N400 Event‐Related Potential and Standardized Measures of Reading in Late Elementary School Children: Correlated or Independent?

We investigated whether and how standardized behavioral measures of reading and electrophysiological measures of reading were related in 72 typically developing, late elementary school children. Behavioral measures included standardized tests of spelling, phonological processing, vocabulary, comprehension, naming speed, and memory. Electrophysiological measures were composed of the amplitude of the N400 component of the event‐related potential waveform elicited by real words, pseudowords, nonpronounceable letter strings, and strings of letter‐like symbols (false fonts). The only significant brain–behavior correlations were between standard scores on the vocabulary test and N400 mean amplitude to real words (r = ?.272) and pseudowords (r = ?.235). We conclude that, while these specific sets of standardized behavioral and electrophysiological measures both provide an index of reading, for the most part they are independent and draw upon different underlying processing resources.     

Determinants of Defense in Presidential Debates

This study investigates the relationship between attacks and defenses in political debates. Being the target of an attack provides a candidate with opportunity and motivation to defend; hence, the frequency of attacks directed toward a candidate should be directly related to the number of defenses produced by that candidate. This study employs four data sets to test this expectation: 23 U.S. general presidential debates, 59 U.S. presidential primary debates, 12 U.S. Senate debates, and 10 non-U.S. debates (France, Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine). Statistical analysis confirms that there is a significant positive relationship between number of attacks aimed at a candidate and the number of defenses employed by that candidate in all four samples of political campaign debates. Arguably, this form of direct clash between candidates could be particularly beneficial to voters as it provides a deeper understanding of the pros and cons of governmental policy and related issues.     

Childhood sexual experiences among substance-using non-gay identified Black men who have sex with men and women

This study explored potential variations in childhood sexual abuse (CSA) by examining qualitative accounts of first sexual experiences among non-disclosing, non-gay identified Black men who have sex with men and women (MSMW). We analyzed data from semi-structured qualitative interviews with 33 MSMW who described first sexual experiences with male and female partners. Thematic analysis revealed four patterns of first sexual experiences including: unwanted sexual experiences with a male or female consistent with definitions of childhood sexual abuse; consensual sex with an older male or female; bodily exploration with another male or female child; and consensual sex with a peer-age female. Most of the experiences described by participants as consensual with an older male or female, however, met criteria for childhood sexual abuse found in the extant literature. Several men discussed childhood sexual experiences (CSE) relative to their experiences with alcohol, drugs, and same-sex behavior as adults. Findings suggest that the relationship between CSE and risk-taking behavior may be shaped by whether men perceive their experiences as abusive or consensual, and have implications for researchers, treatment providers and counselors.     

Another visit to the theory of image restoration strategies

This investigation examined the effectiveness of quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (narrative) types of evidence in impacting initial attitude change and the persistence of that change. Vividness, expertise, trustworthiness, and retention were examined as potential mediating variables. Furthermore, this research tested a number of competing hypotheses such as the vividness hypothesis, the availability hypothesis, and the under‐utilization hypothesis. The findings indicate that both types of evidence were equally effective in changing attitudes. However, the attitude change elicited by qualitative evidence tended to be significantly more persistent over time. These data were inconsistent with the vividness and the under‐utilization hypotheses. In contrast, these data were consistent with the availability hypothesis. Recall was higher for those subjects exposed to qualitative evidence. Additionally, retention was found to moderate the effect of evidence on attitudes.     

Political party affiliation and presidential campaign discourse

This study investigates the question of whether the political party affiliation of presidential candidates influences the nature of the discourse they produce in political campaigns. Analysis of primary and general debates, primary and general television spots, and acceptance addresses from 1948 to 2000 demonstrates systematic differences between the messages invented by Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Democrats discuss policy more, and character less, than Republicans. Democrats attack on policy more, and character less, than Republicans. Democrats emphasize Democratic issues (e.g., education) more than Republicans, whereas Republicans stress Republican issues (e.g., defense), more than Democrats. Finally, Republicans emphasize the character traits of sincerity and morality more, and empathy and drive less, than Democrats.     

Issue Ownership for Non-Presidential Television Spots

Petrocik's (1996) theory of political party issue ownership predicts that candidates will emphasize the issues on which their own party is considered most effective. This prediction has been confirmed in presidential campaign messages, but it has yet to be tested with non-presidential campaign discourse. Computer content analysis of over 1100 political television spots from 1980 to 2002 (most spots were from 2002) discovered that overall, Democratic candidates discussed their own party's issues more than did Republicans, whereas Republicans discussed Republican issues more than did Democratic candidates. However, local ads and US Senate spots from 2002 did not follow issue ownership predictions (candidates did not discuss their own party's issues significantly more than the other party's issues). Unlike presidential spots, non-presidential advertising discusses Democratic issues more than Republican ones; the Republican Party owns more national or federal issues such as national defense and foreign policy.     

Rhetorical theory as message reception: A cognitive response approach to rhetorical theory and criticism

Traditional rhetorical theory tends to adopt the rhetor's point of view, emphasizing invention of rhetorical messages, rather than the audience's reception and interpretation of messages. The audience is ordinarily conceptualized in humanistic rhetorical theory as a target, a source of expectations to guide the rhetor's invention, a means to accomplish the rhetor's ends, or even an obstacle. We argue that a more complete view of rhetoric should include the audience as a potentially active part of the process of persuasion. Accordingly, we propose to supplement our traditional theories of rhetoric by sketching a complementary view of rhetoric as the process of an auditor's processing and responding to messages. The inspiration for this conception, Petty and Cacioppo's Elaboration Likelihood Model, is sketched, and implications for rhetorical theory and criticism are discussed.     

A latent profile analysis of teachers’ causal attribution for academic success or failure

European Journal of Psychology of Education - In educational contexts, interpersonal attributional theory (Weiner, 2019) posits that teachers’ beliefs about the causes underlying their...     

A functional analysis of congressional television spots, 1986–2000

Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on television advertising in congressional campaigns, relatively little research has examined the content purchased by those advertising dollars. This study applied the Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse to a purposive sample of television spots from U.S. House and Senate races from 1986 to 2000. Acclaims (self‐praise: 64%) outnumbered both attacks (criticisms: 35.5%) and defenses (refutation of attacks: 0.5%). Policy utterances comprised the bulk of the discussions in the ads (70%), while character utterances appeared less frequently (30%). Past deeds of candidates were the overwhelming focus of policy discussions (81%), while personal qualities dominated the discourse on character utterances (86%). Incumbents had a strong proclivity to acclaim (79%) more than challengers (51%) whereas challengers had a tendency to attack (49%) more than incumbents (21%). Incumbents were more likely to use past deeds to acclaim, whereas challengers used past deeds to attack.     

How does the tennis serve technique influence the serve-and-volley?

In tennis, a high ball velocity and a fast run toward the net are key features to successful performance of "serve-and-volley" players. For the serve, tennis players can use two techniques: the foot-up (FU) or foot-back (FB) technique. The aim of this study was to determine if the running time toward the net after the serve and the ball velocity (V(ball)) vary between these two techniques. Moreover we analysed the angular momentum values of the trunk and of the arm holding the racquet. Fifteen expert tennis players performed six successful serve-and-volleys with both techniques. Running time to the net is significantly lower for FB, whereas V(ball) is significantly higher for FU. Trunk and arm angular momentums about the transverse axis are significantly higher with FU before ball impact. A significant correlation (r = 0.81, P < 0.001) exists between changes in the maximal trunk angular momentum and in running time to the net between the two serve techniques. A significant correlation (r = 0.84, P < 0.001) also exists between changes in the maximal trunk angular momentum and in V(ball) between the two serve techniques. According to these results, FB is the best technique for moving as quickly as possible to the net because of a lower trunk angular momentum.