Ambiguity and verbal fluency in the TAT.

15 TAT cards, divided into low-, medium-. and high-ambiguity groups, were administered to 30 female nursing students. Stimulus ambiguity, defined in terms of variability of themes evoked by a given card, was found to be associated with hesitant and disrupted speech. These findings are explained in terms of the mediating role of uncertainty on speech. An adaptation effect was noted. The later, as opposed to the earlier stories, are associated with a longer reaction time, but fewer "ah's," less silence, and a quicker articulation rate. Finally, significant differences are noted between Ss' verbal fluency indexes, based on all 15 cards and thus independent of stimulus ambiguity, and verbal fluency indexes obtained in an interview situation. These differences are discussed in terms of monological vs. dialogical speech. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive functioning in older depressed outpatients: Relationship of presence and severity of depression to neuropsychological test scores.

Neuropsychological evaluation of 73 older healthy, unmedicated outpatients with major depression and 110 controls suggested that relatively distinct cognitive profiles may correspond to the presence vs. severity of depression. Specifically, the presence of depression was associated with subtle weaknesses in visual memory and nonverbal intelligence, with sparing of verbal skills (verbal intelligence, language, and verbal memory), constructional ability, attention, information processing speed, and executive functions. In contrast, increasing severity of depression was associated with mild weaknesses, primarily in information-processing speed and executive skills, but was essentially unrelated to memory (verbal or visual), intelligence, language skills, constructional ability, or basic attention. Findings are discussed in terms of a possible state vs. trait model of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sources of child vocabulary competence: a multivariate model

This study examines sources of individual variation in child vocabulary competence in the context of a multivariate developmental ecological model. Maternal sociodemographic characteristics, personological characteristics, and vocabulary, as well as child gender, social competence, and vocabulary competence were evaluated simultaneously in 126 children aged 1;8 and their mothers. Measures of child vocabulary competence included two measures each of spontaneous speech, experimenter assessments, and maternal reports. Maternal measures, from proximal to distal, included vocabulary, verbal intelligence, personality, attitudes toward parenting, knowledge of parenting, and SES. Structural equation modelling supported several direct unique predictive relations: child gender (girls higher) and social competence as well as maternal attitudes toward parenting predicted child vocabulary competence, and mothers' vocabulary predicted child vocabulary comprehension and two measures of mother-reported child vocabulary expression. In addition, children's vocabulary competence was influenced indirectly by mothers' vocabulary, social personality, and knowledge of child development. Maternal vocabulary itself was positively influenced by SES, maternal verbal intelligence, and mothers' knowledge about parenting. Individual variation in child vocabulary competence might best be understood as arising within a nexus of contextual factors both proximal and distal to the child.     

Body position, facial expression, and verbal behavior during interviews.

The communicative value of body position and facial expression was evaluated by measuring an O's ability to detect a relationship between nonverbal and verbal behavior which had been simultaneously emitted. The verbal and nonverbal stimuli were collected during 2 different standardized stress interviews. Judges (Js) were shown pairs of photographs together with short written speech samples and required on each trial to pick the photograph which matched the verbal behavior. In 4 separate experiments with different groups of Js, accurate judgments were obtained. Evidence for a relationship between nonverbal and verbal behavior simultaneously emitted was replicated across 2 different samples of interview behavior and under 3 cue conditions—seeing the head, body, or whole person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paraprofessional skill: Maintenance of empathic sensitivity after training.

Investigated changes in empathic sensitivity in paraprofessionals as a result of training and examined the maintenance of changes 6–24 mo after training. Also explored was the relationship of verbal intelligence to changes. 47 students in an associate degree mental health/human service program participated. Each S completed a 10-wk training course in 1 of 4 groups. Each was given the Recognition Assessment—Empathy (RA—E) on completion of the course and 6–24 mo later. Ss in 2 groups were also pretested on the RA—E. Empathetic sensitivity did increase after the course, confirming previous research, and changes were not only maintained but increased over time to a level comparable with a normative group of experienced clinicians. Course drop-out and selection effects were judged to be minimal. No significant relationship emerged between verbal intelligence and empathic sensitivity either before or after training. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sociocultural influences on the development of verbal mediation: Private speech and phonological recoding in Saudi Arabian and British samples.

Cross-national stability in private speech (PS) and short-term memory was investigated in Saudi Arabian (n=63) and British (n=58) 4- to 8-year-olds. Assumed differences in child-adult interaction between the 2 nationality groups led to predictions of Gender × Nationality interactions in the development of verbal mediation. British boys used more self-regulatory PS than British girls, whereas there was no such difference for the Saudi group. When age, verbal ability, and social speech were controlled, boys used slightly more self-regulatory PS than girls. Self-regulatory PS was related to children's use of phonological recoding of visually presented material in a short-term memory task, suggesting that PS and phonological recoding represent different facets of a domain-general transition toward verbal mediation in early childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of verbal intelligence in the field approach of selected groups of psychotics.

Assessed field dependence-independence in selected groups of 72 hallucinating and nonhallucinating psychotics, controlling for the effect of verbal intelligence. Controls (N = 24) were less field dependent than patient groups; however, differences in the field approach of nonhallucinating (delusional) and hallucinating psychotics were not significant. Results suggest that previously reported differences in field dependence-independence of selected groups of schizophrenics were possibly due to inadequate control of verbal intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of memory loss in three elderly samples.

Three groups of people ranging in age from 64 to 88 years performed tasks of word generation, paired-associate recall, also free and cued recall. The groups differed in socioeconomic status, verbal intelligence, and apparent levels of daily activity. A fourth group, consisting of young undergraduates, was also tested. Results showed that whereas there were age-related differences in some tests, these age differences were strongly modulated by characteristics of the participants and characteristics of the tasks. The findings are discussed in a contextualist framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in working memory and complex cognition.

The relations among assessments of working memory (WM) and a range of complex cognitive abilities were examined. In 2 experiments participants completed 2 WM tasks designed to assess verbal and nonverbal WM, as well as assessments of verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, and academic achievement. Verbal WM had no relationship with nonverbal intelligence, whereas nonverbal WM had no relationship with verbal intelligence and academic achievement. A reanalysis of P. C. Kyllonen & R. E. Christal (see PA, Vol 78:32248; Experiment 1) is reported in which multiple indicators of WM were used to identify verbal and nonverbal WM factors; both of these WM factors were heavily saturated with a second-order factor, g (61% and 69%, respectively). Convergent and discriminant validation of the multidimensionality of WM was found in the patterns of correlations among the first-order Working Memory, General Knowledge, and Speed factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in children's event memory reports and the narrative elaboration technique.

Children between 7 and 8 years old took pan in a staged event at school and 1 week later were assessed using a short form of the Wechsler Intelligence scale for children (third edition) and measures of metamemory, narrative ability, and socioeconomic status. Two weeks following the event, children either received narrative elaboration training (NET; K.J. Saywitz & L. Snyder, 1996) and were prompted with the four NET cue cards at interview; received verbal prompts corresponding to the cue card categories, but without prior training; or were presented with the cards at interview without prior training. Children given verbal labels as prompts recalled as much information as children who received NET training and cue cards. Measures of intelligence were predictive of amount recalled for cards-only children but not for the other 2 groups, indicating that differences in recall between low- and high-IQ groups were attenuated when recall was supported by NET training or verbal prompting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal Hostility Assessment Technique: description and validation against the criterion of coronary artery disease

High levels of hostility are associated with adverse health outcomes. The Interpersonal Hostility Assessment Technique (IHAT; Barefoot, 1992) measures hostility from verbal behavior during a standardized interview. Four types of behaviors are scored as hostility: evading the question, irritation, and indirect and direct challenges to the interviewer. The sum of the frequencies of these acts is a Hostile Behavior Index (HBI), which is divided into two components: verbal, scored with speech content in mind, and paraverbal, based on vocal stylistics. This study examined characteristics of IHAT assessments in 129 male coronary patients. Satisfactory interrater reliabilities were obtained. The HBI correlated highly (.58) with coronary artery disease severity after controlling for traditional risk factors. This relation was not affected by question topic or by differential weighting of the four hostile behaviors. Both HBI components were significantly correlated with disease. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for hostility assessment.     

Relationship of deficits in intelligence test performance of preschool children to perinatal experience.

The intelligence test records of 193 children age 3 and of 119 age 5 were analyzed in relation to their perinatal experiences and intelligence level (average or superior). The children were classified as unstressed (Group 1), suspect (Group 2), and presumably stressed (Group 3). At both ages, significant differences were found at both intelligence levels between Groups 1 and 2 + 3 in ability to copy forms. At 3 yr. a significant difference between Groups 1 and 2 + 3 in verbal skill was found among the average Ss. It is concluded that isolated deficits on complex verbal and visuomotor tasks may be indicative of minimal birth injury and that such injury is more observable among average than superior children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professional judgments about the relationship between speech and intelligence in African American preschoolers

This study investigated listener judgments of the speech of African American preschoolers. Forty-four judges (Head Start teaching staff = 18, pediatricians = 15, and speech-language pathologists = 11) were asked to watch and listen to a video tape of six children and to judge each child's speech and intelligence. Head Start teaching staff and pediatricians were both likely to perceive that speech and intelligence were related, although the two groups held differing views about the nature of that relationship. Speech-language pathologists were likely to perceive speech as being relatively independent of intelligence.     

Effects of time limits on the interview behavior of Type A and B persons within a brief counseling analog.

48 undergraduates identified as Type A's or B's on the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey completed an experimental task that required a discussion of positive and negative aspects of one's social life with a counselor in time-limited or time-unlimited conditions. Measures were taken of verbal productivity and anxiety demonstrated during the interview. Type A's talked more and faster than Type B's under both conditions. The presence of time limits increased productivity in terms of speech rate for both groups, but increased the anxiety level of Type A's only. Implications for time-limited counseling and the treatment of Type A behavior are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning-set performance in normal and brain-injured men.

Contrasted, the performance on learning-set task of 20 normal and 20 brain-damaged Ss of comparable verbal intelligence. An analysis of variance showed that the normals were superior to the brain damaged in improvement over repeated trials of the same problem and over blocks of similar problems. The normals made fewer errors of perseverative type, repetitive type, and made fewer incorrect choices after a rewarded correct choice. In the normal group, commission of the latter 2 errors was related to verbal intelligence, with no such relationship being found for the brain-damaged Ss. An explanation in terms of conceptual functioning is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological examinations in childhood

Three groups of children aged 8-12 years have been investigated by a test battery to gain insight into the problems surrounding the relationship between cerebral and behavioral development. One group was of children with circumscribed cortical lesions, one was a group of dyslexics with neurologic anomalies, and the third was a control group of children without brain lesions. General test intelligence did not differ significantly in the three groups. Marked differences between the various lesion groups are observable in some tests but not in others. For example, the results of children with left temporal lesions in the verbal part of the intelligence test and in fresh language memory were inferior to those of all other lesion groups and the controls, while the dyslexics showed a similar if less marked deficit. Non-linguistic (figural) memory did not differ as between groups. On the other hand, children with right frontal lesions were notable for inferior results in a visual learning test and a classification test. In a linguistic-dichotic test all the groups of brain lesions and the dyslexics differed from the control group, a fact which suggests retarded development of hemispheric dominance for speech functions. From these provisional results it can be concluded that the brain areas do not all specialize simultaneously, and that compensation of cerebral lesions in relation to different functions probably results in retardation of overall brain development and anatomico-functional specialization.     

Psychological aspects of a sex chromatin abnormality.

A sample of 147 special security patients with no demonstrated chromosome abnormality, and with no evidence of brain damage or psychosis, was compared with two groups of genetically abnormal patients, evincing an XXY or XYY chromosome pattern. The XXY patients were significantly lower in verbal and performance ability than were the patients in the other two groups. They were also more defensive in answering a personality questionnaire, but this was shown to be partly a function of their lower intelligence. Both of the genetically abnormal groups contained a higher proportion of subjects with significantly depressed verbal abilities than in the control group, though the trend was similar for all three groups. Approximately two-thirds of both genetically abnormal groups committed some form of sex crime. It was suggested that this might indicate a specific genetic-based lag in mental aspects of sexual maturation in addition to the already demonstrated general social instability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)