bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genetic Influence on Risk of Divorce
Authors: McGue Matt , Lykken David T.
Published: April 2006

Although it has long been recognized that there is increased risk of divorce among the children of divorced parents, the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to this familial resemblance has been a matter of speculation only. In order to resolve the separate influence of genetic and environmental factors on risk of divorce, divorce status of 1,516 same-sex twin pairs (722 monozygotic. MZ, and 794 dizygotic. DZ), their parents, and their spouses' parents was determined. Concordance for divorce was significantly higher in MZ than DZ twins; this was true overall, in both the male and female samples, for both younger and older twin pairs, and both when the twins' parents had been divorced and when they had not been divorced. The robustness and magnitude of the MZ-DZ difference in divorce concordance indicates a strong influence of genetic factors in the etiology of divorce. Moreover, family background of both spouses contributed independently to couples' divorce risk, suggesting that, in many cases, divorce may be largely the result of characteristics the two spouses bring to the union rather than to interaction effects. These results also suggest that the adjustment difficulties seen with some children of divorced parents may be due to an interaction between genetic and environmental factors rather than environmental influences alone, as is assumed in many theories of divorce's effects.
Biochemical Measurements in the Study of Emotion
Authors: Baum Andrew , Grunberg Neil E. , Singer Jerome E.
Published: April 2006

The study of emotions is complicated by a number of factors, including the biological bases of emotional experience and expression. Although biochemical changes have long been thought to be part of the evocation of emotions, research has not consistently included this level of measurement, and theories of emotion have not systematically specified the role of these biochemical bases. In this paper, we briefly review relevant biochemical principles and measures that can be integrated into research and theory on emotions. Applications of these principles in extant studies of emotion are also discussed.
The Contingency of Perceptual Processing: Context Modifies Equal-Loudness Relations
Authors: Marks Lawrence E.
Published: April 2006

The relative loudnesses of tones that differ in sound frequency can depend strongly on the stimulus context, that is, on the set of intensity levels in the stimulus ensemble Using a new paradigm, called matching in scaling, this investigation sought to confirm that context modifies loudness relations per se, and not, for example, only overt responses To this end, two experiments revealed that changes in stimulus context differentially affect direct comparisons of loudness of 500-Hz and 2,500-Hz tones, as well as numerical judgments of individual tones—when loudness matches and scaling judgments alike are obtained in the same experimental sessions These contingent effects vary dynamically over time as a function of the recent stimulus history A third experiment revealed analogous effects in a simple matching paradigm, with no numerical judgments at all These findings support the contention that basic properties of loudness perception—grounded in auditory processes often considered “low level”—nevertheless can be deeply contextual
Chronic Social Stress, Affiliation, and Cellular Immune Response in Nonhuman Primates
Authors: Cohen Sheldon , Kaplan Jay R , Cunnick Joan E , Manuck Stephen B , Rabin Bruce S
Published: April 2006

We report the first experimental study of the effect of long-term (over 2 years) exposure to a stressor on cellular immune response Forty-three male cynomolgus monkeys were randomly assigned to stable or unstable social conditions for 26 months The proportion of time spent in affiliative behaviors was assessed by observations made twice weekly T-cell immune response (mitogen-stimulated cell proliferation) was assessed weekly for 3 weeks immediately following the 26-month manipulation The possibility that affiliative behavior represents an attempt to cope with social stress was supported by greater affiliation among animals in the unstable condition than in the stable condition Animals in the unstable condition also demonstrated relatively suppressed immune response More affiliative animals showed enhanced immune response, with the beneficial effects of affiliation occurring primarily among unstable animals The data are interpreted as consistent with the stress-buffering hypothesis, that is, affiliation protects animals from the potentially pathogenic influences of chronic social stress
When Predictions Create Reality: Judgments of Learning May Alter What They Are Intended to Assess
Authors: Spellman Barbara A , Bjork Robert A
Published: April 2006

Nelson and Dunlosky ( Psychological Science, July 1991) reported that subjects making judgments of learning (JOLs) can be extremely accurate at predicting subsequent recall performance on a paired-associate task when the JOL task is delayed for a short while after study They argued that this result is surprising given the results of earlier research, as well as their own current experiment, indicating that JOLs are quite inaccurate when made immediately after study We note that the delayed-JOL procedure used by Nelson and Dunlosky invited covert recall practice (which was reported by their subjects) Retrieval practice is a well-known determinant of subsequent recall Accordingly, Nelson and Dunloskys findings can be explained by the simple assumption that people base delayed JOLs on an assessment of retrieval success which in turn influences their retrieval success on the subsequent recall test
How Shall We Explain the Delayed-Judgment-Of-Learning Effect?
Authors: Nelson Thomas O , Dunlosky John
Published: April 2006

Spellman and Bjork (this issue) have proposed an explanation of our earlier findings in which people's accuracy at predicting their subsequent recall proved greater when their judgments of learning (JOLs) were delayed until shortly after study than when made immediately after study (the delayed-JOL effect) The empirically testable portion of Spellman and Bjork's explanation does not account for three relevant kinds of data (some already published and some newly presented here), including one replicated finding that disconfirms their core assumption Nevertheless, Spellman and Bjorks commentary has helped us sharpen our ideas both about what will have to be explained and about what form of explanation will be needed At present, there is not yet an adequate scientific explanation for the delayed-JOL effect
Information Displays and Decision Processes
Authors: Kleinmuntz Don N. , Schkade David A.
Published: April 2006

Information displays influence decision processes by facilitating some decision strategies while hindering others. Component characteristics of displays, such as the form, organization, and sequence of information, influence decision processes through an adaptive mechanism whereby a decision maker balances the desire to maximize accuracy against the desire to minimize effort. Variations in the information display lead to changes in the anticipated effort and anticipated accuracy of each available strategy and, therefore, provide an incentive for decision makers to use different decision processes. Research in this area can provide guidance regarding the use of displays and other decision-aiding approaches.
Connectionist Models and Cognitive Theory
Authors: Seidenberg Mark S.
Published: April 2006

Connectionist models have come to play an important role in cognitive science and in cognitive neuroscience, yet their role in explaining behavior is not necessarily obvious and has generated considerable debate. Connectionism is a body of tools and ideas that can be used in different ways. It can be treated as a form of simulation modeling in which the goal is to implement preexisting theories. In this approach, connectionist models function as a kind of statistical tool, a way of analyzing a complex set of data. Connectionism can also be seen as providing a small set of general theoretical principles that apply in a variety of domains. Construed in this way, it contributes to the development of theories that are explanatory, not merely descriptive.
A Modest Proposal for a Minor Revolution in the Language of Psychology
Authors: Kimble Gregory A.
Published: April 2006

The definitions of negative reinforcer and negative reinforcement that are currently in nearly universal use are operationally awkward and confusing. The modest proposal for a minor revolution in the language of psychology is to replace the current definitions of positive as well as negative reinforcement with different ones derived from those proposed by E.L. Thorndike (1911) in Animal Intelligence. This revolution should gain popular support because it restores an element of common sense to psychology. It should appeal to science because it is operationally attractive and creates a situation in which important concepts have consistent implications for behavior.
Optimism and Fundamentalism
Authors: Sethi Sheena , Seligman Martin E. P.
Published: April 2006

Explanatory style from nine religious groups, representing fundamentalist, moderate, and liberal viewpoints, was investigated by questionnaire and by blind content analysis of their sermons and liturgy. Fundamentalist individuals were significantly more optimistic by questionnaire than those from moderate religions, who were in turn more optimistic than liberals. The liturgy and sermons showed the parallel pattern of optimism. Regression analyses suggested that the greater optimism of fundamentalist individuals may be entirely accounted for by the greater hope and daily influence fundamentalism engenders, along with the greater optimism of the religious services they hear.
Temporal Oscillations in Human Perception
Authors: Dehaene Stanislas
Published: April 2006

The notion that human perceptual decisions are based on discrete processing cycles rather than a continuous accumulation of information was examined experimentally. Significant periodicities were found in human response times (RT) to feature and conjunction discrimination tasks in the visual and auditory modalities. Individual RT histograms were multimodal, with regularly spaced peaks and troughs, indicating that responses were emitted more frequently at regularly recurring time intervals following stimulus presentation. On average, responses were initiated after four to seven discrete processing steps whose “quantum” duration was proportional to task difficulty.
If Attitudes Affect How Stimuli Are Processed, Should They Not Affect the Event-Related Brain Potential?
Authors: Cacioppo John T. , Crites Stephen L. , Berntson Gary G. , G. H. Coles Michael
Published: April 2006

In Experiment 1, subjects completed an attitude survey to identify items toward which they held positive and negative attitudes. Subsequently, subjects were instructed to count the number of positive (or negative) stimuli in a series. Each series contained six attitude stimuli from a given semantic category (e.g., fruits), and the structure of the series was varied so that positive and negative stimuli, as indexed by subjects' idiosyncratic attitudes, were evaluatively consistent or inconsistent within the series. In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed to personality traits that were positive or negative in series of six. Again, the structure of the series was varied so that positive and negative traits were evaluatively consistent or inconsistent within the series. Results of Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that although the event-related brain potential did not differ as a function of stimulus valence per se, evaluatively inconsistent, in contrast to consistent, stimuli evoked a larger amplitude late P300-like positive component that was maximal over the centroparietal region.
Orientation and Movement in Unusual Force Environments
Authors: Lackner James R.
Published: April 2006

A manned space mission to Mars might take as long as 1 year each way. Consequently, artificial gravity is being considered as a way of preventing the debilitating effects of long-duration exposure to microgravity on the human hotly. The present article discusses some of the problems associated with adapting to the rotation levels that might be used to generate artificial gravity. It also describes how exposure to background-force levels greater or less than the 1-G force of Earth gravity affects orientation and movement control. The primary emphasis of the article is that human movement and orientation control are dynamically adapted to the 1-G force background of Earth and that accommodation to altered force levels or to rotating environments requires a wide range of adaptive changes.
The Experimental Analysis of Cognition in Animals
Authors: Cook Robert G.
Published: April 2006

The origins and current status of comparative cognitive psychology are examined. Great strides have been made in the last 20 years, but two problems are identified as obstacles to future progress. One is the very limited number of species studied by comparative cognitive psychologists. The second is the conflict between the increasing use of complex stimulus discriminations and the need for precise stimulus control in animal experiments. An expanded examination of more species as selected by phylogenetic and ecological considerations and an unwavering demand for the experimental identification of the controlling features of complex discriminations are suggested as solutions to these difficulties.
Cue Competition Effects: Empirical Tests of Adaptive Network Learning Models
Authors: Busemeyer Jerome R. , Myung In Jae , McDaniel Mark A.
Published: April 2006

The ability to predict future consequences on the basis of previous experience with the current set of environmental cues is one of the most fundamental of all cognitive processes. This study investigated how the validity of one cue influences the effectiveness of another cue for predicting a criterion. The results demonstrate a cue competition effect—increasing the validity of one cue decreased the effectiveness of another cue in a linear prediction task, even though the two cues were statistically independent.
The Will Rogers Illusion in Judgments About Social Groups
Authors: Messick David M. , Asuncion Arlene G.
Published: April 2006

Subjects' judgments of the mean of 12 scores were influenced by the way in which the scores were dichotomized. The estimated mean was higher when the three highest scores formed one group (e.g., payments for women) and the nine lowest formed the other (e.g., payments for men) than when the nine highest were one group and the three lowest the other. We call this phenomenon the Will Rogers Illusion (WRI). The WRI occurred only when estimates of the subgroup means were made prior to the estimates of the mean of the whole group. When the latter mean was judged first, the WRI was reversed. These and other data indicate that the means of subgroups can influence judgments of group means, a finding that is relevant to research on social stereotypes.
Contemporary Issues in the Analysis of Data: A Survey of 551 Psychologists
Authors: Zuckerman Miron , Hodgins Holley S. , Zuckerman Adam , Rosenthal Robert
Published: April 2006

We asked active psychological researchers to answer a survey regarding the following data-analytic issues: (a) the effect of reliability on Type I and Type II errors, (b) the interpretation of interaction, (c) contrast analysis, and (d) the role of power and effect size in successful replications. Our 551 participants (a 60% response rate) answered 59% of the questions correctly; 46%) accuracy would be expected according to participants' response preferences alone. Accuracy was higher for respondents with higher academic ranks and for questions with “no” as the right answer. It is suggested that although experienced researchers are able to answer difficult but basic data-analytic questions at better than chance levels, there is also a high degree of misunderstanding of some fundamental issues of data analysis.
Scientists' Evaluations of Research: the Biasing Effects of the Importance of the Topic
Authors: Wilson Timothy D. , DePaulo Bella M. , Mook Douglas G. , Klaaren Kristen J.
Published: April 2006

We tested the hypothesis that the importance of the topic of research can make people overlook methodological flaws in the research. Two samples of scientists, faculty at a major medical school and research psychologists, evaluated the methodological rigor and publishability of brief descriptions of flawed research studies. Two versions of each study were identical except for the importance of the topic (e.g., heart disease vs. heartburn). When the topic was important, scientists in both samples were significantly more likely to overlook the methodological flaws, and significantly more lenient in their recommendations that the studies be published.
Possible Approaches, Actual Approaches
Authors: Darley John M.
Published: April 2006

Given the current problems of our society—crumbling family structure, ethnic discrimination, violence on the streets, fraud in academia, harassment in the workplace—what could be more timely than a review and integration of research on psychological aspects of morality? PS presents three complementary assessments of a new Handbook of Moral Behavior and Development and the state of the field it represents.
How Diagrams Can Improve Reasoning
Authors: Bauer Malcolm I. , Johnson-Laird P. N.
Published: April 2006

We report an experimental study on the effects of diagrams on deductive reasoning with double disjunctions, for example: Raphael is in Tacoma or Julia is in Atlanta, or both. Julia is in Atlanta or Paul is in Philadelphia, or both. What follows?

We confirmed that subjects find it difficult to deduce a valid conclusion, such as Julia is in Atlanta, or both Raphael is in Tacoma and Paul is in Philadelphia.

In a preliminary study, the format of the premises was either verbal or diagrammatic, and the diagrams used icons to distinguish between inclusive and exclusive disjunctions. The diagrams had no effect on performance. In the main experiment, the diagrams made the alternative possibilities more explicit. The subjects responded faster (about 35 s) and drew many more valid conclusions (nearly 30%) from the diagrams than from the verbal premises. These results corroborate the theory of mental models and have implications for the role of diagrams in reasoning.
Timing and Apparent Motion Path Choice With Human Body Photographs
Authors: Shiffrar Maggie , Freyd Jennifer J.
Published: April 2006

In demonstrations of apparent motion, observers typically report seeing motion along the shortest possible path between two sequentially presented objects. Recent work has demonstrated that violations of this shortest path rule occur with realistic photographs of a human body displayed for sufficiently long temporal intervals when a longer path is more anatomically plausible than the shortest path. The current set of experiments investigated the mechanisms by which information about biomechanical motion constrains apparent motion perception. In Experiment I, we demonstrated, first, that the availability of extra processing time does not simply—in and of itself—result in the perception of longer paths of apparent motion. Second, we rejected the hypothesis that the perception of biomechanically correct paths of apparent motion depends on biologically appropriate velocities. In Experiment 2, we discovered that the longer the motion path required to satisfy the biomechanical movement limitations of the stimulus, the longer the time needed to construct and therefore perceive that path. These findings together suggest that additional processing time is necessary, but not sufficient, for interpolations of longer paths.
A Neural System for Error Detection and Compensation
Authors: Gehring William J. , Goss Brian , Coles Michael G. H. , Meyer David E. , Donchin Emanuel
Published: April 2006

Humans can monitor actions and compensate for errors. Analysis of the human event-related brain potentials (ERPs) accompanying errors provides evidence for a neural process whose activity is specifically associated with monitoring and compensating for erroneous behavior. This error-related activity is enhanced when subjects strive for accurate performance but is diminished when response speed is emphasized at the expense of accuracy. The activity is also related to attempts to compensate for the erroneous behavior.
From Blobs to Boundary Edges: Evidence for Time- and Spatial-Scale-Dependent Scene Recognition
Authors: Schyns Philippe G. , Oliva Aude
Published: April 2006

In very fast recognition tasks, scenes are identified as fast as isolated objects How can this efficiency be achieved, considering the large number of component objects and interfering factors, such as cast shadows and occlusions? Scene categories tend to have distinct and typical spatial organizations of their major components If human perceptual structures were tuned to extract this information early in processing, a coarse-to-fine process could account for efficient scene recognition A coarse description of the input scene (oriented “blobs” in a particular spatial organization) would initiate recognition before the identity of the objects is processed We report two experiments that contrast the respective roles of coarse and fine information in fast identification of natural scenes The first experiment investigated whether coarse and fine information were used at different stages of processing The second experiment tested whether coarse-to-fine processing accounts for fast scene categorization The data suggest that recognition occurs at both coarse and fine spatial scales By attending first to the coarse scale, the visual system can get a quick and rough estimate of the input to activate scene schemas in memory, attending to fine information allows refinement, or refutation, of the raw estimate
Going in and out of Languages: An Example of Bilingual Flexibility
Authors: Grosjean Francois , Miller Joanne L.
Published: April 2006

When bilinguals speak to one another, they choose a base language to interact in and then, depending on the need, code-switch to the other (guest) language for a word, a phrase, or a sentence During the perception of a code switch, there is a momentary dominance of base-language units at the onset of the switch, but it is unknown whether this base-language effect is also present in production, that is, whether the phonetics of the base language carry over into the guest language In this study, French-English bilinguals retold stories and read sentences monolingually in English and in French and bilingually in French with English code switches Both the stories and the sentences contained critical words that began with unvoiced stop consonants, whose voice onset times (VOT) were measured The results showed that the base language had no impact on the production of code switches The shift from one language to the other was total and immediate This manifestation of cross-linguistic flexibility is accounted for in terms of a bilingual production model
On Chaotic Behavior
Authors: Ward Lawrence M , West Robert L
Published: April 2006

Neuringer and Voss (1993) described experiments in which humans generated response sequences that approximated features of chaotic sequences generated by iterating the logistic difference equation Although this demonstration is very interesting, we argue that the logistic equation is not a convincing model of their subjects' behavior Further, although any chaotic behavior is in a narrow sense deterministic, there is reason to believe that the prevalence of chaos actually undermines a more globally deterministic view of the world
The Vocabularies of Academia
Authors: Schachter Stanley , Rauscher Frances , Christenfeld Nicholas , Crone Kimberly Tyson
Published: April 2006

It has been demonstrated that humanists are far more likely to use filled pauses (“uh,” “ah,” or “um”) during their lectures than are social or natural scientists This finding has been interpreted in terms of the hypothesis that filled pauses indicate time out while the speaker searches for the next word or phrase Based on the assumption that the more options at a choice point, the more likely a speaker will say “uh,” it is hypothesized that the humanities are characterized by richer vocabularies (i e, more synonyms) than are the sciences An analysis of the number of different words used in lectures and in professional publications indicates that this is indeed the case Scientists consistently use fewer different words than do humanists Further, the number of different words correlates positively with the frequency of saying “uh” during lectures These findings are not restricted to academics, for in newspaper accounts, journalists use fewer different words in stories about science than in stories about the arts
Speech Perception as a Talker-Contingent Process
Authors: Nygaard Lynne C , Sommers Mitchell S , Pisoni David B
Published: April 2006

To determine how familiarity with a talker's voice affects perception of spoken words, we trained two groups of subjects to recognize a set of voices over a 9-day period One group then identified novel words produced by the same set of talkers at four signal-to-noise ratios Control subjects identified the same words produced by a different set of talkers The results showed that the ability to identify a talker's voice improved intelligibility of novel words produced by that talker The results suggest that speech perception may involve talker-contingent processes whereby perceptual learning of aspects of the vocal source facilitates the subsequent phonetic analysis of the acoustic signal
Three-Month-Old Infants Can Learn Task-Specific Patterns of Interlimb Coordination
Authors: Thelen Esther
Published: April 2006

Three-month-old infants cannot yet coordinate and control their limbs for functional tasks like reaching or locomoting This study demonstrates that given an appropriate, novel task, infants can transform their seemingly spontaneous kicking movements into new and efficient patterns of interlimb coordination even at this early age Three-month-old infants were allowed to control the movement of an overhead mobile by means of a string attached to their left ankles In addition, some groups had their two legs yoked together at the ankle with a soft elastic The elastic permitted kicks to be coordinated in any pattern—alternating, single, or simultaneous—but simultaneous kicks provided the most vigorous activation of the mobile All infants kicked more and faster when their kicks were reinforced by mobile movement than when their kicks did not activate the mobile However, only the yoked infants increasingly moved their legs in a simultaneous, or in-phase, pattern The study suggests that learning processes are in place at 3 months for infants to discover a match between their interlimb coordination patterns and a specific task, and that these learning processes, rather than autonomous brain “maturation,” may underlie the acquisition of motor skills
Human Fluctuating Asymmetry and Sexual Behavior
Authors: Thornhill Randy , Gangestad Steven W
Published: April 2006

This report presents evidence that sexual selection may favor developmental stability (i e, the absence of fluctuating asymmetry) in humans Subtle, heritable asymmetries in seven nonfacial human body traits correlated negatively with number of self-reported, lifetime sex partners and correlated positively with self-reported age at first copulation in a college student sample These relationships remained statistically significant when age, marital status, body height, ethnicity, physical anomalies associated with early prenatal development, and physical attractiveness were statistically controlled The strength of the relationships did not differ significantly as a function of sex It is unlikely that the relationships are generated by false self-reporting of sexual experience
Has Psychology a Future?
Authors: Gibson Eleanor J.
Published: April 2006

I consider that psychologists have a duty to explore their own field, to create hypotheses about the behavior of animals, especially human, and to test these and look for possible causal relationships at the level of acting, thinking, perceiving humans in their environmental context Our agenda should be at this level, not one that depends on waiting for reductionist theories at some other level, be it neural, genetic, nuclear, or especially artificial To go about this work, a developmental approach, in a systems setting—the organism-environment system—holds great promise and has the dignity of successful precedents in other sciences

All of behavior—perceiving, acting, problem solving, communicating with others—should be our province The hallmarks of human behavior can and should be studied in all of these areas It is their development that offers a road to understanding We should continue to look for theories of considerable generality, however elegant a model may be in a tiny realm If we cannot find universal laws, we may still come up with unifying principles

Not so long ago, in another keynote address, George Miller told us that it was time to “give psychology away” (Miller, 1969) I am afraid that that is exactly what we are doing, though not in the sense that Miller intended Let us keep psychology, and recapture the old excitement, looking for the causes in behavior itself, and not giving up on the grand unified theory
Graph-Theoretic Confirmation of Restructuring During Insight
Authors: Durso Francis T , Rea Cornelia B , Dayton Tom
Published: April 2006

The “flash of insight” sometimes observed in problem solving and in scientific discovery has been thought to be due to a sudden cognitive restructuring of the problem situation Direct confirmation of restructuring has been difficult without an independent procedure for determining cognitive structure Graph structures were derived from judgments of concept relatedness made by subjects who had an insight and by several groups who either did not or could not have the insight The graphs of the solvers differed from the graphs of subjects who tried and failed, those who listened to the solvers, and those who were given the solution When other subjects in a subsequent experiment repeatedly judged similarity of pairs of concepts, there was evidence that those connections critical to the new cognitive order were targeted long before there was the breathtaking cognitive reorganization
Why Do People Use Figurative Language?
Authors: Roberts Richard M. , Kreuz Roger J.
Published: April 2006

In this article, we examine the discourse goals that are accomplished by the use of eight forms of figurative language: hyperbole, idiom, indirect request, irony, understatement, metaphor, rhetorical question, and simile. Subjects were asked to provide reasons why they would use a particular figure of speech. Based on their responses, a discourse goal taxonomy that includes each of the eight figures was developed. The goal taxonomy indicates that each figure of speech is used to accomplish a unique constellation of communicative goals. The degree of goal overlap between the eight forms was also calculated, and the results provide support for theoretical claims about the relatedness of certain figures. Taken together, the goal taxonomy and overlap scores broaden our understanding of functional and theoretical differences between the various kinds of figurative language.
Adults Listen Selectively; Infants Do Not
Authors: Bargones Jill Y. , Werner Lynne A.
Published: April 2006

Infants' auditory detection thresholds are higher than adult thresholds. Since adults listen selectively for an expected test tone frequency, and selective listening improves their detection performance, one hypothesis about why infant thresholds are high is that infants do not listen selectively. This hypothesis was tested by obtaining listening bands from adults and from 7- to 9-month-old infants. The results replicate earlier findings that adults listen selectively but indicate that infants do not. Lack of selective listening likely contributes to infants' high thresholds. Further, the finding that infants and adults have different listening strategies has implications for infants' auditory perception in general.
Phonological Codes Are Automatically Activated During Reading: Evidence From an Eye Movement Priming Paradigm
Authors: Rayner Keith , Sereno Sara C. , Lesch Mary F. , Pollatsek Alexander
Published: April 2006

Subjects read sentences containing target words that were homophones (words with a single pronunciation but different spellings) while their eye movements were recorded A prime word was presented briefly at the onset of fixation on the target region The prime for a given target (e g, beach) was either identical to the target (beach), a phonologically similar word (the homophone beech), a visually similar nonhomophone (bench), or a dissimilar word (noise) Phonological priming effects were assessed by comparing fixation times on the target when it was preceded by the homophone versus the visually similar word Results suggest that phonological codes are automatically activated during eye fixations in reading
Ethnic and Racial Similarity in Developmental Process: A Study of Academic Achievement
Authors: Rowe David C. , Vazsonyi Alexander T. , Flannery Daniel J.
Published: April 2006

Correlation matrices were computed on academic achievement and family environment measures using longitudinal data on siblings The 8 × 8 correlation matrices were computed on Hispanics, blacks, and whites separately When compared employing a LISREL method, the matrices were equal across these ethnic-racial groups Hence, developmental processes influencing academic achievement may be similar in Hispanics, blacks, and whites A structural equation model with four free parameters was fitted successfully to a correlation matrix pooled across groups As a single structural equation model fitted all groups, the existence of minority-specific developmental processes was not supported
Transfer Between Picture Naming and Translation: A Test of Asymmetries in Bilingual Memory
Authors: Sholl Alexandra , Sankaranarayanan Aruna , Kroll Judith F
Published: April 2006

A transfer paradigm was used to investigate the relationship between picture naming and translation English-Spanish bilniguals first named pictures and subsequently translated words in both their first (LI) and second (L2) languages Some words in the translation task were repetitions of concepts that had previously been named as pictures Whereas picture naming produced reliable transfer to translation from L1 to L2, it produced no transfer to translation from L2 to L1 The results support the claim that connections in bilingual memory are asymmetric Translation is conceptually mediated from L1 to L2 but lexically mediated from L2 to L1
Preschool Origins of Cross-National Differences in Mathematical Competence: The Role of Number-Naming Systems
Authors: Miller Kevin F , Smith Catherine M , Zhu Jianjun , Zhang Houcan
Published: April 2006

Differences in mathematical competence between U S and Chinese children first emerge during the preschool years, favor Chinese children, and are limited to specific aspects of mathematical competence The base-10 structure of number names is less obvious in English than in Chinese, differences between these languages are reflected in children's difficulties learning to count Language differences do not affect other aspects of early mathematics, including counting small sets and solving simple numerical problems Because later mathematics increasingly involves manipulation of symbols, this early deficit in apprehending the base-10 structure of number names may provide a basis for previously reported differences in mathematical competence favoring Chinese schoolchildren
Double Dissociation Between Memory Systems Underlying Explicit and Implicit Memory in the Human Brain
Authors: Gabrieli John D.E. , Fleischman Debra A. , Keane Margaret M. , Reminger Sheryl L. , Morrell Frank
Published: April 2006

Amnesic patients have impaired explicit memory that is evident in poor recall and recognition of words, yet can have intact implicit memory for words as measured by repetition priming, the enhanced efficiency for reprocessing those words The dissociation between explicit and implicit memory for words is a fundamental characteristic of normal cognition that could reflect two different functional architectures of the human brain two separate processing systems or two levels of operation of a single system with implicit memory less demanding of that system We present a patient who has a lesion in the right occipital lobe and who showed intact explicit and impaired implicit memory for words The deficit was specific to visual priming The double dissociation between explicit and implicit visual memory for words indicates that separate processing systems mediate these two forms of memory, and that a memory system in right occipital cortex mediates implicit visual memory for words
The Price of Expertise: Effects of Experience on the Water-Level Task
Authors: Hecht Heiko , Proffitt Dennis R.
Published: April 2006

When shown a tilted container, people often fail to appreciate that the surface of the liquid contained within should remain horizontal with respect to the ground This study investigated how amenable this bias is to experience in relevant everyday situations Surprisingly, liquid surfaces that waitresses and bartenders considered natural deviated even more from horizontal than was the case for comparison groups This finding is, to our knowledge, the only documented case in which performance declines with experience We suggest that practical experience promotes a functionally relative perspective, in which the orientation of the liquid's surface is evaluated relative to that of its container as opposed to being related directly to the surrounding environment The container-relative perspective, in turn, evokes a perceptual bias that is responsible for the systematic errors observed on this task
A Resource Account of Inhibition
Authors: Engle Randall W , Conway Andrew R A , Tuholski Stephen W. , Shisler Rebecca J
Published: April 2006

In a letter-naming task, a letter will be named more slowly if it was a distractor on the previous trial This negative priming effect has been instrumental in renewed interest in inhibition The present research explored whether inhibition is a result of controlled attention When the naming task was performed under a mental work load, negative priming was diminished as work load increased This finding suggests that inhibition is a product of controlled resources and that group differences in inhibition may result from differences in controlled attentional resources, not from inefficient inhibitory mechanisms
The SAT Reading Task in Question: Reply to Freedle and Kostin
Authors: Katz Stuart , Lautenschlager Gary J
Published: April 2006

In a previous issue of Psychological Science, we reported that test takers correctly answer many multiple-choice questions on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) reading task when the passages that normally accompany the questions are missing More important, we found a high correlation between performance with and performance without these passages (Katz, Blackburn, & Lautenschlager, 1991, Katz, Lautenschlager, Blackburn, & Harris, 1990) We concluded that factors having little to do with passage comprehension contribute substantially to performance on the task In a recent commentary, Freedle and Kostin (1994) argued otherwise Using reading items on the SAT and other college-entrance examinations, these authors (hereafter, FK) carried out stepwise regression analyses, apportioning into two groups 65 predictor variables, 46 passage and 19 question variables The question variables were assumed to measure non-passage factors The authors reported that passage variables contribute substantially to variance in item difficulty (sometimes more than 50%, depending on test and item selection), whereas question variables contribute little FK concluded that we have exaggerated the role of nonpassage factors on reading tests
Right-Hemisphere Memory Superiority: Studies of a Split-Brain Patient
Authors: Metcalfe Janet , Funnell Margaret , Gazzaniga Michael S.
Published: April 2006

Six experiments explored hemispheric memory differences in a patient who had undergone complete corpus callosum resection The right hemisphere was better able than the left to reject new events similar to originally presented materials of several types, including abstract visual forms, faces, and categorized lists of words Although the left hemisphere is capable of mental manipulation, imagination, semantic priming, and complex language production, these functions are apparently linked to memory confusions—confusions less apparent in the more literal right hemisphere Differences between the left and right hemispheres in memory for new schematically consistent or categorically related events may provide a source of information allowing people to distinguish between what they actually witnessed and what they only inferred
Response Style and Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Rating Scales Among East Asian and North American Students
Authors: Chen Chuansheng , Lee Shin-ying , Stevenson Harold W.
Published: April 2006

This report examines cross-cultural differences in response style regarding the use of rating scales Subjects were high school students 944 from Sendai (Japan), 1,357 from Taipei (Taiwan), 687 from Edmonton and Calgary (Canada), and 2,174 from the Minneapolis metropolitan area and Fairfax County, Virginia Responses to fifty-seven 7-point Likert-type scales were analyzed The Japanese and Chinese students were more likely than the two North American groups to use the midpoint on the scales, the U S subjects were more likely than the other three groups to use the extreme values Within each cultural group, endorsement of individualism was positively related to the use of extreme values and negatively related to the use of the midpoint These small, albeit statistically significant, differences in response styles generally did not alter cross-cultural comparisons of item means
Orthographic Representation and Phonemic Segmentation in Skilled Readers: A Cross-Language Comparison
Authors: Ben-Dror Ilana , Frost Ram , Bentin Shlomo
Published: April 2006

The long-lasting effect of reading experience in Hebrew and English on phonemic segmentation was examined in skilled readers Hebrew and English orthographies differ in the way they represent phonological information Whereas each phoneme in English is represented by a discrete letter, in unpointed Hebrew most of the vowel information is not conveyed by the print, and, therefore, a letter often corresponds to a CV utterance (i e, a consonant plus a vowel) Adult native speakers of Hebrew or English, presented with words consisting of a consonant, a vowel, and then another consonant, were required to delete the first “sound” of each word and to pronounce the remaining utterance as fast as possible Hebrew speakers deleted the initial CV segment instead of the initial consonant more often than English speakers, for both Hebrew and English words Moreover, Hebrew speakers were significantly slower than English speakers in correctly deleting the initial phoneme, and faster in deleting the whole syllable These results suggest that the manner in which orthography represents phonology not only affects phonological awareness during reading acquisition, but also has a long-lasting effect on skilled readers' intuitions concerning the phonological structure of their spoken language
Memory and Cognitive Abilities in University Professors: Evidence for Successful Aging
Authors: Shimamura Arthur P. , Berry Jane M. , Mangels Jennifer A. , Rusting Cheryl L. , Jurica Paul J.
Published: April 2006

Professors from the University of California at Berkeley were administered a 90-min test battery of cognitive performance that included measures of reaction time, paired-associate learning, working memory, and prose recall Age effects among the professors were observed on tests of reaction time, paired-associate memory, and some aspects of working memory Age effects were not observed on measures of proactive interference and prose recall, though age-related declines are generally observed in standard groups of elderly individuals The findings suggest that age-related decrements in certain cognitive functions may be mitigated in intelligent, cognitively active individuals
Effects of Categorization on Color Perception
Authors: Goldstone Robert L.
Published: April 2006

Subjects were shown simple objects and were asked to reproduce the colors of the objects Even though the objects remained on the screen while subjects reproduced the colors and the objects' shapes were irrelevant to the subjects' task, subjects' color perceptions were influenced by the shape category of an object For example, objects that belonged to categories with redder objects were judged to be more red than identically colored objects belonging to another category Further experiments showed that the object categories that subjects use, rather than being fixed, depend on the objects to which subjects are exposed
Chronic Noise and Psychological Stress
Authors: Evans Gary W. , Hygge Staffan , Bullinger Monika
Published: April 2006

This article illustrates the value of incorporating psychological principles into the environmental sciences Psychophysiological, cognitive, motivational, and affective indices of stress were monitored among elementary school children chronically exposed to aircraft noise We demonstrate for the first time that chronic noise exposure is associated with elevated neuroendocrine and cardiovascular measures, muted cardiovascular reactivity to a task presented under acute noise, deficits in a standardized reading test administered under quiet conditions, poorer long-term memory, and diminished quality of life on a standardized index Children in high-noise areas also showed evidence of poor persistence on challenging tasks and habituation to auditory distraction on a signal-to-noise task They reported considerable annoyance with community noise levels, as measured utilizing a calibration procedure that adjusts for individual differences in rating criteria for annoyance judgments
Prevention of Depressive Symptoms in Schoolchildren: Two-Year Follow-Up
Authors: Gillham Jane E. , Reivich Karen J. , Jaycox Lisa H. , Seligman Martin E.P.
Published: April 2006

After teaching cognitive and social-problem-solving techniques designed to prevent depressive symptoms, we followed 69 fifth- and sixth-grade children at risk for depression for 2 years We compared these children with 49 children in a matched no-treatment control group The prevention group reported fewer depressive symptoms through the 2-year followup, and moderate to severe symptoms were reduced by half Surprisingly, the effects of the prevention program grew larger after the program was over We suggest that psychological immunization against depression can occur by teaching cognitive and social skills to children as they enter puberty
Chronometric Evidence for two Types of Attention
Authors: Johnston James C. , McCann Robert S. , Remington Roger W.
Published: April 2006

Parallel processing in the human brain is subject to severe attentional limits, but it is unclear whether such limits arise from a single attentional process or multiple distinct attentional processes We provide new evidence that two candidates, input attention and central attention, operate at different temporal stages of processing This conclusion is supported by chronometric analyses showing that the same reference stage (letter identification) operates after the stage at which input attention operates, but prior to the stage at which central attention operates The finding that attention operates at different temporal loci provides new support for the existence of distinct attentional processes