Referential communication and reading performance in learning disabled children over a 3-year period.

Examined the ability of 30 learning disabled (LD) and 30 non-LD (NLD) 6- and 7-yr-olds to understand a sequence of instructions, communicate the steps in a sequence to others, and rephrase their verbal messages across a 3-yr period using a referential communication task. In order to perform the puzzle-box task correctly, Ss had to execute 6 steps in an invariant sequence. After Ss demonstrated a perfect nonverbal enactment of the sequence, they were asked to communicate all information about how to open the box to a puppet. Upon completion, the puppet feigned poor memory and asked the Ss to explain the step-by-step process again. Subsequently, the puppet requested that Ss rephrase their explanation of each step by either a verbal or nonverbal rephrase request. Results reveal that LD children differed from NLD peers consistently on referential communication over the 3-yr period in terms of listener competence and speaker competence. For LD Ss, the ability to produce competent verbal messages was highly related to reading comprehension both concurrently and 3 yrs later. By the 3rd yr, NLD Ss were better able to rephrase information, indicating a growing awareness of the speaker's responsibility in communication. Findings suggest that the communication measures studied play very different roles for LD and NLD Ss with regard to reading achievement. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consistency and restructuring in learning cognitive procedural sequences.

Ss practiced mental arithmetic tasks that were consistent or varied at 2 levels: the sequence of operations and the data for those operations. Exp 1 demonstrated separable benefits of sequence- and data-level consistency. In Exp 2, sequence and data consistency varied within Ss, and the sequence of operations did not match the goal structure. Final performance benefited from consistent data but not from consistent sequence. In Exp 3, sequence consistency varied between Ss. Sequence and data consistency had separable benefits. The results indicate that Ss learn by restructuring given consistent data, but performing operations in consistent sequence improves performance without restructuring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Componential modeling of alternative strategies for performing spatial tasks.

Tested single-strategy and strategy-shifting models in a stratified random sample of 30 male high schoolers and undergraduates to explore relations among aptitude, spatial task solution strategy, and task performance. Results show that different models fit different Ss on each of 3 task steps (encoding, synthesis, and comparison), suggesting that different Ss used different strategies for solving the same items. Some of the best fitting models specified that Ss frequently and flexibly switch strategies in keeping with variations in item demands (a form of adaptive, within-task learning). For the encoding and synthesis steps, significant performance differences were found among Ss using different strategies. Aptitude may have affected strategy choice. Evidence for 2 types of strategy shifting (route and sequence shifting) was found. The shift models help explain individual differences in problem-solving processes employed in complex tasks such as the ones administered in this study. The strategy-shift models are appended. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual grouping and spatial distortion: A developmental study.

20 Ss in each of 5 age groups (kindergartners; 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders; and graduate students) estimated distances between elements in patterns illustrating the Gestalt grouping principles of proximity, similarity, closure, and good continuation. Ss of all age groups consistently judged distances between elements in the same perceptual group as smaller than physically identical distances between elements in different perceptual groups, which indicated that all Ss were sensitive to the structure of the Gestalt patterns. The magnitude of these distance distortions decreased significantly with age, which suggests that perceptual development includes improvements in the ability to disregard Gestalt groupings when the task requires selective attention to certain elements. Results are consistent with evidence that perceptual development moves from visual processing based primarily on global attributes of patterns to processing that can selectively analyze the component structure of patterns. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement attributions and self-instructions under competitive and individualistic goal structures.

Investigated whether competitive and individualistic goal structures elicit achievement cognitions that have been associated with helpless vs mastery-oriented children, respectively. 88 5th- and 6th-grade children were administered a novel achievement task in which a high vs low performance outcome was manipulated by varying the number of solvable puzzles across 2 sets of 6 puzzles, within either a competitive or individual goal structure. A "thought-matching" methodology was used to assess the type of frequency of Ss' thoughts. Results revealed that Ss made more ability attributions in the competitive than in the individual condition. In the individual condition, Ss displayed a mastery orientation in that they made more effort attributions and engaged in self-instructions and self-monitoring more than did Ss in the competitive condition. Ability attributions were predictive of Ss' positive and negative affective reactions. Results suggest that Ss were thinking about responses to the question "Was I smart?" in the competitive setting but were thinking about "How can I do this task?" in the individual setting. It is suggested that getting children to think about how to improve their performance may not be compatible with the focus of attention in competitive situations. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensionality and clustering in the semantic network of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Investigated the organization of semantic memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with a triadic comparison task. A multidimensional scaling statistic was used to analyze proximity data and to generate 3-dimensional cognitive maps that were then compared by a discriminant function analysis. Results suggest that the structure of semantic memory in AD Ss differs from that of elderly normal controls (NCs) in 2 ways. First, AD Ss are less consistent in using the attributes (predation, domesticity, and size) of concepts. Second, AD Ss focus primarily on concrete perceptual information (size), whereas NCs stress abstract conceptual knowledge (domesticity). Results are consistent with the notion that AD is characterized by a breakdown in the structure of semantic knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Saccadic system functioning among schizophrenia patients and their first-degree biological relatives.

In Study 1, 30 schizophrenia Ss and 27 nonpsychiatric comparison Ss were presented with a fixation task, a visually guided reflexive saccade (prosaccade) task, a predictive tracking task (0.4-Hz square wave), and an antisaccade task. The 2 groups did not differ on either the fixation or prosaccade tasks. Schizophrenia Ss had an increased number of errors on the antisaccade task and had decreased rightward visually guided saccade amplitudes during the predictive tracking task. In Study 2, 13 psychiatric comparison Ss and 32 1st-degree biological relatives of the schizophrenia Ss were compared with the schizophrenia Ss and a larger and older sample of nonpsychiatric Ss (n?=?33) on the predictive tracking and antisaccade tasks. The groups did not differ on predictive saccadic tracking. The schizophrenia Ss and their 1st-degree biological relatives made more errors on the antisaccade task than both the nonpsychiatric and psychiatric comparison groups (who did not significantly differ). Results are consistent with the notion that dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, or both is related to liability for schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When pseudowords acquire meaning: Effect of semantic associations on pseudoword repetition priming.

In Exp 1, priming increased with additional presentations when the priming task was to generate a potential meaning for each pseudoword but not when the priming task was to read each pseudoword aloud. In Exps 2 and 3, repetition effects were found when Ss attempted to learn definitions assigned to the pseudowords by the experimenter. Equivalent levels of priming were found regardless of whether the definition assigned to a pseudoword changed or remained the same over 3 trials, although recall of the definitions was better for the consistently defined pseudowords. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the same mechanism underlies both word and pseudoword priming, except that words (and pseudowords that acquire meaning) benefit from the priming of orthographic–semantic associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further studies of the Tower of Hanoi problem-solving performance of retarded young adults and nonretarded children.

12 retarded Ss (mean CA 20.19 yrs; mean MA 10.23 yrs) and 36 nonretarded kindergartners and 1st–4th graders were given 4–7 step Tower of Hanoi problems that differed in type of goal state. Overall performance levels of the kindergarten, 1st-grade, and retarded groups were the same, but were reliably below the performance level of 3rd and 4th graders. Performance differences were related to the minimum number of steps needed for a problem's solution and to the depth of search required for a problem's initial subgoal. The propensity of the older nonretarded Ss to search 2 moves ahead, while the members of the other groups limited themselves primarily to a 1-move search, contributed importantly to the group differences. Degree of constraint concerning which disk should be the first to be transferred to its goal peg also played a role in producing task and group differences, as did Ss' particular choice of strategies. All groups improved slightly. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of perceived dependency relationships upon conformity to group expectations.

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that "group members perceiving themselves as interdependent for their reward attainment become highly motivated toward the group task." Results generally are in accord with several predictions, one of which is that: "Members of groups who are instrumentally interdependent become more highly motivated toward the group task than Ss who can achieve their goals independently of the others in the group." Another prediction supported by results is that: "Under conditions of instrumental independence, Ss who are told that both they and their teammates can attain a valued goal through the group activity become more highly task motivated than Ss who are told either that only S or Ss partner can attain this goal." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processes underlying divergent thinking and problem solving.

A battery of problem-solving and divergent-thinking tasks was administered to 91 5th graders from a middle-class background. The purpose was to attempt identification of a factor that could be labeled "problem solving" and be distinct from divergent-thinking factors. In exploratory factor analyses, principal axis, alpha, and maximum-likelihood factor procedures with orthogonal and oblique rotations were computed. The 3-factor solutions across all factor methods and rotations were consistent. In addition to a major ideational fluency factor and a small school achievement factor, a factor consisting of tasks requiring Ss to analyze given problem conditions and sequence steps to achieve a stated goal was identified. This factor accounted for 20–30% of the total variance and was labeled a problem-solving factor. Results are discussed in terms of possible psychological processes underlying divergent thinking and problem solving. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing macrostructure for expository text.

In Exp I, 108 (36 Ss at each level) 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders and 36 graduate students read short expository paragraphs and performed tasks that required the generation of macrostructure. Ss chose the best title, wrote a summary sentence, or wrote 1 additional sentence for each paragraph. Some paragraphs were not well structured; others contained an anomalous sentence. Results show that performance improved with age. The title task was easier than the summary task, which in turn was easier than the next-sentence task. Only adult Ss reflected the presence of anomalous information, and the effects were different on each of the 3 tasks. In Exp II, the title task with 4 response options was administered to 24 undergraduates. Results show that Ss broadened their representations to encompass the deviant sentence in both related and unrelated paragraphs. In the summary-sentence task, proficient adults—who monitored their own comprehension—responded like children. It is suggested that children need instruction variations in both task and in text, introduced gradually and systematically, in order to deal with potential sources of difficulty. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing mental representations of objects from successive views.

Investigated the effects of complexity on processing objects by testing 3 graduate students and 7 staff members on a 3-dimensional analog of J. Hochberg's (1968) aperture viewing paradigm, the orthogonal slices task developed by J. Metzler and R. N. Shepard (1974), and a sequence matching task. In Exp I, Ss constructed, transformed, and compared mental representations of Shepard-Metzler figures varying in the number of component parts. Findings show that processing time increased with complexity. The results of Exp II show no effects of complexity on processing time when Ss merely judged the equivalence of the patterns used in Exp I presented in sequence. Rather, constructed mental representations appeared to preserve some of the spatial character of the corresponding objects. This conclusion was strengthened by the results of recognition tasks that showed that discrimination of constructed objects from appropriate distractors was better after Ss did the 1st (orthogonal slices) task than after they did the 2nd (sequence matching) task. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of information, choice and task complexity upon goal acceptance, performance, and personal goals.

Tested the hypothesis that information about a goal and/or task, choice in setting a strategy to achieve a goal, and task complexity interact to influence goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance. A laboratory experiment with 96 college students working on a class-scheduling task was used to test the hypothesis. The task consisted of producing mock class schedules consisting of 5 nonredundant classes. The Ss were assigned to either high-information, choice manipulation, or task-complexity conditions. Ss were administered a questionnaire assessing goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance prior to and on completion of the task. Results of 3-way ANOVA conducted on measures of goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance supported the hypotheses that choice in goal-setting and the provision of information interact as do information and task complexity. A 2nd study conducted to generalize these findings also supported the hypotheses. In the 2nd study, 40 animal caregivers (average age 28 yrs) were participants in a replication of the laboratory experiment with task complexity as a repeated-measures factor. Findings are discussed as a means of expanding the position of participation within the goal-setting model. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term retention of a complex operant in pigeons.

Examined the effects of a 60-day retention interval on sequence performance when White Carneaux pigeons were required to peck each of 2 keys 4 times in any order for reinforcement. In Exp I, with 20 Ss, it was shown that if the retention interval contained no interpolated experimental experience, it had no effect on sequence performance. If Ss pecked a key for food on a VI schedule during the retention interval, sequence disruption occurred. In Exp II, with 10 Ss, it was found that variations in the location and color of a key pecked during VI had no effect on disruption. In Exp III, with 20 Ss, it was found that disruption did not occur when Ss were simply placed in the experimental chamber during the retention interval, or given response-independent food, or given VI reinforcement for hopping on a foot treadle. In Exp IV, with 15 Ss, disruption was found even when interpolated keypeck training demanded a temporal pattern different from what had occurred on the sequence task. In Exp V, with 5 Ss, it was demonstrated that disruption could be prevented if Ss were exposed to an alternation of the sequence and VI procedures during initial acquisition. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and skill in visual search.

The effects of age and experience on visual-cognitive performance were examined by administering a domain-relevant visual search task and a standard letter search task to skilled and control Ss at 2 age levels (young and middle-aged adults). In the skilled task, Ss searched for a designated item within 3-item displays using images of bacteria morphology as targets and distractors. Each target was preceded by a word prime representative of bacteria morphology that was valid, invalid, or neutral with respect to the diagnostic characteristics of the target. Skilled Ss showed an age deficit in letter search performance, but the performance of the young and middle-aged skilled Ss was not different on the domain-relevant task. Valid primes produced benefits for the young and middle-aged skilled participants, whereas control Ss were unaffected by the prime manipulation. Results were consistent with the prediction that experience serves to attenuate age-related declines in visual-cognitive performance in the skilled domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early postnatal X-irradiation of the hippocampus and discrimination learning in adult rats.

Trained Long-Evans rats with X-irradiation produced degranulation of the hippocampal dentate gyrus in the acquisition and reversal of simultaneous visual and tactile discriminations in a T-maze in 3 experiments. The experiments employed the same treatment, apparatus, and procedure but varied in task difficulty. In the brightness and roughness discriminations, the irradiated Ss were not handicapped in acquiring or reversing discriminations of low or low-moderate task difficulty. However, these Ss were handicapped in acquiring and reversing discriminations of moderate and high task difficulty. In a Black/White discrimination in which the stimuli were restricted to the goal-arm walls, the irradiated Ss were handicapped in the acquisition (low task difficulty) and reversal (moderate task difficulty) phases of the task. Results suggest that the irradiated Ss were not handicapped when the noticeability of the stimuli was high, irrespective of modality used, but were handicapped when the noticeability of the stimuli was low. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that rats with hippocampal damage are inattentive due to hyperactivity. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of task difficulty, goal setting, and strategy on performance of a heuristic task.

Investigated the relative contribution of goal setting and task difficulty to performance on a heuristic computer task with 128 undergraduates who attempted to solve either easy or difficult maze puzzles. Each S was assigned either an easy, moderate, or difficult goal or told to do his/her best. One month prior to the experiment, Ss responded to the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory to collect data on arousal. Data were also collected on acceptance, commitment, task complexity, and performance. Results show that both goals and task difficulty affected task performance, arousal, and perceptions of task complexity. A linear, rather than curvilinear, relationship was found between task arousal and performance. Contrary to prior research by G. A. Bassett (see record 1980-33518-001), results also show that, when the task was difficult, the setting of a difficult goal led to significantly lower performance. The decrease in performance in the difficult goal condition was attributed to the variation in performance strategy employed by these Ss as opposed to other Ss. It is argued that the setting of difficult goals may not be an effective motivational strategy when a heuristic, rather than algorithmic, solution is needed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing models of delayed sequence discrimination in pigeons: The advance key procedure.

In 2-event delayed sequence discrimination (DSD) training, one arrangement (temporal order) of 2 sample stimuli is the positive sequence and the remaining are the negative sequences for keypecking during a subsequent test stimulus. Three models of the DSD task were tested in 2 experiments with 8 White Carneaux pigeons. In Exp I Ss were allowed to terminate a trial by pecking the "advance key" during the sample stimuli or to let the test stimulus progress to the next trial. In the absence of a peck to the advance key, the trial continued to the completion of the test stimulus. In Exp II, Ss were forced to choose actively between advancing to the next trial and continuing through the current trial. Choice between the advance and continue keys was required with the occurrence of each of the successive sample stimuli and the test stimulus. Although the addition of forced choice resulted in more uniform effects, Ss were able to identify negative sample sequences with the occurrence of the 1st negative sample event in both experiments. Results support the prospective memory model but not the retrospective and hybrid models of temporal sequence recognition in the 2-event DSD task. (French abstract) (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)