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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

The Role Of Verbal Repetition In The Development Of Infant Speech Preferences From 4 To 14 Months Of Age, Gerald W. Mcroberts, Colleen Mcdonough, Laura Lakusta Jul 2009

The Role Of Verbal Repetition In The Development Of Infant Speech Preferences From 4 To 14 Months Of Age, Gerald W. Mcroberts, Colleen Mcdonough, Laura Lakusta

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Four experiments investigated infants' preferences for age-appropriate and age-inappropriate infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Two initial experiments showed that 6-, 10-, and 14-month-olds preferred IDS directed toward younger infants, and 4-, 8-, 10-, and 14-month-olds, but not 6-month-olds, preferred IDS directed toward older infants. In Experiment 3, 6-month-olds preferred IDS directed toward older infants when the frequency of repeated utterances matched IDS to younger infants. In Experiment 4, 6-month-olds preferred repeated IDS utterances over the same IDS utterances organized without repetition. Attention to repeated utterances precedes word segmentation and sensitivity to statistical cues in continuous speech, and might …


A Pilot Study Of Bibliotherapy To Reduce Alcohol Problems Among Patients In A Hospital Trauma Center, Paul Amrhein, Timothy Apodaca, William R. Miller, Carol R. Schermer Jul 2009

A Pilot Study Of Bibliotherapy To Reduce Alcohol Problems Among Patients In A Hospital Trauma Center, Paul Amrhein, Timothy Apodaca, William R. Miller, Carol R. Schermer

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Because alcohol use plays a major role in many injuries that require hospital care, there is increasing interest in developing interventions to address alcohol problems among emergency department and trauma center patients. The aim of the current study was to extend past research on brief interventions by investigating the use of a self-help manual to treat problem drinkers in a hospital trauma center. Forty injured patients who were either intoxicated at the time of injury or screened positive for harmful drinking were randomly assigned to receive either a brief assessment and a self-help booklet with no more than 5 minutes …


Spatial Representation Across Species: Geometry, Language, And Maps, Barbara Landau, Laura Lakusta Feb 2009

Spatial Representation Across Species: Geometry, Language, And Maps, Barbara Landau, Laura Lakusta

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We review growing evidence that the reorientation system - shared by both humans and nonhuman species - privileges geometric representations of space and exhibits many of the characteristic features of modular systems. We also review evidence showing that humans can move beyond the limits of nonhuman species by using two cultural constructions, language and explicit maps. We argue that, although both of these constructions are uniquely human means of enriching the spatial system we share with other species, their representational formats, functions, and developmental trajectories are quite different, yielding distinctly different tools for empowering human spatial cognition.The capacity to reorient …


Using Language To Navigate The Infant Mind, Laura Wagner, Laura Lakusta Jan 2009

Using Language To Navigate The Infant Mind, Laura Wagner, Laura Lakusta

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

How do infants represent objects, actions, and relations in events? In this review, we discuss an approach to studying this question that begins with linguistic theory—specifically, semantic structures in language. On the basis of recent research exploring infant cognition and prominent linguistic analyses, we examine whether infants representations of motion events are articulated in terms of the components proposed by Talmy (1985; e.g., path, manner) and whether infants’ event representations are defined in terms of broad semantic roles (agent, patient, source, goal) as proposed by Jackendoff (1990) and Dowty (1991). We show how recent findings in infant cognition are consistent …