Children and adults both see ‘pirates’ in ‘parties’: letter‐position effects for developing readers and skilled adult readers

Developing readers often make anagrammatical errors (e.g. misreading pirates as parties), suggesting they use letter position flexibly during word recognition. However, while it is widely assumed that the occurrence of these errors decreases with increases in reading skill, empirical evidence to support this distinction is lacking. Accordingly, we compared the performance of developing child readers (aged 8–10 years) against the end‐state performance of skilled adult readers in a timed naming task, employing anagrams used previously in this area of research. Moreover, to explore the use of letter position by developing readers and skilled adult readers more fully, we used anagrams which, to form another word, required letter transpositions over only interior letter positions, or both interior and exterior letter positions. The patterns of effects across these two anagram types for the two groups of readers were very similar. In particular, both groups showed similarly slowed response times (and developing readers increased errors) for anagrams requiring only interior letter transpositions but not for anagrams that required exterior letter transpositions. This similarity in the naming performance of developing readers and skilled adult readers suggests that the end‐state skilled use of letter position is established earlier during reading development than is widely assumed.     

Adolescent compliance with dietary guidelines: health and education implications

Through school-sponsored health fairs, 398 adolescents (153 males and 245 females) between the ages of 14 and 18 completed a questionnaire on their compliance with six of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Results indicated that adolescents report highest compliance on "eat a variety of foods" and "eat foods with adequate starch and fiber." Conversely, they indicated low compliance on "reduce sugar intake" and "reduce fat, saturated fat and cholesterol intake." Sex differences were noted on two dietary guidelines. Females reported lower compliance with respect to "maintain desirable body weight." Males, on the other hand, reported lower compliance than females on "reduce salt intake." Given the fact that the dietary guidelines of "reduce fat, saturated fat and cholesterol," "maintain desirable body weight," and "reduce salt intake" are all aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk, the low compliance reported by adolescents may have long-range health implications.     

Humanness in times of uncertainty: On the link between perceived job insecurity,self-objectification and well-being

The current work scenario is pervaded by widespread perceptions of job insecurity, which is one of the main stress factors for workers and their well-being. This article aims to investigate the link between these perceptions and a most inner dimension, that is, people's tendency to self-objectify (i.e., self-viewing as objects rather than fully human beings). Furthermore, we aim to verify the role of this self-objectifying process in explaining the well-established relation between perceived job insecurity and well-being. Across four studies and a single-article meta-analysis (total N = 684), we show that perceived job insecurity is consistently linked with self-objectification. Furthermore, this objectifying self-perception is associated with decreased well-being and plays a mediational role in the link between perceived job insecurity and this latter variable.     

The number of ways to label a structure

It has been observed that the number of different ways in which a graph withp points can be labelled isp! divided by the number of symmetries, and that this holds regardless of the species of structure at hand. In this note, a simple group-theoretic proof is provided.This work was supported by Grant MH 10834 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

2. Models Presented

ABSTRACT This chapter introduces the two theoretical models to be applied to qualitative and quantitative data in the case study of Dodge Morgan. We present the five-factor model (FFM) and the life-story model (LSM) separately, with attention to their differing origins, assumptions, and utilities. We briefly trace the development and resurgence of the factor-analytic FFM and delineate the extent of its current influence in the field of personality. We discuss individual factors and consider the ways in which the model can be expected to be useful as well as limited in application to the individual. We next present the genealogy of the narrative, constructivist LSM and describe its components; we also discuss its contrasting strengths and limitations.     

6. The Life Voyage

ABSTRACT Chapter 6 applies the five-factor model and the life-story model as complementary perspectives to the multiple data sources collected for the case study of Dodge Morgan. We integrate the two models to create a new level of analysis that captures differing aspects of experience. We develop a holistic personality analysis of Morgan, interpreting his childhood, young manhood, adventures in Alaska and on the boat Coaster, his return to the mainland and embrace of business and entrepreneurship, and his solo circumnavigation. We address questions of voyage outcomes with reference to the quantitative analyses of his voyage log; we consider not only the external journey but also his internal psychological issues and developmental tasks.     

The availability heuristic in person identification: The sometimes misleading consequences of enhanced contextual information

Three field studies investigated the effects of post-exposure cognitions on person identification. Subjects' beliefs that they could identify someone were significantly increased by the presentation of new information and the rehearsal of old information about the person. Misidentification errors increased as the lengths of the initial exposure duration increased and when subjects received additional contextual information about the target. These frequent misidentifications may reflect the misattribution of familiarity from enhanced contextual knowledge to familiarity arising from perceptual knowledge. Further, performance was enhanced when the identification task capitalized on 'transfer-appropriate rehearsal' post-event strategies. Ancillary findings contradicted research on 'verbal overshadowing', and the relationship between identification accuracy and confidence. The results were generalized to real-world situations that encourage post-event cognitions by eyewitnesses.