Priming Prepositional-Phrase Attachment During Comprehension.

Strong evidence suggests that prior syntactic context affects language production (e.g., J. K. Bock, 1986). The authors report 4 experiments that used an expression-picture matching task to investigate whether it also affects ambiguity resolution in comprehension. All experiments examined the interpretation of prepositional phrases that were ambiguous between high and low attachment. After reading a prime expression with a high-attached interpretation, participants tended to interpret an ambiguous prepositional phrase in a target expression as highly attached if it contained the same verb as the prime (Experiment 1), but not if it contained a different verb (Experiment 2). They also tended to adopt the high-attached interpretation after producing a prime with the high-attached interpretation that included the same verb (Experiment 3). Finally, they were faster to adopt a high-attached interpretation after reading an expression containing the same verb that was disambiguated to the high-attached versus the low-attached interpretation (Experiment 4). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partial separation of polyunsaturated fatty acid esters from FAMEs mixtures by adsorption on silver nitrate-impregnated silica gel

Mixtures of FAMEs derived from soybean and canola oils were fractionated by contacting their hexane solutions with AgNO₃/SiO₂ adsorbents. Methyl linolenate (18∶3) adsorbed most strongly, followed by methyl linoleate (18∶2), on the AgNO₃/SiO₂. Conditions of the extractions (AgNO₃ loading, amount of adsorbent, methyl soyate/hexane solution concentration, use of successive extractions, and methods of adsorbent regeneration) were varied. Under optimal conditions, the 7.0% of 18∶3 in methyl soyate could be reduced to 0.1%. The described process is a simple method for separating a FAMEs mixture into a fraction that is depleted in polyunsaturated FAMEs and one that is enriched.     

Coding defensive and supportive communications: Discriminant validity and subcategory convergence.

The Defensive and Supportive Communication (DSC) Interaction Coding System has been used frequently in the study of interactions in families with a juvenile delinquent. One limitation of the DSC system has been the lack of research examining the psychometric properties of the coding system. Discriminant analyses were used to examine the communication behaviors of members of 18 normal and 20 delinquent families and to determine the use of subcategories by different family members. Convergence among the subcategories for each of the main categories, defensiveness and supportiveness, was found. Moreover, each subcategory, with the exception of equality, discriminated between adaptive and dysfunctional families. The strongest discriminations were made on the basis of mothers' and adolescents' ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory–visual responsiveness in full-term and preterm infants.

Compared older preterm and full-term infants in their response to objects in a dynamic multimodal context. In Study I, 67 12-wk-old full-term infants and 29 preterm infants (mean age 90 days) served as Ss. After familiarization with a silent moving object, full-term Ss recognized the object when it was stationary. When sound accompanied the moving object during familiarization, full-term Ss showed increased attention to the object but no subsequent recognition of that object. Neither high- nor low-risk preterms, at a comparable conceptional age, recognized the objects under any condition, but the low-risk preterms did show greater attention to the moving objects with sound. In Study II, 43 preterm Ss were tested approximately 6 mo after their estimated term date. The performance of the low-risk preterms was the same as that of full-terms; that is, through differential responding, they demonstrated association of an object and sound. In contrast, the high-risk preterms showed no differential looking. Thus both low- and high-risk preterms showed less differential responding than did normal full-terms at 3 mo, but at 6 mo only the high-risk preterms were different from the full-terms. Results suggest that the high-risk preterms are at a disadvantage for learning about the dynamic and multimodal aspects of their environment. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Magnetic Resonance In Situ Study of Tricalcium Aluminate Hydration in the Presence of Gypsum

The hydration of tricalcium aluminate, in the presence of gypsum, is investigated using in situ "real-time"¹H NMR spin–spin relaxation, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscope experiments. Aside from rapid ettringite formation within the first 45 min, it is shown that a re-distribution of water within the first 2 h contributes significantly to the retardation of the rate of hydration. From the ¹H NMR component with T ₂ of approximately 20 μs, the continual disappearance of ettringite and the production of the layered monosulfate structure is monitored. In addition, the technique makes possible the monitoring of the change in the quantity of interlayer water in monosulfate, as well as the time scale associated with the decrease in the effective interlayer spacing, resulting from the ionic substitution of SO₄²⁻ for OH⁻. The ionic substitution within monosulfate starts after approximately 9 h. Although it has been believed that the time scale for this reaction is fast, we have shown that it can take days to reach completion.     

Personality feedback and situational norms can control stereotyping processes.

Impressions are influenced by motivations stemming primarily from the target (e.g., interdependence), 3rd parties (e.g., accountability or time pressure), or the self. The current studies investigate motivations stemming primarily from the self. In Study 1, Ss were given dispositional feedback about their abilities to categorize or to individuate. In Study 2, they were given situational information about the appropriate norms to categorize or to individuate. As predicted, dispositional feedback influenced low self-monitors, and situational information influenced high self-monitors. Both altered attention to potentially individuating category-inconsistent attributes as well as requests for additional information. Causal models further illuminated the mediating processes. Results suggest that people's flexible self-concepts are an important source of motivation in impression formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response biases as a confound to expressed burden among spousal caregivers of suspected dementia patients.

Burden among family caregivers has yet to be adequately assessed relative to social desirability response sets. This study examined the impact of two different response biases relative to expressed burden among spousal caregivers of suspected dementia patients. In addition to individual social desirability, it was hypothesized that a distinct social desirability construct exists as a function of one's perception of self within relationships. As predicted, a significant inverse association was apparent between expressed burden and this systemic response bias (as measured by the Edmonds Marital Conventionality Scale), whereas this association was not apparent with a measure of individual social desirability (the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale). This finding suggests that systemic social desirability may exist as a significant response bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection?

Studied social networks and aggressive behavior in school in 2 cohorts of boys and girls in the 4th and 7th grades (N?=?695). Measures of social networks yielded convergent findings. Highly aggressive subjects (both boys and girls) did not differ from matched control subjects in terms of social cluster membership or in being isolated or rejected within the social network. Peer cluster analysis and reciprocal "best friend" selections indicated that aggressive subjects tended to affiliate with aggressive peers. Even though highly aggressive children and adolescents were less popular than control subjects in the social network at large, they were equally often identified as being nuclear members of social clusters. Aggressive subjects did not differ from matched control subjects in the number of times they were named by peers as "best friend," nor did the two groups differ in the probability of having friendship choices reciprocated by peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of manipulation in infants' responses to invariant properties of objects.

Hypothesized that manipulation would enhance 1-yr-old infants' attention to and detection of structural invariants more than nonstructural invariants. In Study 1, 16 Ss were familiarized with 2 series of objects, one in which texture remained invariant while color changed and the other in which pattern remained invariant while shape changed. Within each series, Ss were tested for differential responsiveness to 2 new objects, one with the familiar characteristic and the other with a novel one. In Study 2, 12 Ss were familiarized with another 2 series of objects, one in which shape remained the same while pattern varied and the other in which color remained the same while texture varied. Data from the two studies are consistent in that the structural invariants were more clearly differentiated than the nonstructural invariants. Results of Study 3, in which 12 Ss were familiarized with objects encased in plastic boxes, suggest that Ss in Studies 1 and 2 were using haptic information about shape and texture to enhance their differentiation of objects along those lines. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)