Reflection-Impulsivity in Mexican Children: Cross-Cultural Relationships

Urban Mexican children aged 5 (n = 23) and 9 (n = 87) years were given the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The results indicate that the MFFT was a valid test of cognitive style for Mexican children. The younger children's MFFT performance was characterized as fast and inaccurate in relation to the older children's performance, which was slower and more accurate. Cross-cultural comparisons of Mexican MFFT scores with normative data from America, Japan, and Israel indicated that Mexican children were relatively impulsive in cognitive style in relation to children of other cultures. Potential factors contributing to these cross-cultural differences are discussed here.     

The Origin of Error

The present two experiments were designed to investigate the effects of two competing retrieval strategies—category and position cueing.

One hundred college students participated in Experiment I in which Presentation Rate, List Type, and Stimulus Position were manipulated within an FR paradigm. Sixty students participated in Experiment II in which Formal Response Similarity and Stimulus Position were manipulated within a PA paradigm.

Findings were the following: (a) that greater clustering and FR is obtained at slower presentation rates; (b) that greater than chance clustering occurs with a category list structure; and (c) that HS response learning is more difficult than LS response learning. No support was found for position cueing.

Results were discussed within FR cueing, von Restorff, and intentional versus incidental learning paradigms as possible explanations for the nonsignificant position cueing results in the present experiments. A competing strategy hypothesis of category and position cues was preferred with category recall and clustering as the dominant mode of retrieval.     

A Test of the Overconfidence Phenomenon Using Audio Signals

The existence of the overconfidence phenomenon was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Fifty-five participants were asked to decide whether they heard a signal or noise only, and to rate how certain they were of their decisions. The results confirmed the existence of overconfidence as well as the “hard-easy” effect.     

The Influence of Attitude on Learning

Automaticity theory and the effect of coloring a single element were tested with all or only 1 element colored in Stroop tasks. The 312 participants in 5 experiments indicated stimulus presentation color by key press. Experiments 1 and 2 replicated those of D. Besner, J. A. Stoltz, and C. Boutilier (1997) with some changes, and revealed similar results: less Stroop interference with only 1 letter colored. Besner et al. (1997) interpreted the results as indicating that coloring a single letter eliminates automatic reading processes. The cause of that reduction in Stroop interference was investigated in Experiments 3, 4, and 5 using color words, bars, and rectangles. The effect of coloring 1 element was to increase color-naming time by the same amount for congruent and neutral, nonverbal stimuli, but not for incongruent stimuli. The results are interpreted in terms of automaticity theory, and a continuous flow approach to the Stroop effect is presented.     

Luria's Motor Method and Word Association in the Study of Deception

The present study investigated the variables of method of stimulus presentation, type of focal instance, type of strategy, and sex, in a conjunctive concept attainment task. The results indicated that an all positive series of focal cards resulted in the most efficient performance. The all negative-specified group was significantly better than the all negative-unspecified group. There was no significant difference between a focus gambling strategy and a conservative focusing strategy. The simultaneous method of stimulus presentation was shown to be superior to a successive method of presentation. There was no finding of a sex difference in concept attaining ability for each experimental condition.     

Dynamic Visual Acuity

Forty subjects took part in a one-handed catching task in which the period for which the mechanically projected tennis ball was illuminated in flight was varied systematically. Additionally, they were tested for (a) static visual acuity and (b) dynamic visual acuity, in which angular velocity was varied. As expected, both viewing period in the catching task and angular velocity in the acuity task were significant variables in performance. Correlation and principal-components analyses confirmed the findings of a previous experiment in that the correlated static visual acuity tasks were unrelated to both dynamic visual acuity (even when angular velocity was only 75°/sec) and catching performance. Further, dynamic acuity and catching were related under the majority of the combinations, and most frequently at the highest angular velocity, a fact which suggested that the dynamic element in both tasks is the common factor.     

Feedback in Response Recognition and Production

The role of feedback in the development of recognition memory was examined by testing pairs of subjects; one subject performed the movement while the other listened to the movement in an adjacent room. Both groups of subjects developed recognition memory during training with KR, and recognition performance was virtually identical for both groups. In addition, previous experience with the sensory consequences of the movement led to improved response production during initial trials. A possible mechanism to account for this finding is proposed. Appreciation is extended to Richard A. Schmidt and Anne Marie Bird for helpful comments in earlier drafts of this paper.     

Acquisition of Predictable Vertical Visual Targets: Eye-Head Coordination and the Triggering Effect

The study was designed to investigate target acquisition in the vertical plane with emphasis on establishing strategy differences associated with acquisition triggering methods. Eight subjects were tested. Measurements consisted of target acquisition time, eye-head latency differences, velocity of gaze, eyes and head, and head amplitude. Using 3-way repeated measures analyses of variance the results show that the strategy for acquisition of predictable visual targets in vertical plane with the head unrestrained significantly depended on (a) the direction of the gaze motion with respect to the gravity vector (i.e., there is significant up-down asymmetry), (b) the angular distance of the target, and (c) the method of triggering the command to acquire the target—external versus internal. The data also show that when vertical acquisition is compared with triggering methods in the horizontal plane there is a difference in overall strategy for the acquisition of targets with the same spatial distances from straight ahead gaze when both the eyes and head are used. Among the factors contributing to the difference in strategy for vertical target acquisition are the gravitational vector, the relationship of target displacement and vestibular activitation, biomechanical and neural control asymmetries, and the difference in the vertical field of view.     

Keys to the development of the role of grandparents in current Spanish society / Claves para el desarrollo del rol de abuelo y abuela en la sociedad española actual

Abstract

Current demographic changes and work-family reconciliation difficulties in Spain have resulted in an increase in the arrangement of grandparents caring for their grandchildren. However, in order to ensure that the relationship between both generations is a privileged interaction that promotes successful ageing, furthering our knowledge of the challenges that this field of study faces is necessary. On this basis, the purpose of this article is to review the theories regarding this family relationship, which, together with the empirical research into this area, comprise the basis of a three-pronged proposal that includes the keys or challenges to studying the role of grandparents: (1) the heterogeneity and multidimensionality in the study of this role; (2) the complex interaction of positive and negative aspects that produce significant ambivalence in grandparents as a reaction to their experiences in this role; and (3) the influence of the baby boom generation grandparents’ new characteristics.     

Critical factor analysis: An exploratory general model for understanding diverse systems

Critical Factor Analysis (CFA) is presented as an exploratory general model for uniting the sciences and the humanities through identification and use of critical factors common to both. Two primary and eight subordinate critical factors, with corresponding principles, are identified and placed in a model that can be used for prediction, analysis, and design of systems. Use of CFA could conceivably raise system IQ, reduce unnecessary variety, and assist with the general acceptance of systems science.