Goal distance in time and its effects on the relations between achievement motives and performance

Based on Miller's theoretical model, it is predicted that (1) pupils high in motive to approach success and low in motive to avoid failure (approach-oriented) would increase and (2) those with the opposite motive constellation (avoidance-oriented) would decrease their level of performance as a distant future goal approaches in time. These hypotheses were supported when number of problems solved correctly was used as measure of level of performance, while only Hypothesis 1 received support when number of problems attempted was employed. The hypothesis (3) that avoidance-oriented pupils would have a steeper slope of goal gradient for performance than the approach-oriented pupils, received no support.     

Trait anxiety,stress, and learning a test of Saltz's hypothesis

Behavioral predictions from Saltz's, Spence's, and Spielberger's interpretations of trait anxiety were tested in a complex verbal learning task. Fifty-three high-anxious and 52 low-anxious male college students were randomly distributed to test conditions of failure-stress, pain-stress, or neutral instructions. The learning data revealed that high-anxious-failure and low-anxious-pain Ss were disrupted and supported Saltz's hypothesis; self-reported anxiety (A-State scale, STAI) was observed only in high-anxious-failure Ss and supported Spielberger's theory of the arousal of state anxiety as a function of trait anxiety. However, the contradiction between self-reported anxiety and learning behavior in low-anxious-pain Ss indicated that the verbal report of these Ss was an inaccurate or insensitive index of arousal.     

A parent-offspring adoption study of cognitive abilities in early childhood

Do cognitive abilities in early childhood relate genetically and/or environmentally to isomorphic abilities in adulthood? Are specific cognitive abilities diffentiated in early childhood in terms of their prediction of adult cognitive abilities? The present study, the first behavioral genetic analysis of specific cognitive abilities in early childhood, explored these questions using parent-offspring data for 186 adopted children and 151 nonadopted children tested in the longitudinal Colorado Adoption Project at 3 years of age and 162 adopted children and 138 nonadopted children tested at 4 years. The children's Stanford-Binet IQ and scores for four specific cognitive abilities (verbal, spatial, perceptual speed, and memory) were correlated with corresponding measures for their parents—the biological and adoptive parents of the adopted children and the natural parents of the nonadopted children. Significant correlations were found between biological mothers' IQ and the IQ of their adopted away offspring at 3 and 4 years of age, suggesting genetic influence for IQ. However, specific cognitive abilities yielded no significant correlations between biological mothers and their adopted-away offspring. These results suggest that substantial genetic continuity exists for IQ from early childhood to adulthood, but not for specific cognitive abilities.     

Matrix differential calculus with applications to simple,hadamard, and kronecker products

Several definitions are in use for the derivative of an m × p matrix function F(X) with respect to its n × q matrix argument X. We argue that only one of these definitions is a viable one, and that to study smooth maps from the space of n × q matrices to the space of m × p matrices it is often more convenient to study the map from nq-space to mp-space. Also, several procedures exist for a calculus of functions of matrices. It is argued that the procedure based on differentials is superior to other methods of differentiation, and leads inter alia to a satisfactory chain rule for matrix functions.     

Neural substrates of reduced walking activity after supratentorial stroke: A voxel-based lesion symptom mapping study

BackgroundMost stroke patients exhibit low levels of walking activity, a key component of secondary stroke prevention. The predictors of walking activity may be multifactorial and are thus far partially understood. We aimed to study the neuroanatomic correlates of low levels of daily walking activity following hemispheric stroke.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 33 community-dwelling stroke survivors (age: 63.9 ± 12.9 years; % female: 36.4%; NIHSS at admission: 3.3 ± 4.0) were prospectively recruited at least 3 months after a first ever, unilateral, supratentorial stroke confirmed by brain magnetic resonance imaging. Walking activity was measured by daily step counts (steps∙day⁻¹), recorded using an Actigraph GT3x+ triaxial accelerometer over 7 consecutive days. Voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping was performed to identify brain areas associated with walking activity following stroke.ResultsParticipants presented 4491.9 ± 2473.7 steps∙day⁻¹. Lower levels of walking activity were related to lesions of the posterior part of the putamen, of the posterior limb of the internal capsule and of the anterior part of the corona radiata. No cortical region was associated with walking activity.ConclusionsOur preliminary results identify subcortical neuroanatomical correlates for reduced walking activity following stroke. If confirmed, these results could serve as a rationale for the development of targeted rehabilitative strategy to improve mobility after stroke.     

An examination of vicarious reinforcement processes in children

The primary purpose of the present investigation was to examine vicarious reinforcement processes in children. More specifically, the effects on one child of observing another same-sex child receive direct reinforcement were explored across three different age levels. Subjects were 216 children, randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. For the control condition, neither child in the same-sex, same-age dyad received reinforcement for performance on the experimental task. For the experimental condition, one child in each dyad received direct social reinforcement for performance, while the other child received no social reinforcement for similar performance. Although children who observed other children receive direct social reinforcement initially increased performance (as predicted by vicarious reinforcement hypotheses), their performance soon decreased and was characterized by verbal and nonverbal responses which appeared to interfere with task performance (e.g., “Hey, I can do them too”, “Look at mine”, “There's no use in trying”). It appeared as if these observing children were being punished for their performance. Such effects were more pronounced for older than younger children; however, they were observed equally in boys and girls. Results were discussed in terms of vicarious reinforcement and “implicit punishment” hypotheses. Implications for applied settings were also addressed.     

Event-related potentials in neuropsychological studies of language

Experiments are described in which event-related potentials (ERPs) are employed to study the specialization of functions between and within the cerebral hemispheres during the performance of language and nonlanguage tasks by normal adults. Similar studies of deaf subjects suggest that the functional organization of the brain may be altered after different early language and sensory experiences. Studies of patients with alexia without agraphia suggest that the ERP may be a valuable tool with which to study cerebral reorganization after brain damage.     

Religion and Science in America: Struggling for Coherence

James Gilbert has provided fascinating and valuable historical sketches of the interactions of science and religion in American culture in this century, especially those taking place between 1945 and 1962. Yet, taken together, it is unclear what conclusion is to be drawn from these interactions. Ambiguity about the variety of forms of the science-and-religion relationship and about the referent of the term religion make the task of apprehending a coherent pattern among these sketches very difficult.