Conversational comprehension processes are responsible for reasoning fallacies in children as well as adults: If is not the biconditionalRumain, Barbara; Connell, Jeffrey; Braine, Martin D.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.471pmid: N/A
Proposes that children do poorly on reasoning from premises of the form if p then q not because they construe if as a biconditional but rather because they use discourse comprehension processes that lead them to accept the invited inferences if not p then not q and if q then p. This hypothesis predicts that children should respond appropriately to premises in which the invited inferences are countermanded. In Exp I, 24 undergraduates and 44 10-yr-olds were given conditional reasoning problems. Some of these had a major premise consisting of a single if–then sentence, while others had a more elaborate major premise in which the invited inferences were explicitly countermanded. In Exp II, Ss were 24 undergraduates, 20 10-yr-olds, and 34 7-yr-olds. In some problems the major premise consisted of a single if–then statement; in others, the major premise consisted of 3 such statements, 2 of which shared the same consequent, thus implicitly countermanding the invited inferences. In both experiments, all age groups committed the fallacies in the simple condition but not in the more complex condition. It is concluded that children's representation of if distinguishes necessary from merely invited inferences. Data suggest a collection of countermandable context-dependent inferences of varying degrees of invitingness associated with if. (19 ref)
Perceptions of intellectual aging: Antecedent or consequence of intellectual functioning?Lachman, Margie E.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.482pmid: N/A
Examined the nature of change and antecedents of differential change in selected personality and intelligence factors in later life. On 2 occasions at an interval of 2 yrs, a battery of personality and intelligence tests was administered to 76 community-residing elderly Ss (mean age 69 yrs). Intelligence factors were Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence, Perceptual Speed, and Memory Span. Personality factors were Internal, Chance, and Powerful Others Locus of Control; Intellectual Self-Efficacy; and Concern About Intellectual Aging. Structural invariance over time was found for the personality and intelligence factors. Average level of Perceptual Speed and Memory Span increased, and Internal Control declined over the 2 yrs. Two dimensions, Memory and Efficacy, exhibited marked change in interindividual rankings. Causal modeling techniques suggested that personality did not account for changes in Memory Span. Changes in perceived Intellectual Self-Efficacy, however, were predicted by antecedent individual differences in Fluid Intelligence and Internal Locus of Control. (42 ref)
Aging and distraction by highly familiar stimuli during visual searchMadden, David J.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.499pmid: N/A
P. Rabbitt's (1965, 1968) theory regarding age-related changes in cognition proposes that aging is accompanied by a decreased ability to ignore irrelevant information (perceptual noise). The present experiment examined age differences in the extent to which highly familiar stimuli used as perceptual noise could disrupt visual search performance. On Days 1–4, 10 Ss aged 19–27 yrs and 10 Ss aged 63–77 yrs performed a search task with specific, unchanging sets of target and nontarget stimuli (letters). Performance on a subsequent search task (Day 5) was disrupted when these familiar stimuli appeared as noise items in the displays, as compared with trials on which only new, unpracticed stimuli were used. The magnitude of the distraction associated with the familiar stimuli on Day 5 was equivalent for the 2 age groups. However, age differences in Day 5 search performance increased as more items in the simulus display required inspection. Age differences were thus influenced more by the requirement to attend to relevant information than by distraction from irrelevant information. (23 ref)
Free recall by in-school and out-of-school adults: Performance and metamemoryZivian, Marilyn T.; Darjes, Richard W.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.513pmid: N/A
40 women in 4 groups (university students aged 18–26 or 35–44 yrs and out-of-school Ss aged 36–49 or 60–86 yrs) were asked to study and recall a randomly presented categorized word list. Ss then indicated which of a group of 20 mnemonic strategies they had used to remember the word list and ranked the 20 strategies according to usefulness in the memory task. On almost all measures (number of words recalled, number of words recalled per category, number of strategies employed, use of the various strategies, and perceived usefulness of the strategies), the 2 in-school groups were more similar to each other, and the 2 out-of-school groups were more similar to each other, than were the 2 middle-aged groups. ANCOVA, using years of schooling as the covariate, reduced several of the differences between the 2 middle-aged groups. Years of schooling, as well as actually being in school, may be better predictors than age of differences in metamemory and memory performance. (11 ref)
A word-frequency cohort effect in young versus elderly adults' memory for wordsWorden, Patricia E.; Sherman-Brown, Susan
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.521pmid: N/A
72 undergraduates and 72 elderly Ss (mean age 73.6 yrs) were tested for recall of 4 types of word lists that varied in terms of word frequency and datedness. "Popular" words had high frequency in both E. L. Thorndike's (1921) and H. Kucera and N. W. Francis's (1967) norms; "dated" words had high frequency in 1921 but low present-day frequency; "contemporary" words had low frequency in 1921 but high present-day frequency; "rare" words had low frequency in both norms. In both the sorting-recall and the standard multitrial free-recall tasks, the older Ss' pattern of list recall differed from that of the younger Ss. For older Ss, the feature of early high frequency promoted better recall (in the popular and dated lists) than did present-day high frequency (i.e., the contemporary list was recalled as poorly as the rare list). Results suggest a word-frequency cohort effect and indicate that high-frequency words from one's youth are particularly memorable, especially for elderly individuals. (22 ref)
Fourteen-year cohort-sequential analyses of adult intellectual developmentSchaie, K. Warner; Hertzog, Christopher
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.531pmid: N/A
Provides a comprehensive analysis of data from 412 Ss (mean ages 22–67 yrs at 1st test) on the Primary Mental Abilities Test. Ss took part in 1 of 2 longitudinal sequences, 1956–1970 or 1963–1977. Comparable data are also reported on cross-sectional sequences collected in 1956, 1963, 1970, and 1977. A decline in intelligence became clearly evident after age 60 yrs, with from a third to a half standard deviation decrement over a 14-yr period. Contrary to earlier reports (e.g., K. W. Schaie and I. A. Parham, 1977), small but significant decrements were noted over the 53–67 yr age range. Cohort/sequential cohort effects, which were not attributable to age changes, were found for several subtests. (28 ref)
Mine: Self-definition in 2-year-old boysLevine, Laura E.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.544pmid: N/A
Tested the hypothesis that as children develop a clearer definition of "I" as distinct from others at age 2 yrs, they will also become more concerned with defining self and nonself in their interactions with a peer. 78 2-yr-old boys were administered 4 measures of self-definition, and 40 were then paired with like-scoring Ss in 2 peer interaction sessions. Ss scoring high in self-definition claimed toys and commented on peers more than did low-scoring Ss. A different pattern of interaction was found for high- and low-scoring Ss. After an initial period of wariness, Ss who showed clearer self-definition defined their territory to a peer by claiming toys. When the claiming of toys subsided, positive verbal interaction continued. Low-scoring Ss increased only their exchanging and showing of toys to a peer over time. Discussion focuses on the importance of claiming toys as a progressive developmental step rather than as a sign of selfishness. (10 ref)
Q-sort correlates of visual regard among preschool peers: Validation of a behavioral index of social competenceWaters, Everett; Garber, Jeanne; Gornall, Morag; Vaughn, Brian E.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.550pmid: N/A
Visual regard of peers was assessed by time sampling in 3 preschool classes containing 56 children, aged 3–6 yrs. The behavior of each S was described using 2 standard Q sets, and each S was assigned a global score on social competence by correlating his/her Q-sort description with a composite Q-sort definition of a hypothetical "most socially competent child." The visual regard measure and the global social competence scores were significantly correlated. Separate cluster analyses were performed on the Q-sort items that were and were not significantly correlated with the visual regard measure. The validity of visual regard received from preschool peers as an index of social competence was supported by the competence-related content of its Q-sort correlates and by its independence from socialization-related clusters (manageability, considerateness, aggression, and dependency). All of the Q-sort correlates of the visual regard measure were also significant correlates of the global social competence scores. However, the global measure had additional competence-related correlates. The range of competence-related behavior that is salient to adults is broader than the range of behavior that is salient to preschool children. This may explain why intervention on specific competence-related behaviors often increases the rate at which the target behavior occurs without leading to increases in the child's sociometric status. (21 ref)
Physical attractiveness as a correlate of peer status and social competence in preschool childrenVaughn, Brian E.; Langlois, Judith H.
doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.4.561pmid: N/A
The physical attractiveness of 59 preschoolers (aged 4 yrs 8 mo to 5 yrs 7 mo) was rated by 77 undergraduates. Two measures of social competence, sociometric status and rank in an attention structure, were also obtained. Rank-order correlations among the 3 measures indicated that physical attractiveness was a significant correlate of sociometric rank but not of attention rank. Sociometric and attention ranks were also significantly interrelated. The relationship between attractiveness and sociometric status was stronger for girls than for boys, and attractiveness was not significantly related to attention rank. Partial correlation analyses indicated that attractiveness did not mediate the relationship between attention and sociometric rank. Results suggest that sociometric data may be influenced by variables such as physical attractiveness that are not necessarily related to social competence. (30 ref)