Watch what you say and how you say it: differential response to speech by participants with and without head injuries.

Previous research has shown that both prosodic and content variations in speech register are important when addressing all individuals. Motherese speech register has been associated with higher levels of perceived disability and is viewed more negatively by individuals with a history of head injury. This research was conducted to investigate the separate contributions of content and prosody in producing differential response to speech by individuals with and without a history of head injury. Participants included 210 introductory psychology students with and without head injuries. No significant demographic differences were found between these groups. Participants listened to 4 sets of audiotaped instructions from afictitious home economics teacher containing prosodic and content variations. Afterward, they rated the teacher on the following dimensions: liking, positive impact, negative impact, grade level being taught, and whether they would recommend hiring this teacher. Analysis of variance revealed there were no significant group differences between participants rating with normal speech. As expected, both groups favored the normal speech register over motherese. However, the group with head injuries consistently rated the speech with motherese content as more negative, less likable, less likely to hire, and aimed at a lower grade level. Participants with head injuries also rated the speech register with motherese prosody as less likable and less likely to hire. These results suggest that when addressing individuals with head injuries, both what you say and how you say it are important.

The influence of divorce on coping in adolescence.

The present study explored the relations between family status and coping processes in adolescence. Given the inconsistent findings with regard to the divorce experience, our intent was to determine if coping strategies endorsed by adolescents are related to family status. Further, appraisals of stressfulness, controllability, and perceived outcome of stressful situations were examined in relation to family status and coping strategies endorsed. Adolescents of divorced parents more frequently endorsed theoretically less mature, defensive coping strategies. Sex differences were noted in the intact group, while males and females in the divorce group were more alike in their coping responses. Appraisal variables were differentially related to coping behaviors in each group.

Inferencing and television: A developmental study.

Little research has been done to examine the cognitive processes engaged by television viewing in general, and with adolescent viewers in particular. The present study examined the extent of inferencing in adolescents' and young adults' interpretations of 3-min video segments taken from prime-time drama series and from rock music videos. It was predicted, and the results confirmed, that the less structured music video segments resulted in higher level inferencing than prime-time dramas. It was also found that young adults produced more higher-level inferences than adolescents, and prime-time drama led to more fact-based responses than music video. Correlations between television inferencing and scores on the Peel Lack of Closure Test were also examined to see if inferencing from video and from written text were related. Generally, these correlations were nonsignificant, confirming the hypotheses of other researchers that video inferencing involves unique knowledge structures that warrant further investigation.