Observational training improves adult womens'' performance on Piaget''s water-level task

Among women university students who lacked conceptual understanding of the principle that the surface of still water is always horizontal, a specific task procedure designed to optimize self-discovery of the principle proved effective. Successful learning was reflected in more accurate responses on an adjustment task and by a significant increase (p less than .01) in the number of subjects able to verbalize a correct strategy. In contrast to previous research the results show that adult womens' performance on the water-level task can be improved by observational training, suggesting that the female lag in spatial skills may depend on experiential factors.     

Some aspects of the Pulfrich effect

Krekling, S. Some aspects of the Pulfrich effect. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 87–90.-The course of the Pulfrich effect was studied as a function of binocular differences of intensity. A pendulum and a pointer were matched with respect to apparent distance, with one eye progressively dimmed by neutral density filters. The stereoscopic effect increased as a function of filter density, reached a maximum value and then decreased. At the point of reversal the apparent rotatory movement of the pendulum disappeared, coinciding with an abrupt increase in the variability of the subject's responses, probably indicating the transition to a qualitatively different visual process. The binocular-rivalry explanation of the reversal was not supported by the results.     

Parent training for young Norwegian children with ODD and CD problems: Predictors and mediators of treatment outcome

Participants were 121 children, aged 4–8 years referred for conduct problems, and their mothers. A parent training intervention was implemented in two outpatient clinics in Norway. Treatment responders were defined as children scoring below a cut-off on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, a score below an optimal cut-off for children in day-care and school as reported by teachers, in addition to a 30% reduction or greater in observed negative parenting. Self-reported parenting practices were explored as potential mediators. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that high levels of maternal stress, clinical levels of ADHD, and being a girl predicted a poorer outcome in conduct problems at home, while pretreatment clinical levels of ADHD predicted a poorer outcome as perceived by the teachers. Harsh and inconsistent parental disciplining emerged as significant partial mediators of changes in conduct problems, highlighting the importance of altering parenting practices to modify young children's conduct problems.