On the extension of Coghill's developmental principles.

It is the thesis of this note that the commonly accepted primary development trends outlined by G. E. Coghill (see record 1929-02195-000) and elaborated on by R. E. Scammon and L. A. Calkins (1929) represent truncated expressions which consider only part of the entire developmental sequence. Development, considered broadly, encompasses the entire period from birth (or perhaps conception) to death. Accepting this definition requires an extension of Coghill's principles. It is contended that these principles may be so expanded as to cover the entire developmental period and that some probable practical implications may be thereby derived. It is noted that the development of motoric control of the cephalic region has been observed to precede control of the caudal region. The final developmental principle to be elaborated upon states that development of motoric control proceeds from the proximal areas to those areas more distal. As we have observed that loss of distal control appears to occur first, we have extended this principle to read, "proximo-distal-proximo." There are numerous observations that seem to support these suggested extension of the familiar developmental sequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of the evaluation and similarity principles in the false consensus effect.

Examined 2 principles of judgment derived from balance theory that may serve as foundations for the false consensus effect (FCE). The evaluation principle involves judges assuming the generally positive targets have other positive qualities. This principle was predicted to produce a limited FCE, emerging only for positive targets and only for qualities whose evaluation varies with the judge's own status. When the similarity principle is invoked, judges use self-knowledge directly as they infer that generally positive targets are "like me." This principle was predicted to produce an FCE for all characteristics, whether they were variably or universally evaluated. In Study 1, with 107 undergraduates, the evaluation principle was evoked as targets were chosen who had no relationship with the judges and who were described in positive, negative, or neutral terms. A limited FCE resulted, but for positive targets only. Study 2, with 173 Ss, attempted to evoke a similarity principle by using reference group targets to highlight the relationship between the judge and the target. A limited FCE resulted, suggesting that the evaluation principle predominated. Studies 3 and 4, with 344 Ss, attempted to evoke the similarity and evaluation principles within a single study so that they could be compared for ratings of individuals or groups. However, in both studies, limited FCEs were produced in all cases, suggesting that an evaluation principle again predominated. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: The role of modality and contiguity.

Students viewed a computer animation depicting the process of lightning. In Experiment 1, they concurrently viewed on-screen text presented near the animation or far from the animation, or concurrently listened to a narration. In Experiment 2, they concurrently viewed on-screen text or listened to a narration, viewed on-screen text following or preceding the animation, or listened to a narration following or preceding the animation. Learning was measured by retention, transfer, and matching tests. Experiment 1 revealed a spatial-contiguity effect in which students learned better when visual and verbal materials were physically close. Both experiments revealed a modality effect in which students learned better when verbal input was presented auditorily as speech rather than visually as text. The results support 2 cognitive principles of multimedia learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The utility of theories in intuitive statistics: The robustness of theory-based judgments.

Research on human judgment demonstrates that people's theories often bias their evaluation of evidence and suggests that people might be more accurate if they were unbiased by prior beliefs. In 2 studies using the covariation estimation problem and the t-test problem, judgments made by Ss who had potentially biasing prior information about data were compared to those made by Ss who were not biased by prior information. 265 undergraduates served as Ss in Study 1; 201 undergraduates were Ss in Study 2. The quality of the data was varied to present Ss with data that were either well-behaved or contaminated with outliers. In both studies, Ss' judgments approximated robust statistical measures rather than the conventional measures typically used as normative criteria. The usual biasing effects of prior beliefs were found, along with an advantage for Ss who had prior theories—even incorrect ones—over Ss who were completely "objective." Potentially biasing beliefs both enhanced Ss' sensitivity to the bulk of the data and reduced the influence atypical scores had on their estimates. Evidence is provided that this robustness results from the fact that prior theories make judgment problems more meaningful. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing third-grade student' mathematical problem solving with self-regulated learning strategies.

The authors assessed the contribution of self-regulated learning strategies (SRL), when combined with problem-solving transfer instruction (L. S. Fuchs et al., 2003), on 3rd-graders' mathematical problem solving. SRL incorporated goal setting and self-evaluation. Problem-solving transfer instruction taught problem-solution methods, the meaning of transfer, and 4 superficial-problem features that change a problem without altering its type or solution; it also prompted metacognitive awareness to transfer. The authors contrasted the effectiveness of transfer plus SRL to the transfer treatment alone and to teacher-designed instruction. Twenty-four 3rd-grade teachers, with 395 students, were assigned randomly to conditions. Treatments were conducted for 16 weeks. Students were pre- and posttested on problem-solving tests and responded to a posttreatment questionnaire tapping self-regulation processes. SRL positively affected performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental study of hypothesis testing and cue selection strategies.

Previous investigators who have evaluated M. Levine's hypothesis testing model of learning have employed blank-trial probes in order to determine which hypothesis was sampled on specific trials. A method of determining which hypothesis was sampled that did not require blank trials was administered to children in Grades 1, 3, and 5, undergraduates, and old adults (mean age = 75 years). A 2-choice, multidimensional discrimination task was presented in which the Ss first chose the stimulus thought to be correct and then pointed to a single cue in a complete set of decomposed cues from the learning task. Results are in accord with other studies of hypothesis testing in that developmental differences were observed. Younger and older children differed in the cue selection strategies used during learning. Undergraduates used very efficient strategies that often led to learning, while the old adults were quite inconsistent and often failed to recognize when they had selected the correct reinforced cue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extensional versus intuitive reasoning: The conjunction fallacy in probability judgment.

Perhaps the simplest and the most basic qualitative law of probability is the conjunction rule: The probability of a conjunction, P(A&B), cannot exceed the probabilities of its constituents, P(A) and P(B), because the extension (or the possibility set) of the conjunction is included in the extension of its constituents. Judgments under uncertainty, however, are often mediated by intuitive heuristics that are not bound by the conjunction rule. A conjunction can be more representative that one of its constituents, and instances of a specific category can be easier to imagine or to retrieve than instances of a more inclusive category. The representativeness and availability heuristics therefore can make a conjunction appear more probable than one of its constituents. This phenomenon is demonstrated in a variety of contexts, including estimation of word frequency, personality judgment, medical prognosis, decision under risk, suspicion of criminal acts, and political forecasting. Systematic violations of the conjunction rule are observed in judgments of lay people and of experts in both between- and within-Ss comparisons. Alternative interpretations of the conjunction fallacy are discussed, and attempts to combat it are explored. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquisition of derived nominals in Hebrew: developmental and linguistic principles

Derived nominals are abstract nouns derived from verbs and adjectives by nominalization. This study traces the route taken by Hebrew-speaking children in the acquisition of Hebrew derived nominals (HDNs) of two types: action nominals which conform in structure to the small set of obligatory verb patterns (binyanim) (e.g., ktiva 'writing') and deverbal nouns, which belong to separate nominal patterns (e.g. maga 'touch'). One hundred native speakers of Hebrew (children aged 5, 8, 11 and 15, and adults) were tested on comprehension and production of HDNs. The test items were grouped by binyan patterns and by morphological regularity. Results showed that acquisition of HDNs starts at about age 8 and is not complete by age 15, and that task type, binyan pattern and morphological regularity all affect ease of acquisition. We consider the strategies employed in the course of acquisition of HDNs and offer an explanation for this late acquisition which requires a vast amount of prior integrated knowledge.     

Caring for an institutionalized parent: The role of coping strategies.

Extends knowledge about the stresses of caregiving by considering relationships between adult children and their institutionalized parents. Although previous studies have indicated that emotional strains experienced by adult children with institutionalized parents are of similar magnitude to those experienced by caregivers in the community, little attention has been paid to effects that may mediate the stressor–mental health relationship. Coping strategies were hypothesized as mediators of the stressor–mental health relationship. Data from 424 adult children with a parent living in a nursing home revealed that emotion-focused coping strategies mediate the relationship between stressors and mental health, whereas problem-focused coping strategies do not mediate this relationship. Findings emphasize the importance of examining coping strategies as multidimensional entities having differential effects on mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disgust sensitivity predicts intuitive disapproval of gays.

Two studies demonstrate that a dispositional proneness to disgust (“disgust sensitivity”) is associated with intuitive disapproval of gay people. Study 1 was based on previous research showing that people are more likely to describe a behavior as intentional when they see it as morally wrong (see Knobe, 2006, for a review). As predicted, the more disgust sensitive participants were, the more likely they were to describe an agent whose behavior had the side effect of causing gay men to kiss in public as having intentionally encouraged gay men to kiss publicly—even though most participants did not explicitly think it wrong to encourage gay men to kiss in public. No such effect occurred when subjects were asked about heterosexual kissing. Study 2 used the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2006) as a dependent measure. The more disgust sensitive participants were, the more they showed unfavorable automatic associations with gay people as opposed to heterosexuals. Two studies demonstrate that a dispositional proneness to disgust (“disgust sensitivity”) is associated with intuitive disapproval of gay people. Study 1 was based on previous research showing that people are more likely to describe a behavior as intentional when they see it as morally wrong (see Knobe, 2006, for a review). As predicted, the more disgust sensitive participants were, the more likely they were to describe an agent whose behavior had the side effect of causing gay men to kiss in public as having intentionally encouraged gay men to kiss publicly—even though most participants did not explicitly think it wrong to encourage gay men to kiss in public. No such effect occurred when subjects were asked about heterosexual kissing. Study 2 used the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2006) as a dependent measure. The more disgust sensitive participants were, the more they showed unfavorable automatic associations with gay people as opposed to heterosexuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethics and the professional practice of psychologists: The role of virtues and principles.

We evaluate the potential relevance of virtue ethics to the training and practice of professional psychologists, and we contrast them with principle ethics. Typically, principles are used to facilitate the selection of socially and historically acceptable answers to the question "What shall I do ?" when confronted by ethical dilemmas. Virtue ethics, however, generally focus on the question "Who shall I be?" Strengths and weaknesses of each approach are presented. The impact of each is discussed with respect to informed consent and the therapeutic construct "genuineness." We conclude that virtue ethics are an essential component of responsible ethical training and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of processing strategies in the acquisition and transfer of a cognitive skill.

How the difficulty of initial training influences the acquisition and transfer of strategic processing skills and memory for processed stimuli was examined in 3 experiments. Participants were asked to discriminate between similar or dissimilar random polygon stimuli. Participants were asked to discriminate between novel transfer polygons; this was followed by a recognition memory task. Results suggest that the difficulty of initial training influences strategic skill acquisition. Strategies acquired during training are applied at transfer regardless of their effectiveness for processing transfer stimuli. This is true even when participants are given feedback indicating that their processing strategy is ineffective. It is argued that skill acquisition is influenced by the acquisition of both stimulus-specific knowledge and strategic skills, and that the strategic skills acquired serve to optimize processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor hypothesis testing strategies: The role of initial impressions and self-schema.

Tested, in 2 experiments, the robustness of the findings of the 1st author and L. A. Newman (see record 1984-04824-001) concerning the lack of confirmatory bias in the way that counselors collect data to test their hypothesis. In Exp I, 40 counselors (aged 25–55 yrs) were asked to develop their own clinical hypothesis to determine whether investment or involvement in the hypothesis may influence counselors to be biased in the questions they ask. In Exp II, 40 counseling students (aged 22–54 yrs) were given a hypothesis to test that was consistent with their self-schema to determine whether bias toward confirmation occurs when the counselor is testing a hypothesis that is also an important part of their own self-concept. Confirmatory bias in hypothesis testing was not supported in either experiment. Results support the position that the bias toward constructing confirmatory questioning strategies reported in social judgment literature may be more a function of the methodology used than of a strong tendency for individuals to be confirmatory. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology and academic performance: The role of motivation and learning strategies.

How psychopathology, defined as high psychological distress with concomitant limited coping resources, relates to students' academic performance and its determinants is examined. The correlation between college students' (N?=?326) level of psychopathology and their course grade was not significant. However, psychopathology was significantly related to students' motivation and use of learning strategies that were, in turn, related to academic performance. Specifically, more poorly adjusted students perceived themselves as less competent to succeed, experienced greater test anxiety, and were less likely to regulate their study environment, persist in the face of difficulty, and seek academic assistance when needed. Structural equation modeling (EQS) provided evidence that psychopathology had a significant indirect effect on performance and demonstrated the important role of self-efficacy and resource management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The science of choosing the right decision threshold in high-stakes diagnostics.

Many diagnostic tasks require that a threshold be set to convert evidence that is a matter of degree into a positive or negative decision. Although techniques of decision analysis used in psychology help one select the particular threshold that is appropriate to a given situation and purpose, just the concept of adjusting the threshold to the situation is not appreciated in many important practical arenas. Testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and for dangerous flaws in aircraft structures are used here as illustrations. This article briefly reviews the relevant techniques and develops those 2 examples with data. It suggests that use of the decision techniques could substantially benefit individuals and society and asks how that use might be facilitated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fluency, accuracy, and gender predict developmental trajectories of arithmetic strategies.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are different growth trajectories of arithmetic strategies and whether these trajectories result in different achievement outcomes. Longitudinal data were collected on 240 students who began the study as 2nd graders. In the 1st year of the study, the 2nd-grade students were assessed on fluency and accuracy on simple arithmetic problems. During the fall of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, they were assessed on strategies for complex (multiple-digit) arithmetic. They were assessed on mathematics competency at the end of 4th grade. Growth mixture modeling was used to assess developmental trajectories in arithmetic strategies; the roles of fluency, accuracy, and gender in the development of latent class; and the impact of latent class on 4th-grade mathematics competency. The data indicated 2 latent classes of growth trajectories for correct cognitive strategy use and for attempted manipulative strategy use. Three latent classes were needed to explain the development of attempted cognitive strategy use. Fluency appeared to have the most significant impact on the growth rate, whereas accuracy and gender tended to influence the initial level of performance. Not all children transitioned away from manipulatives easily. A small latent class of children slightly increased their use of manipulatives over the course of the study, with the girls in this group being less likely than boys to abandon manipulatives. Finally, what appears to be the normal developmental trajectory for strategies was not found to serve many children well in regard to later mathematics achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)