Deep dyslexia and the right hemisphere hypothesis: Evidence from the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.

Discusses the theory that asserts that the residual reading abilities seen in deep dyslexia entirely reflect the operation of an intact right hemisphere reading system rather than a partially disabled left hemisphere reading system. Evidence from an experiment with normal Ss in a report by the present author and colleagues (1983) is presented, which suggests that the right hemisphere contains no lexical entries for abbreviations that can be accessed by visual presentation. Data are presented from studies by K. E. Patterson (1980; see also PA, Vols 63:12203 and 64:10691) on 2 male deep dyslexic's understanding of printed abbreviations, along with observations of a young female deep dyslexic who was tested on understanding of abbreviations and on letter-naming abilities. Considerable sparing of the ability to obtain semantic information from printed abbreviations was evidenced in all 3 Ss. This contrast suggests that the current right hemisphere account of the residual reading abilities seen in deep dyslexia is not a sufficient one and should be modified. (French abstract) (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

H. H. Goddard and the immigrants.

Responds to comments by D. D. Dorfman (see record 1982-25821-001), D. Gersh (see record 1982-25825-001), R. J. Herrnstein (1981), and L. J. Kamin (see record 1982-25833-001) on the source of data cited in H. H. Goddard's (1917) article on mental tests with immigrants. An attempt is made to clarify what the cited data about the immigrants represent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child to the United States.

This article raises and reviews the Constitutional and political issues likely to be considered as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (U.N. General Assembly, 1989) moves toward ratification within the U.S. Senate. After reviewing four key areas of potential conflict with U.S. law (provisions related to juvenile justice, education, religious freedom, and definitions of the child), the authors conclude that political rather than genuine Constitutional issues pose the greatest barrier to ratification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study of the accuracy of the Precision Q.I.D. glucometer

The Precision Quantum-in-dium (Q.I.D.) Glucometer was used to determine the glucose concentrations of 38 human blood samples. The same samples were also run on the OPERA Chemistry Autoanalyzer 2010 system. More than 44% of the glucometer reports had a difference of greater than 15% from the respective autoanalyzer reports. The calibration of the glucometer could be the source of the error and an improvement is recommended.     

Educators' perceptions of the D.A.R.E. program

This study examines the perceptions of educators about the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, based on the results of a statewide survey among 286 fifth and sixth grade teachers and principals. Educators gave their highest ratings to teacher/officer interaction, the role playing exercises, and the graduation ceremony. Ratings of overall program quality and the impact of the program on students were both high. Block regression analysis was used to examine factors predictive of educators' views of D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. program elements were the most important factors explaining variance in educators' ratings of over-all program quality and program impact on students. Altogether, 54 percent and 38 percent of the variance in both dependent variables were explained. The results are discussed in terms of the important role teachers and principals play as stakeholders in prevention education.     

Smearing the opposition: Implicit and explicit stigmatization of the 2008 U.S. Presidential candidates and the current U.S. President.

Four studies investigated whether political allegiance and salience of outgroup membership contribute to the phenomenon of acceptance of false, stigmatizing information (smears) about political candidates. Studies 1–3 were conducted in the month prior to the 2008 U.S. Presidential election and together demonstrated that pre-standing opposition to John McCain or Barack Obama, as well as the situational salience of differentiating social categories (i.e., for Obama, race; for McCain, age), contributed to the implicit activation and explicit endorsement of smearing labels (i.e., Obama is Muslim; McCain is senile). The influence of salient differentiating categories on smear acceptance was particularly pronounced among politically undecided individuals. Study 4 clarified that social category differences heighten smear acceptance, even if the salient category is semantically unrelated to the smearing label, showing that, approximately 1 year after the election, the salience of race amplified belief that Obama is a socialist among undecided people and McCain supporters. Taken together, these findings suggest that, at both implicit and explicit cognitive levels, social category differences and political allegiance contribute to acceptance of smears against political candidates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

E. L. Thorndike and the immediacy of reinforcement.

The earliest reference to the immediacy of reinforcement in E. L. Thorndike's writings is found in Animal Intelligence (1911), not in Volume 1 of Educational Psychology as previously stated in an earlier article by L. T. Benjamin and R. Perloff (1982). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

H. M. revisits the Tower of Hanoi Puzzle.

To address the controversy of whether an intact procedural memory system alone can support the teaming of the recursive strategy for solving the Tower of Hanoi Puzzle, the authors tested 2 amnesic patients, H.M. and P.N. Contrary to the report of N. J. Cohen, H. Eichenbaum, B. S. Deacedo, and S. Corkin (1985), both patients failed to master the recursive strategy under the active-interaction condition. In contrast, normal control participants were able to master the strategy under identical testing conditions. The failure of H.M. and P.N. could not be attributed to the differences between the original and current testing conditions. In addition, neither patient showed frontal lobe dysfunction or impairment in procedural memory. Together with evidence provided by theoretical analyses of this puzzle as well as studies on normal participants, the authors conclude that declarative memory plays a vital role in the acquisition of the recursive strategy for solving the Tower of Hanoi Puzzle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: Current challenges.

The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1989. Although by 1996 it has been ratified by 167 countries, the United States is not among this group of countries. The Convention raises complex policy challenges for the United States and the international community. This article gives an overview of 6 articles appearing in this issue of the American Psychologist that address some of these policy challenges from philosophical, legal, political, constitutional, methodological, and cross-cultural perspectives. Perceived strengths of the Convention, as well as potential pitfalls for its successful implementation in different types of contexts, are examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of research in implementing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The most realistic hope that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (U.N. General Assembly, 1989) actually will bring about changed conditions and changed behavior is through promoting research, because research is the only enforcement tool provided for in the Convention. Articles 43, 44, and 45 of the Convention invite a collaboration among signatories, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, and researchers who can help design studies and provide technical assistance. This article examines some of the difficulties that research on this subject will need to consider and overcome if the effort is to succeed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Master resilience training in the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army Master Resilience Trainer (MRT) course, which provides face-to-face resilience training, is one of the foundational pillars of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program. The 10-day MRT course is the foundation for training resilience skills to sergeants and for teaching sergeants how to teach these skills to their soldiers. The curriculum is based on materials developed by the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Resilience Program (PRP), and other empirically validated work in the field of positive psychology. This “train the trainer model” is the main vehicle for the dissemination of MRT concepts to the entire force. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)