ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Age Acquisition Norms from Elderly Spanish People: Characteristics and the Prediction of Word Recognition Performance in Alzheimer's Disease
Author: Cuetos, Fernando
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Alzheimers Disease,Diseases,Young Adults,Older Adults,Patients,Word Recognition,Norms,Cognitive Processes,Age,Language Acquisition,Prediction,Measures (Individuals),Neurological Impairments,Foreign Countries

Age of acquisition is possibly the single most potent variable affecting lexical access. It is also a variable that determines the retention or loss of words in patients who have suffered brain injury, and in patients with Alzheimer's disease. But the norms of age of acquisition currently available have largely been obtained from university students whereas the ages of acquisition for some words are very different for young people compared with the elderly. The aim of this study was to develop age of acquisition norms for a sample of 500 words with people over 60 years. When these norms were compared with others from young people in predicting the results of a group of Alzheimer patients in a lexical selection task we found that the elderly ratings made a better prediction of the data. We recommend that for studies using older participants appropriate norms should be used in place of those obtained from young adults. (Contains 4 tables.)
Interference Effects as a Function of Semantic Similarity in the Translation Recognition Task in Bilinguals of Catalan and Spanish
Author: Moldovan, Cornelia D.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evidence,Language Dominance,Semantics,Translation,Interference (Language),Semiotics,Experiments,Spanish,Language Processing,Bilingualism,Second Language Learning,English,Psychology,Foreign Countries,Universities,Recognition (Psychology),Task Analysis

Previous evidence has shown that word pairs that are either related in form (e.g., &quot;ruc-berro&quot;; donkey-watercress) or very closely semantically related (e.g., &quot;ruc-caballo&quot;, donkey-horse) produce interference effects in a translation recognition task (Ferre et al., 2006; Guasch et al., 2008). However, these effects are not observed when the words have a less close semantic relation (e.g., &quot;ruc-oso&quot;, donkey-bear). The lack of interference in less similar words could be due to the low level of activation of the corresponding semantic representations by the time the translation decision has to be made. The present experiments tested this possibility using the same materials as the previous studies but decreasing from 500 ms to 250 ms the presentation time of the word to be translated. Performance of highly proficient bilinguals of Spanish and Catalan was examined in two experiments. Catalan-Spanish translation direction was tested in Experiment 1 and Spanish-Catalan direction in Experiment 2. The results showed significant effects only with form and very close semantic relations, but not in the case of less closely semantically related words. The pattern of results was the same, regardless of translation direction and language dominance. (Contains 2 figures, 5 tables and 1 footnote.)
Assessing the Discriminating Power of Item and Test Scores in the Linear Factor-Analysis Model
Author: Ferrando, Pere J.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Evaluation,Psychometrics,Test Items,Scores,Factor Analysis,Evaluation Methods,Probability,Evaluation Research

Model-based attempts to rigorously study the broad and imprecise concept of &quot;discriminating power&quot; are scarce, and generally limited to nonlinear models for binary responses. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for assessing the discriminating power of item and test scores which are analyzed or obtained using Spearman's factor-analytic model. The proposed framework is organized on the basis of three criteria: (a) type of score, (b) range of discrimination, and (c) conceptualization and aspect that are measured. Within this framework, the functioning and interpretation of 16 measures, of which 6 appear to be new, are discussed, and the relations between them are established. The usefulness of the proposal in psychometric FA applications is illustrated by means of an empirical example. (Contains 2 tables.)
Comparison of Three Software Programs for Evaluating DIF by Means of the Mantel-Haenszel Procedure: EASY-DIF, DIFAS and EZDIF
Author: Padilla, Jose Luis
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Test Bias,Computer Software,Computer Software Evaluation,Comparative Analysis,Evaluation Research,Test Items,Surveys,Questionnaires,Psychometrics,Statistical Analysis

The analysis of differential item functioning (DIF) examines whether item responses differ according to characteristics such as language and ethnicity, when people with matching ability levels respond differently to the items. This analysis can be performed by calculating various statistics, one of the most important being the Mantel-Haenszel, which can be carried out with software programs such as EZDIF, DIFAS and, more recently, EASY-DIF. In this context, the aim of the present study is to compare these three software programs by using simulated and real data. The procedural characteristics and the results obtained from the same dataset were thus compared by the three programs. DIFAS and EASY-DIF always provide equivalent results, while EZDIF is less accurate when using the thin matching strategy. The results also showed that DIFAS and EASY-DIF were the easiest to run, especially for testing practitioners, with the second offering a broader range of results for key characteristics for detecting DIF. (Contains 6 tables and 7 figures.)
Discourse Updating after Reading a Counterfactual Event
Author: de Vega, Manuel
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Experiments,Identification,Higher Education,Observation,Adults,Sentences,Reading,Discourse Analysis,College Students,Reaction Time

This paper explores the temporal course of discourse updating after reading counterfactual events. To test the accessibility to discourse information, readers were asked to identify probes related to initial events in the text, previous to the counterfactual, or probes related to the critical counterfactual events. Experiment 1 showed that 500 ms after reading events in counterfactual format, initial events were more accessible than after reading the same critical events in factual format. This suggests that discourse updating occurs in factuals, but not in counterfactuals. However, the critical events were equally accessible in both formats, indicating that the alternative "as if" scenario was also activated in counterfactuals. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the initial events continued accessible 1500 ms after reading counterfactuals, but the alternative "as if" scenario becomes less accessible. In sum, the experiments indicate that the realistic meaning of counterfactuals prevents discourse updating at both the early and the late stage, whereas the "as if" meaning was only activated at the initial stage. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)
Phonetic Category Cues in Adult-Directed Speech: Evidence from Three Languages with Distinct Vowel Characteristics
Author: Pons, Ferran
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evidence,Cues,Phonetics,Vowels,Artificial Languages,Infants,Cognitive Processes,Speech Communication,Adults,Foreign Countries,Statistical Analysis

Using an artificial language learning manipulation, Maye, Werker, and Gerken (2002) demonstrated that infants' speech sound categories change as a function of the distributional properties of the input. In a recent study, Werker et al. (2007) showed that Infant-directed Speech (IDS) input contains reliable acoustic cues that support distributional learning of language-specific vowel categories: English cues are spectral and durational; Japanese cues are exclusively durational. In the present study we extend these results in two ways. 1) we examine a language, Catalan, which distinguishes vowels solely on the basis of spectral differences, and 2) because infants learn from overheard adult speech as well as IDS (Oshima-Takane, 1988), we analyze Adult-directed Speech (ADS) in all three languages. Analyses revealed robust differences in the cues of each language, and demonstrated that these cues alone are sufficient to yield language-specific vowel categories. This demonstration of language-specific differences in the distribution of cues to phonetic category structure found in ADS provides additional evidence for the types of cues available to infants to guide their establishment of native phonetic categories. (Contains 2 tables and 8 figures.)
Onset and Offset as Determinants of the Simon Effect
Author: Riggio, Lucia
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Visual Stimuli,Experiments,Cognitive Psychology,Lateral Dominance,College Students,Information Technology,Perceptual Motor Coordination,Reaction Time

We investigated the presence and the characteristics of the Simon effect for onset and offset targets when these stimuli are randomly intermixed. In Experiment 1, two possible target locations were occupied by an occluder. On onset trials, a target appeared above an occluder, while on offset trials one of the occluders disappeared, revealing the target underneath. In Experiment 2, four stimuli appeared randomly in six possible locations. On onset trials, a new stimulus appeared in an empty location while on offset trials, one of the initial stimuli disappeared. In both experiments, the Simon effect for onset and offset targets was characterized by similar size, time course and sequential modulation, suggesting similar sensorimotor interactions between target and response locations. However, the Simon effect in the current trials was more evident when the same type of target (onset or offset) was repeated on successive trials demonstrating the role of stimulus category in its modulation. (Contains 7 figures.)
Memory Dynamics and Decision Making in Younger and Older Adults
Author: Lechuga, M. Teresa
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Memory,Age Differences,Older Adults,Models,Reading Aloud to Others,Comparative Analysis,Decision Making,Observation,Foreign Countries,Experiments,Psychology,Higher Education,Young Adults,Recall (Psychology)

The main aim of this research was to study whether memory dynamics influence older people's choices to the same extent as younger's ones. To do so, we adapted the retrieval-practice paradigm to produce variations in memory accessibility of information on which decisions were made later. Based on previous results, we expected to observe retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) and choice bias in younger and older participants after they engaged in retrieval practice of some studied attributes. In addition, we aimed to compare both age groups' performance in an experimental condition in which retrieval practice was replaced by reading aloud practice of the same studied items. The results indicated that whereas both age groups showed RIF after performing retrieval practice, biased decisions were observed only in the younger participants. Interestingly, neither older nor younger people showed memory impairment or choice bias in the condition of reading practice. These results extend previous findings and support the idea that, under specific circumstances, elderly people may make better choices than younger people. (Contains 2 tables.)
Cognitive Representations of Obligation and Prohibition Signs when They Provide the Same Amount of Semantic Information
Author: Castro, C.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Semantics,Signs,Cognitive Processes,Reaction Time,Visual Aids,Motor Vehicles,Stimuli,Psychometrics,Comparative Analysis,Experiments,Cognitive Psychology,College Students,Traffic Safety,Epistemology

The aim of this research was to test whether there is an inherent difficulty in understanding prohibition signs rather than obligation signs. In the experiment conducted, participants decided whether simple car movements presented on a computer screen were allowed or not according to either obligation or prohibition traffic signs. The information provided by obligation and prohibition signs at a T-junction can be understood as messages in the form: A &quot;mandatory left turn&quot; sign indicates that turning right is not allowed, the same as a &quot;no right turn&quot; sign. Both statements mark each of the relevant roads as &quot;allowed&quot; and &quot;not-allowed&quot; in exactly the same way. However, reasoning studies suggest dramatic differences in behaviour. Previous research showed a general advantage for obligation signs. In this study, the number of alternative roads indicated by these two kinds of traffic sign was controlled using different crossroad junctions. In those particular conditions, our results showed that there is no overall advantage for either obligation or prohibition signs. It depends on the manoeuvre performed by the vehicle. Obligation signs produce faster responses when the manoeuvre is allowed, whereas prohibition signs show faster reaction times when the manoeuvre is not allowed. Those results obtained with diagrammatic information are consistent with some cognitive theories, such as the mental model theory about reasoning with deontic propositions. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)
Predatory Odor Disrupts Social Novelty Preference in Long-Evans Rats
Author: Anderson, Matthew J.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Comparative Analysis,Familiarity,Recognition (Psychology),Olfactory Perception,Animals,Animal Behavior,Novelty (Stimulus Dimension),Social Influences

The present study examined the effects of predatory odor (cat urine) on social novelty preference in Long-Evans rats. Adult male subjects encountered a juvenile conspecific at training, were exposed to either clean cat litter (control) or litter soiled with cat urine (predatory odor), and were tested for social novelty preference. While the predatory odor and control groups did not differ in exploration of the initial conspecific at training or in the investigation of both the novel and familiar conspecifics at test, animals exposed to predatory odor prior to test spent a smaller percentage of their exploration time investigating the novel conspecifics than did controls, suggesting that predator odor is capable of disrupting social novelty preference. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
Mental Modes: Priming of Expertise-Based Dispositions in Expertise-Unrelated Contexts
Author: Larson, Lindsay R. L.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Priming,Expertise,Behavior Change,Musicians,Stimuli,Social Cognition,Personality,Undergraduate Students

Why does the general demeanor of others change as soon as they begin to &quot;talk shop&quot; or do something else that puts them into &quot;work-mode&quot;? We propose that such phenomena reflect an instance of incidental priming in which environmental cues activate actional &quot;sets&quot; formed through extensive training in a particular domain (e.g., music). Accordingly, we demonstrated that, by activating a &quot;musician set,&quot; incidental musically-related stimuli prime musicians to spend more time on a domain-irrelevant task rehearsing nonsense words as compared to controls or non-primed musicians, as this set should involve a tendency towards deliberative practice. This finding provides additional evidence for a central tenet of social cognition research--that the mere presence of ambient stimuli influences behavioral dispositions systematically, in ways that often escape one's awareness. (Contains 1 figure.)
Estimation of Logistic Regression Models in Small Samples. A Simulation Study Using a Weakly Informative Default Prior Distribution
Author: Gordovil-Merino, Amalia
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Regression (Statistics),Models,Simulation,Least Squares Statistics,Computation,Sample Size,Bayesian Statistics

In this paper, we used simulations to compare the performance of classical and Bayesian estimations in logistic regression models using small samples. In the performed simulations, conditions were varied, including the type of relationship between independent and dependent variable values (i.e., unrelated and related values), the type of variable (i.e., binary and continuous), and different Binomial distribution values and symmetry (i.e., symmetry and positive asymmetry). Iteratively re-weighted least squares was used as the estimate method to fit the models in both the classical and Bayesian estimations. A weakly informative default distribution was chosen as the prior distribution for Bayesian estimation. The simulation results demonstrate that Bayesian estimations provide more stable distributions but are not able to solve problems generated by asymmetric distributions based on small samples. Additional research using different kinds of priors that is addressed at solving problems caused by asymmetry is needed. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures and 1 footnote.)
The Dirichlet-Multinomial Model for Multivariate Randomized Response Data and Small Samples
Author: Avetisyan, Marianna
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computation,Sample Size,Responses,Multivariate Analysis,Models,Bayesian Statistics,Response Rates (Questionnaires),Surveys,Drinking,Student Surveys,College Students

In survey sampling the randomized response (RR) technique can be used to obtain truthful answers to sensitive questions. Although the individual answers are masked due to the RR technique, individual (sensitive) response rates can be estimated when observing multivariate response data. The beta-binomial model for binary RR data will be generalized to handle multivariate categorical RR data. The Dirichlet-multinomial model for categorical RR data is extended with a linear transformation of the masked individual categorical-response rates to correct for the RR design and to retrieve the sensitive categorical-response rates even for small data samples. This specification of the Dirichlet-multinomial model enables a straightforward empirical Bayes estimation of the model parameters. A constrained-Dirichlet prior will be introduced to identify homogeneity restrictions in response rates across persons and/or categories. The performance of the full Bayes parameter estimation method is verified using simulated data. The proposed model will be applied to the college alcohol problem scale study, where students were interviewed directly or interviewed via the randomized response technique about negative consequences from drinking. (Contains 5 tables.)
Correcting Two-Sample &quot;z&quot; and &quot;t&quot; Tests for Correlation: An Alternative to One-Sample Tests on Difference Scores
Author: Zimmerman, Donald W.
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Correlation,Statistical Analysis,Statistical Significance,Scores,Sample Size,Error of Measurement

In order to circumvent the influence of correlation in paired-samples and repeated measures experimental designs, researchers typically perform a one-sample Student &quot;t&quot; test on difference scores. That procedure entails some loss of power, because it employs N - 1 degrees of freedom instead of the 2N - 2 degrees of freedom of the independent-samples &quot;t&quot; test. In the case of non-normal distributions, researchers typically substitute the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test for the one-sample &quot;t&quot; test. The present study explored an alternate strategy, using a modified two-sample &quot;t&quot; test with a correction for correlation, analogous to the &quot;z test for correlated samples&quot; used at one time for paired observations. For non-normal distributions, the same modified &quot;t&quot; test was performed on rank-transformed data. Simulations disclosed that this procedure protects the Type I error rate for moderate and large sample sizes, maintains power for normal distributions and several symmetric non-normal distributions, and substantially increases power for various skewed non-normal distributions. (Contains 9 tables, 8 figures and 1 footnote.)
Should Special Program Students Be Placed in Separate Course Sections?
Author: Brothen, Thomas
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Special Programs,Developmental Studies Programs,Program Effectiveness,Supplementary Education,Psychology,Introductory Courses,Discussion (Teaching Technique),Discussion Groups,Matched Groups,Control Groups,Performance Based Assessment,Intermode Differences,Achievement Gains,At Risk Students,Academic Accommodations (Disabilities),Educational Methods

This article describes the evaluation of separate discussion sections for special admissions students participating in a developmental program and attending an introduction to psychology course. In year one, the special admissions students were segregated into separate small enrollment discussion sections within the larger course. In year two, they were integrated into the regular discussion sections. Evaluation of grade performance between the two year periods and comparison of their performance with matched controls each semester revealed no differences. Therefore, the data suggests that segregated sections are not necessary for the success of these students and activities such as Supplemental Instruction (SI) promote more success. (Contains 1 table.)
Critical Inquiry and Writing Centers: A Methodology of Assessment
Author: Bell, Diana Calhoun
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learner Engagement,Writing (Composition),Learning Centers (Classroom),Learning Resources Centers,Learning Laboratories,Institutional Role,Effective Schools Research,Organizational Communication,Inquiry,Evaluation Methods,Success,Models,Program Effectiveness,Program Evaluation,Value Judgment

By examining one writing center's role in student success, this project offers two examples of the way writing centers impact student engagement. This analysis models a methodology that writing and learning center directors can utilize in order to foster effective communication with stakeholders. By conducting data-driven assessment, directors can begin to gather materials with which to negotiate with administrators and situate their centers at the core of student engagement. This work offers a methodology and sample data that produces critical inquiry and the requisite assessment that articulates writing center value. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 1 footnote.)
Nursing Students' Awareness and Intentional Maximization of Their Learning Styles
Author: Mayfield, Linda Riggs
Date: 2012-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Nursing Students,Cognitive Style,Learning Strategies,College Freshmen,Skill Development,Science Process Skills,Student Surveys,Pilot Projects,Learning Theories,Likert Scales,Instructional Development,Instructional Design,Familiarity,Intention,Use Studies,Hypothesis Testing

This small, descriptive, pilot study addressed survey data from four levels of nursing students who had been taught to maximize their learning styles in a first-semester freshman success skills course. Bandura's Agency Theory supports the design. The hypothesis was that without reinforcing instruction, the students' recall and application of that knowledge would decrease as they progressed through the program. The hypothesis was not supported: the highest indicator for intentional application of personal learning style preference was the most frequent choice at every level of the program. Learning assistance professionals have unique opportunities to teach and reinforce students' academic success strategies. This study's outcomes support that effort in that the participants who were taught learning style strategies believed they retained and applied the information throughout all levels of their degree programs. (Contains 3 tables.)