2013;developmental stage predicted score change better than age, education, or experience. In addition, an unanticipated, discontinuous, patterned relationship between student cognitive stage and the gain/loss scores was discovered. The possibility of developmental disequilibration is discussed along with implications for counselor education and adult development theory.     

Grayson Perry and the recalibration of masculine emotional reactions to vulnerability and healing

The so-called ‘crisis in masculinity’ in the post-industrial/post-feminist world is not a new idea but in recent years it does seem to have forced its way back onto the agenda due to a lack of traditional employment, such as coal mining, thus robbing generations of men of their cultural identities. This collective ‘crisis’ has emerged through media attention on a succession of well-known men in the arts and sports worlds such as Bruce Springsteen, Stormzy, Professor Green and Rio Ferdinand, who share in common a strong sense of masculine identification. In addition, all have openly discussed the healing and relief experienced by embracing the vulnerable, emotional aspects of themselves, or what has been historically characterized as the anima archetype in Jungian psychology. This essay will recount some of their stories of struggle as they have bravely spoken up about their mental health issues, perhaps diminishing, by example, the erroneous notion of depression as a ‘woman's problem’. As noted, in recent times we have witnessed a proliferation of famous men speaking out about their emotional difficulties, often in the context of loss and depression, thus providing potential role-modelling for a more expanded view of contemporary masculinity. This paper attempts to consider the tendency amongst a particular type of modern man who is both traditionally macho and simultaneously emotionally articulate with the capacity to open up about the experiences of their inner worlds and the environmental pressures they face in a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Beginning with some brief stories about the men listed above, the primary focus will be on the work of the UK cross-dressing artist and Turner Prize winner (2003) Grayson Perry (b. 1960), by studying his unusual and highly creative clarion call to challenge modern men to recalibrate their emotional behaviour and to speak openly about loss and emotional difficulty. As readers will see, he has developed a unique method that includes filmed, televised interactional interviews with various individuals and groups and he then produces art pieces that embody what has transpired through his engagement with their suffering and real-life dilemmas. This highly creative process offers a double or even triple containment for those struggling with all-too-human pain via the holding interview with him directly; the artwork that he creates as a result; and then through the recording on film that is shared with television audiences who are deeply affected by what they witness and who perhaps find a form of healing via identification.     

Cognitive structures in comprehension and memory of narrative discourse

The effects of structure and content variables on memory and comprehension of prose passages were studied in two experiments. The experimental passages exemplify a class of simple narrative stories that is described by a generative grammar of plot structures. A comprehension model is proposed that assumes a hierarchical organizational framework of stories in memory, determined by the grammar, representing the abstract structural components of the plot. The quality and characteristics of subjects' memory for stories were tested on a variety of experimental tasks in which story organization was manipulated. Comprehensibility and recall were found to be a function of the amount of inherent plot structure in the story, independent of passage content. Recall probability of individual facts from passages depended on the structural centrality of the facts: Subjects tended to recall facts corresponding to high-level organizational story elements rather than lower-level details. In addition, story summarizations from memory tended to emphasize general structural characteristics rather than specific content. For successively presented stories, both structure and content manipulations influenced recall. Furthermore, repeating story structure across two passages produced facilitation in recall of the second passage, while repeating story content produced proactive interference. The implications for a model of memory for narrative discourse are discussed.     

Identification with film characters, covert aggressive verbalization, and reactions to film violence

To determine some conditions governing the aggressive aftereffects of identification with aggressive film characters, men were first angered by a confederate and then exposed to a film clip of a violent boxing match. Subjects instructed to identify with the winner of the prize-fight were subsequently more aggressive toward the confederate than subjects instructed to identify with the loser or subjects not asked to identify with a film aggressor. Apparently, viewers must perceive their identificand incur reinforcement for his aggression before they become more aggressive themselves. However, requiring subjects to make implicit aggressive verbalizations during the film completely eliminated any aggressive aftereffects of identification. This finding was opposite to prediction and suggested that covert verbalization interfered with subjects' ability to make the vicarious aggressive responses which mediate increased subsequent aggression.     

The Relationship of Cognitive Development to Age, When Education and Intelligence Are Controlled For

In this study 165 volunteers aged 18–87 were recruited from educational, employment, church, and social organizations and administered 3 paper-and-pencil instruments: the Quick Test, a measure of verbal–perceptual intelligence; the Scale of Intellectual Development, a Perry measure of cognitive development; and an inventory of life experiences. Age was found to be negatively related to cognitive development, as was extent of participation in community or church activities, whereas intelligence and education were positively so related. Less dualistic thinking and more relativistic thinking were related to higher educational achievement. Nevertheless, dualistic thinking was found to increase among older age groups, even with intelligence and education controlled for.     

Relationship between bullying and scores on the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire among imprisoned male offenders

This study investigated the relationship between bullying and aggression among imprisoned male adult offenders. The participants were 70 imprisoned male offenders, who were classified using the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC) as one of four ‘bully’ groups: pure bully, pure victim, bully/victim, or not involved. Participants also completed the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), a measure of aggression and hostility. The majority of the prisoners reported behaviors indicative of bullying, with 42.9 percent classified in the bully/victim group and 12.9 percent as pure bullies. 15.7 percent of participants were classified as pure victims, while 28.6 percent did not report any involvement in bullying. Bully/victims scored higher than participants who were not involved in bullying on the Hostility scale and Total score of the AQ. A number of correlations were found between the AQ scores and number of bully behaviors perpetrated. These suggested there is an overlap between the constructs measured by the AQ and type of bullying behaviors perpetrated. The number of bullying behaviors experienced was only correlated with the Hostility scale. The results are discussed in terms of previous research and their implications for theory and practice. Aggress. Behav. 31:1–11, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Peirce, Perry and the Lost History of Critical Referentialism

This paper traces a lost genealogical connection between Charles S. Peirce’s later theory of signs and contemporary work in the philosophy of language by John Perry. As is shown, despite some differences, both accounts offer what might be termed a multi-level account of meaning. Moreover, it is claimed that by adopting a ‘Peircian turn’ in his theory, Perry might overcome alleged shortcomings in his account of cognitive significance.