Probability learning and Piagetian probability conceptions in children 5 to 12 years old

This study focused on the relations between performance on a three-choice probability-learning task and conceptions of probability as outlined by Piaget concerning mixture, normal distribution, random selection, odds estimation, and permutations. The probability-learning task and four Piagetian tasks were administered randomly to 100 male and 100 female, middle SES, average IQ children in three age groups (5 to 6, 8 to 9, and 11 to 12 years old) from different schools. Half the children were from Middle Eastern backgrounds, and half were from European or American backgrounds. As predicted, developmental level of probability thinking was related to performance on the probability-learning task. The more advanced the child's probability thinking, the higher his or her level of maximization and hypothesis formulation and testing and the lower his or her level of systematically patterned responses. The results suggest that the probability-learning and Piagetian tasks assess similar cognitive skills and that performance on the probability-learning task reflects a variety of probability concepts.     

Test Item Content Vs. Response Styles

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate that perceived correctness of the contents of items plays a larger role in determining responses to questionnaire items than response tendencies. The design was three-factorial (2 × 2 × 2) with perceived correctness, social desirability and correspondence to preferred meaning dimensions (i.e., major content categories) as the independent variables, and response extremity as the dependent. There were 144 subjects, 18 in each of the eight conditions. The task consisted of checking whether each of 220 self-report items was True or False and then marking the extremity of judgement on a 5-point scale. The findings showed main effects for all three factors: the largest for perceived correctness that accounted for 58% of the variance, and small but comparable ones for the other two, that accounted for 8–9% of the variance. It was argued that item content is the main deteerminant of perceived correctness whereas preferences for particular meaning variables are main determinants of response tendencies.     

Personality factors and cervical premalignancy

The purpose of the study was to attempt a discrimination between stages of cervical premalignancy in terms of the four Eysenckian dimensions. It consisted of a quasi-prospective design applied to the presumed continuum of cervical premalignancy. The Ss were 88 women addressed by a physician or self-addressed for Pap smear examinations. Prior to the Pap smear they completed a demographic questionnaire and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire providing scores of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), psychoticism (P) and lie (L). By the Pap smear results there were four groups of women: healthy, suffering from vaginal or cervical inflammations, suffering from human papillomaviruses (HPV), and suffering from dysplasias or cervical intraepithelial neoplasms (CIN). ANOVA and discriminant analyses showed that the Eysenckian dimensions discriminated correctly with above chance significance between the groups, mainly between the healthy and inflammatory, on the one hand, and the HPV and CIN, on the other hand (on the basis of N and E scores), and less well between the healthy and inflammatory (on the basis of L scores), and least between the HPV and CIN (on the basis of P scores). As expected, in the healthy and inflammatory groups as compared with the HPV and CIN groups, N and P scores were higher whereas E and L scores were lower. The results indicate the correspondence between physiological and psychological characteristics and suggest especially the alternating relation between neuroticism and physical pathology.     

Effects of meaning training on overcoming functional fixedness

Functional fixedness (FF) consists in focusing on some function of an object while overlooking another necessary for problem solving. Assuming that FF occurs when too few meanings are assigned to the major problem aspects, it was hypothesized that widening the scope of meaning would reduce FF, particularly in subjects providing more responses. The task was completing two electrical circuits. Meaning training consisted in requesting the subjects to provide responses to questions reflecting 11 meaning variables concerning three referents of the task. The subjects were 64 high school girls about 15 years old, only half of whom got meaning training. The results showed that meaning training reduced FF: the experimental subjects solved the target task faster, especially if they assigned more direct or indirect function responses to the target referents. Discussion centered on the effects of specific and nonspecific meaning training on different phases of problem solving. This study is based partly on the data presented by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at the Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University.     

The meaning profiles of anxiety and depression: similarities and differences in two age groups

ABSTRACT

The distinctiveness of anxiety and depression is discussed concerning their nature, definitions, uses, manifestations and determinants. The objective was to examine the difference and similarity of anxiety and depression by applying the psychosemantic approach, which is a theory and methodology based on analysing the cognitive processes applied in communicating meanings. In Study 1, there were 760 participants of both genders, 23–31 years old. They were administered the Meanings Test, which yields the respondent’s meaning profile, and one of seven anxiety scales or one of three depression scales. Significant correlations between the meaning profiles and the anxiety or depression scales were summarised and compared. In Study 2, there were 78 individuals over 65 years old who were administered the Meanings Test plus an anxiety or depression scale. The findings for anxiety and depression were compared within and across age groups. The results yielded two distinct meaning profiles for anxiety and depression in the two age groups. The anxiety profile indicated more focusing on one’s internal world. whereas the depression profile indicated focusing both on the personal and the interpersonally shared reality. The conclusion was that anxiety and depression are different constructs that need to be considered as separate theoretically and practically.     

Motivation for Creativity in Design Students

The purpose was to study motivation for creativity in design students in the framework of the cognitive orientation theory which defines motivation as a function of beliefs of four types (about goals, norms, oneself and reality) concerning themes identified as relevant for creativity. It was hypothesized that scores of the four belief types would enable predicting creativity. The participants were 52 design students who were administered an actual design task and questionnaires: The Survey about Attitudes, Questionnaire about Designing and the Cognitive Orientation of Creativity (COQ-CR). The independent variables were the scores of the belief types based on the COQ-CR. The dependent variables were the evaluation of the creativity of the designs by four expert architects, and various variables based on self-evaluation of the students in the questionnaires referring to the design and designing process: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, fulfilling requirements, considering the context, having a central idea, meaningfulness of the task, involvement of feelings in designing, and handling constraints. Regression analyses showed that the majority of variables referring to creativity were predicted significantly by the predictors. The findings support the validity of the COQ-CR for assessing motivation for creativity and of the cognitive motivational approach to creativity.     

The association between reality-based beliefs and indirectly experienced traumatization

The purpose of the study was to examine the association between belief types and the magnitude of indirect traumatization. Specific types of beliefs were defined in terms of the cognitive orientation theory, which is a cognitive-motivational approach to the understanding, predicting, and changing of behaviors. Belief types that were analyzed included beliefs about self, general beliefs, beliefs about norms, and goal beliefs as they relate to personal growth. Study participants included 38 rescuers (body handlers), 37 nurses, and 31 rehabilitation workers who treated injured civilians that had been exposed to politically motivated violence. The Cognitive Orientation for Posttraumatic Growth Scale was used to assess beliefs about personal growth. The Revised Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Inventory was administered to evaluate indirect traumatization. The results indicate that three of the four belief types related to personal growth were associated with the level of indirect traumatization. Optimistic and positive beliefs about self and general beliefs were associated with a lower level of indirect traumatization symptomatology, suggesting that these types of beliefs may counteract indirect traumatization. On the other hand, stronger goal beliefs were associated with greater indirect traumatization. The negative association between positive goal beliefs and indirect trauma may be related to the gap the individual perceives between the hoped-for ideals and the trauma-stricken reality. These results indicate the importance of cognitive beliefs and their possible role in determining the response to indirect traumatization.     

Unilateral muscle contractions enhance creative thinking

Following the notion of relative importance of the right hemisphere (RH) in creative thinking, we explored the possibility of enhancing creative problem solving by artificially activating the RH ahead of time using unilateral hand contractions. Participants attempted to complete the Remote Associates Test after squeezing a ball with either their left or right hand. As predicted, participants who contracted their left hand (thus activating the RH) achieved higher scores than those who used their right hand and those who did not contract either hand. Our findings indicate that tilting the hemispheric balance toward the processing mode of one hemisphere by motor activation can greatly influence the outcome of thought processes. Regardless of the specific mechanism involved, this technique has the potential for acting as a therapeutic or remedial manipulation and could have wide applications in aiding individuals with language impairments or other disorders that are believed to be related to hemispheric imbalances.