Negative evidence on negative evidence.

Previous work has shown that recasts may be contingent responses to children's early ungrammaticality. On this basis, it has been claimed that recasts provide negative evidence, thereby offsetting the need for linguistic constraints in theories of acquisition. This study explores whether children exploit negative evidence putatively provided by recasts by examining whether parental recasts are associated with children's recovery from particular overgeneralization errors. Data from longitudinal investigations of 2 common syntactic errors reveal that recasts are related to children's subsequent grammaticality. However, contrary to what would be expected if recasts serve as corrections, the data show that recasts are negative leading indicators of grammaticality. Finally, correction and negative evidence are examined and are shown to be nonequivalent. Therefore, corrections in whatever form they might exist can offset only a limited subset of proposed innate constraints on language acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bring Back Gratis Reprints.

Argues that cutting out free reprints or reasonable charges on reprints drives scholars to mimeograph their papers for private distribution. The costs of mimeographing are hidden, but the waste to society and the scholarly community is fantastic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between articles read and reprints requested.

Attempted to demonstrate a relationship between the number of reprints of psychology journal articles a reader requests and the number of articles read. Survey data from 283 members of the American Psychological Association revealed that an estimate of the number of readers of an article may be obtained by multiplying by 10.75 the number of requests for reprints for that article received by the author. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to correct a task error: Task-switch effects following different types of error correction.

It has been proposed that switch costs in task switching reflect the strengthening of task-related associations and that strengthening is triggered by response execution. The present study tested the hypothesis that only task-related responses are able to trigger strengthening. Effects of task strengthening caused by error corrections were considered. Recent findings suggest that errors lead to erroneous task strengthening, which, however, can be reversed by immediate error correction (Steinhauser & Hübner, 2006). In three experiments, the present study examined whether this effect is also obtained when task responses and correction responses share the same response categories but are assigned to different hands or different response modalities (manual vs. vocal). Results indicated that only corrections with the same hand but not corrections with the alternative hand or a different response modality can reverse erroneous task strengthening. These results suggest that only the execution of task-related responses triggers task strengthening, whereas the activation of task-related response categories is not sufficient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology: Contents of Volume 43, pages iii-xiii: Erratum.

Reports several errors in the Contents of Volume 43, pages iii-xiii, of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Original entries and their corrections are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of a checking procedure for reducing clerical and computational errors on the WAIS-R.

Evaluated a Compu-Check Form (CCF) of verification algorithms for checking Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R) clerical and computational procedures. 40 senior undergraduates and MA graduate students were trained to score fictitious WAIS—R protocols. 60% of the Ss made errors, and approximately 30% of the protocols contained errors. These errors frequently resulted in IQ discrepancies. Most IQ inaccuracies were small, although 10% of the summary IQs on protocols with errors deviated between 4 and 12 points. A subsample of Ss was trained to use the CCF. Fewer Ss made errors after applying the CCF. Changes in error rates and corrections to summary IQs also supported the utility of the CCF. In a field trial, 6 of 7 practitioners who used the CCF detected errors on 15 of 47 WAIS—R protocols selected from clinical files. Only 1 of these clinician errors resulted in a substantial IQ error. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On Reprint Requests.

Urges those who request reprints to make sure that they have typed, as well as signed, their names and that they have tagged the right article with the right author; and notes problems associated with incorrect, unsigned, or illegible reprint requests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirically supported treatments or type I errors? Problems with the analysis of data from group-administered treatments.

When treatments are administered in groups, clients interact in ways that lead to violations of a key assumption of most statistical analyses-the assumption of independence of observations. The resulting dependencies, when not properly accounted for, can increase Type I errors dramatically. Of the 33 studies of group-administered treatment on the empirically supported treatments list, none appropriately analyzed their data. The current authors provide corrections that can be applied to improper analyses. After the corrections, only 12.4% to 68.2% of tests that were originally reported as significant remained significant, depending on what assumptions were made about how large the dependencies among observations really are. Of the 33 studies, 6-19 studies no longer had any significant results after correction. The authors end by providing recommendations for researchers planning group-administered treatment research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Manners, Money, and Reprints.

Comment on the economics, etiquette, and benefits of requesting reprints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Updating Target Location at the End of an Orienting Saccade Affects the Characteristics of Simple Point-to-Point Movements.

Six results are reported. (a) Reaching accuracy increases when visual capture of the target is allowed (e.g., target on vs. target off at saccade onset). (b) Whatever the visual condition, trajectories diverge only after peak acceleration, suggesting that accuracy is improved through feedback mechanisms. (c) Feedback corrections are smoothly implemented, causing the corrected and uncorrected velocity profiles to exhibit similar shapes. (d) Initial kinematics poorly predict final accuracy whatever the condition, indicating that target capture is not the only critical input for feedback control. (e) Hand and eye final variability are unrelated, suggesting that gaze direction is not a target signal for arm control. (f) Extent errors are corrected without modification of movement straightness; direction errors cause path curvature to increase. Together these data show that movements with straight paths and bell-shaped velocity profiles are not necessarily ballistic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling performance at the trial level within a diffusion framework: A simple yet powerful method for increasing efficiency via error detection and correction.

When faced with a relatively novel task, it is reasonable to assume that increases in performance efficiency depend upon processing adjustments that occur in response to errant or suboptimal performance. For such dynamic corrections to occur, the errors must first be noted, which can be challenging in contexts where no external feedback is provided. In the present article, the authors describe how a “double cross” error monitoring and correction process can be added to diffusion models of binary decision. The authors first outline the logick of our proposed error detection system, and then demonstrate that the addition of this double-cross process in the context of a simulation of lexical decision leads to more efficient responding. That is, with such a mechanism in place, the model was able to gradually respond more quickly and the distribution of errors became more consistent with human response patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial rehabilitation of deaf persons with severe mental illness: A multivariate model of residential outcomes.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 39(3) of Rehabilitation Psychology (see record 2007-10691-001). The article "Psychosocial Rehabilitation of Deaf Persons with Severe Mental Illness: A Multivariate Model of Residential Outcomes" by Judith A. Cook, Karen Kozlowski Graham, and Lisa Razzano was published with an excessive number of typographical errors. The publisher apologizes to the Journal's readers, the article authors, and the Guest Editor of the Special Issue on Deafness, for the confusion these misprints caused. Revised reprints of both articles may be obtained from the Publisher at the following address: Springer Publishing Co., Journals Department, 536 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.] Focuses on an innovative model of community treatment that integrates the fields of psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) and deaf culture. A longitudinal research design was used to evaluate the progress of 60 Ss with mental illness and deafness toward living in the community due to a PSR program. Results suggest that deaf, mentally ill clients can increase their residential independence through PSR program participation. The number of Ss living in normal, commercial housing rose 25% after program participation. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that 5 factors account for 47% of the variance in the residential outcomes of the Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychosocial rehabilitation of deaf persons with severe mental illness: A multivariate model of residential outcomes": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by J. A. Cook, et al (Rehabilitation Psychology, 1993[Winter], Vol 38[4], 261–274). This article was printed with an excessive number of typographical errors. The publisher apologizes to the Journal's readers, the article's authors, and Robert Q. Pollard, Jr., the Guest Editor of the Special Issue on Deafness, for the confusion these misprints caused. Revised reprints of the article may be obtained from the Publisher at the following address: Springer Publishing Co., Journals Department, 536 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1994-27164-001.) Focuses on an innovative model of community treatment that integrates the fields of psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) and deaf culture. A longitudinal research design was used to evaluate the progress of 60 Ss with mental illness and deafness toward living in the community due to a PSR program. Results suggest that deaf, mentally ill clients can increase their residential independence through PSR program participation. The number of Ss living in normal, commercial housing rose 25% after program participation. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that 5 factors account for 47% of the variance in the residential outcomes of the Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model of long-term memory storage in the cerebellar cortex: a possible role for plasticity at parallel fiber synapses onto stellate/basket interneurons

By evoking changes in climbing fiber activity, movement errors are thought to modify synapses from parallel fibers onto Purkinje cells (pf*Pkj) so as to improve subsequent motor performance. Theoretical arguments suggest there is an intrinsic tradeoff, however, between motor adaptation and long-term storage. Assuming a baseline rate of motor errors is always present, then repeated performance of any learned movement will generate a series of climbing fiber-mediated corrections. By reshuffling the synaptic weights responsible for any given movement, such corrections will degrade the memories for other learned movements stored in overlapping sets of synapses. The present paper shows that long-term storage can be accomplished by a second site of plasticity at synapses from parallel fibers onto stellate/basket interneurons (pf*St/Bk). Plasticity at pf*St/Bk synapses can be insulated from ongoing fluctuations in climbing fiber activity by assuming that changes in pf*St/Bk synapses occur only after changes in pf*Pkj synapses have built up to a threshold level. Although climbing fiber-dependent plasticity at pf*Pkj synapses allows for the exploration of novel motor strategies in response to changing environmental conditions, plasticity at pf*St/Bk synapses transfers successful strategies to stable long-term storage. To quantify this hypothesis, both sites of plasticity are incorporated into a dynamical model of the cerebellar cortex and its interactions with the inferior olive. When used to simulate idealized motor conditioning trials, the model predicts that plasticity develops first at pf*Pkj synapses, but with additional training is transferred to pf*St/Bk synapses for long-term storage.     

Reprints: The New Ethic.

Commentary regarding what should be done about reprints especially when costs are a factor. Suggestions are provided by the author, such as, (a) Give or send reprints to those persons who will almost certainly be interested in the paper because of their general expertness, or their special activity, or their being mentioned in the paper. (b) Give or send also to those professional friends who will be interested in the paper simply because of its author, not because of its content. The lists for a and b can be broad or narrowly limited according as the author does or does not get pleasure from this kind of giving. This is his pleasure; let him decide how much he wishes to spend on it. Then (c) let the author meet requests by letter and postcard as they come in as long as he feels he can afford to. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Comment on summary report of journal operations": Comment on Roediger.

Comments on an article by H. L. Roediger III (see record 1990-58906-001) concerning the number of subscribers to APA journals. Roediger concluded that most APA members feel no need to keep up with the work in the primary journals. Blackman points out that many people keep up with journals by reading in university and hospital libraries, by sending for reprints of studies abstracted in Psychological Abstracts, and by other literature review methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Help!

The author comments on the American Psychological Association's request that readers include the city postal zone number when contacting the office concerning any APA journals (American Psychologist, 1963, 18, ad page). The author agrees but suggests that APA will go one step further by specify the address of the authors to whom requests for reprints of articles printed in the APA journals should be sent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Haggbloom et al (2002).

Reports two errors in the original article by S. J. Haggbloom et al (Review of General Psychology, 2002[Jun], 6[2], 139-152). The errors are noted by S. L. Black of the Dept of Psychology at Bishop's U, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada. Black calls for a reassessment and revision of the list. The original author responds with corrections. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2002-02996-001.): The following A rank-ordered list was constructed that reports the first 99 of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Eminence was measured by scores on 3 quantitative variables and 3 qualitative variables. The quantitative variables were journal citation frequency, introductory psychology textbook citation frequency, and survey response frequency. The qualitative variables were National Academy of Sciences membership, election as American Psychological Association (APA) president or receipt of the APA Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award, and surname used as an eponym. The qualitative variables were quantified and combined with the other 3 quantitative variables to produce a composite score that was then used to construct a rank-ordered list of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)