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The role of comparison in the extension of novel adjectives.

Previous reseach has documented that basic-level object categories provide an initial foundation for mapping adjectives to object properties. Children ranging from 21 months to 3 years can successfully extend a novel adjective (e.g., transparent) to other objects sharing a salient property if the objects are all members of the same basic-level category; if the objects are members of different basic-level categories, they fail to extend adjectives systematically (R. S. Klibanoff & S. R. Waxman, 2000a; S. R. Waxman & D. B. Markow, 1998). The present study proposed that the process of comparison is instrumental in children's ability to move beyond this foundation. To promote comparison, 2 target objects were introduced to 3-year-olds. In Experiment 1, the targets had contrastive properties (e.g., 1 transparent and 1 opaque object); in Experiment 2, the targets had consistent properties (e.g., 2 transparent objects). The results of both experiments illustrate that comparison--a general psychological process--operates in conjunction with naming to support the extension of novel adjectives to properties of objects from diverse basic-level categories.

Child, Preschool↗

Psychiatric symptoms and community violence among high-risk patients: A test of the relationship at the weekly level.

Given the availability of violence risk assessment tools, clinicians are now better able to identify high-risk patients. Once these patients have been identified, clinicians must monitor risk state and intervene when necessary to prevent harm. Clinical practice is dominated by the assumption that increases in psychiatric symptoms elevate risk of imminent violence. This intensive study of patients (N = 132) at high risk for community violence is the first to evaluate prospectively the temporal relation between symptoms and violence. Symptoms were assessed with the Brief Symptom Inventory and threat/control override (TCO) scales. Results indicate that a high-risk patient with increased anger in 1 week is significantly more likely to be involved in serious violence in the following week. This was not true of other symptom constellations (anxiety, depression, TCO) or general psychological distress. The authors found no evidence that increases in the latter symptoms during 1 week provide an independent foundation for expecting violence during the following week.

Adolescent↗

Category dimensionality and feature knowledge: when more features are learned as easily as fewer.

Three experiments compared the learning of lower-dimensional family resemblance categories (4 dimensions) with the learning of higher-dimensional ones (8 dimensions). Category-learning models incorporating error-driven learning, hypothesis testing, or limited capacity attention predict that additional dimensions should either increase learning difficulty or decrease learning of individual features. Contrary to these predictions, the experiments showed no slower learning of high-dimensional categories; instead, subjects learned more features from high-dimensional categories than from low-dimensional categories. This result obtained both in standard learning with feedback and in noncontingent, observational learning. These results show that rather than interfering with learning, categories with more dimensions cause individuals to learn more. The authors contrast the learning of family resemblance categories with learning in classical conditioning and probability learning paradigms, in which competition among features is well documented.

Concept Formation↗

Extending and applying the demand-control model: the role of soldier's coping on a peacekeeping deployment.

The purpose of this study was to extend the demand-control model (R. A. Karasek, 1979) by examining coping as an additional factor. It was hypothesized that perceived job control only buffered the demand-strain relationship when individuals used active coping and exacerbated the relationship when individuals used passive coping. Soldiers (N=638) were surveyed before and during a 6-month peacekeeping deployment to Kosovo. Results partially confirmed the hypotheses. Even after controlling for general psychological health at predeployment, job control moderated the relationship between demands and psychological health during deployment when soldiers used active coping. No significant 3-way interactions were found for religious coping and passive coping. Implications for demand-control modeling and potential applications of the findings to soldier and leader training are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗