Comprehending envy.

The authors reviewed the psychological research on envy. The authors examined definitional challenges associated with studying envy, such as the important distinction between envy proper (which contains hostile feelings) and benign envy (which is free of hostile feelings). The authors concluded that envy is reasonably defined as an unpleasant, often painful emotion characterized by feelings of inferiority, hostility, and resentment caused by an awareness of a desired attribute enjoyed by another person or group of persons. The authors examined questions such as why people envy, why envy contains hostile feelings, and why it has a tendency to transmute itself. Finally, the authors considered the role of envy in helping understand other research domains and discussed ways in which people cope with the emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehending verbal comprehension.

Discusses cognitive bases of verbal comprehension, emphasizing in particular the role in verbal comprehension of learning from context. A review of 3 alternative cognitive approaches to understanding verbal comprehension is provided: (1) the "bottom-up" or mechanistic approach, (2) the "top-down" or inference-driven approach, and (3) the knowledge-based approach. A developing theory of learning from context is described, and some empirical data supporting this theory are summarized. An attempt is made to relate these ideas to relevant earlier ones, describing a tentative componential framework for understanding verbal comprehension. It is concluded that understanding of verbal comprehension provides an important road to the study of what constitutes intelligent performance. (93 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for referential statements in texts.

Two experiments investigated memory for referential statements in texts. Both experiments found superior recognition for subjects reading original texts as opposed to reversed texts (see Bates, Kintsch, Fletcher, & Giuliani, 1980). However, there was no difference in the choice of targets between original-text and no-text subjects. In both experiments the original-text subjects, but not the reversed text or no-text subjects, showed a recognition bias for explicit over implicit referential statements. Experiment 2 showed a subject preference for noun phrases over pronouns only when the sentence contained a single referent. When the sentence contained a repeated referent, there was a preference for pronouns in all three groups of subjects. These results suggest that observations of verbatim memory depend crucially on the method of testing. When subjects were tested against a reversed-text group, the results of Bates et al. (1980) were replicated. However, when the subjects were tested against a no-text group, which controls for discourse constraints free from memory effects, then verbatim memory was not observed, only reconstruction biases. These results are discussed in the light of more general notions of verbatim memory and in terms of the likely role of referential statements in a discourse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early referential understanding: Infants' ability to recognize referential acts for what they are.

Previous research has documented infants' ability to follow adults' line-of-regard and pointing gestures by 9–22 mo of age, but it has not been clear whether infants appreciate that such cues are a priviledged source of information about word reference. Study 1 demonstrated that this is understood by at least 19–20 mo: Infants used referential cues to guide a new word–object mapping even though this required that they ignore competition from temporal contiguity. In Study 2, the effects observed in Study 1 were not obtained with actions that served to enhance the salience of an object nonreferentially (e.g., manipulating without looking), suggesting that infants appreciate that actions that accompany labeling are not necessarily referential. Taken together, these indicate that language learning is grounded in a relatively rich understanding of cues to reference, at least from late infancy on. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The referential dynamics of cognition and action.

Referential behavior theory (RBT), a general dynamical approach to psychological and related systems that operate through a control or referencing process, is introduced. A review of existing evidence shows that this approach can apply to a variety of human and animal systems and tasks, whether the framing language is that of homeostasis, error correction, coupled biological oscillators, motor control, adaptive change, cognitive goal-setting, evaluation and refinement, or neural network learning. Thus, RBT provides a path for reconciliation of dynamical and information-processing accounts of action and cognition. RBT generates a class of mathematical equations, one of which, the discrete control equation (DCE), forms the basis for more detailed investigation. The primary focus here is on the application of the DCE to the temporal structure of regular human movement. Given certain conditions, the equation produces various standard (and new, more general) forms of the circle map class that governs relative phase in motor coordination and, hence, generates well-documented nonlinear "dynamical" motor phenomena such as behavioral attractors, phase transitions, critical slowing, and so on. Under certain other conditions, the DCE produces the linear stochastic timing models… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trade-offs in Detecting Letters and Comprehending Text.

Critics of the letter detection task have questioned whether findings from that paradigm reflect normal reading processes. The present study addresses these questions using a new computerized version of the letter detection task in which reading rate along with letter detection and comprehension accuracy are examined. Previous letter detection findings were replicated with this new computerized task. Different conditions were compared in which detection and comprehension instructions were manipulated as well as the salience of the target letters. The requirement to comprehend had small effects on letter detection accuracy and reading rate, and letter detection only modestly reduced comprehension. Thus, the procedures developed in this study permit examination of the component processes contributing to performance in the letter detection task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of comparison training on children's referential communication.

Assessed whether teaching children to engage in comparison activity improves their referential communication performance. In contrast to previous communication training studies, the training focused on a specifiable unitary skill, employed a teaching procedure with known effectiveness, and controlled for practice and other familiarity effects. Two training experiments with 3rd- and 4th-grade children were conducted. Results from Exp I indicate that 33 trained Ss improved more than 32 control Ss in communication accuracy. Furthermore, gains were maintained at the 1-mo follow-up. Exp II (20 undergraduates; 43 children) examined training effects on message appraisal as well as message production. Results indicate significant training effects on both tasks. Results demonstrate that inadequate comparison processing contributes to children's poor communication performance. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Operational thought and the acquisition of taxonomic relations involving figurative dissimilarity.

Atypical exemplars of taxonomic categories (e.g., clothing, furniture) differ from more typical exemplars along figurative dimensions of perceptual and contextual similarity. The advent of operational thought might be expected to facilitate category acquisition because it engenders a competence to suppress figurative dissimilarities and focus on nonfigurative similarities (e.g., common function). Age- and grade-equivalent preoperational and concrete operational groups were given oddity, sort, and category membership tasks with pictorial stimuli. Concrete operational subjects showed a greater appreciation than preoperational subjects for taxonomic relations involving atypical exemplars. Subjects of both cognitive levels could appreciate taxonomic relations involving strictly typical or moderately typical exemplars of a category. Results are interpreted as supporting a contention that meanings become more general with the emergence of operational thought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From figurative to operative expectancy in the perceptual judgments of children.

Conducted 2 studies on "figurative expectancy," the tendency to make perceptual judgments on the basis of temporal patterns. In Exp I, 60 4-9 yr old children were shown 4 series of animal pictures in which the relative strengths of the temporal patterns were varied. Results show (a) a significant decrease with age in figurative expectancy and (b) significantly more figurative expectancy in the case of a strong temporal sequence linked with a weak critical figure than in the case of a weak temporal sequence linked with a strong critical figure. In Exp II, 66 4-yr-old children were shown a single series of pictures presented at different rates and with critical figures that were ambiguous or nonambiguous. Results show that there was more figurative expectancy the more rapid the rate of presentation. There was also an ambiguity effect showing more figurative expectancy judgments the greater the ambiguity of the critical figure. Results support Piaget's theory of perceptual development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metric distance models of creativity and children's appreciation of figurative language.

36 kindergartners, 3rd, and 6th graders indicated their semantic preferences among 9 figures of speech. Ss were administered the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Results indicate that at the kindergarten level, Ss' appreciation of figurative language may be based on nonverbal creativity. But at Grades 3 and 6, presumably with the onset of operational reasoning, Ss' figurative language behavior is increasingly tied to verbal IQ and verbal creativity. Results are consistent with the notion that figurative language behavior is essentially an exercise in creativity. Developmental differences in the relationship between creativity and figurative language are discussed in terms of changes in cognitive development. A least-squares metric distance solution is established for scaling Ss' preference judgments. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word learning in the context of referential and salience cues.

Adult referential behavior (gaze direction) and salience (target activation) were independently manipulated in a study of novel word learning. Children (seventy-five 18-month-olds and seventy-two 24-month-olds) were trained in different conditions with a novel word in the context of 2 remote-controlled toys. In response to the novel word at test, 24-month-olds tended to pick out the toy to which the adult referred in all conditions. They also tended to use the novel word appropriately. Comprehension by 18-month-olds was good when the salience of the toy did not conflict with the adult's referential intent, but it was disrupted when referential and salience cues conflicted and when referential cues were not available. Results imply that, at 24 months, children use the referential intent of the speaker to learn new words, but when first learning words, children may have a less secure grasp on the meaning of speakers' referential cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's referential communication: Components of plans for effective listening.

Investigated the effects of 2 plans on children's listener behavior in a referential communication setting. The design systematically varied the presence and absence of instructions about a plan to engage in comparison activities (comparison plan) and instructions about a plan to request more information if the speaker's message was ambiguous (action plan). 94 elementary school Ss played the role of listener. The speaker was an adult confederate who produced messages of varying informational adequacy. Results show that on an immediate test, Ss who received the action plan asked more questions when the messages were ambiguous and made more correct referent choices than other Ss. These effects persisted on a test administered 2 wks later and were observed both for nameable and abstract stimulus items. No significant effect of the comparison plan was observed. Results suggest that knowing when and how to request additional information is an important listener skill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How feedback from a listener affects children's referential communication skills.

Investigated how feedback from a listener helps young children attend to message quality and how such feedback affects speaking and listening skills. 84 kindergartners watched a speaker doll and a listener doll play a communication game in which the speaker was supposed to verbally distinguish one item from among several for the listener. In fact, however, the speaker always gave ambiguous messages. The listener attempted to select the item described by the speaker and either made a correct selection, made an incorrect selection, or asked for more information. Ss then evaluated the adequacy of the speaker's message. One week later they completed a speaking and a listening task. Results indicate that at this age children learn to assess message adequacy through observing listeners flounder with inadequate messages. Only with explicit feedback detailing the nature of the ambiguity, however, do children improve their own speaking and listening skills. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analog and digital descriptions of behavior.

Discusses the signal representation of an event and computer-generated analogs, both of which attempt to represent a continuous function in nature (e.g., body temperature) by means of a continuous function in another medium (e.g., a graph). Although an analog is an inferior method of representing reality compared to abstract symbol systems involved in language or numbers, it is the superior system in some cases (e.g., carpentry). This paradox is examined in 3 areas: learning a complex skill, single-case personality research, and clinical research. Reasons for the appeal of analog systems in these areas are discussed. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of personality disorder descriptions.

A study of 14 abnormal psychology textbooks suggests that such textbooks present very little information on personality disorders. Antisocial personality disorder was the most thoroughly covered disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of conventional object term descriptions.

Analyzed responses to questions about object terms to determine within-S consistency and between-S commonality with peers and adults in 12 kindergartners, 12 2nd graders, and 48 undergraduates. Ss answered 5 general questions about object terms and 8 specific questions tapping different object dimensions. Results indicate that the dimensions that Ss mentioned varied according to the general probe administered and the object discussed. Children's tendencies to mention the same dimensions (e.g., shape) when discussing different object terms depended on both age and general probe. Older children shared specific values of dimensions (e.g., round) with peers and adults more often than did younger children. It is suggested that these developmental trends in peer commonality and adult conventionality of values may have important implications for the development of communication skills. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)