Gary Kose

The Relationship Between Anxiety and Problem-Solving Skills in Children With and Without Learning Disabilities

This study compared the effects of low, medium, and high pretest anxiety levels on the social and nonsocial problem-solving performance of 45 boys with learning disabilities (LD) and 45 boys with no learning disabilities (NLD). Participants ranged from 9 to 11 years of age. Boys with LD reported significantly higher pretest trait and state anxiety on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children than did NLD boys, and their perceived state anxiety escalated over the course of the problem-solving session. There were no pervasive effects of LD status on problem solving by itself, boys with LD being as effective in problem solving as NLD boys. However, means for task solution suggest a tendency for an interaction between group and anxiety level, which should be examined using a larger, well-defined sample and an unstructured task.

Self-observation and learning: the effect of watching oneself on problem solving performance

Abstract Two experiments examined the effects of videotape feedback and self-observation on children’s problem solving. The first experiment examined children’s performance on the Tower of Hanoi problem, and demonstrated that video self-observation promotes the acquisition and transfer of procedural knowledge necessary for problem solving. The study also found that specific information presented during the video presentation was not as important as the children seeing their actual prior performance on the problem. The second experiment examined the type of information that may be operative during self-observation. These findings narrow the range of possible explanations for learning through self-observation and, in general, suggest that the positive effect of self-observation is due to active observation of one’s own actual performance.

Examining the role of trauma, personality, and meaning in young prolonged grievers

Younger spouses or partners have been understudied in the prolonged grief literature. The purpose of this study was to determine rates of prolonged grief in young spouses or partners and the associations between prolonged grief and personality styles (specifically, narcissistic, histrionic, and obsessive), trauma history, and the perceived meaning of the loss in the young conjugally bereaved.

Body-Image Distortion and Mental Imagery

This study explored whether body-image distortion is a function of difficulties with imagery or problems with judgment. 49 subjects were given the Modified Video Camera Technique to measure body-image distortion. Mental imagery was measured by a modified version of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and the Spatial Relations subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-educational Battery. Visual recall was assessed on the Meier Art Judgment Test. Judgment bias was assessed by the Stunkard Silhouette Method and the shape and weight subscales of the Eating Disorder Examination. Subjects who distorted body-image scored significantly more poorly on mental imagery than those who did not distort. No differences were found between groups on visual memory recall or in judgment bias.

Multiple Belief Systems in Psychotherapy: The Effects of Religion and Professional Beliefs on Clinical Judgment

This study examined the effects of religious and professional beliefs on clinical judgment. Eighty-seven psychotherapists completed a religious belief survey and a professional belief survey, as well as a questionnaire concerning internal conflict between professional and religious beliefs. The subjects then read two brief vignettes, describing a religious and a non-religious patient, and rated the patients with regard to optimism or pessimism concerning responsiveness to treatment. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between religious and professional beliefs. However, the strength of religious beliefs predicted optimism for the religious patient. In addition, there was a significant interaction effect between strength of religious beliefs and strength of professional beliefs on clinical ratings.

The effect of self-observation on children's problem solving.

Abstract The effects of self-observation on childrens problem solving were investigated. Children (N = 124) aged 6-8 years attempted to solve the 3-disc Tower of Hanoi problem. After pretesting, children were grouped into those who (a) practiced solving the problem independently, (b) received instruction on the most efficient solution, (c) observed a videotape recording of their previous attempt, and (d) served as a control. Subsequently, children were immediately tested on the 3-disc problem and a more difficult 4-disc problem. They were tested again 1 week later. Performance was most improved for children in the practice and video conditions on the 4-disc problem. Improvements were maintained over the 1-week interval. Unique characteristics of video self-observation are discussed.

The effects of motoric action and organization on children's memory

Abstract Two experiments are reported which examine the effects of motoric activities on childrens memory performance. In the first experiment, preschool, first-grade, and third-grade children were required to remember a series of color-shape pairs. The pairs were either presented as unitary configurations (i.e., colored shapes) or as non-unitary configurations (i.e., color and shape presented separately on the stimulus card). Half of the children at each grade level drew the color-shape pairs, while the remaining half simply looked at the stimulus cards. The findings revealed that the different organizations affected memory performance; however, drawing the configurations enhanced the effect of the unitary organization. The second experiment examined the effects of changing the activity during encoding from drawing to that of reconstructing replicas of the stimuli. The findings revealed that this different activity enhanced the childrens memory for both unitary and non-unitary stimuli. These findings suggest that processing organizational information in memory is mediated by the specific aspects of motoric action.

Seeing Reversals in Ambiguous Images: To Know or Not to Know?

The present study is an attempt to replicate the 1992 findings of Rock and Mitchener that knowing about the ambiguity in ambiguous images is necessary for seeing reversals. In contrast to Rock and Mitcheners study, the present study used a between-subjects design, in which 190 participants were randomly assigned to either an uninformed or an informed condition, and saw 12 images, 6 ambiguous and 6 unambiguous. The findings show that participants in the informed condition were significantly more likely to see reversals in the ambiguous images than were those in the uninformed condition. In contrast to Rock and Mitcheners findings, knowledge of ambiguity did not ensure that all informed participants saw all six reversals; there were spontaneous reversals in the uninformed condition for most of the images. These findings are discussed in terms of suggesting that seeing a reversal in an ambiguous image is a complex process that requires consideration of the interplay of visual perception and higher order cognition.

Piaget, Vygotsky, and the Development of Consciousness

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the early works of Piaget and Vygotsky and argues that an understanding of human consciousness was a central issue in their works. Appreciating the importance of this issue helps explicate certain themes within each theory, as well as points of contrast between them. Further, the problem of consciousness has become a contemporary concern for those interested in proposing a computational theory of mind and, while there is a stark contrast between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theoretical orientation to consciousness, the debate between them is a discourse that is markedly different from what is presently being discussed, offering a fresh perspective on this very traditional problem.

ACTION AND IMAGINATION IN THE FORMATION OF IMAGES

This study examined the influence of motor enactment on the formation of mental images. Following a procedure originally used by Piaget and Inhelder in 1971, 5-yr.-old children were assigned to one of four treatments. They visually examined block configurations, imagined the construction of the configurations, imagined enacting the construction, or carried out the actual construction. When the original configurations were removed, the children were asked to reconstruct them from memory. Analysis showed that the children in the imaginary enactment and actual construction conditions were more accurate than those in the other conditions. The findings are discussed as supporting an action-based understanding of imagination.