Biomedical subjects

K M Galotti

Publications and source records attributed to K M Galotti.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

Children's differential performance on deductive and inductive syllogisms.

At what age and in what ways do children distinguish deductive and inductive problems? In Experiment 1, students from kindergarten and from Grades 2, 4, and 6 were presented with deductive or inductive inference problems and asked to draw an inference and rate their confidence. By 4th grade, confidence ratings for deductive problems were higher than those for inductive problems, and responses were faster for deductive than for inductive items. In Experiment 2, students from Grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 responded to the same problems used in Experiment 1 but were asked to provide explanations for their responses. Again, confidence was higher with deductive than with inductive problems, and latency to respond was faster for deductive than for inductive items. Further, explanations differed as a function of the type of problem. These findings help fill in gaps in the emerging picture of the development of children's reasoning skills.

Child↗

PubMed1990

Younger and older adolescents' thinking about commitments.

One hundred and sixty-three adolescents listed factors they consider or would consider when choosing a career and a romantic partner, and defined "commitment" in an open-ended essay. Male and female ninth graders, twelfth graders, and college juniors, from public and private schools served as subjects. Gender, grade, and type of school differences were found in the types and number of different types of factors listed for the above commitments, but not in the number of factors listed. Conceptions of the nature of commitment became more complex with grade, and differed as a function of gender and of type of school. Females listed more "internal" factors than did males for romantic commitments. Males described commitment more contractually, women more affectively. Older students focused more upon long-term and internal concerns, and defined "commitment" more in terms of cognitive processing and emotional attachment than younger students. Implications for related areas of work are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1986

Individual differences in syllogistic reasoning: deduction rules or mental models?

Two studies examined the correlates of reasoning ability on a syllogistic reasoning task in subjects who lacked formal background in logic. The main issue addressed was the extent to which reasoning proficiency arises from the consideration of multiple possible set relations (mental models) as opposed to explicit or implicit reliance on deduction rules. Evidence for the use of both models and rules was obtained. Although "good" and "poor" reasoners differed even when time constraints were imposed (consistent with the supposition of a better set of rules among good reasoners), good reasoners showed more improvement and chose to take longer amounts of time when time constraints were removed, suggesting that they considered more alternatives than did the poor reasoners. A comparison between these two groups and a third group of subjects, graduate students who had studied logic, reveals striking differences in both accuracy and speed.

Cognition↗

PubMed1986

Children's reasoning about social, physical, and logical regularities: a look at two worlds.

In 2 studies, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children were interviewed about 3 different types of regularities or rules: social conventions, physical laws, and logical necessities. In the first study, children were asked if regularities could be changed (by consensus) and/or be different in another world. In the second study, children were asked if regularities could be different in another country (on Earth) or on a different planet. Results showed that social regularities were distinguished from the other types, but physical and logical regularities were treated similarly. While the evidence for age differences was equivocal, it was clear that even first graders did not judge physical items as alterable on Earth. This fails to replicate a previously reported finding that children pass through a stage where all items are seen as alterable. Finally, a sex difference emerged, with boys more willing to judge physical and logical regularities to be alterable in another world.

Child↗

PubMed1983

Acoustic and perceptual indicators of emotional stress.

Tape recordings of telephone conversations of Consolidated Edison's system operator (SO) and his immediate superior (CSO), beginning an hour before the 1977 New York blackout, were analyzed for indications of psychological stress. (SO was responsible for monitoring and switching power loads within the Con Ed network.) Utterances from the two individuals were analyzed to yield several pitch and amplitude statistics. To assess the perceptual correlates of stress, four groups of listeners used a seven-point scale to rate the stress of SO and CSO from either randomized vocal utterances or transcripts of the randomized utterances. Results indicated that whereas CSO's vocal pitch increased significantly with increased situational stress, SO's pitch decreased. Listener ratings of stress from the voice were positively related to average pitch. It appears that listener's stereotype of psychological stress includes elevated pitch and amplitude levels, as well as their increased variability.

Cues↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Midwife or doctor: a study of pregnant women making delivery decisions.

Eighty-eight women from diverse educational backgrounds were interviewed as they made several important and related life decisions during their pregnancies. In this article, the focus is on the choice of birth attendant. There were few differences between those women who did and did not consider a midwife. Women who selected a midwife reported feeling more knowledgeable about birth attendants, more in control over the birth attendant decision, more satisfied about their delivery decisions, more in control of and satisfied with pain medication decisions, more autonomous in their pregnancy decision making, and more in agreement with "alternative birth" philosophies. and less in agreement with "conventional birth" philosophies. The participants also reported receiving more approval from spouse/significant other and friends, were more likely to use "gut instinct" and previous experience or habit to make pregnancy decisions, and were more ready to make these decisions than were women who had not selected a midwife as their primary birth attendant.

Adolescent↗