Advanced English For Psychology Students

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INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 2
DEFICITS IN SPEECH PERCEPTION PREDICT LANGUAGE LEARNING
IMPAIRMENT................................................................................................................................... 4
Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises ............................................................................................. 15
DELINQUENCY, VICTIMIZATION, AND SUBSTANCE USE AMONG ADOLESCENTS
WITH FEMALE SAME-SEX PARENTS ..................................................................................... 23
PUTATIVE SEX DIFFERENCES IN VERBAL ABILITIES AND LANGUAGE CORTEX: A
CRITICAL REVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 36
PREDICTING WORKPLACE AGGRESSION: A META-ANALYSIS ................................... 55
A CRITIQUE OF THE IQ / ACHIEVEMENT DISCREPANCY MODEL FOR
IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES .......................................................... 74
ALCOHOL, AGING, AND THE STRESS RESPONSE.............................................................. 89
Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises ........................................................................................... 103
ANALYSIS OF IDENTIFICATION ACCURACY: .................................................................. 108
HOW HUMOUR HEALS: AN ANATOMICAL PERSPECTIVE ........................................... 123
LISTENING COMPREHENSION .............................................................................................. 134
Feeling like a fraud ...................................................................................................................... 134
Retirement: A new beginning? .................................................................................................... 136
Helping the homeless .................................................................................................................. 138
If it’s easy to read, it’s easy to do, pretty, good, and true ........................................................... 140
Change blindness......................................................................................................................... 143
APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................ 144
Word building: suffix -ee ............................................................................................................ 144
Punctuation .................................................................................................................................. 146
Relatives ...................................................................................................................................... 147
Tenses Overview ......................................................................................................................... 148
How to Appraise an Article ......................................................................................................... 149
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 151
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Introduction
This study book is designed for advanced learners of English (European level should be not
less than C1) with a major in Psychological Studies. The objective of this book is to improve the
four skills of the English language – reading, writing, speaking, and listening – while paying special
attention to the psychology-related vocabulary.
The study book consists of 3 main parts: texts accompanied by sets of exercises, exercises for
further developing listening comprehension skills, and appendices. Exercises in the first section of
the book aim at perfecting the vocabulary within the psychological domain, dealing with easily
confused English words, considering difficult grammatical points, and explaining traits typical to
academic writing. In the second part of the given study book, you will find exercises based on
different recordings. The third chapter, which is called Appendices, is supplementary: it is made up
of several tables that summarise some grammatical issues, guidelines on how to write a critical
paper, and an article that is interesting from a linguistic point of view on word building.
While working with the study book, you may feel the necessity to use some extra material:
- Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings

- Publication Manual by the American Psychological Association
- psychological web sites such as:
http://www.apa.org/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/
http://www.psychology.com/
- do not hesitate to consult online dictionaries such as:
http://www.ldoceonline.com/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://www.wordreference.com/fr/
Abbreviations used:
AmE – American English
BrE – British English
frml – formal
ifrml – informal
s.o. – someone
sth – something
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Advanced English for Psychology Students
3
sb – somebody
N – noun
V – verb
Adj - adjective
Good luck on your way for improvement!

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Deficits in speech perception predict language

learning impairment
Johannes C. Ziegler, Catherine Pech-Georgel, Florence George, F.-Xavier Alario, and Christian Lorenzi
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Provence, 13331 Marseille, France; Centre Hospitalier
Universitaire de la Timone, Université de la Méditerranée, 13005 Marseille, France; and Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris 5, Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France
Edited by Edward E. Smith, Columbia University, New York, NY, and approved August 10, 2005 (received for
review May 31, 2005)
Specific language impairment (SLI) is one of the most common childhood disorders,
affecting 7% of children. These children experience difficulties in understanding and
producing spoken language despite normal intelligence, normal hearing, and normal
opportunities to learn language. The causes of SLI are still hotly debated, ranging from
nonlinguistic deficits in auditory perception to high-level deficits in grammar. Here, we
show that children with SLI have poorer-than-normal consonant identification when
measured in ecologically valid conditions of stationary or fluctuating masking noise.
The deficits persisted even in comparison with a younger group of normally developing
children who were matched for language skills. This finding points to a fundamental
deficit. Information transmission of all phonetic features (voicing, place, and manner)
was impaired, although the deficits were strongest for voicing (e.g., difference between
/b/and /p/). Children with SLI experienced perfectly normal ‘‘release from masking’’
(better identification in fluctuating than in stationary noise), which indicates a central
deficit in feature extraction rather than deficits in low-level, temporal, and spectral
auditory capacities. We further showed that speech identification in noise predicted
language impairment to a great extent within the group of children with SLI and across
all participants. Previous research might have underestimated this important link,
possibly because speech perception has typically been investigated in optimal listening
conditions using non-speech material. The present study suggests that children with SLI
learn language deviantly because they inefficiently extract and manipulate speech
features, in particular, voicing. This result offers new directions for the fast diagnosis
and remediation of SLI.
1. Many children experience unexpected difficulties in understanding and
producing spoken language despite normal intelligence, normal hearing, normal
opportunities to learn language, and in the absence of any obvious neurological
problems (for review, see ref. 1). This disorder is typically called specific language
impairment (SLI). In the past years, research on SLI has experienced a growth of
interest partially because it has become clear that more children than initially thought
show language learning difficulties. Indeed, recent epidemiological studies estimate the
incidence of SLI to be +/- 7.4% in a population of monolingual English-speaking
kindergarten children (2). Children with SLI exhibit deficits in several aspects of
language, including phonology, morphology, and syntax (1, 3). One of the hallmarks of
SLI is a deficit in the use of function morphemes (e.g., the, a, and is) and other
grammatical morphology (e.g., plural -s, past tense -ed). Children with SLI also are at
high risk for subsequent literacy problems (4).
2. The causes of SLI are still hotly debated. Current theories of SLI fall into two
categories: those that attribute SLI to a specifically linguistic deficit and those that
attribute SLI to general processing limitations (for a review, see ref. 5). Linguistic
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5
deficit theories typically assume that children with SLI have difficulty acquiring
linguistic mechanisms, such as past tense rules or the grammatical principle of
inflection (6, 7). Children with SLI are thought to be ‘‘stuck’’ at an early stage of
grammatical development. Such a delay could actually reflect a general maturational
delay of language and other cognitive systems (8, 9).
3. In contrast, general processing deficit theories assume that it is not the specific
nature of the material that is important but rather how it is processed in the brain.
Nonlinguistic deficits in either perception or memory are thought to be responsible for
language disorder (10 –12). The most prominent theory of this kind, also
called the fast temporal-processing deficit hypothesis, maintains that SLI is a
consequence of a deficit in processing brief and/or rapidly changing auditory
information and/or in remembering the temporal order of auditory information (13–
16). For example, Tallal and Piercy (13) found that some children with SLI have
difficulty reporting the order of pairs of high- and low-frequency sounds when these
sounds are brief in duration and presented rapidly. Such a deficit may underlie
difficulties in perceiving grammatical forms (e.g., the or is), which are generally brief
and unstressed (17).
4. The auditory deficit account has been criticized because many children with
SLI perform normally on a variety of auditory tasks (18) and because auditory deficits
do not predict much of the variance within the group of language-impaired children
(19). Also, a number of studies have shown that auditory deficits are not restricted to
rapid auditory processing (20). To the contrary, many ‘‘slow’’ tasks, such as 4-Hz
amplitude modulation or 2-Hz frequency modulation detection, seem to be difficult for
children with developmental language learning disorders (21– 25). Given that speech
intelligibility depends heavily on the integrity of its low-frequency amplitude
modulations (e.g., ref 26), a slow temporal-processing deficit might offer a viable
explanation of speech perception deficits in SLI.
5. The goal of the present study was to investigate the acoustic/phonetic nature of
potential speech perception deficits in children with SLI. Our aim was to increase the
power of detecting speech perception deficits in SLI by shifting the focus of attention
from purely nonlinguistic auditory tasks to speech identification of phonetic categories
in ecologically valid listening conditions. In the present study, we used a
psychophysical technique testing for consonant identification in the presence of
masking noise. This technique parallels the standard tone- detection-in-noise tasks that
have proved extremely successful in the study of SLI (9, 27). Speech identification of
vowel– consonant–vowel (VCV) stimuli (e.g., /aba/, /aga/, and /ada/) was measured in
optimal conditions (silence) and in conditions of masking noise.
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6. Two features of the present experimental design must be highlighted: First,

previous studies investigated phonetic categorization performance only for a limited
number of phonetic contrasts (28, 29). In contrast, in the present study, identification
performance was studied for all of the 16 consonantal categories of French. This
technique allowed us to investigate more systematically the reception of speech
consonant/phonetic features, such as voicing, manner, and place of articulation.
Secondly, two types of masking noise were used: temporally fluctuating noise and
stationary noise. In conditions of temporally fluctuating noise, unimpaired listeners
experience ‘‘release from masking,’’ that is, better speech identification in fluctuating
noise than in stationary noise (30). This effect indicates that the normal auditory system
is capable of taking advantage of relatively short temporal minima in the fluctuating
background to detect speech cues, a capacity often called ‘‘listening in the valleys.’’
Clearly, this capacity requires a certain degree of temporal and spectral resolution (e.g.,
ref. 31). Temporal resolution is required to follow the background fluctuations to
extract speech cues during the background valleys, whereas spectral resolution is
required to access parts of the speech spectrum that are not (or less) masked by the
background noise. Temporal fine structure cues (amplitude fluctuations faster than
500 Hz) also play a role in the perceptual segregation of speech from background
noise (32). Indeed, listeners with sensorineural hearing loss after cochlear damage show
degraded spectral resolution and poor fine-structure coding. Not surprisingly, such
listeners typically show reduced or abolished masking release (31, 33, 34).
7. In summary, in Exp. 1, we tested speech identification and the transmission of
phonetic features in quiet and noisy conditions. The comparison of performance in
fluctuating noise and stationary noise conditions allowed us to test whether children
with SLI showed abnormal masking release. Two control groups were tested: one that
was matched in terms of chronological age and nonverbal ability and another that was
matched in terms of language ability (i.e., younger, typically developing children). The
purpose of this second group was to control for the possibility that the ability to do a
speech perception task under taxing conditions might be influenced by top-down
knowledge of language. If so, potential speech perception deficits could be a
consequence rather than a cause of poor language. In contrast, if speech perception
deficits persist in the L-match comparison, then they are likely to be the cause rather
than the consequence of SLI.
8. Experiment 1
Methods. Participants. Ten children (seven boys) with SLI were recruited from
the neuropediatric service of the La Timone Hospital in Marseille, France. The children
were diagnosed as language-impaired by a multidisciplinary team. Diagnosis included a
medical assessment (hearing and vision) and neuropsychological and psycholinguistic
testing. All children had a nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) 85 on the French
version of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (35). They had audiometric
thresholds of 20 dB hearing level between 0.25 and 8 kHz and no history of hearing
difficulty. None of the children had suffered from otitis media, and none of them
showed evidence of seizure or brain lesions. Language comprehension and syntactic
knowledge were tested with L’ECOSSE (Epreuve de Compréhension Syntaxico–
Sémantique), a standardized sentence/picture matching test (36). All other tests were
taken from L2MA, a standardized test of spoken language ability (37): Verbal memory
was assessed with backward and forward number repetition, vocabulary was assessed
with picture naming, and phonology was assessed with word repetition and phonetic
fluency measures. Impaired children in this study were at least 2 SD below the age-
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appropriate mean on at least four subtests. The characteristics of the participants and a
summary of the language test results are found in Table 1.
9. Two control groups with 10 children each were recruited from a local school in
Marseille. The first group, the age-matched (A-match) controls, were selected such that
the normally developing children had the same chronological age and nonverbal
cognitive ability (performance IQ) as children with SLI (see Table 1). The second
group, the language-matched (L-match) controls, were selected such that the normally
developing children had the same overall language ability. These children were, on
average, 2 years younger than children with SLI.
10. Stimuli. One set of 48 unprocessed VCV stimuli was recorded. These speech
stimuli consisted of three exemplars of 16 possible /aCa/ utterances (C
=/p,t,k,b,d,g,f,s, ,m,n,r,l,v,z, /) read by a French female speaker in a quiet
environment. Each signal was digitized by a 16-bit analog/digital converter at a 44.1-
kHz sampling frequency. VCV identification was assessed in silence or noise. In the
latter condition, a gated speech-shaped noise masker (i.e., a noise with the long-term
power spectrum of running speech) was added to each utterance (and refreshed in each
trial of a given session). This speech-shaped noise was either (i) steady (i.e.,
unmodulated) or (ii) modulated with a sine-wave modulator. The expression describing
the sine-wave modulator, m(t), was
where n(t) represents the speech-shaped noise. Modulation depth, m, was fixed at
1 (i.e., 100%); modulation frequency, fm, was fixed at 32 Hz. The starting phase of the
first-order modulation, , was randomized between 0° and 360° on each trial.
11. In each experimental condition, the noise masker was added to each speech
utterance at a 0 dB (rms) signal-to-noise ratio. This signal-to-noise ratio was
determined in a preliminary experiment so as to yield a consonant identification
performance of 50% correct when the speech-shaped noise was steady in control
children. In each utterance, signal and noise were of identical duration (mean duration =
648 ms; SD = 46 ms). Noise was shaped by using a raised cosine function with 50-ms
rise/fall times.
12. Each stimulus was presented diotically to the listener through headphones
(model HD 565, Sennheiser, Old Lyme, CT), and overall levels were calibrated from
each combination of parameters to produce an average output level of 70 dB(A) for
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continuous speech.
13. Procedure. The children were tested individually with a single-interval, 16-
alternative procedure without feedback. A personal computer controlled the course of
the experiment. In each experimental condition, the 48 VCV utterances were presented
randomly. All children started with the silence condition. Presentation of the other two
conditions (stationary noise and fluctuating noise) was counterbalanced. The children
were instructed to identify each stimulus. The 16 possible choices were presented on
the screen of the computer. The children gave their responses orally, or they pointed to
one of the 16 choices on the computer screen. The experimenter entered the responses
by clicking on one of the 16 options on the computer screen. All children were initially
trained by asking them to read aloud the letter strings in each response box. Children
who showed severe production problems during training were asked to always confirm
their oral response by pointing to the label on the screen.
14. Results. Table 2 presents the percentage of correct identifications of children
with SLI and of the L-match and A-match controls for each experimental condition
(silence, fluctuating noise, and stationary noise). In silence, the speech perception
deficit was only significant in the A-match comparison (P<0.05) but not in the L-match
comparison. In contrast, strong deficits were obtained for children with SLI in the two
speech-in-noise conditions in the A-match (P<0.001) and the L-match (P<0.02)
comparisons.
15. Masking release. A clear masking release effect was observed for the three
groups of participants (see Table 2). That is, performance was 10% better in
fluctuating noise than in stationary noise. However, the size of the masking release
effect was similar for the three groups. An ANOVA confirmed that the masking release
effect was present in the A-match and the L-match comparison (A-match: F =14.58,
P< 0.001; L-match: F =11.79, P<0.003). More importantly, the masking release effect
did not interact with the group factor in the A-match or L-match comparison (A-match:
F = 0.22, P> 0.60; L-match: F= 0.14, P> 0.70), indicating that the size of the release
effect was similar across groups.
16. Phonetic feature transmission. The specific reception of three speech
features (voicing, place, and manner) was evaluated by information transmission
analyses (38) that were performed on the basis of individual confusion matrices. In both
comparisons, the results were analyzed by using 2 X 3 X 3 ANOVAs with group (SLI
vs. controls), phonetic feature (voicing vs. place vs. manner), and condition (silence vs.
fluctuating noise vs. stationary noise) as factors. The results showed that children with
SLI performed more poorly than controls (A-match: F = 12.87, P< 0.002; L-match:
F=7.59, P< 0.02), indicating that the reception of speech features was generally
impaired in children with SLI. More importantly, the data exhibited a significant
interaction between group and phonetic feature (A-match: F =13.13, P < 0.0001; L-
match: F = 9.91, P<0.001), reflecting the fact that the deficit was stronger for voicing
(A-match: 23%; L-match: 20%) than for place (A-match,15%; L-match,12%) or
manner (A-match, 8%; L-match, 7%). These data are presented in Fig. 1. The triple
interaction between group, feature, and condition was significant in the A-match
comparison ( F = 4.9, P<0.02). This interaction reflects the fact that the voicing deficit
was exaggerated in noise (31%) compared with silence (8%). Because this triple
interaction failed to reach significance in the L-match comparison ( F = 1.7, P> 0.20),
we only present the double interaction in Fig. 1.
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17. Discussion. Under optimal listening conditions (silence), children with SLI
showed only subtle speech perception deficits that were not significant in the L-match
comparison. This finding is consistent with previous reports that have qualified speech
perception deficits in developmental language learning disorders as fragile (39).
However, under conditions of stationary and fluctuating noise, children with SLI
showed substantial speech perception deficits, in the A-match and L-match
comparisons. The fact that the speech perception deficit persist in the L-match
comparison suggests that it is the cause rather than the consequence of SLI.
18. Phonetic feature transmission analyses showed that the speech perception
deficit was strongest for voicing, although it also affected the reception of all other
phonetic features. This finding contrasts with the general pattern of phonetic deficits
reported in listeners with sensorineural hearing loss in quiet and noise, for whom
reception of place of articulation is mostly degraded, whereas reception of voicing and
manner is barely affected (40, 41).
19. The size of the masking release effect ( 10%) was identical across the three
participant groups. That is, all children were apparently able to take advantage of
relatively short temporal minima in the fluctuating background to detect and/or
restorespeech cues. This finding is important because it suggests that the sensory and
cognitive processes known to be involved in masking release, such as auditory
grouping based on stimulus spectral and fine-structure cues (32), perceptual restoration
(42), and informational masking (43), are functional in children with SLI. This pattern
of results again contrasts with data from hearing- impaired patients who tend to show
reduced or abolished masking release.
20. Experiment 2
The goal of Exp. 2 was twofold. First, we wanted to provide a replication of our
main findings (i.e., speech perception deficits in noise in the presence of intact masking
release) with a new group of participants and more intensive psychophysical testing.
Second, we wanted to test whether rapid noise fluctuations would result in stronger
speech perception deficits than slow fluctuations. Indeed, the fast temporal-processing
deficit hypothesis (13) would predict larger deficits under conditions of high-frequency
noise modulations (e.g., 128 Hz) than under conditions of low-frequency noise
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modulations (e.g., 4 Hz). These larger deficits would exist because a rapid processing
deficit would prevent the auditory system from taking advantage of the short temporal
minima in rapidly fluctuating background noise. In other words, to restore the speech
signal in conditions of fluctuating noise, the auditory system needs to go as ‘‘fast’’ as
the noise to detect speech cues in the noise valleys. Thus, in case of a rapid-processing
deficit, ‘‘glimpsing’’ in noise valleys should be more difficult when modulation
frequency is high. Conversely, the ‘‘slow’’ temporal processing deficit hypothesis (e.g.,
ref. 25) would predict larger deficits under conditions of slow noise modulations (4 Hz)
than under conditions of fast noise modulations (128 Hz). In summary, Exp. 2 tested for
speech perception deficits in optimal listening conditions and in four masking
conditions: stationary, 4-Hz, 32-Hz, and 128-Hz noise.
21. Methods. Participants. Ten children (7 boys) with SLI were again recruited
from the neuropediatric service of the La Timone Hospital in Marseille, France. The
average age was 10.8 years (age range 8.6–12.6 years). Selection procedure was
identical to Exp. 1. In particular, all children had a nonverbal IQ of 85 and
audiometric thresholds at 20 dB hearing level between 0.25 and 8 kHz. Ten A-match
controls were recruited from a local school (mean age, 10.8 years; age range, 8.6–12.9
years). Given that Exp. 1 confirmed the reliability of our results with regard to a L-
match group, in the present experiment, we selected only 10 controls that were matched
with regard to chronological age (mean age, 10.8 years; age range, 8.6–12.9 years). The
controls had normal vision and audition and no history of language or reading
disability. Because of time constraints, no language tests were administered for the
controls apart from word repetition (phonology) and phonological decoding (nonword
reading).
22. Stimuli and procedure. Stimuli were identical to Exp. 1. To increase the
power of the experiment, we made the following changes: First, we reduced the signal-
to-noise ratio from 0 to 15 dB (rms). Second, we increased the number of data points
by repeating the 48 VCV stimuli four times per condition (196 data points). In the
fluctuating noise condition, we added two conditions with a fm of 4 Hz and 128 Hz.
23. Results. Identification performance. Table 3 presents identification
performance across all experimental conditions. No significant speech perception
deficit was obtained in silence. In contrast, reliable deficits were obtained for all of the
speech-in-noise conditions.
24. To address the issue of whether the speech perception deficit varied as a
function of noise modulation frequency, we submitted the data to a 2 X 3 ANOVA with
group (SLI vs. controls) and masking condition (4, 32, and 128 Hz) as factors. The
ANOVA showed significant main effects of group ( F = 22.9, P< 0.0001) and masking
condition ( F= 212.0, P<0.0001). The interaction between these effects was not
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significant ( F< 1), suggesting that the speech perception deficit of children with SLI
was similar across the three different types of masking conditions.
25. Masking release. A clear masking release effect was observed. As in Exp. 1,
performance was substantially better in fluctuating noise than in stationary noise. The
amount of masking release (i.e., performance in fluctuating noise minus performance in
stationary noise) across the three modulation frequencies is presented in Fig. 2A.
26. Statistical analyses confirmed that the size of the masking release varied as a
function of frequency: Masking release was best for 4 Hz and worst for 128 Hz
( F=136.6, P< 0.0001). More importantly, children with SLI and controls obtained
literally identical masking release effects, with maximum release ( 28%) at the lowest
modulation frequency (4 Hz). The interaction between the effects of masking release
and group were not significant ( F< 1). This result replicates our previous finding that
children with SLI show intact masking release.
27. Phonetic feature transmission. The specific reception of the three speech
features was analyzed in a 2 X 3 X 3 ANOVA with group (SLI vs. controls), phonetic
feature (voicing vs. place vs. manner), and condition (4, 32, and 128 Hz) as factors. The
results showed poorer performance for children with SLI than for controls ( F=23.7,
P<0.001), indicating that the reception of speech features was generally impaired in
children with SLI. More importantly, the data exhibited a significant interaction
between group and phonetic feature ( F= 4.1, P< 0.05), reflecting the fact that the
deficit for voicing (24%) was stronger than the deficit for place (12%) or manner
(10%). These data are presented in Fig. 2B. The triple interaction also reached
significance ( F= 3.2, P< 0.05) because the deficits of voicing and place were strongest
in the 32-Hz condition, whereas the deficit of manner was strongest in the 4-Hz
condition. Note, however, that in each condition, the strongest deficit was always
obtained for voicing.
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28. Discussion. Exp. 2 replicated the main findings of Exp. 1, that is, the
existence of a weak speech perception deficit in silence but a robust deficit in noise.
The speech perception deficit was equally strong across the different masking
conditions (4, 32, and 128 Hz). This finding does not directly support the fast or slow
temporal-processing deficit hypothesis (13, 25), which would have predicted a variation
of the deficit as a function of modulation frequency. Moreover, as in Exp. 1, masking
release was intact in all conditions, which rules out low-level spectral or temporal
processing deficits.
29. Experiments 1 and 2: Individual Performance and Regression Analyses
Two important issues still need to be addressed: (i) How general the deficit is,
and (ii) whether it actually predicts the language deficit. Indeed, it has been previously
argued that only a subgroup of children with SLI might have sensory deficits (18, 44)
and that the severity of the auditory deficit does not appear to predict the severity of the
language impairment (19).
30. To address the first issue in our data, we analyzed individual scatter plots for
children with SLI and controls (Fig. 3). Because both experiments used stationary and
32-Hz amplitude- modulated (AM) noise, we pooled the data from Exps. 1 and 2 across
these two conditions. In Exp. 1, seven of 10 children with SLI were at least 1 SD below
the mean of the L-match controls, and eight of 10 were at least 1 SD below the mean of
the A-match controls. In Exp. 2, nine of 10 children with SLI were at least 1 SD below
the mean of the A-match controls. Clearly, the present speech-perception-in-noise
deficits should be considered as very general.
31. To address the issue of predictive power, we calculated Pearson correlations
between speech intelligibility in noise and language performance on the word repetition
subtest of the L2MA battery (37). This analysis revealed a highly significant correlation
between speech intelligibility in noise and word repetition (Exp. 1: r= 0.74, P< 0.0001;
Exp. 2: r =0.89, P < 0.0001). Note that the size of the correlations persisted when only
children with SLI were entered into the regression model (Exp. 1: r= 0.73, P< 0.0001;
Exp. 2: r= 0.86, P< 0.001). These results are presented in Fig. 4.
32. Given that we used a nonword reading test in Exp. 2, we were also able to
check whether the speech intelligibility deficits still predicted the phonological deficit
when no spoken input was involved, which the results showed was the case. Speech
intelligibility in noise still predicted the phonological deficit in nonword reading
(r=0.83, P< 0.0001).
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13
Fig. 4. Correlation between speech intelligibility in noise and performance on a word repetition test for
children with SLI and for controls.
33. General Discussion

The main findings of the present study can be summarized as follows. Under
optimal listening conditions (silence), children with SLI showed only subtle speech
perception deficits. How- ever, under conditions of stationary noise and fluctuating
noise, children with SLI showed substantial speech perception deficits. Note that
conditions of fluctuating noise are not artificial; they are actually very representative of
the kind of listening conditions that children will encounter in their daily life (in
schools, for example). Thus, the present results raise the possibility that children with
language learning disabilities have very serious problems with noise exclusion, which
will certainly have tremendous consequences for normal phonological development. A
similar proposal has recently been made with regard to visual (magnocellular) deficits
that seem frequently associated with dyslexia (45). The authors showed that dyslexic
children do not have visual (magnocellular) processing problems per se but rather
problems of noise exclusion that become apparent in visual tasks using noisy displays.
Noise exclusion could therefore be a very general problem responsible for poor
phonological development of children with language learning problems and dyslexia.
34. The fact that most previous studies and clinical tests investigated speech
perception in optimal listening conditions might also explain why they often failed to
find robust deficits (39). We thus suggest that clinical testing in the future must involve
speech-perception-in-noise measures to complement the traditional audiometric testing.
Such tests are particularly informative if they help assess the reception of specific
phonetic features. In this respect, our results showed an interesting pattern. Whereas the
voicing feature was most well preserved in noisy conditions in normally developing
children, it was the least well preserved in children with SLI. This finding contrasts
with the general pattern of phonetic deficits reported in listeners with sensorineural
hearing loss in quiet and noise and for whom reception of place of articulation is mostly
degraded, whereas reception of voicing and manner are barely affected (40, 41). The
comparison with hearing-impaired patients suggests that auditory and speech
perception deficits in SLI are central (that is, postcochlear) in origin. The fact that
voicing is more affected than other contrasts also suggests that speech perception
deficits interfere in a specific way with the development of phonological
representations, which in turn might affect other aspects of grammatical development.
35. An extremely important finding is the presence of intact masking release in
children with SLI regardless of the frequency of the noise modulations. This finding
suggests that the core deficit of children with SLI is probably not due to poor temporal
152 / 152
or spectral resolution, because both of these processes are required to follow the
background fluctuations and to access the unmasked parts of the speech spectrum (e.g.,
ref. 31). If such low-level deficits can be excluded as an explanation of SLI, one might
wonder where the speech deficit actually comes from. Overall, our results seem to be
consistent with the notion that children with SLI are generally inefficient at processing
the information underlying speech identification and that such inefficiency is
exacerbated by the adjunction of background noise. More precisely, the present data
suggest that the peripheral and central auditory systems of children with SLI encode
acoustic information sufficiently well (i.e., envelope, periodicity, fine structure, and
spectral cues), but the central auditory system is inefficient at mapping acoustic
information onto phonetic features to achieve normal recognition. For unknown
reasons, this inefficiency seems to be especially substantial in the case of voicing and
particularly susceptible to the interfering effects of the random amplitude fluctuations
of masking noise.
36. Finally, in recent years, a number of criticisms have been made against the
importance of auditory deficits in SLI. It has been argued that (i) auditory deficits are
only associated but not responsible for SLI, (ii) that they only affect a small group of
children with SLI, and (iii) that they do not predict language performance (for review,
see ref. 19). None of these criticisms does apply to the present study. First, the present
speech perception deficit appears fundamental because it persists even when language
level is controlled for; second, it appears general because the great majority of children
with SLI show speech- perception-in-noise deficits. Finally, this speech perception
deficit is predictive because it correlates very strongly with phonological markers of
language impairments.
37. Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study points to an important connection between SLI
and speech perception deficits. Previous studies might have underestimated this link
possibly because they investigated speech perception in optimal listening conditions or
they focused too narrowly on non-speech deficits. The fact that masking release is
intact in children with SLI but not in hearing-impaired patients suggests that basic,
temporal, and spectral auditory capacities are relatively spared in SLI. Instead, the
deficit must be due to an inefficient mapping of acoustic information onto phonetic
features at a central (postcochlear) conversion stage. This result offers new directions
for the diagnosis and remediation of SLI.
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15
Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises
I. Find the synonym to the words below:
stuck (§2) to be unable to stumped left alone without

advance any professional
help
prominent (§ 3) modern flat well-known
to investigate (§6) to work out to look into to make inquiries
overall (§9) average general total
to yield (§ 11) to produce to ameliorate to make out
randomly (§ 13) immediately unsystematically in a well-organised
way
extremely (§ 35) slightly marginally highly
substantial (§ 35) significant unimportant high
II. Think of the antonyms to the words above.
III. Explain in your own words the following terms or expressions:
language impairment (abstract)

incidence (§ 1)
hallmark (§ 1)
literacy (§1)
top-down knowledge (§ 7)
quotient (8)
headphones (§ 12)
letter strings (§ 13)
to take advantage (§ 19)
IV. Consider ‘per se’ (§ 33). When can it be used? What does it mean? How is
it pronounced?
V. CAN, to be ABLE TO DO sth, and to be CAPABLE OF doing sth
CAN do to be ABLE to do sth to be CAPABLE of doing sth

more usual than to have the skill, to have the ability,
ABLE in the strength, energy, or qualities
meaning ‘to be knowledge needed needed to do sth,
able to do sth or to do sth especially sth very
to know how to I've always wanted to be difficult or unusual
do sth’ able to speak English. (use this about people
James can come today. to be in a situation or machines)
Ann can swim. in which it is Mr. Ken is a very capable
with verbs of possible for you to attorney.
perception and do sth The company isn't capable of
mind I haven't been able to read handling an order that large.
I can see trees over there. that report yet. if s.o. is capable of
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for actions that clever or good at doing sth, they don’t

are controlled by doing sth usually do it, but it is
laws or rules able students possible for them to do
(=be allowed to) if s.o. is able to do it if they want to
You can’t drink until you sth, they can do it, One man is capable of
are 21 in the US. and it is not destroying the whole world.
is used with unusual or
simple tenses, surprising if they
otherwise use ‘to do it
be able to do sth’ Tomorrow, I’ll be able to
I haven’t been able to go over it with you.
study recently.
NB: to enable = to make s.o. able to do sth

e.g.: Technology enabled them to grow their own food.
Choose between ‘can’, ‘to be able to do sth’, ‘to be capable of sth’, or ‘to enable’, and
put them in the correct tense:
1. Going beyond simplistic dichotomies, scientists ____________________ to

gather substantial amounts of specific data on the effects of heredity and
environment through family, twin, and adoption studies.
2. We can trust them for life itself, and at the same time appreciate the help that
psychology ________________ provide.
3. After meeting her colleagues, I _______________ see why she doesn’t like her
work.
4. There are so many interesting books to read in the library that I
_______________ decide which one to pick up.
5. _________ you _______________ go with me to my shrink’s tomorrow?
6. This book is designed _______________ students to write essays.
7. Everyone _________________ deceiving themselves.
8. Her strength of character, confidence in her own research and remarkable
insight regarding observation ____________ her to overcome many difficulties
and carve out a successful career.
9. Most people have a psychologically healthy and whole self that
________________ the functions that are normal for human beings, such as
being independent, setting and attaining goals, experiencing intimacy and
enjoying the moment.
10. This tendency might be phrased as the desire to become more and more what
one is, to become everything that one __________________ becoming.
11. Jack is _______________ of everything, just watch out.
12. Historically, because large groups of people ________________ bring about
dramatic and sudden social change in a manner that bypasses established due
process, they have also provoked controversy.
13. Network structures both ________________ and constrain the development of
social relations.
VI. Affect or Effect?
‘Affect’ can only be a verb, and it can mean:

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17
to do something that produces an effect or change in something or in someone's

situation
e.g. events that affect our lives
(usually passive) to make someone feel strong emotions
e.g. We were all deeply affected by her death.
(frml) to pretend to have a particular feeling, way of speaking, etc.
e.g. He used to affect a foreign accent.
‘Effect’ can be either a noun or a verb. Let’s consider the usage of the verb as students
often confuse it with the verb ‘to affect’:
(frml) to make something happen
e.g. Many parents lack confidence in their ability to effect change in their children's
behaviour.
Match the beginning of the sentence with its ending:
1. It wasn’t until approximately 1776 that a) effect, Bahrick showed that retention of
Mesmer observed a priest who foreign language vocabulary was greatly
enhanced if practice sessions were spaced
far apart.
2. Japan is another example of a b) affected by the recent bushfires in
revolution Victoria.
3. In one practical demonstration of the c) affected psychology, serves as a
spacing corrective to this perspectival absolutism.
4. The term bystander d) effected cures without the use of

magnets, but by manipulation alone.
5. Existentialism, as it e) affects intelligence, but family size.
6. Aaron Wichman found that it’s not birth f) effected by a government.

order that
7. Millions of people have been g) effect refers to the phenomenon in
which the greater the number of people
present, the less likely people are to help a
person in distress.
VII. Are you ‘sick’? ‘ill’? or Do you have a ‘bug’?
illness
a health problem that you are suffering from which makes you feel ill
sickness
- the state of being ill
- the feeling that you are about to bring up food from your stomach, or the act of
bringing food up
disease
a particular illness that has a medical name
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virus
a type of infectious illness
bug
ifrml, an illness that people catch very easily from each other but that is not very serious
infection
an illness that is caused by bacteria and that affects one part of your body, such as your
ears, throat, lungs, or skin
condition
an illness that affects s.o.’s health permanently or over a long period of time
ailment
frml, an illness of condition, especially one that affects a particular part of your body
disorder
an illness that prevents part of your body from working properly or affect the way you
behave, especially one that is permanent or continues for a long time
syndrome
an illness which consists of a set of physical or mental problems - often used in the
name of illnesses
NB:
In British English, ‘sick’ is usually used in the expressions ‘to be sick’ (=have the food
in your stomach come up through your mouth) and ‘to feel sick’ (=feel as if this is
going to happen)
In American English, you say that someone throws up. ‘Throw up’ is also used in
British English but is fairly informal. ‘Vomit’ is a fairly formal way to say 'throw up'.
If someone has an illness or disease, you usually say that they are ‘ill’ in British
English, and ‘sick’ in American English.
In American English, ‘ill’ suggests you have a more serious disease, from which you
may not recover.
If someone is slightly ill, you often say in British English that they are ‘not well’.
‘Unwell’ is a more formal word for 'ill' or 'sick'.
Fill in the gaps with the words from the table above:
1. Motion _____________ or kinetosis is a condition in which a disagreement

exists between visually perceived movement and the Vestibular system's sense
of movement.
2. Peter Pan _______________ is a pop-psychology term used to describe an adult
who is socially immature.
3. Urinary tract ________________ may have deep psychological roots.
4. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that three percent of the male
population is made up of people who suffer from psychopathic personality
_______________.
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19
5. Huntington's _____________ is a genetic neurological disorder characterized

after onset by uncoordinated, jerky body movements and a decline in some
mental abilities.
6. Mental ______________ is defined as a _____________ that causes serious
abnormality in a person's thinking or behaviour.
7. The human organism is more likely to be infected with the ___________ when
it is under stress.
8. A lot of people suffering from different phobias pick up a tummy _________.
9. Morning ___________ affects 80 percent of pregnant women.
10. Jeremy has been __________ on the floor.
11. I was very _________ so I missed the class last week.
VIII. Singular or Plural?
Explain the absence of the article in ‘previous research’ (abstract).

Consider the words ‘stimuli’ (§5) and ‘minima’ (§ 19). Are they singular or plural?
Give more examples of the same type.
IX. when + Past Participle
Consider the following sentence:
Here, we show that children with SLI have poorer-than-normal consonant identification
when measured in ecologically valid conditions of stationary or fluctuating masking
noise (abstract).
You will often come across the construction ‘when + past participle’, especially in
academic writing, as it makes the sentence more formal. Compare:
Here, we show that children with SLI have poorer-than-normal consonant identification
when it is measured in ecologically valid conditions of stationary or fluctuating
masking noise.
Make the sentences below more formal:
1. Which, when Rogerian Psychotherapy is applied properly, it shows the patient

that they are being heard and understood.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. To the sociologist, imitation is an extremely valuable term when it is employed
as a short cut symbol for certain processes; and when it is brought into
adjustment with the category of conditional response, i. e., when it is explained
as a phase of conditional response, it can be defined as accurately as any other
category in social science.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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3. While pink's calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of colour

psychology have found that this effect only occurs during the initial exposure to
the colour. When this colour is used in prisons, inmates often become even
more agitated once they become accustomed to the colour.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4. Extreme violence of any type, when it is viewed regularly, can lead to and
contribute to psychopathic behaviour in children, teen and adults.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. It is never a healthy personality trait and can lead to neuroticism, and when it is
taken to the next level, psychotic traits.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
to endeavour
frml, to try very hard
Register refers to the style of language and grammar used in written or spoken form as
appropriate to the context, often distinguishing formal from informal usage.
Formality scale
*
Very formal, Frozen, Rigid Formal Neutral Informal Very informal, Casual, Familiar
X. Impersonal and Personal Passives
Active Voice Passive Impersonal Passive Personal
They know that Caroline It is known that Caroline Caroline is known to laugh
laughs a lot. laughs a lot. a lot.
They know that Alan It is known that Alan Alan is known to have
prepared his homework. prepared his homework. prepared his homework.
Transform Active Voice into Passive Impersonal and Personal:
1. People know that he is a very good specialist in behavioural psychology.

*
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
McMillan, K., Weyers, J. (2010). How to write essays and assignments. Pearson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Register_%28sociolinguistics%29.
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21
____________________________________________________________________
2. They say that people cope with trauma differently.

____________________________________________________________________
3. People believe that online therapy can help a lot of people.

____________________________________________________________________
4. They suppose that anxiety is not difficult to treat because it is only a symptom.
____________________________________________________________________
5. They found that our brain has a built-in “negativity bias.”

____________________________________________________________________
XI. Tricky ‘whether’

1. ‘Whether’ can be used to report a yes/no question (similar to ‘if’).
e.g. Is it an article about fear? asked John. John asked whether (or’ if’) it was an
article about fear.
2. after a preposition (rather than ‘if’, ‘if’ is used informally in this case)
e.g. They argued about whether delinquency was caused by the type of the family or the
relationships between its members.
3. before a to-infinitive (not ‘if’)

e.g. Scientists cannot decide whether to continue this research or start off something
new.
Other verbs that can be followed by ‘whether + to-infinitive’: to choose, to consider, to

debate, to decide, to determine, to discuss, to know, to wonder.
4. in the pattern ‘as to’ (not ‘if’)

N/Adj + as to whether means ‘about’ or ‘concerning’.
e.g. There was some debate as to whether she was a good psychologist.
Other nouns and adjectives: conflict, confusion, disagreement, discussion, doubt,

question, speculation, uncertainty, concerned, indifferent, uncertain, undecided,
unsure.
In formal contexts, V + as to whether:

e.g. Opinion was divided as to whether this issue should be taken into consideration.
5. in a clause acting as a subject or complement (rather than ‘if’)

e.g. Whether we’ll take Chapter 2 next remains to be seen.
6. after the verbs to advise, to choose, to consider, to depend on, to discuss, to talk
about, to think about (rather than ‘if’)
e.g. We should discuss whether this article is worth mentioning in the report.
7. to say that two possibilities have been talked or thought about, or to say that people
are not sure about sth (similar to ‘if’)
e.g. Do you know if/whether Charles is at home?
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8. ‘whether’ can be followed immediately by ‘or not’ (not ‘if’)
e.g. I don’t know if this article is about aggression at work or not.

I don’t know whether or not this article is about aggression at work. or
I don’t know whether this article is about aggression at work or not.
Write ‘whether’ of ‘if/whether’:
1. Since this article's first publication in 2003, I have been engaged in a running
debate with psychologists about _________ psychology can be fairly described
as "scientific" using commonly accepted definitions of science.
2. This typically involves looking for differences in patterns of remaining ability,
which can give clues as to _________ abilities are composed of smaller
functions, or are controlled by a single cognitive mechanism.
3. Anyone who has ever been victimized—and that includes survivors of
crime, accidents, childhood abuse, political imprisonment, warfare, and so on—
must decide _________ or not to forgive the perpetrator.
4. In order to consider __________ psychology is a science, we must first define
our terms.
5. It's up to you ___________ to complete a traditional or online degree.
6. You asked ___________ it is bad to have too many quotes, and I think the
answer is that it is bad to take up too much space with them.
7. He asked ____________ she was ready for their usual one-hour session.
8. The following ten signals will let you know _________ you fall into this
category or not.
XII. Linking words
While reading the article, you have encountered different linking words. Below is the
list with some of them. Give the context in which they could be used, and if necessary,
explain their meanings.
To a great extent (abstract)

Given (§ 4)
That is (§ 6)
Whereas (§ 6)
Conversely (§ 20)
In other words (§ 20)
To address the first issue (§ 30)
More precisely (§ 35)
XIII. Word-building
Look at the words ‘backward’ and ‘forward’ (§ 8). What do they have in common?
What is the meaning of the suffix –ward? Think of other words with the same suffix.
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23
Delinquency, Victimization, and Substance Use

Among Adolescents With Female Same-Sex Parents
Jennifer L. Wainright and Charlotte J. Patterson University of Virginia
The question of whether parental sexual orientation has an impact on human development has important implications
for psychological theories and for legal policy. This study examined associations among family type (same-sex vs.
different-sex parents), family and relationship variables, substance use, delinquency, and victimization of
adolescents. Participants included 44 adolescents living with female same-sex couples and 44 adolescents living with
different- sex couples, matched on demographic characteristics and drawn from a national sample. Analyses
indicated that adolescents were functioning well and that their adjustment was not associated with family type.
Adolescents whose parents described closer relationships with them reported less delinquent behavior and substance
use, suggesting that the quality of parent–adolescent relationships better predicts adolescent outcomes than does
family type.
Task: While reading the text, pay special attention to the use of prepositions (underline
them whenever you find it necessary; see ex. XII)
1. The question of whether parental sexual orientation has an impact on human
development has received considerable attention recently from a variety of sources
(Stacey & Biblarz, 2001). This topic has important implications for theories of
socialization (Golombok, 1999) and for law and social policy (Patterson, Fulcher, &
Wainright, 2002; Perrin & the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family
Health, 2002). A growing body of empirical research has examined outcomes among
children who are reared by gay and lesbian parents.
2. Studies reported to date have identified few associations between parental
sexual orientation and young children’s well-being (Patterson, 2000), but have
suggested that processes within the family may be associated with child outcomes
(Chan, Raboy, & Patterson, 1998). We still have relatively few studies of adolescent
offspring of lesbian or gay parents, however, and some have advised caution when
generalizing the results of research conducted with young children to adolescents (e.g.,
Baumrind, 1995; Perrin & the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family
Health, 2002).
3. The small body of research that has focused on adolescent offspring of families
headed by same-sex couples found no differences in young people’s self-esteem (Hug-
gins, 1989); depression, anxiety, and peer group hostility (Tasker & Golombok, 1997);
or depressive symptoms, anxiety, grade-point average, trouble in school, sexual
behavior, and romantic relationships (Wainright, Russell, & Patterson, 2004) as a
function of mothers’ sexual orientation. Wainright et al. (2004), however, did report
significant associations between parental perception of parent– adolescent relationship
quality and adolescent school adjustment.
4. Considerable research indicates that parenting style influences the effectiveness
of parents’ efforts to socialize their children (Steinberg & Silk, 2002). A warm,
accepting style of parenting is generally related to optimal outcomes for adolescents
(Rohner, 1999), especially if it is combined with appropriate limit setting and
monitoring of adolescent behavior (Steinberg & Silk, 2002). In particular, family
processes such as the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship have been found to
be associated with adolescent risk behaviors (e.g., Crosnoe, Erickson, & Dornbusch,
2002; Matherne & Thomas, 2001).
152 / 152
5. We assessed levels of risk behavior among adolescent offspring of female

same-sex parents and explored factors associated with individual differences within this
group. We assessed family type (i.e., whether parent has a same-sex or different-sex
partner) as well as relationship variables. On the basis of previous findings with
children (e.g., Chan et al., 1998), we expected to find no differences in substance use,
risky and delinquent behaviors, or victimization based on family type. Consistent with
the literature on sources of individual differences among adolescents (e.g., Steinberg &
Silk, 2002), however, we did expect to find significant associations between
relationship variables such as the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship and
adolescent outcomes.
6.
Methods
Participants
Participating families were drawn from a large, nationally representative sample
of adolescents in the United States collected for the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health (Add Health), a school-based study of the health-related behaviors
of adolescents in Grades 7–12 (See Bearman, Jones, & Udry, 1997). Data used in the
present study were collected through the In-Home Interview (IHI) and surveys, as well
as in-school surveys of students (collected in 1994 –1995), and through in-home
questionnaires of parents. Details on sampling and methods used in the current research
can be found in an earlier publication (Wainright et al., 2004) that focused on
psychosocial outcomes, school functioning, and romantic attractions.
7. The focal group of families that were headed by a mother who reported having
a marriage or marriage-like relationship with a woman consisted of 44 adolescents, 23
girls and 21 boys. Approximately 31.8% identified themselves as non-White. On
average, the adolescents were 15.1 years of age (SD = 1.5 years), with a range of 12 to
18 years of age. Average household income was approximately $45,500 per year. Each
of these adolescents was matched with an adolescent from the Add Health database
who was reared by different-sex parents, on the basis of gender, age, ethnic
background, adoption status, learning disability status, family income, and parents’
education. The final sample included 88 families, including 44 families headed by
mothers with female partners and 44 comparison families headed by different-sex
couples.
8. Dependent Measures
Substance use. Adolescents’ use of tobacco was assessed with a composite
variable (Sieving et al., 2000) that uses four items to classify adolescents into one of
seven levels of tobacco use (1 = “never smoked,” 3 = “currently smoking 1–2
cigarettes/day,” 5 = currently smoking 6–10 cigarettes/day,” 7 = “currently smoking >
20 cigarettes/day”). Friends’ use of tobacco was assessed by asking how many of three
best friends smoke at least 1 cigarette per day.
9. Use of alcohol was assessed with three variables from the Adolescent IHI. We
utilized a composite variable (Sieving et al., 2000), which uses 2 items to create an
eight-level variable about adolescents’ use of alcohol in their lifetime and in the past 12
months (1 = “2–3 drinks in lifetime,” 3 =“drank alcohol on 1 or 2 days in the past 12
months,” 5= “drank 2–3 days a month in the past 12 months,” 7 = “drank 3–5 days a
week in the past 12 months,” 8 = “drank every day or almost every day in the past 12
months”). Adolescents were instructed to exclude “a sip or taste of someone else’s
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25
drink.” Individual items measured how often in the past 12 months adolescents had
binged on alcohol (5 drinks in a row) and had gotten drunk. Scores for these items
ranged from 1 (never) to 7 (every day or almost every day).
10. Lifetime and current marijuana use were assessed with a composite variable
(Sieving et al., 2000), which uses two survey items from the Adolescent IHI to form a
seven-level variable (1 = “never used marijuana,” 3 = “>3 times in lifetime, no use in
past 30 days,” 5 = “2–3 times in past 30 days,” 7 = “>5 times in past 30 days”).
11. Adolescents’ risky use of alcohol and drugs was assessed with a scale of eight
items (1 = yes, 0 = no; = .78) from the Adolescent IHI, which asked whether the
adolescent had driven a car, gone to school, gotten into a fight, or carried a weapon
while consuming alcohol or drugs. The sum of the eight items was taken, with higher
scores indicating more risky use.
12. Relationship and physical problems caused by adolescents’ use of alcohol
were assessed with a scale of nine items ( = .84) from the Adolescent IHI, asking
about the frequency of being hung over, sick, in a fight, in a situation that was later
regretted, or in trouble with parents, school, or friends or dates because of alcohol use
in the past 12 months. Items were measured on a scale ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (5 or
more times), and the mean of the nine items was taken, with higher scores indicating
more problems.
13. Adolescents’ joint occurrences of substance use and sexual activity were
assessed with a scale of 6 items (1 = yes, 0 = no; = .68) from the Adolescent IHI
asking whether the adolescent had used drugs or alcohol or had been drunk the first
time (three items) or most recent time (three items) he or she had sexual intercourse.
The sum of the six items was taken, and higher scores indicated more joint occurrences.
14. Delinquent behavior. Adolescent delinquent behavior was assessed with 10
items ( = .74) from the portion of the Adolescent IHI in which adolescents listen to
questions through headphones and record their answers on a laptop computer. These
items ask about the occurrence of activities such as damaging others’ property,
shoplifting, and getting into fights in the past 12 months. Scores on this scale were the
sum of the 10 items (1 = yes, 0 = no), with higher scores indicating more delinquent
behaviors.
15. Victimization. Adolescents’ experiences as victims and witnesses of violence
were assessed with five items ( = .97) from the Adolescent IHI asking how often
adolescents had been shot at, cut, or jumped; had a gun or knife pulled on them; or had
seen someone shot or stabbed. Scores were the sum of 5 items (1 = yes, 0 = no). Higher
scores indicated more victimization.
16. Family and Relationship Variables
Adolescents’ perceived care from adults, teachers, and friends was measured with
three items from the Adolescent IHI regarding how much the adolescent believed that
others care about them. The mean of the three items ( = .58) was taken, and possible
scores ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much), with higher scores indicating
perceptions of more caring. Parents’ perceptions of the quality of their relationship with
their child were assessed with a scale made up of the mean of six items ( = .71) from
the Parent’s In-Home Questionnaire. Items included parents’ assessment of trust,
understanding, communication, and general quality of relationship and were measured
on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating closer relationships.
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17.
Results
Overall, adolescents reported positive outcomes. They reported moderate use of
cigarettes and alcohol, with 25% reporting that they had ever smoked regularly and
44% reporting that they had drunk alcohol when they were not with their parents.
Reports of adolescents’ frequency of alcohol use (M = 2.91, SD = 1.88) and tobacco use
(M = 1.94, SD = 1.59) were low. Adolescents also reported low levels of alcohol abuse,
including binge drinking (M = 1.82, SD = 1.53) and getting drunk (M = 1.81, SD =
1.46). Their reports of physical and relationship problems because of alcohol use (M =
0.24, SD = 0.46) were low, as were their reports of risky use of drugs and alcohol (M =
0.53, SD = 1.27) and reports of joint occurrences of sexual activity and drug or alcohol
use (M = 0.23, SD = 0.71). They reported low levels of delinquent behavior (M = 1.81,
SD = 1.86) and victimization (M = 0.39, SD = 0.88).
18. As expected, we did not find a statistically significant difference in
adolescents’ reports of their frequency of alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana use as a
function of family type. In addition, our analyses revealed no significant difference in
the number who smoke among three best friends or frequency of getting drunk or binge
drinking (see Table 1). Consistent with results for substance use, we found no
significant difference in problems arising from alcohol or drug use (relationship and
physical problems, risky use of alcohol and drugs, and sex while under influence of
alcohol or drugs) as a function of family type. Analyses also revealed no difference in
adolescents’ delinquent behavior between offspring of same-sex couples and offspring
of comparison families headed by different-sex couples. Similarly, we found no
difference in adolescents’ experiences as victims or witnesses of violence as a function
of family type.
19. Overall, adolescents and their parents reported positive family relationships.
Parents’ perceptions of the quality of the relationship were high, with a mean of 4.20
(SD = 0.53) and a range of 2.66 to 5.00. Adolescents’ perceptions of others’ care were
high (M = 4.07, SD = 0.65), with a range of 2.33 to 5.00. Consistent with results for
adolescent outcomes, analyses revealed no differences in parent report of the quality
of the parent–adolescent relationship or adolescent report of care from others as a
function of family type.
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27
20. Having found no associations between family type and adolescent risk
behavior, we explored possible associations between processes in the adolescent’s
environment and adolescent outcomes. We conducted regression analyses separately
for use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, as well as victimization and delinquent
behavior. Family type, gender, parental education, and family income were included as
predictors. Variables and interactions that were not statistically significant predictors
were removed from the models. We also conducted logistic regressions on
dichotomized outcome variables, but because results were similar to those for the
multiple regression models, we do not describe them further.
21. Results showed that, as expected, quality of family relationships was
significantly associated with many adolescent outcomes (see Table 2). Adolescents’
tobacco use was associated with parental report of the quality of the parent– adolescent
relationship ( = - 31, p < .01) and with adolescents’ reports of caring from adults and
peers (b = - .37, p < .01). As expected, greater perceived care from others and more
positive relationships were associated with lower levels of tobacco use. Adolescents’
use of alcohol, use of marijuana, and delinquent behavior were associated with parental
report of the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship ( = - .26, p < .05; = - .51,
p < .001; and = -.38, p < .001, respectively), with more positive relationships
associated with less use of alcohol and marijuana and less delinquent behavior. Boys
reported more victimization than did girls ( = - .25, p < .05). Interactions between
family type and predictor variables were not significant. In summary, adolescents’
reports of family and relationship processes such as quality of the parent–child
relationship and care from adults and peers were associated with several measures of
adolescent outcomes and were better predictors of adolescent risk behavior than were
family type and adolescent gender.
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22.
Discussion
The results of the present study revealed that, across a diverse array of
assessments, including measures of delinquent behavior, victimization, substance
abuse, and qualities of family relationships, adolescents with female same- sex parents
did not differ significantly from a matched group of adolescents living with different-
sex parents. Regardless of family type, adolescents were less likely to report risky
behavior when parents described close relationships with them. Thus, as has been
reported in studies of children with lesbian mothers (e.g., Chan et al., 1998), it was
qualities of adolescent–parent relationships rather than family composition that was
significantly associated with adolescent adjustment (Golombok, 1999).
23. Confidence in the present findings is bolstered by the strengths of the Add
Health study (Bearman et al., 1997), which allowed for examination of important
outcomes among adolescents living with female same-sex parents, as compared with a
well-matched sample of adolescents living with different-sex parents, using data from a
large national sample. Results of our current study add significantly to those from
earlier studies, which were most often smaller in their size, less representative in their
sampling, and less comprehensive in their assessment of adolescent outcomes (Stacey
& Biblarz, 2001).
24. Despite the many strengths of the present study, however, we also
acknowledge several limitations. For instance, parents were not asked directly about
their sexual identities, and we were thus forced to rely on indirect assessments (e.g.,
parents’ reports of being in a “marriage or marriage- like relationship” with a person of
the same sex). The sample size of the current study is larger than those of much of the
previous research with this population, but the finding of no group differences would be
strengthened by replication in larger samples. Results that include variables with lower
reliabilities should be interpreted with caution pending replication. Finally, our
assessment of victimization did not include verbal harassment or bullying, and any
interpretation of these data must consider this fact.
25. Major theories of human development have often been interpreted as
predicting that adolescents living with same- sex parents would encounter important
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29
difficulties in their adjustment, especially during adolescence (Baumrind, 1995). The

fact that results from a large national sample of American adolescents fail to confirm
this view leads to questions about the extent to which predictions of the theories have
been disconfirmed (Patterson, 2000). In particular, results of recent research on children
and adolescents who are not living with different-sex parents (e.g., Patter- son, 2000;
Stevens, Golombok, Beveridge, & the ALSPAC Study Team, 2002) suggest that
theorists may need to re- consider the importance of different-sex parents for human
personal and social development (Silverstein & Auerbach, 1999).
26. Our current findings also have implications for public policies that involve
children of lesbian parents (Patterson et al., 2002). Inasmuch as our findings suggest
that adolescents living with same-sex parents develop in much the same ways as do
adolescents living with different-sex parents, they provide no justification for
limitations on child custody or visitation by lesbian parents. Our findings provide no
warrant for legal or policy discrimination against adolescents with same-sex parents
(Patterson et al., 2002).
27. In summary, the present study is the first to have assessed delinquent
behavior, victimization, and substance use among adolescents living with same-sex
versus different- sex couples. Family type was not linked to adolescent risk behavior,
but the qualities of adolescents’ relationships with parents were associated with several
variables. Regardless of whether they lived with same-sex or different-sex couples,
adolescents whose parents reported having close relationships with them were likely to
have fewer problems with delinquency or substance use. Our results are consistent with
theories that emphasize the importance of adolescent relationships with parents, and
suggest that parental sexual orientation is not a major factor in shaping adolescent
development or behavior.
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I. Pronounce the words:

marijuana (§10)
composite (§10)
dichotomised (§20)
adults (§21)
adolescents (§21)
II. What do these abbreviations stand for?
vs. (abstract)
et al. (§3)
III. Give definitions to the words below:
a survey (§6)
a household (§7)
a date (§12)
IV. Compare and contrast the following notions:
Child custody / Visitation
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
To be cut / to jumped / to be shot / to be stabbed
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
V. Explain or paraphrase the following expressions:
verbal harassment (§24)
a nationally representative sample (§6)
in-home questionnaires (§6)
substance use (§8)
joint occurrences of substance use and sexual activity (§13)
binge drinking (§17)
VI. Detail or Details?
‘Detail’ is countable when it means a single feature, fact, or a piece of information.
‘Detail’ is uncountable when it means all the separate features and pieces of
information (mind the expression ‘in detail’).
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31
‘Effort’ is countable when it means an attempt to do sth, especially when this involves a
lot of hard work or determination (mind the expression ‘to make an effort’).
‘Effort’ is uncountable when it means the energy or hard work that is needed to do sth.
‘Trouble’ is countable when it means a set of different problems (mind the expression
‘to have many troubles’).
‘Trouble’ is uncountable when it means difficulties and problems (mind the expressions
‘to have trouble’, ‘to cause trouble’)
Explain why the underlined words are countable or uncountable:

1. The data can pinpoint why a person is having trouble with their sleep, such as
changes in breathing, unusual body movements or even a neurological
condition.
2. Since disconnecting from nature is a source of many troubles, the organic
nature-reconnecting principles and activities in The Web of Life Imperative
help you reverse these troubles.
3. In an effort to answer the question of whether intelligence is primarily governed
by environment or genes, psychologist Cyril Burt (1883-1971) performed a
long-term study of twins that was later shown to be most likely a case of
conscious or unconscious scientific fraud.
4. It takes much effort for educators, parents and doctors to work together to
protect children and teenagers, from potentially destructive influences and to
provide a home, as well as a school atmosphere that gives a child love and
peace, and that contributes to their good mental health.
5. Without going into too much detail, I would like to share some tips with you
that might help you better understand how to find your purpose.
6. If hiding a detail of a case could save your career, what would you do under that
kind of pressure?
VII. The World of Crime

Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
1. felony a) stealing from a shop
2. misdemeanor b) the crime of getting into a building to

steal things
3. assault c) a minor crime
4. assassination d) the crime of physically attacking s.o.
5. murder e) stealing things from people’s pockets,

especially in a crowd
6. robbery f) the act of murdering an important

person
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7. burglary g) a very serious crime
8. shoplifting h) the crime of deliberately killing s.o.
9. pickpocketing i) stealing money or things from a shop, a

bank, etc, especially by using threats or
violence
10. manslaughter j) AmE, the crime of killing s.o., especially

deliberately
11. homicide k) the crime of killing s.o. by accident
VIII. Attention
to attract/ to catch/ to get sb’s attention
to make s.o. notice you, especially because you want to speak to them or you need their
help
to attract/ to get/ to receive attention
when s.o. or sth get a lot of attention
to draw/ to call attention to sth
to make people notice and be concerned or think about it
to divert/ to distract/ to draw attention from sth
to make people stop being concerned about sth such as a social problem
to bring sth to sb’s attention
to tell s.o., especially s.o. in authority, about sth such as a problem
to escape one’s attention
if sth escaped one’s attention, this person did not notice it
to pay attention to sth
to listen to, to look at, to think about sth carefully
Fill in the gaps choosing the right verb (sometimes you will have to put a preposition):
1. The visual and verbal commercial messages that are a part of advertising are
intended to _____________ attention and produce some response by the viewer.
Advertising is pervasive and virtually impossible to escape.
2. Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to ____________ attention
and highlight the most important elements of your design.
3. Because it is a very small actor, it is perhaps understandable that it
______________ our attention.
4. Positive psychologists have the power though to _______________ your
attention little techniques that help you keep your mental life in the 3:1 to 7:1
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33
range of positive to negative thoughts when you are creative, sociable and
generally having fun.
5. The more relevant your content is to a specific group of people, the greater
attention it will ___________.
6. To the extent that your content is logically presented, sequential, easy to follow
and includes emotional elements, your audience will ____________ more
attention.
7. When you use these principles in your social media marketing, you’ll be
benefiting from the convergence of neuroscience, human psychology and group
dynamics, which will ________ attention ____ your content.
8. Although there is always some improper motive that precipitates the attack, the
attack itself often serves to ___________ attention _______ the bully's own
underlying shortcomings, deficiencies, insecurities, and cowardice.
IX. Comparison
Look at the word ‘marriage-like’ (§7). What does the suffix –like mean? Give more
examples with the same suffix.
X. While + Present Participle (-ing)

Look at the sentence below:
Adolescents’ risky use of alcohol and drugs was assessed with a scale of eight items
from the Adolescent IHI, which asked whether the adolescent had driven a car, gone to
school, gotten into a fight, or carried a weapon while consuming alcohol or drugs (§11).
In academic writing, you will often find this construction – while + Present Participle,
which makes the sentence sound more formal. Compare:
Adolescents’ risky use of alcohol and drugs was assessed with a scale of eight items
from the Adolescent IHI, which asked whether the adolescent had driven a car, gone to
school, gotten into a fight, or carried a weapon while he or she was consuming alcohol
or drugs.
Other prepositions that can be followed by Present Participle include:

after, before, by, in, on, since, etc.
Give more formal variants of the sentences below:

1. The testee should listen to a type of music while he/she is doing the puzzle.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. While the psychologist is resolving issues, he or she should first defer to the
code of ethics and seek to find resolutions that allow adherence to the code of
ethics.
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____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
3. Due to the fact that the psychological tool is included in the process of
behaviour, it modifies the entire course and structure of mental functions by
determining the structure of the new instrumental act, just as the technical tool
modifies the process of natural adaptation by determining the form of labour
operations.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
4. After they had studied nearly 20,000 people, they identified just over 50 people
who can spot deception with great accuracy.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
5. Before the participants started the test, they were asked to write their Test Bank
ID letter in the top right hand corner of each sheet.
____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
XI. Prepositions
Fill in the gaps with the suitable preposition (some of them can be used several times):
on for among in to about

with from
1. A number of studies have indicated that attachment styles also have an impact
_____ behaviours later in life.
2. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a common disorder ______ victims of various
disasters including flood.
3. Women who binged _______ alcohol in the three months before pregnancy had
slightly reduced odds of having an undersized infant.
4. Group 1 of mice listened _______ classical music 24 hours a day, and Group 2
listened ______ heavy metal music.
5. If one did not think to ask _______ something, chances are that few consumers
would take the time to write out an elaborate answer.
6. Attention has been investigated as a factor _______ information processing.
7. This social phenomenon, known as “risky shift”, has important implications
______ marketers since many decisions involve group consensus or social
influence if decisions are made by a single individual.
8. When subjects were not given any personality description at all and simply
asked ______ the probability that a random individual was an engineer, they
answered correctly.
9. When depressed, a person will focus _______ minor negative aspects of what
was otherwise a positive life experience.
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35
10. Existential psychologists differed _______ others often classified as humanistic

in their comparatively neutral view of human nature and in their relatively
positive assessment of anxiety.
11. Applying the principles of memory has allowed ______ a greater understanding
of the development of a variety of memory processes.
12. Recent studies on child labour and poverty have suggested that when poor
families reach a certain economic threshold where families are able to provide
______ their basic needs, parents return their children to school.
13. This is another reason why it's important to get treatment for depression before
it leads ______ other trouble.
14. Individuals with an accessible independent self-view are more persuaded by
promotion-focused information that is consistent ______ an approach goal.
15. Record ______ the sheet with words or symbols what she does in that time-
interval.
XII. Linking words

Consider the two linking words: ‘regardless’ (§22) and ‘inasmuch as’ (§26). Give a
small context to illustrate when they can be used.
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Putative sex differences in verbal abilities and

language cortex: A critical review
Mikkel Wallentin
Center for Semiotics, University of Aarhus, Denmark Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience,
Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus Sygehus, byg. 30, Noerrebrogade, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Task: While reading the text, pay special attention to the use of prepositions
(underline them whenever you find it necessary; see ex. IX)
This review brings together evidence from a diverse field of methods for
investigating sex differences in language processing. Differences are found in certain
language-related deficits, such as stuttering, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia.
Common to these is that language problems may follow from, rather than cause the
deficit. Large studies have been conducted on sex differences in verbal abilities within
the normal population, and a careful reading of the results suggests that differences in
language proficiency do not exist. Early differences in language acquisition show a
slight advantage for girls, but this gradually disappears. A difference in language
lateralization of brain structure and function in adults has also been suggested, perhaps
following size differences in the corpus callosum. Neither of these claims is
substantiated by evidence. In addition, overall results from studies on regional grey
matter distribution using voxel-based morphometry, indicate no consistent differences
between males and females in language-related cortical regions. Language function in
Wada tests, aphasia, and in normal ageing also fails to show sex differentiation.
1.
1. Introduction
Sex is interesting, and the mass media and the general public are captivated by
findings of differences between men and women. The book Men Are From Mars,
Women Are From Venus, by John Gray (1992), which argued for large psychological
differences between the sexes, has been translated into more than 40 languages and has
sold over 30 million copies (http://www.marsvenus.com).
When cognitive neuroscientists are approached by the mass media, it is often with
questions related to sex differences.
2. Textbooks routinely cite sex differences in language competence, usually
regarding verbal fluency, as established fact (e.g. Kolb & Whishaw, 2001, p. 558;
Mildner, 2008, p. 41; Pinker, 2007, pp. 85–86). Unfortunately, it is often difficult to see
where these findings come from; this is not only the case in textbooks, but can also be
found in research papers on the topic. For instance, in a study on sex differences
(Weiss, Kemmler, Deisenhammer, Fleischhacker, & Delazer, 2003), one can find the
following statement, without any data or references to back the claim:
Women tend to be better than men in rapidly identifying matching items, a skill
called perceptual speed. Common linguistic skills, in which females have been found to
be superior, are verbal fluency, speech articulation, grammatical skills, and use of more
complex and longer sentences.
Similar statements are found in all of the above citations.
3. A large number of studies reporting sex differences in brain structure and
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37
function underlying language processes have also been published (e.g. Shaywitz et al.,
1995). The article by Shaywitz and colleagues, suggesting differences in language
lateralization, has been cited more than 500 times, indicating the impact that these types
of results have on the scientific community, not to mention the broader public opinion.
4. Most neuroimaging studies, however, do not distinguish between males and
females. But if sex differences are real, they may possibly confound results from
language studies obtained using neuroimaging techniques such as PET and fMRI. If so,
measures must be taken to address the problem.
5. This review presents a broad overview of the multiple existing approaches to
the investigation of sex differences in language performance and in the underlying
brain structure and processing as well as in language-related disorders. An enormous
number of such papers exist (e.g. Burman, Bitan, & Booth, 2008; Clements et al., 2006;
Frost et al., 1999; Grabowski, Damasio, Eichhorn, & Tranel, 2003; Haut & Barch,
2006; Jaeger et al., 1998; Kaiser, Kuenzli, Zappatore, & Nitsch, 2007; Kansaku,
Yamaura, & Kitazawa, 2000; Knecht et al., 2000; Plante, Schmithorst, Holland, &
Byars, 2006; Schirmer, Zysset, Kotz, & Yves von Cramon, 2004; Shaywitz et al., 1995;
Springer et al., 1999; van der Kallen et al., 1998; Weiss et al., 2003 to name but a few).
It is not possible to cover all here and at the same time present studies from many
fields. This review therefore relies primarily on results either from meta-analyses or
from studies with a large number of participants (n > 100) when they exist.
6.
1.1. Possible evolutionary origins
Before we look at the evidence it is interesting to ask why anyone thinks that
there could be differences between the language systems for males and females at all.
Two theories exist that include this hypothesis.
7. The ‘‘hunter-gatherer”-hypothesis (e.g. see Kolb & Whishaw, 2001; Mildner,
2008) states that putative sex differences in cognitive abilities arose from a division of
labour between the sexes in prehistoric humans. Men were predominantly hunters,
whereas women were predominantly gatherers. According to this line of thinking,
males explored larger territories during hunting than females would do during
gathering, which in turn made males develop better skills for navigation, whereas the
females left behind in social groups would have benefited more from developing fine-
tuned tools for social interaction, one of which is language. This theory therefore
predicts that women are better at language than men.
8. Another possible evolutionary origin of cognitive sex differences has been
suggested by Miller (2000). According to this theory, language may have evolved at
least partly for purposes of sexual display. This means that language ability is used in
sexual selection as a fitness-indicator. Individuals displaying a large capacity for
language are considered fitter by potential partners compared to less eloquent
individuals. According to this theory, language is the human equivalent of peacock
feathers. Due to the special dynamics of sexual selection there are great differences
between the feathers of a male peacock and those of a female. Sexual selection
dynamics require that males, at great costs, try to display fitness, e.g. by walking
around dressed in dangerously visible colours, while females have the power to decide
which male to mate with and must therefore be good detectors of fitness. Evoking
such a theory about human language therefore predicts great differences between male
and female language capabilities. Only fit males will have the means and the time to
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develop and produce inciting language. The prediction is thus that males will be better
at producing language and will try at great costs to exhibit this, while females, on the
other hand, are better at understanding language in order to distinguish good talkers
from bad talkers (Miller, 2000). Anecdotal evidence for this theory includes the
observation that acclaimed writers are still predominantly male, whereas women are
known to buy and read more books than men (e.g. Halpern, 2000).
9. When applied to language, however, both of these theories suffer from fact that
this unique part of human behaviour per definition leaves very little room for cross-
species comparison. This makes the theories very difficult to falsify or even investigate
scientifically (Gannon, 2002). They are, nevertheless, part of the background for most
of the research conducted on sex differences in language and therefore deserve to be
mentioned.
10.
2. Sex differences in the normal population
2.1. Verbal fluency
The task perhaps most cited as yielding sex differences is the verbal fluency task
(e.g. Kolb & Whishaw, 2001; Mildner, 2008; Pinker, 2007; Sommer, Aleman, Bouma,
& Kahn, 2004). The verbal fluency task is usually conducted in two parts, a ‘‘lexical”
and a ‘‘categorical”. In both conditions, subjects are asked to come up with as many
words in a minute as possible. In the lexical conditions the words have to start with a
particular letter, like F, A or S, and in the categorical condition subjects have to name
as many objects from a specific category as possible in one minute. Usually, the
category is animals.
11. As an example, Weiss et al. (2003) examined 97 college students (51 women,
46 men) and found women to have a significant advantage in the lexical condition (p <
.02), but no significant difference was seen in the categorical task (p < .08).
Unfortunately these groups were not balanced on other important demographic
measures, such as age (p < .002), and men were found on another test to have a
significantly higher verbal IQ (p < .004). The results on the verbal fluency task,
therefore, are not only weak, but also very difficult to interpret given these confounds
in the data. Nonetheless, these findings are summarized in the following way in the
abstract of the article: ‘‘In general, we found, that women tend to perform at a higher
level than men on most verbal tests”.
12. Tombaugh and colleagues, on the other hand, measured word fluency in 1300
individuals (Tombaugh, Kozak, & Rees, 1999). They set up booths at shopping centres,
social organizations and places of employment. In this very large sample they found
absolutely no differences between men and women. In the lexical condition, men on
average came up with 37 words whereas women came up with 37.8 words. In the
categorical condition, men named 17.4 animals whereas women named 16.5 animals.
Neither of these differences was statistically significant. Performance on both tests, on
the other hand, showed great, and greatly significant, dependence on age and
educational level.
13. In summary, Sex is not a significant predictor of performance on the verbal
fluency task, when using a large sample size, appropriately controlled for confounds
such as age and education.
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39
14.
2.2. Overall performance
Hyde and Linn (1988) conducted a meta-analysis on 165 American language
studies of both children and adults, including tests of vocabulary, analogies, anagrams,
reading comprehension, speaking or other verbal communication, essay writing,
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)-Verbal, and general verbal ability tests such as the
American College Testing Program Examination-Verbal. Forty-four (27%) of the
studies had found females to perform significantly better than males, 109 (66%) found
no significant sex difference, and 12 (7%) found males performing significantly better
than females. Overall, this led to a slight female advantage, but when effect-size from
the different studies was weighted by number of subjects, the effect was reversed, due
to the largest study (including more than 900,000 subjects) finding a small male
advantage. The authors conclude that: ‘‘Our meta-analysis provides strong evidence
that the magnitude of the sex difference in verbal ability is currently so small that it can
effectively be considered to be zero” (Hyde & Linn, 1988, p. 64). Interestingly, a
significant effect of first-author gender was found in the 165 studies. Studies where the
first author was a woman were significantly more likely to report a female language
advantage than studies where the first author was a man (though both effects were close
to zero).
15.
2.3. Language acquisition
2.3.1. First language acquisition
The most frequently used tests for early language development are the
MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (Fenson et al., 1994).
Fenson et al. (1994) studied 1803 and Feldman et al. (2000) 2156
sociodemographically diverse 1- and 2-year-old American children. The children were
assessed by their mothers using a checklist questionnaire paradigm. Significant effects
of gender were found in both 1- and 2-year olds on both vocabulary comprehension and
vocabulary production. Girls scored significantly higher than boys, however,
differences were very small, accounting for 1–2% of the variance. These findings,
however, have been replicated in other languages, e.g. Swedish (Berglund, Eriksson, &
Westerlund, 2005) in a study of 1019 18-month-old children and Danish (Bleses et al.,
2008), in a study of 6112 8–36 months old children. These results thus seem quite
robust, even though the small effect size makes an interpretation less than clear.
Significant early effects of sex have also been found in studies combining the parental-
report procedure with other, experimenter controlled, methods (e.g. Bornstein, Hahn, &
Haynes, 2004). However, it is worth noting that in their study of 3291- to 6-year-old
children, Bornstein and colleagues found that the female advantage disappears during
the sixth year. This may reconcile the consistent findings of an early sex effect and later
null-results.
16. These findings are consistent with an explanation that early language-
acquisition differences are part of a general, non-specific developmental difference
between the sexes which is also measurable in non-verbal domains (Galsworthy,
Dionne, Dale, & Plomin, 2000).
17. The higher prevalence of autism in boys may also explain at least some part
of the difference (see section on developmental disorders below). During the early
years the normal sample will also include a small proportion of non-diagnosed autistic
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children, but as the children grow older these children will become diagnosed and
therefore no longer add to the sex difference in the normal sample. The extent to
which this can explain developmental language differences has not yet been
investigated.
18.
2.3.2. Verbal learning
Kramer, Delis, and Daniel (1988) tested 68 males and 68 females, matched for
age and education, on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) in which subjects
recall word lists at various delays. Females consistently outperformed males on this
task. Significant differences were also found in the way males and females approached
the list-learning task. Females showed significantly higher levels of semantic
clustering, an indication that they were more likely than males to actively organize the
list on the basis of its semantic properties. In contrast, males were more likely than
females to cluster the items serially, i.e. they tended to recall the words in the same
order in which they were presented. These results suggest that females on this task use
more active, efficient modes of organization during initial learning.
19. In a later study Kramer and colleagues (Kramer, Kaplan, Delis, O’Donnell, &
Prifitera, 1997) conducted the same test on children. 401 males and 410 females
between the ages of 5 and 16 years were administered the California Verbal Learning
Test-Children’s Version. Sex differences were again found at all age levels. Girls
performed better than boys on all of the recall trials. No Sex X Age Group interaction
was seen, indicating that sex differences in verbal learning and memory were found in
children across a wide range of ages. The authors point out that the superior verbal
learning performance and semantic organization seen in females occurs even though the
males actually scored significantly higher on a measure of vocabulary. This indicates
that the sex differences in verbal learning cannot be attributed to sex differences in
overall verbal ability. Instead, females were again more likely than males to use a
verbally mediated semantic clustering strategy, which for this task seems to be
efficient.
20. The conclusion from this is that the observed differences seem not to be due
to a difference in language function per se, but rather to a difference in learning strategy
for the particular task. Whether this difference persists across other types of tasks is
beyond the scope of the present paper.
21.
2.4. Lateralized behaviour
The claim that women are less lateralized than men can be traced back to Harris
(1978) and McGlone (1980) . In an influential review McGlone concluded that ‘‘Verbal
asymmetries suggesting left hemisphere dominance appear to be more common and
more marked in male than in female adult right-handers”. This, however, was
controversial from the beginning (e.g. Fairweather, 1982). More recently, Boles (2005)
conducted a large study on tasks that consistently show a lateralized behaviour. Among
these tasks were two language tasks: One task (n = 446; 123 females; 323 males) in
which subjects recalled one-syllable words, which were presented in pairs in a dichotic
listening paradigm. Both sexes exhibited a significant bias towards input from the right
ear, projecting primarily to the left cerebral hemisphere. No significant difference in
this bias between the sexes was observed. In the other task, subjects (n = 536; 149
females 387 males) saw a number-word (e.g. ONE) in each visual field, with a central
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41
arrowhead indicating the word to be recognized. Differences in response time were

measured. Again, subjects were faster when the word to be processed was in the right
visual field, but no significant difference between the sexes was observed (p > .05).
22. Another method for behaviourally measuring level of lateralization is by use
of a dual task paradigm in which subjects concurrently perform a verbal and a manual
task (e.g. Bowers, Heilman, Satz, & Altman, 1978). Subjects perform worse on both
tasks together compared to on their own, due to increased cognitive load, but an inter-
action has been observed between attenuation of performance and the hand used for the
manual task. Interference between tasks is greater when right-handed subjects used
their right hand than when they used their left hand. This is thought to be caused by left
lateralized speech processing interfering more with left lateralized manual processes
(right hand movement) than with a right lateralized manual task (left hand). Again, a
sex difference has been reported with males being more left lateralized than females
(e.g. Elliott, Weeks, Lindley, & Jones, 1986). Further, a meta-analysis looking at 36
studies revealed a small (d = 0.1; z = 2.54) but significant difference between sexes
(Medland, Geffen, & McFarland, 2002), but upon conducting a ‘‘fail safe analysis”
(Rosenthal, 1979) the authors states that ‘‘this significant result may be due to the
exclusive sampling of published results” (Medland et al., 2002, p. 1236). Interestingly,
the largest study in the meta-analysis (n = 1036) found no significant effects of sex
(Ashton & McFarland, 1991).
23.
2.5. Lateralized brain function: evidence from neuroimaging studies
A number of functional imaging studies have reported a more bilateral pattern of
activity during language processing in women compared to men (e.g. Kansaku et al.,
2000; Phillips, Lowe, Lurito, Dzemidzic, & Mathews, 2001; Shaywitz et al., 1995).
24. However, when Sommer, Aleman, Somers, Boks, and Kahn (2004, 2008)
conducted a meta-analysis on 26 studies (including more than 2100 subjects) they
found no significant effect of sex on language lateralization in functional studies,
neither in children nor in adults. There was no significant difference in this pattern
between word production tasks (i.e. verbal fluency and verb generation) and language
comprehension tasks (semantic decision). It is also noteworthy, that studies with a
smaller number of subjects were more likely to report sex differences than studies with
more subjects. Studies that reported sex differences had 31 subjects on average whereas
studies reporting no differences had 76 subjects on average (Sommer et al., 2004). A
great challenge for group comparisons in neuroimaging studies, especially with small
groups, is to balance subjects on a number of non-specific nuisance variables that are
known to influence the imaging signal to a very large degree but which may not
influence behaviour. These include to name but a few: respiration, cardiac pulsation,
movement (Lund, Madsen, Sidaros, Luo, & Nichols, 2006; Lund, Norgaard, Rostrup,
Rowe, & Paulson, 2005) and caffeine intake (Mulderink, Gitelman, Mesulam, &
Parrish, 2002). Caffeine alone may boost the fMRI signal by more than 30%
(Mulderink et al., 2002), which makes it a highly probable cause of false positives with
small sample sizes. Without very rigorous control of these variables group comparisons
become very difficult to interpret. Nevertheless, it has been suggested (Kansaku &
Kitazawa, 2001; Kitazawa & Kansaku, 2005) that differences in lateralization persist if
one restricts the search to complex story comprehension. But this view remains
controversial (Sommer, Aleman, & Kahn, 2005).
152 / 152
25.
3. Language-related sex differences in brain structure
3.1. Whole brain results
Though not linked to language it is worth mentioning that a sex difference in
overall brain size of around 8.0% (approx. 100 ml) favouring males is well established
in the literature (Chen, Sachdev, Wen, & Anstey, 2007; Good et al., 2001; Kruggel,
2006). Males also have a greater global grey matter volume (Chen et al., 2007; Good et
al., 2001; Kruggel, 2006; Lemaitre et al., 2005) and 16% more neurons (Pakkenberg &
Gundersen, 1997). The significance of this, however, is not clear.
26.
3.2. Regional grey matter differences
Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a method for in-vivo investigation of brain
structure using magnetic resonance imaging (Ashburner & Friston, 2007). Individual
brains are normalized to a standard brain in terms of gross anatomical features (e.g.
size), and statistical analysis is then conducted on a more fine-grained level. Two very
large VBM studies looked for overall structural differences between the sexes (Chen et
al., 2007; Good et al., 2001). Good et al. studied 465 normal adult subjects (200 female;
265 male; ages 17–79) and Chen et al studied 411 subjects (227 female; 184 male; aged
44–48). Both studies found a variety of sex-related differences in brain structure,
including regions normally thought to underlie language processes, e.g. inferior frontal
(Broca, 1861) and posterior temporal cortex (Wernicke, 1874). Surprisingly, however,
the only overlap in grey matter volume differences between these two large studies
seems to be that women have more grey matter in the anterior cingulate region. This
replicates the results of an older smaller study (Paus et al., 1996) with 105 young right-
handed volunteers (42 female and 63 male). In this study significant sex differences
were also found in the volume of the cingulate sulcus (female > male) and the
Paracingulate sulcus (male > female). One possibility for the inconsistencies in
language regions might be that the two studies incorporate quite different age groups,
and that regional grey matter volume changes over a person’s lifetime, with an
interaction between sex and age. However, this is not plausible, since at least one of the
studies claim to find no interaction between sex and age for grey matter volume (Chen
et al., 2007). Another possibility is that sex-related differences in grey matter volume, if
they exist, are subtle, and that VBM as a method may not yet be mature enough for
robustly detecting such subtleties (e.g. see Bookstein, 2001), not to mention even more
subtle language-related differences across sexes. It is noteworthy, however, that the
cingulate region consistently found to differentiate between the sexes in the literature
most often is associated with ‘‘mind reading” or ‘‘mentalizing” capacities (Amodio &
Frith, 2006; Frith & Frith, 2006). It is this same capacity which is thought to be lacking
in autism (Frith, 2001) (see section on developmental disorders).
27.
3.3. Size of the corpus callosum
The two cerebral hemispheres are connected through the corpus callosum, a dense
fibre bundle. The corpus callosum allows or information transfer between the two
halves of the cortex, and when it is cut surgically as a treatment for intractable epileptic
seizures, the result is a ‘‘split brain” where one hemisphere does not have access to
important information from the other (Gazzaniga & Sperry, 1967).
152 / 152
43
28. Sex differences in size and shape of corpus callosum are often cited as a mere
fact (e.g. Cahill, 2006), and it is closely linked to hypotheses about differences in
language lateralization across the sexes (Harris, 1978, see above; McGlone, 1980). If
the cerebral hemispheres are better ‘‘connected” in women, through a larger corpus
callosum, then this allows for more interhemispheric communication during language
processing and thus potentially less lateralization.
29. The history behind this conception is long (see Bishop & Wahlsten, 1997),
but in recent time it can be traced to the study of de Lacoste-Utamsing and Holloway
(1982) who claimed to have found a sex difference in the callosal structures of nine
male and five female brains preserved in formalin. The difference was not in overall
size, which was almost identical (men: 704mm2; women: 708mm2), but related to the
shape of the splenium, defined as the posterior fifth of the callosum. The splenium, it
was argued, was more ‘‘bulbous” in women.
30. This report sparked of a number of other studies. One example is Allen,
Richey, Chai, and Gorski (1991), who investigated sagittal MRI-slices of 122 age-
matched adults and 24 age-matched children. Half of these were male and half female.
The overall area of the corpus callosum was slightly greater in men than in women.
This difference, however, was not statistically significant. Instead, a sex difference in
callosal shape was reported. Again females were found to have a more bulbous part in
the splenial part of the corpus callosum, while males had a more elongated part in the
same position. But this did not mean that the size of the structure in itself was different,
and since an elongated shape can reasonably be assumed to hold just as many fibres as
a bulbous counterpart, this type of shape difference is badly ‘‘formed” as an argument
for larger interhemispheric connectivity.
31. Another measurement of the human corpus callosum using magnetic
resonance images of 37 living subjects also failed to find overall sex differences in the
callosum (Byne, Bleier, & Houston, 1988). Rather, the authors report that the most
striking finding was the large variation in callosal size and shape among individuals,
regardless of age or sex. This, again points towards the possibility of ‘‘discovering”
spurious differences when using small sample sizes.
32. Finally, Bishop and Wahlsten (1997) went through 49 studies on the subject.
Sixteen studies examined brains post-mortem with histological techniques, and 33 used
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to visualize the midsagittal region of living brains.
From this comprehensive work the conclusion was clear. Even when correcting for the
relative cortical size difference between the sexes no reliable sex difference could be
established.
In other words, the alleged sex-related corpus callosum size difference is a
myth.
33.
3.4. Cortical asymmetries
Sex differences in language-related lateralization may also arise from differences
in structural cortical asymmetry.
3.4.1. Grey matter volume
When looking at cortical grey matter volume asymmetry, Good et al. (2001)
found widespread leftwards asymmetry (n=465) common to both sexes and a
significant interaction of sex with asymmetry in posterior temporal language regions,
152 / 152
with males having increased leftward asymmetry. Gur et al. (1999) also found a greater,
non-localised, leftwards asymmetry in men (n = 80), but this was primarily based on
their finding of no overall asymmetry in women. Others (Watkins et al., 2001) have
failed to find asymmetry differences (n = 124), and one small study (n = 24) even found
a larger female leftwards asymmetry in the planum temporale (Knaus, Bollich, Corey,
Lemen, & Foundas, 2004). A possible sex difference in grey matter volume asymmetry
across the cortex or in posterior temporal cortex in particular therefore does not seem to
be outspoken. A recent meta-analysis reached the same conclusion (Sommer et al.,
2008).
34.
3.4.2. Cortical thickness
Luders et al.(2006) studied hemispheric differences in grey matter thickness
across the lateral and medial cortices in 60 healthy volunteers using VBM and
investigated effects of sex. Results suggested global and regionally specific differences
between the two hemispheres, with generally thicker cortex in the left hemisphere, most
pronounced in motor cortex, middle frontal, anterior temporal and superior parietal
lobes. Asymmetry profiles were similar in both sexes, and even though hemispheric
differences appeared slightly more pronounced in males compared with females, these
differences were not statistically significant.
35. In summary: Consistent evidence pointing toward a difference in cortical
asymmetry between men and women does not presently exist.
4. Sex in language dysfunction
4.1. Sex and language in developmental disorders
Often-cited language-related developmental disorders that affect the sexes
differently include: stuttering (Halpern, 2000), dyslexia (Halpern, 2000; Mildner,
2008), autism (Frith, 2001) and schizophrenia (Crow, 2000).
36.
4.1.1. Stuttering
Stuttering is a readily identifiable disorder of speech characterized by frequent
interruptions or blocks in the smooth transition from the production of one sound to the
production of the subsequent sound. Developmental stuttering is predominantly a male
problem. There are three to four times more male than female stutterers (Halpern,
2000), vertically transmitted in a manner that suggests a genetic component
(Dworzynski, Remington, Rijsdijk, Howell, & Plomin, 2007; Kidd, Heimbuch, &
Records, 1981), e.g. pair-wise concordance for stuttering has been found to be higher in
identical male twins than in fraternal same-sex twins (Dworzynski et al., 2007; Howie,
1981). At present, the neuronal basis of persistent developmental stuttering is unknown,
but it is known that stuttering is also usually accompanied by an increase in abnormal
non-linguistic facial movements (Conture & Kelly, 1991; Mulligan, Anderson, Jones,
Williams, & Donaldson, 2003). The basal ganglia-thalamocortical motor circuits
through the putamen have been suggested to play a key role in stuttering (Alm, 2004),
based partly on the fact that acquired stuttering is predominately a consequence of
lesions in this circuit, whereas primary speech and language regions (Boca’s area, the
temporal planum, insula or Wernicke’s area) are not affected (Ludlow & Loucks,
2003). Rather than being a core language deficiency, stuttering should therefore
possibly be considered as belonging to a broader category of movement disorder
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45
analogous to deficits such as Parkinson’s disease that also has an increased male
incidence rate (Mayeux et al., 1995; Van Den Eeden et al., 2003).
37.
4.1.2. Dyslexia
The distribution of dyslexics also shows differences between males and females,
with a sex ratio ranging from 1.6:1 to 4.5:1 depending on the criterion used for dyslexia
(Miles, Haslum, & Wheeler, 1998). But as it is unclear whether reading can be
considered a natural language capacity, and since many dyslexics have normal verbal
language abilities, I will refrain from discussing it further in this context. It is
mentioned here in order to try to provide an unbiased overview of the field of
language-related sex differences.
38.
4.1.3. Autism
Another syndrome with a pronounced skewed sex distribution and possibly
linked to language function is autism. The male to female ratio is approximately 3 to 1
(Frith, 2001), and a key diagnostic feature of autism is a pronounced language
deficiency. Muteness, language delay, echoing of speech, and idiosyncratic use of
language are typical features. Indeed, one theory of autism claims that it is caused by an
‘‘extreme male brain” (Baron-Cohen, Knickmeyer, & Belmonte, 2005), indicating that
the cognitive deficits observed in autists may come from domains in which men
generally perform worse than women. However, rather than arising from a deficit in
core language competence, a ‘‘theory of mind” deficiency may be able to explain some
of the language abnormalities seen in autistic children (Frith, 2001; Happé, 1998), and
may help to explain why some people with autism actually gain a very high language
proficiency (Frith, 2001).
39.
4.1.4. Schizophrenia
A tight evolutionary coupling—related to sexual selection (see above)—between
language and schizophrenia has been suggested (Crow, 2000). And there are indeed
marked symptomatic sex differences. Males have earlier age of onset even though
lifespan incidence rates are similar. Male patients exhibit more negative symptoms,
such as social withdrawal, blunted affect, poverty of speech and lack of motivation
whereas female patients have a greater preponderance of affective symptoms, such as
dysphoria, depression and impulsivity (Leung & Chue, 2000). Again, sex differences in
language competence have been reported (DeLisi, 2001; Walder et al., 2006) However,
a meta-analysis (Heinrichs & Zakzanis, 1998) on 204 studies including 22 different
neurocognitive variables found that schizophrenic patients were impaired across all
cognitive domains, including linguistic tasks. Impairments across sexes were not
directly compared, but the analyses included a variable for gender distribution across
individual studies. This variable was found not to influence results in any of the
analyses. Given the widespread types of deficits it is not clear why language should be
considered a defining feature of schizophrenia, and sex does not seem to alter this
picture in any manifest way. However, decreases in language lateralization have been
suggested as an integral part of the symptomatology (e.g. see Sommer, Ramsey, Kahn,
Aleman, & Bouma, 2001 for a meta-analysis), but in the one small study published on
lateralization differences (comparing 12 female and 12 male patients) none were found
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(Sommer, Ramsey, Mandl, & Kahn, 2003).

40. To sum up: Sex differences are found in certain language- related
developmental deficits such as stuttering and dyslexia, and also in autism and
schizophrenia, in which a language deficit usually is a major symptom. The causes of
these deficits are to a large degree unknown. However, common to them all is that the
language problem seems to follow from other deficits, rather than the other way around.
41.
4.2. Acquired language disorders
4.2.1. Epilepsy and tumours: evidence from Wada tests
The Wada test (Wada & Rasmussen, 1960/2007) is used to investigate
lateralization of cognitive function in patients. It is conducted while the patient is
awake. An anaesthesia (usually sodium amobarbital) is injected into one of the internal
carotid arteries at a time, thus affecting only one cortical hemisphere. It was first
developed to study the spread of epileptic discharges across the hemispheres of the
brain. But during this work, Wada observed that patients became aphasic when the
language-dominant hemisphere was affected. During the Wada test, patients undergo
neuropsychological testing while partly anaesthetised to evaluate cognitive effects.
During one injection, typically affecting the left hemisphere, the patient will have
impaired speech or be completely unable to express or understand language. The Wada
test is usually performed before surgery to remove seizure centres in severe epilepsy or
before resurrection of tumours.
42. Strauss, Wada, and Goldwater (1992) reported results from submitting
epileptic patients to the Wada test and found no sex difference in the overall incidence
of atypical (right, bilateral) speech patterns. 15 out of 39 male patients and 16 out of 55
female patients were not strictly left lateralized. This does not constitute a statistically
significant difference. Helmstaedter, Brosch, Kurthen, and Elger (2004), Helmstaedter,
Kurthen, Linke, and Elger (1997) replicated these null-findings twice. In the first study,
22 out of 85 male and 24 out of 82 female patients had atypical cerebral language
dominance and in the second study 32 out of 94 males and 35 out of 75 females (p >
.05 in both cases) were not strictly left- hemisphere dominant. Rather, non-left
dominance was found to correlate strongly with age of onset of epilepsy (Helmstaedter
et al., 2004).
Needless to say, neither of these results supports hypotheses of sex differences in
language lateralization.
43.
4.2.2. Aphasia in unilateral stroke
With a differential language lateralization in women and men one would also
expect to find a sex difference in aphasic syndromes as effects of unilateral stroke.
Stroke is the clinical designation for a fast-developing loss of brain function due to the
interruption of blood supply to all or parts of the brain. This is most often caused by
either a blood clot or a haemorrhage.
44. A sex difference has been suggested in relation to language impairment and
recovery rate after stroke, with females outperforming males (Halpern, 2000; Kimura,
1983; McGlone, 1980), e.g. Kimura (1983) studied incidence of aphasia in 143 male
and 73 female right-handed patients with unilateral lesions of the left cerebral
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47
hemisphere. Aphasia was found to be more frequent in males than in females.

45. But other stroke studies have failed to replicate these sex differences (Basso,
1992; Pedersen, Jørgensen, Nakayama, Raaschou, & Olsen, 1995; Pedersen, Vinter, &
Olsen, 2004). More than 1000 patients were included in the Copenhagen aphasia study
(Pedersen et al., 1995, 2004), and initial severity of aphasia was the only clinically
relevant predictor of aphasia outcome. Sex, handedness, and side of stroke lesion were
not independent outcome predictors, and the influence of age was minimal.
46.
4.2.3. Language decline in normal ageing
If language abilities are different between the sexes, then this should possibly also
be reflected in differences in patterns of language decline during normal ageing. Meinz
and Salthouse (1998) conducted a meta-analysis on the data from 25 studies (including
5201 participants) to investigate possible sex differences in the patterns of age-related
decline in cognitive abilities. No significant main effect of sex was found on verbal
tasks, and no interaction between age and sex was identified.
47.
4.3. Hormonal influences on language
A source of sexual differentiation may be the organizational influence of gonadal
hormones, such as testosterone, progesterone and oestrogen (Hines, 2002). Both
organizational and fluctuating effects on language have been suggested to exist (Becker
et al., 2005).
48.
4.3.1. Organizational effects: testosterone
Organizational influences typically occur early in life, usually during critical
periods of development, and they are permanent. Evidence from genetic syndromes and
cases where women have been prescribed hormones during pregnancy indicate that
differentiation of the human internal and external genitalia follows processes consistent
with such a model of hormonal influence. High levels of testicular hormones promote
masculine-typical development, whereas, in the absence of these hormones, feminine
structures appear.
49. A primary source of information on the cognitive consequences of early
hormonal perturbations has come from cases of genital ambiguity, some of which are
known to involve hormonal abnormalities of prenatal onset. One such example involves
female individuals exposed to high levels of male hormones (androgens) prenatally
because of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Levels of male hormones in female
foetuses with CAH are in the range of normal males, and girls with the disorder are
typically born with a degree of genital virilization (i.e. masculinization). A number of
studies (see Hines, 2002, for a review) have looked at verbal measures in patients with
CAH, including verbal fluency tests, and found no differences in CAH subjects
compared to relative controls.
50.
4.3.2. Fluctuating effects: progesterone and estradiol
Hypotheses about a causal link between language lateralization in women and
fluctuating levels of progesterone and/or estradiol have been put forward (Bayer,
152 / 152
Kessler, Gunturkun, & Hausmann, 2008; Fernandez et al., 2003; Hausmann, Becker,
Gather, & Gunturkun, 2002; Hausmann & Gunturkun, 2000). Progesterone and
estradiol are both gonadal steroids that vary systematically during the female menstrual
cycle. It is assumed that cycle-dependent increases in hormone concentrations during
the luteal phase leads ‘‘via a decrease of transcallosal neuronal activation, to
hemispheric decoupling, which then results in lesser functional asymmetries”
(Hausmann & Gunturkun, 2000), i.e. to less language lateralization. Females are, in
other words, thought to be more like males during menses than during the luteal phase,
i.e. have greater language lateralization. This could potentially explain at least some of
the lacking consistency in results from between-sex studies. It is at present, however,
not clear how and why this cycling effect would occur, and a direct correlation between
steroid-levels and performance on language lateralization tasks has not consistently
been found when investigated (Bayer et al., 2008; Hausmann et al., 2002). Further,
these results have primarily been obtained by a single group (Bayer et al., 2008;
Hausmann & Gunturkun, 2000; Hausmann et al., 2002) using small subject groups (n =
12–19) and no meta-analyses exist. Others (n = 30) have claimed that the difference
arises between premenstrual and postmenstrual weeks (Alexander, Altemus, Petersonm,
& Wexler, 2002) rather than mid- cycle and menstrual week, and critical attempts to
replicate these findings by researchers with larger subject groups (n = 55) have so far
not been successful (Compton, Costello, & Diepold, 2004).
51. Attempts to correlate changes in neural processes underlying language with
hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle have also been made (Fernandez et al.,
2003). Though exiting, the endeavour has at least one serious inherent problem when
studied with fMRI. During the menstrual cycle a decline in vascular hematocrit levels
has been observed (Hirshoren et al., 2002). Baseline hematocrit is known to influence
the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal measured with fMRI, regardless of
neural activation (Gustard, Williams, Hall, Pickard, & Carpenter, 2003). It therefore
becomes extremely difficult to effectively disentangle signal changes related to neural
activation from changes related to blood composition.
52. At present the evidence therefore does not convincingly suggest that the
distribution of sex hormones plays a major role in development of language proficiency
or in processes related to lateralization.
53.
5. Discussion
Certain language-related deficits exhibit clear sex differences, such as stuttering,
dyslexia, and autism. But it is unclear whether these deficiencies are really caused by a
problem in the systems for language processing, or whether the language deficit is a by-
product of something else.
54. A small but consistent female advantage is found in early language
development. But this seems to disappear during childhood. In adults, sex differences in
verbal abilities, and in brain structure and function related to language processing are
not readily identified. If they exist, they are not easily picked up with the research
methods used today. This does not, of course, preclude that sex differences in language
exist. Differences might be found if a more detailed and sophisticated level of
linguistic analysis than currently used were taken into account (e.g. Jaeger et al., 1998;
Kitazawa & Kansaku, 2005). However, this would have to be related to a similarly
sophisticated theory of how and why sex differences in language processing might arise
152 / 152
49
at all and/or in any sub-domain of language in particular. At present no such convincing

link exists. This review has not included sociolinguistic features of the putative gender
divide, but in the event that significant differences were found, cultural explanations
would of course also have to be taken into account. Further, it is important to stress that
most language-processes are highly complex, and thus there may be more than one
cognitive strategy for solving many language-related tasks, e.g. as seen in the verbal
learning paradigm (Kramer, Kaplan, Delis, O’Donnell, & Prifitera, 1997; Kramer et al.,
1988). Sex differences may exist in the choice of strategy for certain tasks along with
other socio-demographic variables, such as age, level of education and previous
exposure. Often, however, such a strategy- related bias can only be investigated if one
allows for phenomenological ‘‘reports” of how subjects actually solved the task (Jack
& Roepstorff, 2002). The validity of such an approach, however, is not uncontroversial.
55. Many of the studies that do find significant differences do so with p-values
that balance on the edge of significance, pointing towards the so-called ‘‘desk-drawer-
problem” or ‘‘publication bias” (Easterbrook, Berlin, Gopalan, & Matthews, 1991;
Halpern, 2000) that studies are only reported if they are significant, and nobody
therefore knows the number of studies with null-findings. This general problem is
probably even stronger for research on sex differences, since sex is easily measured and
often routinely analyzed. Because statistical decision rules result in a certain percentage
of false positive results (5% with alpha set at 0.05), there is a high probability that
spurious results of sex differences will be published (Hines, 2002). In order to counter
this bias it might actually be advantageous for papers to include analyses of sex
differences, explicitly with the aim to exclude the possibility of a significant within-
study effect of sex. This way, a more realistic picture of sex-related language
differences might emerge in the literature. Further, if one really wishes to investigate
sex differences it is of utmost importance to do so with studies that are designed for
this, i.e. that attempt to replicate results in multiple independent studies (e.g. Haut &
Barch, 2006) and/or have ample sample sizes for test–retest reliability evaluation using
split-sample analyses.
56. Interestingly, one very large meta-study found a significant effect of author
gender (Hyde & Linn, 1988). This indicates that researchers bring their own
preconceptions, or gender stereotypes, with them in their interpretation of data. It must
therefore not go unmentioned that the author of the present review is a he, and that this
may have biased his reading of the literature. Nevertheless, the overall conclusion is
that sex should not be considered a large con- founding factor in neuroimaging studies
of language processing.
152 / 152
I. Pronounce correctly:
peacock feathers (§8)
colleagues (§ 19)
anaesthesia (§41)
haemorrhage (§ 43)
foetus (§ 49)
II. Find the synonyms to the words below:
bias (§21) tendency difficulty prejudice
noteworthy (§24) important notorious evident
intake (§24) level of sth in the the amount of food, the amount of sth
blood drink that you take that you take per
into your body day
inconsistency (§26) error flaw contradiction
bundle (§27) tissue mass material
counterpart (§30) equivalent organism colleague
comprehensive understandable through thorough

(§32)
preponderance incidence possibility trend

(§39)
onset (§39) beginning setting developing
III. Give synonyms to the following words or expressions:

Female menstrual cycle (§50)
Haemorrhage (§43)
IV. Compare and contrast the terms below:
Vocabulary comprehension / Vocabulary production (§15)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Dysphoria / Depression / Impulsivity (§39)
152 / 152
51
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Identical male twins / Fraternal same-sex twins (§36)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
V. Root Words:
What would you call a person who suffers from ‘stuttering’ (§36)?
What would you call a person who suffers from ‘dyslexia’ (§37)?
Give adjectives with the same root as in the noun:
subtlety (§26)
autism (§17)
symptom (§39)
VI. People of different nationalities

Who speaks Swedish (§15)? – a Swede speaks Swedish.
Who speaks Chinese? - ___________________________________________________
Who lives in Austria? - ___________________________________________________
Who lives in Afghanistan? - _______________________________________________
Who lives in Bangladesh? - _______________________________________________
Who speaks Danish? - ____________________________________________________
Who speaks Finnish? - ___________________________________________________
Who lives in Iraq? - _____________________________________________________
Who lives in Malta? - ____________________________________________________
What language do they speak in the Netherlands? - _____________________________
Who speaks Polish? - ____________________________________________________
Who lives in Thailand? - _________________________________________________
VII. Paraphrase or explain:

corpus callosum (abstract)
voxel-based morphometry (abstract)
verbal fluency (§2)
to leave very little room (§9)
152 / 152
scholastic aptitude test (§14)

null-results (§15)
semantic clustering (§18)
to cluster the items serially (§18)
in-vivo investigation (§26)
skewed sex distribution (§38)
blunted affect (§39)
social withdrawal (§39)
the other way round (§40)
to go unmentioned (§56)
VIII. Word-building
Look at the word ‘language-related’ (§40) and try to define the meaning of the second
component of the word –related? Give more examples.
Have a look at the two words ‘prenatal’ (§49) and ‘preconceptions’ (§56). What does
the prefix pre- mean in your mind? Do you know any other words with the same
prefix?
Have a look at the noun ‘by-product’ (§53) and define the meaning of the prefix by-.
Try to guess the meaning of the following words:
by-name
by-passage
by-law
by-speech
by-dependence
by-drinking
IX. Prepositions
Fill in the gaps with the correct preposition (some of them can be used several times):
for
by from at beyond over
to of in
1. Its practitioners put little credence in the study of reproductive success in recent
and current environments, and argue _______ an information-processing, cost-
benefit conception of adaptation.
2. Natural selection cannot account ______ all biological phenomena, and
differentiating among such phenomena is extremely difficult for evolutionary
psychologists.
3. Outpatients in treatment for heroin dependence indicated a preference for
immediate versus delayed hypothetical monetary and heroin outcomes in a
titration procedure that determined indifference points ______ various delays.
4. Relational words or phrases used to indicate qualitative change ______ time.
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53
5. It was sparked _____ when a group of peaceful civil rights campaigners were
ambushed by a mob of Loyalist Protestant thugs just a few miles from
Londonderry.
6. They have explored the application of process work concepts and methods to a
great variety of human situations, including some that are considered ________
the scope of more verbally-based, insight-oriented psychotherapies.
7. This means that future accelerators must either grow to inconceivable sizes,
_____ great costs, or they must somehow pump far more energy into each
particle per meter of acceleration than modern technology will allow.
8. This article _____ the ISMHO Clinical Case Study Group explores various
misconceptions or "myths" about online counselling, psychotherapy, and other
types of clinical work.
9. Clearly the hospitals using this treatment did not have any effective way to pick
patients who might benefit _______ the treatment.
10. Gay men's bilateral brains are better ______ remembering faces.
11. All these abilities are 'culture free', they are common ______ children the world
over.
12. There is an increase _____ violent behaviour as school grades decrease, and
violent adolescent females are also more likely to engage in binge drinking and
illicit substance use than non-violent females.
13. Large decline in impulsivity in early adulthood related to decrease _____
alcohol consumption was noticed.
14. He looked ______ the infection rate of people involved in road accidents.
15. Self-efficacy to refrain ______ smoking predicted by major depression and
nicotine dependence.
X. Singular or Plural?
Neither of these differences was statistically significant (§12).
With any of, each of, either of, neither of, none of + a Noun or Pronoun in plural, it is
possible to use both a singular and a plural verb. But use the verb in the singular form
in written English.
Do not mix up with the constructions ‘neither … nor’ and ‘either…or’:

- use a singular verb if the last item (the item after ‘nor’ or ‘or’) is in singular;
- use a plural verb if the last item is in plural.
e.g. Either the students or the teacher was wrong.
Neither the teacher nor the students were wrong.
Put the verbs in the brackets into the singular or plural form:
1. This is especially true for evolutionary psychology, in which the behaviours and
motivations of humans are explained as the result of natural and sexual
selection, neither of which (to be) either designed or purposeful.
2. Neither the style nor the vocabulary mistakes (to make) this review worth
considering.
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3. In fact, neither of us (to know) about the procedures when we were initially
asked to serve on the committee.
4. Either the findings of previous research or the result of this one (to count).
5. The point is, neither of these people (to have) anything whatsoever to do with
the actual psychology of vision.
6. The reality is that none of these things (to be) likely to happen.
7. If any of these theories (to be) not perfectly understood and taken into account, I
won't be where the GPS receiver says I am, and that could easily have serious
consequences.
8. Neither the prophets nor the Bible (to take) precedence over my own direct
experience.
XI. Active or Passive?

Have a look at the sentence below:
The book ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus’, by John Gray (1992) …
has sold over 30 million copies.
The verb ‘to sell’ can have a passive meaning ‘to be bought by people’.
e.g. Moisturizing creams always sell well.
Make up 2 sentences of your own with the verb ‘to sell’ in the active voice, but with a
passive meaning.
XII. Linking words
Consider the linking words given below. When can they be used? Give your own
contexts.
not to mention (§3)
to name but a few (§5)
needless to say (§42)
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55
Predicting Workplace Aggression: A Meta-Analysis
M. Sandy Hershcovis, Nick Turner, and Julian Barling Kara A. Arnold and Kathryne E. Dupre´
Queen’s University Memorial University of Newfoundland
Michelle Inness and Manon Mireille LeBlanc Niro Sivanathan
Queen’s University Northwestern University
Task: While reading the text, pay special attention to the use of prepositions
(underline them whenever you find it necessary; see ex. IX)
The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 57 empirical studies (59 samples) concerning enacted
workplace aggression to answer 3 research questions. First, what are the individual and situational
predictors of interpersonal and organizational aggression? Second, within interpersonal aggression, are
there different predictors of supervisor-and coworker-targeted aggression? Third, what are the relative
contributions of individual (i.e., trait anger, negative affectivity, and biological sex) and situational (i.e.,
injustice, job dissatisfaction, interpersonal conflict, situational constraints, and poor leadership) factors in
explaining interpersonal and organizational aggression? Results show that both individual and situational
factors predict aggression and that the pattern of predictors is target specific. Implications for future
research are discussed.
1. Whether referred to as deviance, antisocial behavior, or retaliation, workplace
aggression is a significant issue facing organizations. Empirical research has focused on
its prediction and consequences, and theoretical reviews have attempted to integrate the
diverse literatures on workplace aggression (e.g., Martinko, Gundlach, & Douglas,
2002; Spector & Fox, 2005). For instance, Martinko et al. (2002) drew on a causal
reasoning framework to develop a model of workplace aggression, which proposes that
both individual and situational differences predict either self-destructive or retaliatory
aggression, depending on the cognitive processing of the aggressor. More recently,
Spector and Fox (2005) identified common items from different measures of ag-
gression, demonstrating that despite different labels (e.g., aggression, deviance,
retaliation), the actual measurement of these constructs may be the same. Taken
together, such efforts at integrating the workplace aggression literature are an important
first step in making sense of these phenomena; however, important empirical and
methodological questions remain.
2. Two issues concerning conceptual differences among forms of workplace
aggression and their predictors have emerged in the literature. The first issue concerns
the conceptualization of workplace aggression, and in particular whether aggression is
target specific. We define target specificity as the propensity to aggress against either
the organization itself (e.g., damaging equipment at work) or a person within the
organization (e.g., yelling at someone at work), depending on the context of the
situation. The second issue focuses on the relative contribution of individual and situa-
tional variables in predicting these forms of workplace aggression. These two issues
highlight the different terms used to describe workplace aggression, different
conceptualizations and operationalizations of workplace aggression, and diverse
predictors, all of which result in empirical findings that are difficult to interpret.
Synthesizing these findings will provide direction for future research on this topic.
3. In this study, we focus on insider-initiated workplace aggression, defined as
any behavior initiated by employees that is intended to harm an individual within their
organization or the organization itself and that the target is motivated to avoid (Neuman
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& Baron, 2005). We address the two issues described above by asking three interrelated
research questions. First, what are the individual and situational correlates of
interpersonal and organizational aggression? Second, within interpersonal aggression,
are there differential predictors of supervisor-and coworker-targeted aggression? Third,
what are the relative contributions of individual and situational predictors in explaining
interpersonal and organizational aggression?
4. Dimensionality and the Target-Specific Nature of Aggression
The first issue in this study concerns the conceptualization of workplace
aggression. As interest in workplace aggression has increased, conceptualizations of the
workplace aggression construct have become more diverse. For example, some refer to
aggression as a retaliatory behavior enacted in response to an unfair situation (e.g.,
Skarlicki, Folger, & Tesluk, 1999); others view aggression as a socially deviant
response that violates organizational norms and threatens the well-being of the
organization (Robinson & Bennett, 1995). Although the underlying act of aggression
being measured is similar, the targets identified in each measure differ.
5. Both Neuman and Baron (1998) and Robinson and Bennett (1995) suggested
that workplace aggression consists of an interpersonal (i.e., aggression targeted at a
person in the organization) and an organizational dimension (i.e., aggression targeted at
the organization itself). The argument for target separation is based on the idea that
there are likely to be different correlates of individual and organizational targets
(Robinson & Bennett, 1995), and a test of a two-factor model (interpersonal and
organizational deviance) supported this proposition (R. J. Bennett & Robinson, 2000).
Despite these findings, some research has continued to combine interpersonal and
organizational dimensions of workplace aggression (e.g., Douglas & Martinko, 2001;
Hepworth & Towler, 2004), whereas other research has separated these dimensions
(e.g., Lee & Allen, 2002; Miles, Borman, Spector, & Fox, 2002). Clarification of the
target-specific nature of workplace aggression will help determine whether different
operationalizations of aggression are empirically warranted, and if so, which ones
(Spector & Fox, 2005).
6. In addition to the interpersonal–organizational distinction, we suggest there
may also be differences within the interpersonal dimension. With few exceptions (e.g.,
Dupre´, 2003; Greenberg & Barling, 1999; Jones, 2004), existing research on
interpersonal aggression does not specify the target or his or her relationship (e.g.,
supervisor, coworker) with the aggressor. Yet if a supervisor treats employees badly,
employees are likely to aggress against the supervisor and not their coworkers, and vice
versa. As supervisors and coworkers are likely to be perceived as responsible for differ-
ent transgressions, one might expect different predictors to be stronger for each of these
targets. With one exception (i.e., Green-berg & Barling, 1999), research has not
examined the separate predictors of coworker-and supervisor-targeted aggression; we
use meta-analytic techniques to investigate this issue.
7. Individual and Situational Predictors
The second issue we investigate concerns the relative importance of individual
(e.g., trait anger; Douglas & Martinko, 2001) and situational (e.g., injustice; Skarlicki &
Folger, 1997) factors in predicting workplace aggression, with both receiving empirical
support. Much less research has assessed both these perspectives simultaneously (e.g.,
Greenberg & Barling, 1999; Inness, Barling, & Turner, 2005; Skarlicki et al., 1999).
8. Individual differences refer to stable personality traits (e.g., trait anger,
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57
negative affectivity) and other factors (e.g., sex, age, alcohol abuse) that differ between
people. Research has shown that individuals do have stable predispositions to engage in
certain behaviors (Shoda & Mischel, 1993) and that the manner in which an individual
interprets a situation can vary as a function of these stable individual differences
(Skarlicki et al., 1999), suggesting an important role for individual differences in
predicting workplace aggression.
9. In contrast, situational factors refer to aspects of the social context that are
perceived by people and are largely influenced by other members of the organization
(e.g., organizational injustice). Researchers (e.g., Anderson & Bushman, 2002;
Martinko et al., 2002) have suggested that perceived provocations, triggers, or cues are
instrumental in predicting aggression. Provocation may include factors that frustrate a
person’s attempt at achieving a goal or a rude or unfair behavior (Anderson &
Bushman, 2002). Alternatively, Bies and Tripp (2005) argued that employees engage in
workplace aggression as a form of retaliation and that workplace aggression can
represent an attempt to restore justice to an unfair situation. In contrast to the individual
difference approach, this suggests that aggression is a reaction to a situation. Although
most researchers acknowledge that both individual and situational predictors relate to
workplace aggression, the debate surrounding which type of predictor explains more
variance continues. Thus, one aim of this study is to determine the predictive role of
individual and situational variables in explaining workplace aggression.
10. The idea that perceived provocation leads to target-specific aggression
suggests that target specificity applies to situational but not individual difference
variables. Individual differences are not provocations; rather, they reflect factors that
predispose individuals to behave in certain ways. Because individual differences are
relatively stable across time and situations, one would expect individual differences to
predict both interpersonal and organizational aggression.
11. To assess the prediction of interpersonal versus organizational aggression, we
examine three individual (i.e., trait anger, negative affectivity, and biological sex) and
five situational predictors (i.e., procedural injustice, distributive injustice, interpersonal
conflict, situational constraints, and job dissatisfaction).
12. Individual Differences
Trait anger. Theory linking anger to aggressive behavior is not new (e.g.,
Berkowitz, 1993; Buss, 1961); indeed, early research did not distinguish between anger
and aggression (Buss, 1961). Trait anger is the predisposition to respond to situations
with hostility (Spielberger, 1991), and there is both theoretical and empirical support
(e.g., Douglas & Martinko, 2001) for the link between trait anger and workplace
aggression. People high in trait anger are likely to be more easily provoked because of
their tendency to perceive situations as frustrating.
13. Negative affectivity. Negative affectivity reflects the extent to which
individuals experience distressing emotions such as hostility, fear, and anxiety (Watson
& Clark, 1984). Individuals high in negative affectivity are more sensitive and more
reactive to negative events (Douglas & Martinko, 2001). Berkowitz (1993) argued that
although people act aggressive when they feel bad (state negative affect), those who are
high in negative affectivity likely have the proclivity to feel bad more often. If a
transitory negative affective state is related to aggression, then those with a more
permanent negative disposition may also experience state negative affect more often.
Therefore, we would expect negative affectivity to be positively related to aggression.
152 / 152
14. Sex. Some studies have shown that men are more aggressive than women
(e.g., McFarlin, Fals-Stewart, Major, & Justice, 2001; Geen, 1990), others have shown
no significant relationship between aggression and sex (e.g., Douglas, Witt, & Aquino,
2003), and still others show that women are more aggressive than men (e.g., Namie &
Namie, 2000). Although this literature seems to lean toward men as the more
aggressive sex, there are situations in which these differences dissipate, such as
propensity to aggress under provocation (Bettencourt & Miller, 1996). As such, our
examination of the relationship between sex and target-specific workplace aggression
remains exploratory.
15. Situational Factors
In contrast to individual differences, as suggested earlier, situational predictors
trigger target-specific aggression, and we now discuss the theoretical relationships
between each predictor and its hypothesized target (see Figure 1).
16. Distributive injustice. Distributive injustice reflects the perceived unfairness

of outcomes. Adams (1965) argued that when individuals perceive their outcomes to be
unfair in comparison to referent others, they attempt to restore justice. One method of
restoring justice is to reduce inputs (organization-targeted aggression) or act in a
counterproductive manner to rebalance the input– output ratio (Cohen-Charash &
Spector, 2001). In contrast, Aquino, Lewis, and Bradfield (1999) found that those who
feel that their distributions are unfair are likely to blame the source of the decision and
target the person responsible for the unfair distribution. Therefore, one might expect
distributive injustice to lead to supervisor-and organization-targeted aggression.
17. Procedural injustice. This form of injustice concerns the perceived unfairness
of the procedures used to arrive at outcome decisions (Thibaut & Walker, 1975).
Procedural injustice is a trigger that may well lead to an unfair outcome, adversely
affecting an employee’s salary or perquisites. Procedural injustice is therefore likely to
lead employees to retaliate by engaging in aggression against the organization
(Skarlicki & Folger, 1997) because processes and procedures are determined and
implemented at the organizational level (Aquino et al., 1999).
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59
18. Interpersonal conflict. As a workplace stressor, interpersonal conflict refers to

discrepant views or perceived incompatibilities between two or more individuals
(Boulding, 1963). Aggression is one way of coping with stressors, and research has
shown that people are likely to respond to aggression with aggression. For example,
Andersson and Pearson (1999) argued that incivility escalates or spirals as coworkers
reciprocate uncivil behavior from colleagues by responding with more severe forms of
incivility (e.g., aggression). The starting point for such spirals is the violation of a
social norm of civility or respect, in which one employee is perceived to interpersonally
mistreat another employee. Thus, we suggest that interpersonal conflict is a trigger that
will predict interpersonal, coworker-targeted aggression.
19. Situational constraints. These are workplace stressors that interfere with an
individual’s task performance or goals at work (e.g., availability of resources, Fox &
Spector, 1999). Situational constraints are posited to lead to negative emotions such as
frustration because they prevent employees from attaining desired objectives and in
turn are associated with aggression. The frustration–aggression hypothesis (Dollard,
Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939; Spector, 1975) suggests that frustration occurs
when events interfere with individual goals and that one reaction to frustration is
aggression. As situational constraints arise from a variety of sources within the
organization (e.g., scheduling, training), we suggest that they will lead to organizational
but not interpersonal aggression.
20. Job dissatisfaction. Job dissatisfaction reflects the extent to which people like
or dislike their jobs (Spector, 1997). Individuals who are dissatisfied with their jobs are
likely to put less effort into their work or to act in destructive ways toward their
organization. As the measurement of job dissatisfaction generally consists of
evaluations of diverse work-related dimensions (e.g., rewards, colleagues, nature of
work; Spector, 1997), it is reasonable to argue that those who are dissatisfied at work
may engage in organization-targeted aggression rather than interpersonal-targeted
aggression. Judge, Scott, and Ilies (2006) argued that employees who are dissatisfied
with their jobs may aggress against the organization in an effort to regain some form of
control over their job, and we therefore suggest that job dissatisfaction will be related to
organizationally targeted aggression.
21. Predicting Supervisor-Targeted Aggression
Two additional variables, interpersonal injustice and poor leadership, are
examined to study supervisor-targeted aggression. Interpersonal injustice refers to the
perceived interpersonal treatment of the employee by the supervisor during the
enactment of formal procedures and more generally the degree of respect, honesty, and
dignity with which the supervisor communicates with the employee (Bies & Moag,
1986). Poor leadership encompasses a range of leadership perceptions and behaviors,
including perception of supervisor hostile verbal and nonverbal behavior (Zellars,
Tepper, & Duffy, 2002), overcontrol (Dupre´, 2003), authoritarian management style
(Marrs, 1999), and lack of charismatic leadership (Hepworth & Towler, 2004).
Although poor leadership and interpersonal injustice are similar, interpersonal justice
refers to individuals’ appraisal of whether they were treated fairly by an authority figure
during the enactment of a formal procedure, whereas poor leadership refers to more
specific behavioral cues (e.g., “puts me down in front of others”). Poor leadership is
likely to be an important predictor of supervisor-targeted aggression because the degree
to which a supervisor behaves badly toward employees will likely affect the behavioral
response of the employees (Dupre´, 2003). Similar to the incivility spiral discussed
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earlier, bad behavior from supervisors may spiral to increasingly negative interactions
with the supervisor until the employee becomes aggressive toward the supervisor.
22. In summary, by examining these variables, we can address our three research
questions: (a) What are the individual and situational correlates of interpersonal and
organizational aggression? (b) Within interpersonal aggression, are there differential
predictors of supervisor-and coworker-targeted aggression? (c) What are the relative
contributions of individual and situational predictors in explaining interpersonal and
organizational aggression?
23.Method
Data and Sample
We searched for both published and unpublished studies on workplace
aggression. First, we searched the PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, ERIC, and ABI-
Inform databases, including studies published as of July 15, 2005. We used the
following keywords to conduct our search: aggress*, counterproductive work behavio*,
deviance, antisocial behavio*, assault, bully*, incivility, mistreatment, mobbing,
retaliat*, tyranny, and violen* (using an asterisk allowed a search for all words that
include the letters that precede the asterisk and accommodated different spellings). To
identify additional published and unpublished studies, we conducted a manual search of
the bibliographies of recent workplace aggression studies, contacted researchers in the
area of workplace aggression, and searched the scientific programs of conferences
(Academy of Management, Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and
the American Psychological Association’s Work, Stress, and Health conferences). This
search yielded 191 relevant articles examining some form of workplace aggression.
Studies that were retained for the meta-analysis measured enacted aggression (as
opposed to experienced aggression or aggressive intentions) at the individual level of
analysis. The studies included adult workers (as opposed to young workers) and had to
included at least one independent variable of interest. Finally, only studies with a
measure of association that could be translated into a correlation were retained. The
resulting sample consisted of 57 studies with 59 independent samples, all of which are
1
indicated with an asterisk in the reference section.
24. Meta-Analytic Procedures and Analysis
Our model suggests that the strength of predictor–aggression relationships
depends on the targets of the aggression. This required us to classify the aggression
constructs on the basis of the targets identified in each of the measures. We first divided
studies into four categories, depending on the target identified in the study scale—
interpersonal aggression (coworker and unspecified only), interpersonal aggression
(supervisor target), organizational aggression, and a combined interpersonal and
organizational category—and then conducted separate meta-analyses on these types of
aggression. When possible, we compared the relationships in each type of aggression to
determine whether different targets resulted in significantly different relationships.
25. We followed Hunter and Schmidt’s (1990) recommendations for conducting
meta-analyses, including calculation of weighted average reliabilities (when reliability
information was not available) and confidence intervals. After examining the
correlations for interpersonal and organizational aggression, we conducted a t test for
nonindependent correlations (Wil¬liams, 1959) to compare whether the predictors were
significantly different.
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61
26. As noted by Huffcutt and Arthur (1995), the influence of outliers should be
examined as they can influence the corrected correlation and the residual variability in
the corrected correlation. Consistent with Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, and Ng’s
(2001) treatment of outliers, we eliminated data from Beugré’s (1996) study, which was
the only one in the current sample that showed a positive relationship between
distributive justice and aggression.
27. We used observed variable path analyses and maximum likelihood estimation
as implemented in LISREL 8.3 (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1999), which allowed us to test
the relative contribution of individual difference and situational predictors of
interpersonal versus organizational aggression. When conducting meta-analytic path
analyses, one must make choices as to the appropriate treatment of empty cells and the
appropriate sample size (Viswesvaran & Ones, 1995). Out of the 45 cells in the current
intercorrelation matrix, three (7%) were empty, and all involved the relationship
between sex and situational predictors. As there was no theoretical reason to expect a
relationship between sex and situational constraints, we took a conservative approach
and assumed a correlation of zero. For the relationship between sex and procedural
injustice and sex and distributive injustice, we followed Viswesvaran and Ones’s
(1995) suggestion and used existing meta-analytic findings (-.09 and -.02, respectively;
see Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001). To address the issue of sample size, we used the
harmonic mean of the studies (n =193) that made up the correlation matrix.
28. Results
Our first research question concerned the correlates of interpersonal and
organizational aggression. Tables 1 and 2 present the corrected correlations between all
predictor variables and interpersonal and organizational aggression, respectively. Table
1 shows that trait anger and interpersonal conflict were the strongest predictors of
interpersonal aggression (corrected correlations of .43 and .50, respectively). In
contrast, the strongest predictors of organizational aggression were interpersonal
conflict, situational constraints, and job dissatisfaction (corrected correlations of .41,
.36, and .37, respectively). t tests comparing the differences between interpersonal and
organizational aggressions shown in Table 3 partially support our prediction that
individual differences predict both types of aggression, whereas situational predictors
differentially predict aggression. There was no statistical difference between one of the
individual differences (negative affectivity) in predicting the two types of aggression.
However, sex, t(2515) = -4.70, p <.001, and trait anger, t(1548) =5.00, p <.001, were
stronger predictors of interpersonal aggression than of organizational aggression. With
respect to the situational predictors, interpersonal conflict was a stronger predictor of
interpersonal aggression than of organizational aggression, t(636) =3.02, p <.01. In
contrast, job dissatisfaction, t(769) =-6.41, p <.001, and situational constraints, t(975)
=-2.31, p <.05, were stronger predictors of organizational aggression than of
interpersonal aggression. However, there was no difference between distributive and
procedural injustice in predicting each type of aggression.
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29. Our second research question asked whether there are differential predictors
of supervisor-and coworker-targeted aggression. These results (see Table 4) primarily
support our hypothesis that selected situational variables would be stronger predictors
of supervisor-targeted aggression. Poor leadership and interpersonal injustice were the
strongest predictors of supervisor-targeted aggression with corrected correlations of .52
and .51, respectively; the corrected correlations between poor leadership and
interpersonal injustice and coworker-targeted aggression were .16 and .18, respectively.
The confidence intervals of these relationships do not overlap for the two targets,
supporting the hypothesis that poor leadership and interpersonal injustice are stronger
predictors of supervisor-targeted aggression than of coworker-targeted aggression.
Procedural injustice was also a stronger predictor of supervisor-targeted aggression (r
=.29) than of coworker-targeted aggression (r =.20); however, there was some overlap
between the confidence intervals, suggesting they may have the same population
correlation. There was also significant overlap between the confidence intervals for
distributive injustice, suggesting that they may have the same population correlation.
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63
30. The results of the path analysis are shown in Figure 2 and help to address our
third research question. We tested a fully saturated model in which all predictors led to
both interpersonal-and organization-targeted aggression. The results showed that two of
the three individual differences (sex and trait anger) predicted both interpersonal ( s =-
.18 and .29, respectively) and organizational ( s =-.14 and .16, respectively)
aggression. Negative affectivity did not predict either interpersonal or organizational
aggression. In terms of situational correlates, job dissatisfaction and situational
constraints were related to organizational ( s = .28 and .19, respectively) but not to
interpersonal aggression, whereas interpersonal conflict predicted interpersonal ( =.38)
but not organizational aggression. In the presence of these other variables, neither
injustice variable was significantly related to interpersonal or organizational aggression.
31. The preceding results suggest that aggression is target specific such that
researchers should separate interpersonal and organizational aggression into different
measures. To further test the need to separate measures across targets, we compared the
correlations of three different measures: interpersonal, organizational, and a measure
that combines both interpersonal and organizational targets. Only a subset of our
predictor variables—distributive, procedural, and interpersonal injustice; poor
leadership; sex; and trait anger—were measured with sufficient frequency using each
measure for inclusion in this analysis. The results (see Table 5) show that although the
corrected correlations differ between the three measures, the confidence interval for the
combined measure is extremely wide for all variables. For the combined measure, the
minimum range in the confidence interval is .39 and the maximum spread is .82. In
contrast, the minimum range for interpersonal and organizational aggression is .13 and
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.05, respectively, and the maximum spread is .28 and .43, respectively. These results
indicate a much larger standard error for the relationships using the combined measure,
suggesting that measures that combine targets seem to confound important target-
specific differences.
32. Discussion
The purpose of this study was to address the target-specific nature of aggression
and its differential predictors by conducting a meta-analytic review of the workplace
aggression literature. In addressing these issues, this study aimed to examine three
research questions: (a) What are the individual and situational correlates of
interpersonal and organizational aggression? (b) Are there differential predictors of
coworker-and supervisor-targeted aggression? (c) What are the relative contributions of
individual and situational predictors in explaining interpersonal and organizational
aggression?
33. Our findings suggest that both individual and situational factors differentially
predict workplace aggression. The current study suggests that trait anger and sex are
significant predictors, with men being more aggressive than women; however, we do
not yet have a comprehensive understanding of the range of individual differences
relevant to workplace aggression. Although research on individual differences has
received a great deal of attention, the literature covers a wide range of individual
differences. More focused research is needed to determine the strongest individual
difference predictors of aggression. In addition, the finding that men are more
aggressive than women should be interpreted with caution. In particular, there was no
main effect between sex and aggression targeted at the organization, suggesting that
men and women may not differ on more indirect forms of aggression. In terms of
situational factors, there were significant differences between variables that predicted
interpersonal and organizational aggression. We discuss these findings in more detail
below with respect to target specificity.
34. The finding that both individual and situational correlates predict workplace
aggression lends support to the importance of an interactionist approach. Recent
research advocates studies that consider the interaction between individual and
situational predictors (Aquino, Galperin, & Bennett, 2004; Inness, Barling, & Turner,
2005; Skarlicki et al., 1999). Consistent with Folger and Skarlicki’s (1998) popcorn
model of aggression, the interactionist perspective argues that situational factors may
be a necessary but insufficient condition for predicting workplace aggression. Although
the current meta-analysis suggests that there are main effects for both individual and
situational correlates, future research should focus on the possible interaction of
individual and situational predictors.
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65
35. One of the reasons for examining the target specificity of workplace
aggression was to help direct future operationalizations of aggression. This study
suggests that because the predictors of workplace aggression are dependent on the
target (i.e., supervisor, coworker, or organization), measures that combine targets may
provide results that either understate or overstate the population effect. Given the
current findings, we believe that combined measures may provide ambiguous if not
misleading information about the strength of predictive relationships.
36. As such, future research needs to explore the notion of target specificity in
more detail. One avenue would be the potential mediating effects of blame attributions.
Although some research has investigated attributions and aggression (e.g., Aquino,
Tripp, & Bies, 2001; Douglas & Martinko, 2001; Hepworth & Towler, 2004; Homant
& Kennedy, 2003), with the exception of the study by Aquino et al. (2001), these
studies have tended to concentrate on attribution as an individual difference variable.
However, situational blame attribution is more likely to explain why an individual
chooses to aggress against one target rather than another. Attribution theory thus
provides a plausible framework for understanding the underlying reasons why
aggression is target specific.
37. Future research also needs to modify and validate existing scales to recognize
target specificity. R. J. Bennett and Robinson (2000) demonstrated earlier that
interpersonal and organizational aggression are separate dimensions. More research is
needed that separates interpersonal aggression into its supervisor, coworker, and
subordinate components, demonstrating different patterns of individual and situational
predictors. In particular, we advocate a measurement approach that includes the specific
target under investigation (e.g., supervisor, coworker, or organization).
38. In this study, we were able to show that interpersonal injustice and poor
leadership are stronger predictors of supervisor-than coworker-targeted aggression;
however, we were unable to assess situational predictors for coworker-targeted
aggression. As existing research has not separated these two targets, we still do not
have an adequate understanding of what situational variables predict coworker-targeted
aggression. Research examining the link between interpersonal conflict and aggression
does not explicitly specify the coworker as a target in either the conflict or the
aggression research. Most scales refer to “someone at work” to identify the target, and
an explicit question that asks specifically about the identity of the target would provide
less ambiguous results.
39. Finally, future research should consider the differences between predicting
aggression against the supervisor and organization. Although some research has
examined the specific predictors of supervisor-targeted aggression (Dupre´, 2003;
Greenberg & Barling, 1999; Jones, 2004), it is not yet clear under which conditions
employees will aggress against the supervisor or the organization. In the present
research, abusive supervision and interpersonal injustice were much stronger predictors
of supervisor-than organization-targeted aggression.
40. As with all research, this study has some limitations that warrant discussion.
First, the relatively small number of studies involved in this meta-analysis is a concern.
Nonetheless, large disparities in scales used and dimensions examined warranted a
systematic evaluation to guide future research; this meta-analysis is timely to ensure
that future research can add meaningfully to growing knowledge about workplace
aggression. Second, a number of judgment calls were required in conducting this meta-
analysis. For example, we had to decide whether to use only self-report data and
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eliminate other report data (eight studies) or whether to include both in the analysis. We
also had to decide whether to limit the analysis to North American studies only, as we
could locate only four studies conducted outside North America. We chose to include
both other-report and international studies. We ran the analysis without these studies to
ensure these changes would not affect the results and found that although there were
minor differences in the correlations, the removal of these studies did not affect any
conclusions. Third, aggression against coworkers may be more likely to occur because
there are higher numbers of fellow employees than of supervisors, making it difficult to
compare mean levels of coworker and supervisor aggression. Finally, although
individual and situational differences have been hypothesized to interact, this meta-
analysis does not allow us to test interactions. Although our research shows the
importance of both individual and situational correlates, future research should focus on
their interaction.
41. Although our meta-analysis supports many previous findings on the
individual and situational predictors of workplace aggression, it also challenges and
extends the way in which some of these questions have been addressed. Workplace
aggression does not occur in a social vacuum. Rather, relational and contextual factors
play a strong role in determining whether individuals will aggress and against whom
they will aggress. This study provides metaanalytic evidence for the need to clearly
separate the targets of workplace aggression and to examine both individual and situa-
tional predictors of workplace aggression.
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67
I. Pronunciation
Pronounce properly:
vice versa (§6)
trait (§8)
II. Confusables
a) to propose / to suggest / to offer
OFFER PROPOSE SUGGEST
to say that you are frml, to intend to do

willing to do sth sth
to offer to do sth to propose to do sth
e.g. Jude offered to to propose doing sth
make me a cup of tea. e.g. How does Jude propose
to ask s.o. if they to deal with the situation?
would like to have sth to tell s.o. your ideas
frml, to formally about what they should do
to offer sth to sb suggest sth as a plan or
course of action to suggest that
to offer sb sth
to propose sth to sb to suggest doing
e.g. Jude offered me a cup of
tea. to propose doing sth to suggest to do
e.g. Jude offered a cup of tea to propose that e.g. Jude suggested going to
to his mother. the park.
e.g. In his speech, Jude
proposed that the UN should e.g. Jude suggested we
intervene in the dispute should go to the park.
between Israelis and
Palestinians.
b) further and farther
FURTHER FARTHER
Adverb more, to a greater more, to a greater

degree, to a more serious degree
level
e.g. Jude does not propose to e.g. Jude does not propose to
take the matter further.
take the matter farther.
greater distance
greater distance (
e.g. Jude walked a little far)
further. e.g. Jude decided not to go
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any farther.
time: into the past or
the future
e.g. The records do not go
any further than Jude’s birth.
frml, to introduce sth
additional that you want to
talk about
e.g. Jude is interested in
psychology. Further, he is
really talented in what
concerns human sciences.
Adjective more, additional

e.g. Jude asked whether they
had any further questions.
more distant ( far)
e.g. A table stood at the
farther end of Jude’s kitchen.
c) to arise / to rise / to raise
to rise (intransitive) is used without an object.

to raise (transitive) is used with an object.
to arise (intransitive) is used without an object. If a problem or difficult
situation arises, it begins to happen.
d) search / research
RESEARCH SEARCH
Noun serious study of a an attempt to find sth,

subject s.o.
e.g. Jude’s research on mice e.g. Jude spent hours in a
was a real success. search for this solution.
the activity of finding a series of actions
information about sth that you done by a computer to find
are interested in or need to information
know about e.g. A search carried out by
e.g. Jude decided to do some Jude found 12 relevant
research before buying a car. articles.
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69
Verb to study a subject in to try to find s.o. or

detail, especially in order to sth by looking very carefully
discover new facts or test new
e.g. Jude searched for his
ideas glasses.
e.g. Jude’s researching to use a computer to
articles on stress. find information
e.g. Jude searched the
internet to find this article.
to try to find an
explanation or solution
e.g. Jude is searching for a
solution to this problem.
Fill in the gaps with the words from Part II:

1. They ______________ examples of films, experiential exercises, popular
books, and course topics to assist instructors in providing more of an understanding of the
psychology of women.
2. Psychologists _____________ that psychology should not concern itself with
the structure of consciousness because, they argued, consciousness was always changing so it
had no basic structure.
3. They ____________ children of nursery school age two toys: one a rather
unattractive sex-neutral toy, and the other an attractive toy that was clearly suitable for the
other sex.
4. Robert Plomin and colleagues ____________ three major ways in which genes
and environments act together to shape human behaviour.
5. They _______________ that learning is the result of the application of
consequences; that is, learners begin to connect certain responses with certain stimuli.
6. Climate change, adaptation, and mitigation responses have the potential to
have different impacts on different populations (e.g., demographic and cultural groups).
____________, different populations may have different social constructions of the meaning
of climate change.
7. _____________ research is needed to understand such patterns.
8. The goal of _____________ in evolutionary psychology is to discover and
understand the design of the human mind.
9. The most common word people _____________ for on the net is "sex", closely
followed by "porn" and other related words.
10. The texture of objects tends to become smoother as the object gets
____________ away.
11. The diversity of their trainings is reflected in the topics they ______________,
including religion, education, economics, psychology, ethics, philosophy, and theology.
12. Under these conditions a new problem ____________: not just reconciling the
human operator’s motor actions in performance of tasks with the dynamic properties and
characteristics of the implements and means of production, but coordinating the operator’s
capabilities for receiving, processing, and transmitting data with the informational
characteristics of the object under control.
13. Immigrants Overcome Great Odds to _____________ Children in Foreign
Lands
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14. According to official census figures, ___________ by about 24 million people.
III. One as a subject

Because individual differences are relatively stable across time and situations, one
would expect individual differences to predict both interpersonal and organizational
aggression (§10).
What is the function of the pronoun ‘one’ in this sentence? Could you paraphrase it
with another pronoun or noun?
The pronoun ‘one’ used as a subject is very formal and means people in general,
including yourself. Use it in academic writing assignments.
Make the following sentences more formal:
1. Morality may be exhibited in the view that in the United States that people should
not be naked in public.
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________
2. You would more likely use a simulative strategy.
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________
3. The person would expect health psychologists to be deeply involved in the
controversies concerning the diagnosis, prevalence, and treatment of this condition, but
volume 1 mentions none of this.
______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________
4. In fact, Christian personality becomes incomprehensible if a person neglects
these points and psychology, especially applied psychology, also lays itself open to
misunderstandings and errors if it disregards them.
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________
5. If you were a Darwinist, you would have to ask - what is the evolutionary point
of entertainment?
__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
______________________
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71
IV. Possessive Case

Look at the following example: ‘Hunter and Schmidt’s recommendations’ (§25)
use –’s with people and animals
e.g. Darwin’s theory of revolution
NB: Proper names that end in –s may have –’s or just –’
e.g. Bridget Jones’s diary
if a noun is in plural, add only ’
e.g. these scientists’ theory
if a plural noun does not end in –s, then add –s’
e.g. these men’s theory
if there are several nouns, add –’s to the last one
e.g. Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, and Ng’s treatment (§26)
use the of-construction in case of inanimate things or the noun + noun
construction
e.g. the colour of the copying machine
e.g. the book of grammar the grammar book
Put into the possessive:

1. the study of John and Jake
________________________________________________
2. the behaviour of the aggressor
_____________________________________________
3. the phenomenon of empathy
______________________________________________
4. the assistance of Paul Spector and Sean Tucker
_______________________________
5. the project of Ann Frances
________________________________________________
6. the idea of the scientist who wrote this book
__________________________________
V. Make or Do?
DO MAKE
when s.o. performs an action, activity, used for constructing, building or

or task creating
e.g. to do the ironing e.g. to make a dress
to refer to work of any kind to refer to preparing food of any kind
e.g. to do homework e.g. to make a meal
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to speak about things in general (to

describe an action without saying exactly
what the action is), especially with the words
‘something’, ‘nothing’, ‘anything’,
‘everything’, etc.
e.g. She is doing nothing.
Use ‘to do’ or ‘to make’ with the following:

1. the cleaning
2. a speech
3. a noise
4. serious work
5. a favour
6. a mistake
7. a plan
8. research
VI. A powerful AS
As a workplace stressor, interpersonal conflict refers to discrepant views or
perceived incompatibilities between two or more individuals (§18).
in adverbial clauses of time: to talk about two longer actions that go on at the
same time (more formal than ‘while’)
e.g. As (=while) Jude was sleeping, I was doing my homework.
in adverbial clauses of reason: similar to ‘because’
e.g. As (=because) Jude was sleeping, I didn’t dare to vacuum.
in comparisons: as + Adj / Adv + as, not as / so + Adj / Adv + as
e.g. Jude sleeps as much as a cat.
e.g. It’s not as/so much as it seems.
as + subject + verb = in the same way as
e.g. I did my homework as (=in the same way) Jude had shown me.
preposition = in the position of, being
e.g. As (=being) a very creative person, Jude likes working nights.
Make up your own examples to illustrate each case of the use of AS indicated above.
VII. Word-building
Consider the word ‘counterproductive’ (§16) together with some other words with
the same prefix: counter-espionage, counter-terrorist, counter-revolution. What do you think
is the meaning of counter-?
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73
VIII. Prepositions
Fill in the gaps with the correct preposition from the list below. Note that some of
them can be used more than once:
in to at toward with from

against for into
1. Variables are generally used in psychology experiments to determine if
changes to one variable result ______ changes to another variable.
2. The term anger management commonly refers ______ a system of
psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which one with excessive or
uncontrollable anger can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered
emotional state.
3. They seem to be fundamental in every attempt _____ analysis, and perfectly
natural in the present undeveloped state of psychology.
4. Boys are more "physical" in their play that girls, and engage ____ a good deal
of roughhousing.
5. Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology that aims to understand how the
structure and function of the brain relate _____ specific psychological processes.
6. These practitioners should have named their subject something else, such as
"people control" or "manipulating organisms", but instead they redefined the term psychology
to no longer apply _____ the mind.
7. Junk food is supposed to be linked _____ mental disorders.
8. Major depression can occur once, as a result of a significant psychological
trauma, respond _____ treatment, and never occur again within your lifetime.
9. Don’t be afraid to smile, ask questions, lean ________, and make eye contact
at an interview.
10. Family members of people with bipolar disorder often have to cope ______
serious behavioural problems (such as wild spending sprees) and the lasting consequences of
these behaviours.
11. When psychological problems interfere ______ your emotional or physical
health, your relationships, work productivity, or life adjustment, you need to talk to someone
who can help... a psychologist.
12. It comforts a child but prevents ______ seeing the world in the real colours.
13. Certain types of people who frequently aggress _______ others do so in large
part because of a susceptibility towards hostile attribution, perception, and expectation biases.
14. Food researchers say that when humans searched _____ food, they learned to
avoid toxic or spoiled objects, which were often blue, black, or purple. When food dyed blue
is served to study subjects, they lose appetite.
15. The reasons _____ smoking are mostly psychological.
16. Child psychology can be divided ______ two main areas - the actual process of
psychological development that the child goes through when growing up and the analysis and
treatment of the various problems that a child may face throughout their development.
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A critique of the IQ / Achievement Discrepancy Model for

Identifying Specific Learning Disabilities
Albert F. Restori California state University, Northridge

Gary S. Katz California State University, Northridge
Howard B. Lee California state University, Northridge
Abstract. When the United States Congres

s passed
Education the Individuals
Improvement with Disabilities
Act in 2004 (IDEIA 2004), local educational agencies (LEA) were
permitted to use a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) approach for identifying children with
possible learning disabilities for special education. Furthermore, IDEIA 2004 no longer
required LEAs to establish an IQ-achievement discrepancy for determining a Specific Learning
Disability (SLD). Although federal law no longer mandates the need for an IQ achievement
discrepancy for determining an SLD, most school psychologists continue to employ this
approach for the assessment of children at-risk for SLD. Furthermore, some researchers suggest
that although the IQ-achievement discrepancy model may not be the best approach for
identifying children at-risk for SLD, school psychologists should continue to use intelligence
tests as part of the assessment process. The current paper (a) provides a brief review of the IQ-
achievement discrepancy model, (b) reviews concerns of using intelligence tests within a RTI
framework, and (c) reviews some of the major criticisms regarding the IQ-achievement
discrepancy model.
1. In December 2004, the United States Congress passed the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004), which permitted local education
agencies to use a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) approach for identifying children with
possible learning disabilities for special education. With the passage of IDEIA 2004, educators
were essentially given the choice of using the traditional IQ-achievement discrepancy model or
RTI for identifying students at-risk for a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Unfortunately the
passage of IDEIA 2004 has not resolved the debate regarding the best approach for identifying
children with SLD. On the one hand, some notable researchers argue that the IQ-achievement
discrepancy model affords educators with the most valid approach for preserving the construct
SLD and identifying those students with "real" learning disabilities (Mastropieri & Scruggs,
2002; Kavale, 2002). On the other hand, many researchers question the validity of the IQ-
achievement discrepancy model and suggest that an RTI approach is an empirically supported
approach that is free of many of the criticisms associated with the IQ-achievement discrepancy
model. Although RTI has been shown to be a viable approach for the identification of children
at-risk for SLD, most states and local school districts continue to use the IQ-achievement
discrepancy model nearly four years after the passage of IDEIA 2004 and its associated
regulations. . The purpose of the current article is to (a) provide a brief review of the
discrepancy model. (b) provide a compendium of the issues related to the IQ-discrepancy
model for school psychology practitioners, and (c) review the issues related to the use of
intelligence tests within an RTI model.
2. Description of the Discrepancy Model

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75
In general, the discrepancy model employed in most states including California requires
that the following four criteria are met before determining eligibility for SLD: (a) establishing a
discrepancy between intellectual/cognitive ability and academic achievement, (b) identifying
the existence of a psychological/cognitive processing deficit, (c) determining if the child's
educational needs can or cannot be met without special education and related services, and (d)
exclusionary considerations. The first part of this model is to determine if a significant
discrepancy between the student's intellectual ability and academic achievement exists.
Although there are a number of different methods available to determine if a significant
discrepancy exists, the most common method used is to simply look at the standard scores on
some measure of intellectual ability and compare them to the standard scores obtained on
various measures of academic achievement. If the discrepancy between ability and achievement
is equal to or greater than the pre-established criteria set forth by the state (e.g., 1 1/2 standard
deviations [22 points] in California]), the student has met the first criterion for a SLD. Once the
ability-achievement discrepancy criterion is met, a deficit in some area of psychological
processing must be identified in order to meet the second part of the SLD criteria. Areas of
psychological processing include, but are not limited to, auditory processing, visual processing
and visual-motor integration. At this point in the assessment process, school psychologists have
two approaches for identifying a processing deficit. The first approach used to determine if a
child demonstrates a processing deficit is to analyze their performance on the previously
administered intelligence test. A review of the technical manuals of a number of intelligence
tests (e.g., Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children -4th edition [WISC-IV]; Wechsler, 2003,
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities -3rd edition [WJ-1I1 COG]; Woodcock,
McGrew, & Mather, 2001, Cognitive Abilities Scales [CAS]; Naglieri & Das, 1997, Kaufman
Assessment Battery for Children -2nd edition [K-ABC-II]; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004) report
that through analysis of scales, subtests or dusters of subtests, a child's processing strengths
and/or weaknesses can be identified. The second approach for detecting a psychological
processing deficit is to administer a battery of tests that purport to measure different areas of
psychological processing. If the student obtains a standard score that is significantly below
average on anyone of those measures (e.g., auditory processing), a psychological processing
deficit has been identified. School psychologists for identifying processing deficits and meeting
the second part of the SLD criteria frequently use both of the previously described approaches.
The third part of the SLD criteria is to determine if the child has an educational need. The
educational need criterion essentially requires that members of the IEP team agree that the
child's educational needs will be best served if he or she is deemed eligible to receive special
education services. Factors considered when making this decision are results of testing
provided by the school psychologists and other professionals, efficacy of pre-referral
interventions, and the opinions of members of the IEP team. At this point in the assessment and
identification process, it is unlikely that any member of the IEP team would disagree with the
need for special education services provided the child meets the first two criteria. The fourth
criterion in the SLD identification process is exclusionary considerations. That is, the school
psychologists and/or IEP team must conclude that the presence of a specific learning disability
is not due to a sensory disorder, mental retardation (MR), emotional disturbance (ED),
economic disadvantage, linguistic diversity, or inadequate instruction. If at any point during the
assessment process, one of these variables is thought to contribute to the learning disability,
eligibility for Special Education as a child with SLD should not be considered. however,
special education eligibility in another category (e.g., MR or ED) may be considered.
3. Once the previously described four criteria are met, the student is eligible for Special
Education services as a child with an SLD. Interestingly, the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act (1975; renamed the Individual with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] in 1990)
152 / 152
did not require the assessment of intelligence or psychological processing for determining
eligibility of SLD. Although not mandated in federal law, most educators involved in this type
of assessment would agree that the IQ-achievement discrepancy and identification of
psychological processing strengths and weaknesses are the most heavily weighted
considerations for identifying SLD. Although IDEA never required this type of assessment as
part of SLD, the IQ-achievement discrepancy model was implemented in an arbitrary fashion in
the 1977 federal regulations. This was done as a way to operationalise the construct of SLD and
prevent a de facto prevalence cap of 2% from being enacted automatically (U.S. Office of
Education, 1977). Admittedly, the previously described assessment process is not always so
clear-cut, however, it demonstrates a common assessment process used daily by thousands of
school psychologists and multi-disciplinary teams (MOT) across the United states.
4. Issues with the Discrepancy Model
From its inception, the discrepancy model has been problematic for numerous reasons.
Over the past 30 years dozens of research articles have provided empirical evidence of the
problems inherent with the IQ-achievement discrepancy model. As previously stated, the
forthcoming discussion is meant to provide practitioners with a compendium of the issues
related to the IQ-achievement discrepancy model and a brief review of the research literature
supporting each of the points.
5. First and foremost, use of the discrepancy model has made early identification and
intervention of children with suspected SLDs difficult. For the most part, young children
experiencing academic problems in the early elementary grades do not demonstrate the IQ-
achievement discrepancy necessary to meet eligibility as SLD (Speece, 2002). As a result, it is
not uncommon for these students to continue to fail for an additional two or three years, and
often longer, before their achievement is sufficiently low compared to their IQ and they are
eligible to receive special education services. In fact, special education identification rates
indicate that the odds of being classified as SLD peaks in the third and fourth grades (Lyon,
Fletcher, Fuchs, & Chhabra, 2006). This model represents a "wait-to-fail" approach, which
results in the loss of valuable instructional time that would likely make a significant difference
to a substantial number of the children affected (Fletcher, Lyon, Barnes, Stuebing, Francis,
Olson, Shaywitz & Shaywitz 2002; Gresham, 2002; Torgeson, Alexander, Wagner, Rashotte,
Voeller, & Conway, 2001). For example, in the area of reading, children at-risk for later
reading difficulties can be reliably identified as early as the beginning of the first grade (Juel,
1988). When these children are not intervened upon early in their academic careers, there is a
high probability (>70%) that they will continue to be poor readers into the secondary grades
and beyond (Fletcher & Lyon, 1998). On the other hand, when educators are able to meet the
academic achievement needs of children early on, the likelihood of positive, long-term
educational outcomes is greatly increased (Fletcher et al., 2002; Stanovich, 2000). Furthermore,
the likelihood of negative long-term outcomes such as school dropout, delinquency, and
unemployment is significantly reduced (Alexander, Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997; Williams &
McGee, 1994). Although the ability to provide early intervention and prevention for all
children at risk for school failure alone should justify moving to an RTI approach, it is just one
of many problems with the IQ-achievement discrepancy approach for identifying SLD.
6. A second major criticism of the ability-achievement discrepancy model for

identifying SLD is the inconsistent manner in which practitioners apply this approach.
Gresham, MacMillan and colleagues concluded that over half of the school-identified SLD
children included in their study did not meet federal or state eligibility criteria (Gresham,
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77
MacMillan, & Bocian, 1996; MacMillan, Gresham & Bocian, 1998; MacMillan & Speece,
1999). That is, many of the children included in this study did not demonstrate a significant
discrepancy, had IQ scores below 75 (i.e., mild mental retardation [MMRJ), or were
Emotionally Disturbed (ED). In addition, Gresham, MacMillan, and colleagues reported that an
unknown number of children who did in fact meet the criteria as SLD, were not identified as
such. Furthermore, a number of researchers have concluded that SLD eligibility criteria are not
uniformly applied within and across states (Bocian, Beebe, MacMillan, & Gresham, 1999;
Gottlieb, Alter, Gottlieb, & Wishner, 1994; MacMillan et al., 1998; Peterson & Shinn, 2002).
Although well intentioned, when school personnel select children for special education in such
an inconsistent and subjective manner, they negate the very objectivity and precision the IQ-
achievement discrepancy model proposes to offer. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that
school personnel will continue to identify students for special education based on their
perceptions regarding the individual needs of their students.
7. A third criticism of the IQ-achievement discrepancy approach is that many students

that experience long-term academic achievement problems never receive special education
services because of below average intellectual ability (i.e., slow learner). This is a problem that
school psychologists working under an IQ-achievement discrepancy mandate are all too
familiar with. For example, a child with an IQ score of 85 and a reading decoding score of 70 is
not likely to receive special education services. In this scenario, the student's IQ score is not
low enough to warrant special education placement as MR, nor do they demonstrate the
necessary discrepancy between ability and achievement to qualify for special education as
SLD. Although few would argue that a child with a reading standard score of 70 demonstrates
an urgent need for the type of support available from special education, school psychologists
and educators have been hamstrung for nearly 30 years by laws and regulations from helping a
child with this all-to-common profile. The result of this scenario is that school psychologists
and educators are presented with a serious, ethical dilemma. That is, to qualify a child for
special education as SLD who does not meet the criteria for such a placement or to not qualify
a child for services they would clearly benefit from. As a result, many school psychologists
engage in questionable practices in their effort to address the academic achievement needs of
such children. This conclusion is consistent with those of MacMillan, Gresham, Lopez, and
Bocian (1996) and Gottlieb et al. (1994) who indicated that school personnel tend to base their
decisions on an "absolute low achievement" criterion, thereby ignoring the discrepancy
component of the law. Although use of the IQ-achievement discrepancy approach is
problematic due to the previously described issues inherent in this approach, perhaps the more
troubling part of the IQ-achievement equation is the use of intelligence tests for the
identification of SLD at all.
8. A fourth criticism questions the use of intelligence tests in any manner as part of the
SLD definition. Originally the rationale for including intelligence tests as part of the definition
of SLD was to determine if a student's underachievement in a given area of academic
achievement was expected or unexpected. This conceptualization can be traced to the Isle of
Wright studies by Rutter and Yule (1975). These authors identified two types of reading
underachievement difficulties that they termed general reading backwardness (GRB) and
specific reading retardation (SRR). GRB was defined as reading below the level expected of a
child's chronological age, whereas, SRR was defined as reading below the level predicted by a
child's intelligence (i.e., discrepant underachievement). This conceptualization formed the basis
for current notions of expected and unexpected underachievement.
152 / 152
9. The concept of unexpected underachievement has been a central premise in the

conceptualization of SLD. That is, it is reasonable to expect that if a child performs within the
average range on some measure of intelligence, that his or her ability in the various areas of
academic achievement should also be in the average range. Following this logic, it is also
reasonable to assume that if a child performs within the average range on some measure of
intelligence, but his or her performance in an area of academic achievement is significantly
below average, then his or her performance in that area would be unexpected. The latter
scenario represents the most fundamental component of the construct of SLD. The logic of this,
however, is based on the faulty premise that IQ and academic achievement are perfectly
correlated. In fact, at best, the correlation between measures of cognitive ability and academic
achievement rarely exceed .60, thereby accounting for only 36% of shared variance (Sattler,
2001). Although determining expected or unexpected underachievement was a major reason for
including intelligence tests in the identification of SLD, it is now clear that establishing the
discrepancy between intelligence and achievement is not part icularly useful either for
assessment or intervention purposes. Furthermore, over the past 30 years, the use of
intelligence tests has evolved into a realm far beyond its original intent.
10. A fifth major criticism of the IQ-achievement discrepancy model is that there is
little scientific basis for using this approach (Francis, Fletcher, & Stuebing, 2005; Stuebing,
Fletcher, LeDoux, Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2002). That is, empirical evidence
demonstrating the reliability and validity of the IQ-achievement discrepancy model for
identifying SLD is virtually non-existent (Fletcher et al., 2002; Stuebing et al., 2002; Vellutino,
Scanlon, & Lyon, 2000). On the contrary, a rather substantial body of evidence has concluded
that IQ-achievement discrepancy models do not accurately identify SLD (Hoskyn & Swanson,
2000; Stuebing et al., 2002; Vellutino et al., 2000). With respect to the reliability of the IQ-
achievement discrepancy model, Fletcher et al. (2002) concluded that making a decision based
on a single test score, at a single point in time, with an instrument that has measurement error is
not a reliable or psychometrically sound practice. Since a student is generally administered a
measure (e.g., IQ or achievement test) only once, the repeated measures necessary to establish
the reliability (consistency) of their performance cannot be determined. Without repeated
measures, issues such as examinee characteristics, examiner characteristics, and situational
conditions are difficult to account for, making the reliability of the IQ-achievement discrepancy
models particularly problematic. In discussing the unreliability of the discrepancy approach,
Shepard (1980) proposed that students be administered at-least four separate combinations of
IQ and achievement tests in order to derive a reliable estimate of the student's discrepancy
score. However, this procedure would take school psychologists up to 12 hours of testing just
on IQ and achievement tests, which does not have much practical appeal.
11. With regard to validity, a substantial body of research has concluded that using an
IQ achievement discrepancy approach does not accurately identify discrepant low achievers
from non-discrepant low achievers (Fletcher et al., 2002; Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing,
Shaywitz, & Fletcher, 1996; Hoskyn & Swanson, 2000; Vellutino et al., 2000). This indicates
that the discrepancy model is not valid for the purposes of identifying SLD. Most researchers
would agree that discrepant and non-discrepant low-achievers differ to some degree. The
central issue is to determine whether or not those differences are meaningful enough to warrant
continued research and to influence practice. A consistent theme when reviewing the research
literature pertaining to discrepant versus non-discrepant low-achievers is how to distinguish the
"real LD" students from the low achieving students. It appears that we have become so intent
on preserving the construct of LD, as arbitrarily operationalized by the discrepancy model that
we seem to have forgotten that the more important goal is to help children who are struggling
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79
academically. Whereas studies comparing IQ discrepant and non-discrepant students have

demonstrated no meaningful differences between the two groups, studies of students defined as
responders and non-responders to interventions using RTI procedures have clearly
demonstrated differences on key variables among the groups. For example, Stage, Abbott,
Jenkins, and Berninger (2003), Vellutino et al. (2000), and Vaughn, Linan, Thompson, and
Hickman (2003) all found that non-responders to early intervention differed from responders in
both pre-intervention achievement scores and pre-intervention cognitive tasks. Moreover,
Fletcher, Coulter, Reschly, and Vaughn (2004) found through neuroimaging procedures that
intervention non-responders tend to have deficient left hemispheric activity in areas of the brain
that are consistent with the development of reading skills, providing further evidence of the
differentiation between responders and non-responders to high quality interventions. Previous
research also suggests that the discrepancy approach lacks strong evidence for external validity
with respect to achievement, behaviour, neuro-biological factors, prognosis, and response to
intervention (Fletcher et al., 2002).
12. IQ Tests and RTI
A number of researchers have argued that IQ tests should continue to be an integral

component of a comprehensive assessment for identifying children with suspected learning
disabilities (Flanagan, Ortiz, Alfonso, & Dynda, 2006; Hale, Naglieri, Kaufman, & Kavale,
2006). More specifically, these researchers posit that children who do not respond to research-
based interventions within an RTI framework should be given intelligence tests to help school
psychologists and other invested professionals identify the cognitive or psychological processes
that are adversely impacting the child's academic performance. With this perspective in mind,
we believe that there are a number of reasons why IQ tests should not necessarily be included
as part of the assessment process for children who have not responded to interventions in the
initial phases of the RTI process.
13. First, as previously stated, the authors and publishers of popular intelligence tests
such as the WISC-IV, CAS, and W-J III COG assert that their measures can assist school
psychologists and other educators in identifying the cognitive or psychological processes that
have lead to a child's academic underachievement (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004; Naglieri &
Das, 1997, 2005; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Furthermore, these researchers posit
that once these underlying processing strengths and weaknesses are identified, those
instructional treatments can be developed to produce positive academic achievement outcomes.
The assumption that instructional treatments can be matched to aptitudes or cognitive processes
to produce unique and positive academic outcomes is not new. This idea can be traced back to
Cronbach's research on aptitude x treatment interactions (ATI; Cronbach 1957, 1975). The
basic logic of ATls is that instructional treatments can be matched to aptitudes or modalities
(e.g., auditory processing, visual processing). It is believed that if instructiona l treatments are
matched to processing strengths or that if aptitude weaknesses are targeted for remediation,
improved academic performance will result. Although the idea of matching instructional
treatments to aptitudes is intuitively appealing, empirical evidence supporting the existence of
ATls is spurious and for the most part, nonexistent (Ayers & Cooley, 1986; Cronbach, 1975;
Gresham, 2002; Kavale & Forness, 1987). Despite the fact that there is a paucity of research
supporting the existence of ATls, school psychologists continue to focus on cognitive strengths
and weaknesses and their presumed relevance to treatment. We have reached a point in school
psychology and education that when we discuss a child's achievement difficulties, we
automatically attribute the child's difficulties to some "processing deficit" inherent within the
child. Intelligence tests were originally developed to determine individuals' overall cognitive
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ability and used by educators to determine special education eligibility (i.e., expected versus
unexpected underachievement). However, school psychologists now regularly use and
"interpret" intelligence tests for the purposes of identifying the processing strengths and
weaknesses that "cause" a child to perform poorly in some area of academic achievement.
14. Developers of popular intelligence tests such as the CAS (Naglieri & Das, 1997),
WISC-IV (Wechsler, 2003), KABC-II (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004), and the W-J III COG
(McGrewet al., 2001) actually discourage the use of their overall scores (i.e., Full Scale IQ).
Instead, they strongly urge the user to use their tests for the purposes of identifying processing
strengths and weaknesses. These authors imply that their tests are not necessarily measures of
intelligence, but rather measures of processing. Ironically, when these tests were validated, they
are not validated against other tests purporting to measure similar constructs such as auditory
processing or memory, but rather, against other well established tests of intelligence. Advocates
of intelligence testing argue that the core procedure of a comprehensive evaluation of LD is an
objective, norm-referenced assessment of the presence and severity of any cognitive processing
strengths and weaknesses (Flanagan et al., 2006; Hale et al., 2006). However, there is no corpus
of evidence to support such a practice to enhance SLD identification, control prevalence,
translate into more effective instruction, or improve prediction of the outcomes of
interventions. Absent such evidence, the benefits of intelligence and psychological process
testing simply do not outweigh the costs in terms of school personnel time, resources, and
student outcomes (Gresham & Witt, 1997; Reschly & Wilson, 1995).
15. A second important issue regarding the use of intelligence tests within an RTI
framework pertains to the manner in which the authors of intelligence tests recommend that we
use their measures. As previously stated, the authors and publishers of intelligence tests have
assured users that by using their methods of interpretation, their tests can help identify
processing strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, in doing so test users can create
instructional interventions that will help children that are struggling academically to improve
their academic performance. Methods of interpretation recommended by Kaufman and others
include ipsative or profile analysis (Le., subtest analysis) (Kaufman, 1994). The two common
methods of subtest analysis involve: (a) comparing individual subtest scores to the unique mean
subtest score of the child and (b) directly comparing one subtest score to another for the
purposes of identifying specific patterns of subtest scores. Proponents of subtest analysis posit
that subtest scores that are significantly higher or lower than a child's own average are
considered relative and/or cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, certain subtest
patterns are thought to be unique and indicative of learning and emotional problems. Although
a thorough review of the subtest analysis literature is beyond the scope of this paper, research
on the topic has reached the following conclusions. First, subtests have low reliability and
specificity, therefore, making decisions regarding cognitive strengths and weaknesses based on
the scores produced from these measures is an unsound practice (Mac mann & Barnett, 1997;
Watkins, Glutting & Youngstrom, 2005). Second, ipsative subtest scores do not contribute
anything to the prediction of academic achievement not already accounted for by the global
Full Scale score (Macmann & Barnett, 1997; McDermott, Fantuzzo & Glutting, 1990). Third,
ipsative scores cannot be interpreted as if they possess the same psychometric properties as
normative scores; therefore, such interpretation is not recommended (McDermott & Glutting,
1997; Watkins et al., 2005). Fourth, it is not uncommon for children to demonstrate a
considerable degree of variation across subtests; thus, using score differences obtained from
subtests should not be used to make diagnostic decisions. Fifth, not all children from a
particular diagnostic category will exhibit the profile thought to be unique to that diagnostic
category (Watkins et al., 2005). Overall, proponents of subtest analysis have not adequately
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81
demonstrated that this practice has adequate reliability, diagnostic utility, or treatment validity.
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many school psychologists continue to use, or
rather, misuse intelligence tests in a manner that is inconsistent with these research findings.
16. A third issue regarding the use intelligence testing within an RTI framework is the
assumption that RTI alone will not provide the information necessary to develop appropriate
interventions for students who do not respond sufficiently to initial attempts to prevent or
remediate their academic and/or behavioural difficulties. Proponents of intelligence testing
argue that without IQ tests and other measures of psychological processing, school
psychologists and teachers will not have the necessary information needed for developing
interventions for children experiencing academic difficulties (Flanagan et al., 2006; Hale et al.,
2006). Specifically, these researchers argue that children who do not respond to research-based
interventions within an RTI framework should be given intelligence tests to help identify the
cognitive/psychological processes that are causing their academic underachievement. Although
recently a number of these researchers have conceded that the discrepancy approach for
identifying SLD is flawed beyond repair, they now insist that measures of intelligence and
psychological processing complement RTI. Proponents of RTI would argue that whether used
within a discrepancy approach or not, measures of intelligence or psychological processing do
not add information necessary for developing instructional interventions (Fletcher et al., 2004;
Gresham, 2006; National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 2005; Reschly &
Ysseldyke, 2002). In short, most proponents of RTI take issue not only with the use of IQ tests
within an IQ-achievement discrepancy approach, but with the use of IQ tests in and of
themselves for the purposes of assessing SLD. It is precisely because of the failure of measures
of intelligence and psychological processing to provide school psychologists and teachers with
the information necessary to develop instructional interventions that researchers were
compelled to seek and explore alternative approaches for identifying SLD. One such approach
was RTI. Within an RTI approach, instead of asking, "what kind of processing deficit does the
child have?," we ask, "what kind of problems is the child demonstrating, where and when do
they occur, and what can we do about it?"
17. Conclusion
Many researchers and practitioners in school psychology and special education would
agree that moving from a classification and/or eligibility-based assessment approach to one that
focuses on intervention would be in the best interest of children experiencing academic
achievement difficulties (e.g., Burns & Ysseldyke, 2005; Fuchs, Mock, Morgan, & Young,
2003; Gresham, 2001, 2002, 2005; Kovaleski & Prasse, 2004). In light of the numerous
problems with the IQ-achievement discrepancy model, RTI may offer the most viable approach
for making this shift. RTI has not only garnered the support of many researchers and
practitioners across the country, but it has been endorsed by the President's Commission on
Excellence in Special Education (PCESE, 2001) and the National Association of School
Psychologists (NASP, 2007).
18. RTI offers an improved approach to assessment that allows educators to help
children they know are struggling and does not include circumventing the problems that many
school psychologists and special education teachers must face when using the IQ achievement
discrepancy approach. Further, an RTI approach to eligibility determination moves away from
using measures that yield minimal benefits with respect to treatment. The RTI approach instead
focuses on direct measures of student achievement and the instructional environment that
produce data that are in the best interest of both the children served and the educators that serve
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them. The data resulting from the application of RTI methods allow school psychologists and
teachers to focus on issues related to intervention, rather than issues related to classification and
eligibility. Although RTI is not a perfect system, it is an approach with promising empirical
support, which is not the case for the traditional testing-oriented discrepancy model. The
authors of this paper have been unable to locate an empirically based rationale for the inclusion
of measures of intelligence or psychological processing within a properly conducted RTI
approach. The time has come for making the paradigm shift that Reschly and Ysseldyke (2002)
spoke of over seven years ago.
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83
I. Find the synonyms to the words below:
to circumvent, § 18 to try not to see to avoid to forget

discrepancy, § 1 difference discreet inability
compendium, § 1 criticism a set of facts comparison
to hamstring, § 7 to restrict to support to forbid
spurious, § 13 controversial unproven ambiguous
to concede, § 16 to come to conclusion to decide to admit
II. Think of possible antonyms to the words below:

strength, § 2
clear-cut, § 3
faulty, § 9
comprehensive, § 12
III.
a). People who work
staff
All the people who work in a company, organization, school, etc.
personnel
The people employed by a particular company, organization, etc. – used in official or business
contexts
workforce
All the people that work in a country, industry, or large organization
labour
All the people who work in an industry or country, especially people whose jobs involve working
with their hands, in factories rather than managing other people
Fill in the gaps using one of the words above (add articles where needed):
1. Our library ___________ will be happy to help if you are unable to find the book you want.
2. All ____________ must attend the meeting.
3. Women make up 41% of _____________.
4. Our produce prices cannot compete with those of Spain, with its cheap _____________ and
sunshine.
5. The Commission has a permanent _______________ of 24 and, in addition, employs eight
seasonal staff during the summer and autumn periods.
6. In the event of a fire, all _________________ must report to the reception area.
7. In April Britain's unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.5% of ____________.
8. Large-scale growth in this type of farming is limited by the climate and the high cost of
_________________.
b). People who teach

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teacher
s.o. who teaches, especially someone whose job is to teach children in a school
tutor
s.o. who gives lessons to just one student or a small group of students
instructor
s.o. who teaches a sport or a practical skill
coach
s.o. who trains a person or a team in a sport, and helps them to improve their skills
trainer
s.o. who trains people in the skills they need to do a job
professor
a university teacher – used in Britain to mean a teacher of the highest rank, and in the US to mean
any university teacher who has a higher degree such as a PhD
lecturer
s.o. who teaches at a university or college and gives lectures
academic
s.o. who works, studies, and teaches in a university, and has a lot knowledge about a particular
subject
educator
frml, s.o. who teaches in a school, college, or university
faculty
AmE, all teachers in a college or university
BrE, a department or group of related departments within a university
Fill in the gaps with the appropriate word above:
1. I remember having some pretty awful ______________ when I was at school.

2. We got a professional football ______________ to come and help us train the team.
3. ________________ find it difficult to combine teaching and conducting research.
4. From a report: “Adult ________________ in all sectors have attempted to make access to
existing facilities easier; and/or special programmes have been developed.”
5. A drop in enrollment will affect students, _____________, and administrators.
6. The largest of them are also the country's teaching hospitals, affiliated to
________________ of medicine in the universities.
7. Hourly-paid language _____________, too, face increasingly demanding employers.
8. She received her PhD at the University of South Alabama, and now she’s teaching there
economics. She is ________________.
9. I’ve found a very good skate _______________.
10. Many companies now pay outside __________ to come in and teach management skills to
their staff.
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85
11. He is a very talented _______________: when he is delivering his lectures, he always tries
to give clear-cut examples.
c). Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:
a critique a short article that a reviewer writes in a

newspaper or magazine
a critic the activity of publishing opinions about things
such as books and films, or a group of essays,
lectures, etc. on this subject
criticism a detailed explanation of the problems of smth
such as a set of political ideas, in the form of a
speech, book, article; a critical review or
commentary, especially one dealing with works
of art or literature.
a review s.o. whose job is to make judgements about the
good and bad qualities of art, music, film; s.o.
who criticizes a person, idea, etc.
IV. Decide which register the words in exercises I, II, and III belong to. (to do this exercise you will
have to use English – English dictionary)
Transform the sentences into more formal ones:
Informal Formal
Lots of job loss is just one thing resulting from
automation.
Researchers looked at the way strain builds up
round a geological fault.
Technology companies got together with
stockbroking firms in order to dominate
internet trading.
The government has made progress in
economic policy.
One of the bad aspects of chemotherapy is the
side effects.
It caused a really big reaction.
The common owl is active at night.
V. Give possible collocations for the words below:
ipsative, § 15
criteria, § 2
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needs, § 2
education, § 1
readers, § 5
the support, § 17
NB: A collocation is a pair or group of words that are often used together. These combinations
sound natural to native speakers, but students of English have to make a special effort to learn them
because they are often difficult to guess.
We say… We don’t say…
fast cars quick cars

fast food quick food
a quick glance a fast glance

a quick meal a fast meal*
VI. Paraphrase the following expressions:
1. to question the validity, § 1

2. in an arbitrary fashion, § 3
3. exclusionary considerations, § 2
4. a “wait-to-fail” approach, § 5
5. an inconsistent manner, § 6
6. an unexpected underachievement, § 9
7. an unsound practice, § 15
VII. Decide whether the statements are true or false:

1. If a discrepancy between intellectual/cognitive ability and academic achievement is
established, and the existence of a psychological/cognitive processing deficit is identified in
the child, it is highly probable members of IEP would agree with the need for special
education services. (§2)
2. If a sensory disorder contributes to the learning disability, the child is considered eligible for
Special Education. (§2)
3. The IQ-achievement discrepancy model is more criticized than any other model. (§10)
Pay attention to:

negative statement
words ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘all’, etc.
all the parts of a statement as one part may be true, but not the other
qualifiers
synonyms and antonyms
*
McCarthy M., O’Dell F. (2006). English collocations in use. Cambridge University Press.
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87
VIII. Singular or Plural?
Have another look at the text. How could you explain the use of the plural form of the verb in
“although there are a number of different methods available” (§2) and “that produce data that are in
the best interest of both” (§18)?
A/the majority of
A number of
A lot of
Plenty of + N in Plural = V in Plural
All (of)
Some (of)
But: the number of is used with the verb in the singular form.
Despite the fact that the words “data” and “media” are in the plural form, they are often used with
the verb in the singular form. Though, in formal texts, they are more likely to be used with the
plural verb.
Put the verbs in brackets either in singular or in plural form:
1. The majority of psychologists (to find) work in hospitals and schools.

2. The objectivity of tools like surveys, through which data (to be) collected in some cases, are
often questioned.
3. A majority of the subcategories of general psychology (to have) some part in dealing with
the health and wellness of the human mind.
4. All of these sciences, philology, history, and political and social science, (to have) for their
subject-matter immediate experience as determined by the interaction of objects with the
knowing and acting subject.
5. All of this (to be) called Psychophysics.
6. A majority of school psychologists (to have) teaching certificates.
7. The majority of a newborn infant's time (to be) spent in sleep.
8. The number of objects an average human (to hold) in working memory is 7 ± 2; this is
frequently referred to as Miller's Law.
9. The majority of marijuana smokers (not, to go) on to use other drugs.
10. The number of trading ideas (to have) shrunk 40 per cent.
11. A number of modules (to focus) wholly on forensic issues with police interviewing, eye
witness testimony, face recognition, legal and courtroom psychology being addressed.
12. Quantitative data (to be) often represented numerically in the form of means, percentages, or
frequency counts.
13. There (to be) a number of excellent books on career development in psychology.
14. Such data (to be) often referred to as "measurement" data, referring to the fact that we often
like to measure the amount or extent of some behaviour, trait, or disposition.
15. The majority of people (to pay) little attention to dreams.
IX. Which or That?

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That-clauses (defining clauses) are vitally important for the meaning of the sentence:
The animals that performed well in the first experiment were used in the second one.
Which-clauses can add further information (non-defining clauses) or can be essential to the meaning
of the sentence (defining clauses). Though the American Psychological Association prefers to
reserve ‘which’ only for non-defining clauses, and ‘that’ – for defining ones to avoid ambiguity.
Whenever which-clauses are used, they are set off with commas.
Explain the use of ‘that’ and ‘which’ in paragraphs 16 and 18 respectively.
X. Word building
Have a look at the words “examinee” and “examiner” (§10). What do you think is the difference
between the two words? Could you deduce the meaning of the suffix –ee? (For more information
see Appendix 1).
Try to guess the meaning of the following words:
arrestee, assaultee, awardee, callee, contactee, electee, introducee, investee
Provide your own examples if any.
XI. Linking words
Have a look at the two linking words “admittedly” (§3) and “first and foremost” (§5). When are
those two linking words used? Think of examples of your own where you could possible use them.
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89
Alcohol, Aging, and the Stress Response

Robert L. Spencer, Ph.D., and Kent E. Hutchison, Ph.D.
Task: While reading the text, pay special attention to the use of prepositions (underline them
whenever you find it necessary; see ex. IX)
The body responds to stress through a hormone system called the hypothalamic-pituitary-
adrenal (HPA) axis. Stimulation of this system results in the secretion of stress hormones (i.e.,
glucocorticoids). Chronic excessive glucocorticoid secretion can have adverse health effects, such
as Cushing’s syndrome. Alcohol intoxication activates the HPA axis and results in elevated
glucocorticoid levels. Ironically, elevated levels of these stress hormone s may contribute to
alcohol’s pleasurable effects. With chronic alcohol consumption, however, tolerance may develop
to alcohol’s HPA axis-activating effects. Chronic alcohol consumption, as well as chronic
glucocorticoid exposure, can result in premature and/or exaggerated aging. Furthermore, the aging
process affects a person’s sensitivity to alcohol and HPA axis function. Thus, a three-way
interaction exists among alcohol consumption, HPA axis activity, and the aging process. The aging
process may impair the HPA axis’ ability to adapt to chronic alcohol exposure. Furthermore, HPA
axis activation may contribute to the premature or exaggerated aging associated with chronic
alcohol consumption.
1. The fact that alcohol intoxication can relieve anxiety is well known. Paradoxically, those
same intoxicating levels of alcohol also can induce excessive secretion of an important class of
stress hormones, the glucocorticoids. (For a discussion of stress hormone production, see the
sidebar entitled “Regulation of Stress Hormone Production,” pp. 276–277.) Yet chronic alcohol
exposure can trigger a tolerance to alcohol’s effects on the body’s stress response. For example,
research has shown that healthy young rats can develop tolerance to alcohol’s stimulatory effects on
glucocorticoid secretion—that is, the animals respond to chronic alcohol use by producing smaller
increases in glucocorticoid levels. This same effect also appears to occur in humans. Research also
indicates, however, that aged rats are much less able than younger rats1 to develop such tolerance
(Spencer and McEwen 1997). Nonetheless, researchers do not know whether older humans likewise
have a decreased ability to develop a tolerance to alcohol’s effects on stress hormones. Investigators
do know, however, that chronic exposure in humans to both elevated glucocorticoid levels and
alcohol produces symptoms resembling premature or exaggerated aging (Noonberg et al. 1985;
Seeman and Robbins 1994).
2. This article examines the little-known, three-way relationship that exists among alcohol use
and abuse, glucocorticoid secretion, and the aging process (see figure 1, p. 273). In particular, the
article considers evidence that the glucocorticoid-based stress response system, as regulated by the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, plays a key role in the physiological and psycho-
logical responses to alcohol. The article also examines whether the stress hormone system
contributes to age-related changes in a person’s response to alcohol (e.g., a reduced ability to
develop tolerance to alcohol’s effects) and to alcohol-related changes in the aging process (e.g.,
nerve cell degeneration in some brain areas). By highlighting the overlap between these
relationships, this article may spur further research on this important and complex topic.
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3. Alcohol’s Effects on HPA Axis Function in Young and Middle-Aged Individuals

Alcohol-Induced Stimulation of the HPA Axis
Extensive documentation exists indicating that alcohol consumption reduces anxiety while it
simultaneously activates the stress hormones through the HPA axis (see figure 2, also see sidebar
entitled “Regulation of Stress Hormone Production”). In humans and other animals, the magnitude
and duration of the glucocorticoid response depend on the amount of alcohol consumed (Spencer
and McEwen 1990; Veldman and Meinders 1996). In response to alcohol, the levels of cortisol—
the chief glucocorticoid hormone in humans— can be substantial and ev en surpass the levels
typically seen in response to various stressful circumstances (Mendelson et al. 1971). Interestingly,
blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) below 0.1 percent appear to have little effect on HPA axis
activation (Jenkins and Connolly 1968). Furthermore, the 0.1 percent level has been (and in some
States continues to be) considered a threshold for alcohol- related impairment and intoxication.
4. In addition to BACs, the extent to which alcohol leads to HPA axis activation appears to
depend on genetic factors. Such a genetic influence is evident in people who have inherited a
defective form of a particular gene that is involved in alcohol metabolism. Inheritance of this
defective gene, which is especially prevalent among people of Asian descent, disallows the body to
metabolize alcohol normally.2 People with the defective gene show significantly elevated blood
cortisol levels, even at BACs below 0.1 percent (Wall et al. 1994). Other studies have found a
greater HPA axis response to relatively low alcohol doses in people without family histories of
alcoholism (Schuckit et al. 1996). This finding further supports the potential influence of genetic
factors on the relationship between alcohol consumption and HPA activity.
5. The specific mechanism by which alcohol leads to HPA axis activation and elevated
cortisol levels has not been conclusively established. One possibility is that alcohol disinhibits the
HPA axis. In general, alcohol depresses nervous system activity. If some alcohol-sensitive nerve
cells (i.e., neurons), in turn, exert inhibitory effects on the HPA axis, then the net effect of alcohol
exposure would be HPA axis activation. A second possibility is that the HPA axis may be activated
in response to certain stimulus properties of alcohol as part of a more coordinated, “whole body”
stress response. Thus, a certain “body wisdom” may recognize alcohol intoxication as stressful
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91
despite the concurrent reduced sense of anxiety.

6. Tolerance to Alcohol’s Stimulatory Effects on the HPA Axis
People who repeatedly expose themselves to alcohol or other drugs develop, over time,
tolerance to certain effects—in other words, these people experience lesser effects with the same
dose or require higher doses to achieve the same effect. For example, tolerance develops to alcohol-
related sedation, motor incoordination, and memory impairment (Poulos et al. 1981). Similarly,
studies have shown that animals can develop tolerance to alcohol’s HPA axis-activating effects. For
example, rats exposed to high alcohol doses daily for several weeks had an increase in the levels of
corticosterone—the chief glucocorticoid hormone in animals—on day 14 that was only about one-
half the increase observed on day 1 (Spencer and McEwen 1990). This tolerance development could
not be explained by a change over time in their bodies’ ability to absorb or metabolize alcohol (i.e.,
development of metabolic tolerance), because the BACs achieved on day 14 were as high as those
achieved on day 1 with the same alcohol dose.
7. However, researchers have not thoroughly studied the extent to which tolerance to
alcohol’s stimulatory effects on the HPA axis develops in humans. In one study, alcohol
administration to five alcoholics did not induce a significant increase in cortisol levels in the blood,
even though the subjects’ BACs surpassed 0.1 percent (Merry and Marks 1969). Conversely,
alcohol administration produced a substantial increase in cortisol levels in three of five purportedly
nonalcoholic men in the study, suggesting that the alcoholics developed at least some degree of
tolerance. (Interestingly, the two nonalcoholic men who did not show a significant cortisol response
to alcohol on further questioning revealed an extensive history of recent alcohol use.)
8. Although some tolerance to alcohol’s effects on cortisol secretion may develop, it appears
to be limited. For example, a study conducted in a controlled hospital setting found that men with a
record of heavy and frequent alcohol use exhibited substantially elevated cortisol levels during an
alcohol “binge” (Mendelson et al. 1971). Furthermore, examination of seven different studies
reveals that 6 to 40 percent of chronic alcohol users exhibited some of the symptoms of excessive
cortisol production observed in Cushing’s syndrome (Veldman and Meinders 1996) (see textbox, p.
275). Thus, at least in some people, chronic alcohol use apparently can lead to chronically elevated
cortisol levels with all the associated symptoms, a condition that sometimes has been called
“pseudo-Cushing’s syndrome.”
9. Because the majority of alcoholics do not develop pseudo-Cushing’s syndrome, most
people probably experience some adaptation or tolerance to the HPA axis’ response to alcohol. This
adaptation, however, may negatively affect the ability of the HPA axis and other physiological
systems to maintain their normal functions (see table, p. 278). The cost of physiological adaptation
to alcohol becomes evident when alcohol is suddenly withheld and the drinker experiences
withdrawal symptoms (e.g., anxiety, increased heart rate, and tremors).
10. A few studies have shown that alcohol withdrawal also leads to excessive activation of the
HPA axis (Mendelson et al. 1971; Adinoff et al. 1991). Thus, alcohol consumption, particularly in
alcoholics, can interfere with normal HPA axis functioning during acute intoxication, chronic
alcohol consumption (when tolerance development can alter HPA axis activity), and withdrawal
after a bout of drinking. Moreover, the normal functioning of the HPA axis and its response to other
stimuli appear to be compromised in alcoholics. In some studies various stimuli (e.g., surgical
procedures or administration of the hormones insulin and ACTH [adrenocorticotropic hormone])
resulted in lower-than-expected HPA axis responses (Berman et al. 1990; Margraf et al. 1967). (For
further discussion of ACTH and the HPA axis, see the sidebar entitled “Regulation of Stress
Hormone Production,” pp. 276–277.)
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11. Glucocorticoid Contributions to the Rewarding Effects of Alcohol

The interaction between alcohol and the HPA axis may be bidirectional— that is, not only
does alcohol consumption stimulate cortisol secretion, but elevated cortisol levels may increase
drinking by magnifying its rewarding effects. Evidence for the latter relationship between alcohol
and the HPA axis derives from animal studies in which researchers experimentally manipulated
corticosterone levels. In those studies, rats that produced no corticosterone because their adrenal
glands had been surgically removed (i.e., the rats had been adrenalectomized) exhibited a dramatic
reduction in voluntary alcohol intake (Fahlke et al. 1994). Treatment of the adrenalectomized rats
with corticosterone restored their alcohol intake to levels comparable to, and sometimes higher
than, the levels before the surgery. Similarly, rats with functional adrenal glands that were treated
with a chemical preventing corticosterone production also exhibited decreased alcohol con-
sumption (Fahlke et al. 1996). Finally, the injection of corticosterone directly into the brains of
normal rats that displayed a moderate preference for alcohol resulted in enhanced alcohol intake in
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those animals (Fahlke et al. 1996).

12. Researchers have speculated that corticosterone may increase an individual’s alcohol
consumption by enhancing alcohol’s rewarding effects (e.g., feelings of euphoria). The mechanism
underlying this process may involve corticosterone- induced alterations in the levels of the brain
chemical (i.e., neurotransmitter) dopamine in the brain region called the nucleus accumbens.4 In
studies of the effects of cocaine or morphine exposure, corticosterone increased dopamine release
in the nucleus accumbens (Piazza and Le Moal 1998), and that brain response appeared to be
critical for the euphoria-inducing effects of the cocaine or morphine. Similarly, high glucocorticoid
levels present in the brain during times of stress may facilitate alcohol’s rewarding properties,
providing a potential explanation for survey results indicating that stress may contribute to heavy
alcohol use in humans (see Fahlke et al. 1994). This aspect of the stress-alcohol interaction warrants
further systematic investigation in humans.
13. Another variable that plays a role in the HPA axis’ response to both stress and alcohol’s
effects is the aging process. Aging is associated with gradual, but often dramatic, changes over time
in almost every physiological system in the human body. Combined, these changes result in
decreased efficiency and resiliency of physiological function. The aging process is highly variable,
however, with large individual differences in the overall rate of aging as well as in the specific
patterns of age-related manifestations (Rowe and Kahn 1987).
14. As described in detail in the sidebar entitled “Chronic Alcohol Consumption and Aging”
(see pp. 281–283), considerable evidence suggests that a two- way interaction exists between
alcohol abuse and aging. On the one hand, aging may alter a person’s physiological and
psychological responses to alcohol. On the other hand, chronic alcohol use may alter the aging
process, as indicated by several studies that found evidence for premature or exaggerated aging in
chronic heavy drinkers (Evert and Oscar-Berman 1995; Noonberg et al. 1985; Pfefferbaum et al.
1992).
15. Stress Hormone Activity and Aging
Just as a two-way interaction appears to exist between alcohol and aging—that is, (1) aging
can modify the body’s response to alcohol, and (2) chronic alcohol exposure can modify the aging
process—an analogous two-way interaction also appears to exist between stress and aging. This
two-way interaction is probably mediated by the HPA axis. Thus, elderly people appear to have an
impaired resiliency of the HPA axis response to the acute effects of stress. In addition, chronic
stress may accelerate the aging process by causing overactivity of the HPA axis (Seeman and
Robbins 1994).
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16. Age Differences in HPA Axis Function

Animal studies have demonstrated that HPA axis function changes as the animal enters the
last quarter of its normal life span. Several studies have found that although rats of all ages
experience a similar increase in HPA activity in response to stress, aged rats, compared with
younger ones, show increased HPA activity in the absence of stress (i.e., increased basal activity)
and a slower return to basal activity after a stress- induced increase in activity (see Sapolsky et al.
1986). Consequently, the bodies of aged rats are exposed to a substantially greater overall amount
of glucocorticoid hormones than are the bodies of younger rats.
17. Studies in which rats were repeatedly exposed to the same stressful event also have found
age-related changes in HPA axis function. In general, the HPA axis response decreases (i.e.,
habituation occurs) in response to repeated stress, similar to the tolerance development in response
to repeated alcohol exposure. This habituation likely minimizes the amount of glucocorticoids to
which the body is exposed. Aged rats, however, experience a slower rate of stress habituation than
do younger rats (Spencer and McEwen 1997).
18. When analyzed together, the observed age-related changes in HPA activity suggest that
the resiliency of the HPA axis in response to acute stress, as well as its ability to adapt to chronic
stress, is impaired in older animals. Researchers have not yet identified the mechanism underlying
this impaired HPA axis resiliency. One potential mechanism might involve changes in the levels of
glucocorticoid receptors that contribute to the negative feedback regulation of glucocorticoid
secretion, because aged rats tend to show reduced numbers of those receptors in certain brain
regions (e.g., the hypothalamus and the hippocampus) (Sapolsky et al. 1986).
19. Researchers have not yet determined if impaired HPA axis resiliency also occurs during
human aging. Older people, even those in their seventies, generally do not exhibit elevated basal
cortisol levels (Seeman and Robbins 1994). However, researchers have not examined in elderly
people the ability of the HPA axis to return to basal levels after acute stress or to habituate after
repeated stress.
20. Some evidence indicates that elderly people may be less sensitive than younger people
with respect to the negative feedback control of cortisol levels. For example, older people who
received a dose of the potent synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone exhibited a blunted negative
feedback response (Seeman and Robbins 1994) and thus were exposed to higher overall
glucocorticoid levels than were younger people undergoing the same procedure. Furthermore, such
an impaired response to dexamethasone occurs more consistently in older people suffering from
major depression than in younger people with a similar degree of depression. Finally, older people
suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia also demonstrate a relatively high
incidence of a blunted dexamethasone response (Seeman and Robbins 1994).
21. A series of studies have shown that dexamethasone exerts its primary negative feedback
effects on the HPA axis by directly suppressing ACTH release from the pituitary (de Kloet et al.
1998). To date, researchers do not know the extent to which an impaired response to
dexamethasone reflects a localized impairment in pituitary activity or changes in negative feedback
sensitivity originating in other brain regions that affect pituitary function, such as the hypothalamus.
On the other hand, cortisol is known to produce negative feedback effects on HPA axis activity by
acting at the level of certain brain structures, such as the hypothalamus and hippocampus. A recent
study showed impaired negative feedback sensitivity among older people (average age of 70) to
cortisol (Wilkinson et al. 1997), suggesting that an age-related impaired sensitivity to glucocorticoid
negative feedback is attributable to changes in the brain. Because negative feedback is an important
mechanism that allows an organism to both recover from stress and turn off its HPA axis response
to stress, impaired glucocorticoid negative feedback likely results in prolonged elevation of cortisol
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levels during stressful circumstances.

22. Premature or Exaggerated Aging With Chronic Glucocorticoid Exposure
People generally believe that a “hard life” (i.e., one fraught with difficulties, including
repeated exposure to stressful situations) can lead to premature aging. Chronic stress-induced HPA
axis overactivity may mediate such a process, a belief that is supported by research findings. For
example, a study that examined post-mortem brains of vervet monkeys housed in a primate center
detected extensive hippocampal damage in the brains of a subset of monkeys. These monkeys
showed signs of chronic stress (e.g., gastric ulcers and bite scars) typically experienced by animals
of low rank in the strict hierarchy found in this species (Uno et al. 1989). The hippocampus is
vitally important for memory formation and, interestingly, has a high concentration of
glucocorticoid receptors. Perhaps, as a result of the high glucocorticoid receptor levels, the growth
and survival of many hippocampal neurons appear to depend on glucocorticoids (McEwen 1999).
Some neurons, however, require the presence of only low glucocorticoid levels for survival
(McEwen 1999) and may be damaged by high glucocorticoid levels. Thus, chronic high
glucocorticoid exposure may cause the death of some hippocampal neurons and increase the
susceptibility of other neurons to damage or death from other toxic insults, such as lack of oxygen
(i.e., hypoxia).
23. During an organism’s lifetime, the effects of glucocorticoid exposure on brain cells may
accumulate and contribute to neurodegeneration (Sapolsky et al. 1986). This hypothesis has been
supported by studies in middle-aged rats whose adrenal glands were removed to prevent
glucocorticoid production and who received lower-than-normal cortisol doses to replace the missing
corticosterone. This treatment minimized the extent of hippocampal nerve cell loss that usually
occurs with old age, although the treatment did not prevent an age-related cognitive decline in the
animals (Landfield et al. 1981).
24. However, another study that assessed individual variations in the ability of aged rats to
navigate a maze (a task that depends on hippocampal function) found a relationship between nerve
cell degeneration and cognitive performance (Issa et al. 1990). Some aged rats performed
significantly worse than did younger rats, whereas the performance of other aged rats did not differ
from that of the younger ones. When the investigators examined the brains of the cognitively
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impaired aged rats, the animals exhibited significant nerve cell loss in the hippocampus compared
with that of both the unimpaired aged rats and the younger rats.
25. To determine whether differences in glucocorticoid levels contributed to the group
differences in performance and hippocampal degeneration, researchers screened the rats prior to
death for their HPA axis response to acute stress. The analyses found that the corticosterone levels
of the cognitively impaired aged rats took longer to return to basal levels after the end of the
stressful event compared with younger or unimpaired aged rats. This observation is consistent
with the belief that animals exposed to greater levels of glucocorticoids (e.g., as a result of HPA
overactivity, such as prolonged corticosterone secretion in response to stress) exhibit signs of
advanced aging in the brain, particularly in the hippocampus. It is important to point out, however,
that the hippocampus also exerts a crucial inhibitory control over the HPA axis (Saplosky et al.
1986). Accordingly, age-related degeneration of the hippocampus could precede, rather than follow,
HPA axis overactivity.
26. The hypothesis that chronic HPA axis overactivity may lead to hippocampal degeneration
in humans has gained support from recent MRI studies indicating that people with depression
(many of whom have elevated basal cortisol levels during depressive episodes) and patients with
Cushing’s syndrome have, on average, reduced hippocampal volumes (Sapolsky 1996). In addition,
the extent of hippocampal degeneration is correlated with the duration of depression or, in the case
of Cushing’s syndrome, the severity of cortisol overproduction. Other studies, in which older
nonhuman primates were exposed to chronic high cortisol levels, did not produce any detectable
hippocampal degeneration (Levernz et al. 1999). Thus, high glucocorticoid levels alone may only
increase the vulnerability of nerve cells to the harmful influences of additional factors. Such factors,
associated with stress or pathological conditions, include low oxygen levels and elevated levels of
potentially toxic molecules (e.g., free oxygen radicals and glutamate).
27. Alcohol, the HPA Axis, and Aging—Research Implications
Few studies have examined the three- way interaction of alcohol, the HPA axis, and aging. As
outlined in the sidebar “Chronic Alcohol Consumption and Aging” (see pp. 281–283), aging likely
alters the organism’s physiological and psychological responses to alcohol. More- over, chronic
alcohol abuse appears to exacerbate the aging process. The HPA axis and the aging body’s
changing responses to glucocorticoids may serve as an important mediator of these processes. The
existing evidence supporting this hypothesis is summarized in the following sections.
28. Age-Related Impaired Adaptation of the HPA Axis to Chronic Alcohol Exposure
One potential interaction among age, the HPA axis, and alcohol concerns alcohol’s
stimulatory effect on the HPA axis, which research has suggested may be gr eater in old than in
young or middle-aged people. To investigate this hypothesis, researchers have examined the
changes in corticosterone levels in response to 14 daily alcohol treatments in both aged and younger
rats (Spencer and McEwen 1997). In that study, both groups of animals displayed equivalent
increases in corticosterone levels in response to alcohol on the first day of treatment, suggesting that
in rats, no age-related difference exists in the initial response of the HPA axis to alcohol. In
contrast, the ability of the HPA axis to adapt to repeated alcohol exposure differed greatly between
the aged and the younger rats. Whereas young rats developed extensive tolerance in their
corticosterone response to alcohol (i.e., showed smaller alcohol-induced increases in corticosterone
levels) after 7 days of alcohol exposure, aged rats exhibited substantially less tolerance
development. As a result, on days 7 and 14, the corticosterone levels in response to alcohol were
significantly greater in the aged rats than in the younger ones. Such an age- related impairment in
tolerance development to alcohol also has been observed in rats that had to perform a previously
learned task while under the influence of alcohol (Mayfield et al. 1992).
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29. Researchers have not yet determined the reason for impaired tolerance development in
aged rats. Current investigations focus on the mechanisms that underlie tolerance development to
alcohol in general. One potential mechanism involves an increased ability of the liver to break down
(i.e., metabolize) and remove alcohol from the body after repeated alcohol exposure (i.e., metabolic
tolerance). As a result, BACs resulting from a certain alcohol dose (and, by extension, alcohol’s
effects on the body) would be lower after chronic alcohol consumption than after a one- time
drinking episode. Although animal studies have shown that chronic, high- alcohol exposure
increases the levels or functions of certain alcohol-metabolizing liver enzymes, this mechanism
does not appear to be a major contributing factor to alcohol tolerance (Khanna et al. 1983).
Similarly, no differences in BACs existed between the aged and younger rats on any of the test days
in the study by Spencer and McEwen (1997).
30. Consequently, tolerance development to alcohol must result primarily from an overall
decrease in the organism’s response to a given amount of alcohol after repeated alcohol
consumption (i.e., functional tolerance). As indicated in the study by Spencer and McEwen (1997),
this functional tolerance appears to develop more slowly in aged rats than in younger ones,
providing some important clues to the aging process in general and to adaptation mechanisms to
alcohol in particular. Researchers have examined several factors that may contribute to functional
tolerance development, including direct changes in the cells’ response to alcohol, as well as changes
in various systems that may help the body compensate for alcohol’s effects. Some of those
physiological adaptations to repeated alcohol exposure involve “unconscious” learned responses
that offset some of alcohol’s effects. For example, the body can “learn” to increase body
temperature in response to alcohol-related stimuli to offset alcohol- induced decreases in body
temperature (i.e., alcohol’s hypothermic effects) (Mansfield and Cunningham 1980). Such complex
mechanisms are especially vulnerable to the effects of aging and therefore are probably responsible
for impaired alcohol tolerance development in older individuals. In addition, age- related changes at
the cellular level may contribute to the body’s decreased ability to adapt to repeated alcohol
exposure.
31. The impaired tolerance of the stress hormone response of aged rats to repeated alcohol
exposure is reminiscent of the impaired habituation of the response of aged rats to repeated stress.
Consequently, future studies must establish whether impaired alcohol tolerance reflects an age-
related process specific to repeated alcohol exposure or to a consequence of aging that affects stress
adaptation in general. Other investigations of the three-way interaction of alcohol, HPA activity,
and aging should explore the possibility that greater cortisol responses to repeated alcohol exposure
lead to an increase in alcohol’s rewarding effects in older people. Such an enhancement in alcohol’s
rewarding effects could help explain the surprisingly high number of people who develop alcohol
use disorders for the first time late in life (Atkinson 1990).
32. Chronic HPA Activation, Chronic Alcohol Exposure, and Premature or Exaggerated
Aging
To date, researchers have not investigated alcohol’s acute and chronic effects on HPA activity
in elderly humans. However, many of the symptoms associated with excessive cortisol production
in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (e.g., diabetes, muscle weakness, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis,
hypertension, memory impairment, wasting away of brain tissue, sleep disturbances, and
compromised immunity) also commonly occur in elderly people, especially among those who abuse
alcohol. This overlap of the symptoms of aging and of chronic cortisol overexposure suggests that
alcohol-induced excessive cortisol secretion is, at least in part, responsible for the premature or
exaggerated aging seen in many alcoholics.
33. As described earlier, the chronic elevation of glucocorticoid levels may contribute to
nerve cell degeneration in the hippocampus. Neuroimaging studies of the brains of living
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alcoholics, however, found significant reductions in the sizes of other brain areas in addition to the
anterior hippocampus (Pfefferbaum et al. 1998). Although the hippocampus is structurally related to
the cortex, glucocorticoids do not appear to have a degenerative effect on the cortex in general.
Researchers must therefore determine whether elevated cortisol levels contribute to a general
alcohol-induced neurodegeneration or account only for hippocampal degeneration. Even a selective
cortisol-mediated alcohol effect on the hippocampus is of serious concern because of the central
role of that brain region in memory processes.
34. Conclusions and Treatment Implications
The findings reviewed in this article suggest that numerous interactions exist among chronic
alcohol consumption, HPA activity, and the aging process. For example, alcohol-related
overactivity of the HPA axis and the resulting elevated cortisol levels may contribute to premature
or exaggerated aging in many people with a long history of alcohol abuse. In addition, elderly
people may be more susceptible than younger people to a stress-induced pattern of drinking,
because alcohol elicits greater cortisol responses that may enhance alcohol’s rewarding properties.
Finally, elevated cortisol responses in older people may intensify the pathophysiology associated
with alcohol abuse, even in people who develop alcohol use disorders late in life.
35. Based on these observations, some researchers have speculated that therapeutic
approaches to inhibit cortisol secretion and/or cortisol’s effects might be useful as a potential
adjunct to alcoholism treatment. Because cortisol is such an important hormone that normally helps
regulate many physiological processes in the body, medications that completely suppress its
production or activity would not likely be a viable treatment for chronic alcoholics. Nevertheless, as
researchers gain a better understanding of the regulation of the HPA axis, they may discover
treatments to effectively modulate HPA axis activity and minimize the development of HPA axis
overactivity. Such treatments may be useful in reducing the pathophysiology associated with
chronic alcohol abuse and may reduce alcohol’s rewarding effects, which contribute to its addictive
nature.
36. CHRONIC ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND AGING

Age-Related Changes in Alcohol Sensitivity
Various factors may contribute to age-related differences in a person’s sensitivity to the
effects of alcohol. For example, a given alcohol dose—even a single drink—can produce higher
BACs in older people than in younger people. The main factor accounting for these higher BACs
appears to be the increase in body fat relative to muscle that generally occurs with increasing age.
Thus, compared with 25-year- olds, the percent of total body weight consisting of fat increases an
average of 50 percent in 60-year-old women and an average of 100 percent in 60-year-old men
(Dufour et al. 1992). Because alcohol dissolves only in water, of which muscle has a high content,
but not in fat, the same alcohol dose results in a higher BAC in a person who has proportionately
more fatty tissue and less body water. In addition, some evidence suggests that even with equivalent
BACs, a given alcohol level has a greater impact on an older person’s physiological system than on
that of a younger person (Atkinson 1990).
37. Like other physiological systems, the brain appears to experience an age-related increase
in sensitivity to alcohol. For example, aged rats show an increased sensitivity to both the sedative
and hypothermic effects of alcohol than do young adult rats (York 1983; Guthrie et al. 1987).
Although to date no extensive studies on this issue have been conducted in humans, the older
human brain also seems to be more sensitive to alcohol impairment of motor-coordination tasks
(Vogel-Sprott and Barrett 1984).
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38. Researchers do not yet know if age-related changes in sensitivity to alcohol affect a
person’s susceptibility to developing alcohol abuse. People generally assume that alcohol abuse
declines with age. However, several studies have noted that between 24 and 68 percent of alcohol-
abusing people developed the first signs of alcohol abuse only after age 60 (Atkinson 1990).
Interestingly, women and people of either sex with moderate to high socioeconomic status have
shown the highest percentages of late-onset alcohol abuse (Atkinson 1990). These findings suggest
that at least for some people, aging leads to an increased risk of alcohol abuse. Whether this
increased risk results from age-related psychosocial factors (e.g., loss of a spouse, retirement, or
loneliness) or changes in the physiological response to alcohol (or a combination of the two) remain
to be determined.
39. Alcohol Abuse and Premature or Exaggerated Aging
Chronic alcohol exposure can lead to impairment of a wide range of physiological functions.
Some of these pathological effects, such as alcohol-induced damage of liver and pancreas functions,
appear to result directly from alcohol’s toxic effects on those organs. Other health problems
associated with chronic alcohol use (e.g., cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal
dysfunction, and increased susceptibility to infections), however, appear to be less specific in nature
(Colsher and Wallace 1990; Brower et al. 1994). In fact, these effects, which vary from person to
person, may represent an accelerated or exaggerated aging process.
40. Some researchers have noted that an important distinction may exist between alcohol-
related accelerated aging versus exaggerated aging (Noonberg et al. 1985; Evert and Oscar-Berman
1995). Accelerated aging means that symptoms of old age appear earlier than normal, resulting in
premature aging. Exaggerated aging implies that the symptoms of old age appear at the appropriate
time, but in a more exaggerated form. Exaggerated aging may result from a person’s increased
vulnerability to the pathophysiological changes that emerge during approximately the sixth decade
of life, such as brittle bones (i.e., osteoporosis), adult onset diabetes, cognitive decline, and
shrinkage (i.e., atrophy) of muscle tissue.
41. As discussed below, some evidence suggests that chronic alcohol exposure can lead to
both accelerated and exaggerated aging. Nevertheless, some alcohol-induced pathological changes
that superficially resemble the consequences of normal aging—and thus appear to indicate
accelerated aging—have revealed, on closer inspection, some unique characteristics. For example,
careful comparisons demonstrated that the nature of the memory deficits found in younger (i.e.,
mean age of 37.2 years) alcoholics differed from the deficits found in older (i.e., mean age of 64.7
years) nonalcoholics (Kramer et al. 1989).
42. Studies of the effects of long-term alcohol use on brain tissue and brain function have
examined the connection between alcohol and the aging process. Advances in technologies to
obtain brain images (i.e., neuroimaging technology) during the past 20 years have allowed
researchers to study the brain structure of living individuals in great detail (i.e., with high spatial
resolution). These studies have demonstrated that chronic alcohol use leads to substantial atrophy of
the brain, as evidenced by reduced volumes of various brain regions (i.e., the cortex, anterior
hippocampus, mammillary bodies, and corpus callosum). The brain regions most affected by
chronic alcohol use appear to be the prefrontal and cerebellar cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the
brain region believed to be most responsible for higher level cognitive processes, whereas the
cerebellum plays an important role in motor function. Simultaneously, the volume of the fluid-filled
cavities in the brain (i.e., the ventricles) increases—making up for lost tissue—after chronic alcohol
use (Pfefferbaum et al. 1998).
43. Normal aging also appears to lead to a steady decline in the general cortical area (with the
greatest decline occurring in the prefrontal cortex) and a concurrent enlargement of the ventricles.
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Nevertheless, several studies have demonstrated that these signs of cerebral atrophy are greater in
alcoholics than in nonalcoholics of the same age (Pfefferbaum et al. 1992, 1998). Possibly,
however, the alcoholics already possessed reduced cortical areas before the onset of alcohol abuse,
and thus cortical atrophy may reflect a neuropathology that contributes to the susceptibility to
alcohol abuse rather than a consequence of chronic alcohol exposure. To investigate this possibility,
a recent study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to examine changes in cortical
area and ventricular size over a 5-year timespan in both alcoholics (average age of 45 at initial
assessment) and nonalcoholics of similar age (average age of 51 at initial assessment) (Pfefferbaum
et al. 1998). As in other studies, the cortical volume in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes was
significantly reduced in the alcoholics compared with the nonalcoholics. In both groups, the cortical
area declined during the 5-year study period. The alcoholics, however, exhibited a greater rate of
decline in anterior superior temporal cortex volume than did the nonalcoholics, indicating that
cortical atrophy likely represents a consequence of chronic alcohol use.
44. Another study found that the difference in cortical volume between alcoholics and
nonalcoholics was greater among older subjects than among younger subjects (Pfefferbaum et al.
1992). In that study, after controlling for age, the extent of cortical atrophy in alcoholic men
increased with age but not with duration of alcoholism. This observation suggests that the brains of
older people may be more vulnerable to alcohol’s degenerative effects than the brains of younger
people.
45. Consistent with the fact that chronic alcohol abuse can lead to reductions in cortical
volume, numerous studies have observed alcohol-related deficits in cognitive functions. The most
extreme cases of alcohol-related dementia and severe memory loss (i.e., amnesia), which constitute
a condition called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, may be primarily a result of severe alcohol-
related nutritional and/or vitamin deficiencies (Nakada and Knight 1984). In addition, however,
chronic alcohol abuse appears to produce more subtle—but significant—deficits in cognitive
function. These deficits are most evident on tests of relatively complex cognitive function, such as
the ability to follow abstract concepts or to adapt quickly to changing conditions (Tivis et al. 1995;
Evert and Oscar-Berman 1995). On such tasks, the performance of alcoholics is impaired compared
with nonalcoholics of the same age. In fact, chronic alcohol abuse appears to accelerate a person’s
cognitive decline by approximately 10 years, because the cognitive performance of alcoholics
generally is comparable to that of nonalcoholics who are 10 years older. This age-related
discrepancy is apparent even in alcoholics in their thirties (Noonberg et al. 1985). Although these
observations support the notion that alcoholics experience accelerated brain aging, the studies
conducted to date have not ruled out the possibility that the alcohol-related cognitive deficits reflect
an initial cognitive impairment that leads to an increased risk of alcoholism.
46. REGULATION OF STRESS HORMONE PRODUCTION
Humans generally are highly adept at confronting and fending off stress—which can be
defined simply as any threat to a person’s physical and psychological well-being. Some of these
threats are physical in nature, such as extreme temperature or extended lack of food or water. For
most people, however, perceived threats to their well-being often are psychological in nature (e.g.,
work-related time pressures or stress from a relationship). Regardless of the source of the stress, the
body responds by activating well-defined physiological systems that specialize in helping a person
cope with the stress.
47. The two principal stress response systems in both humans and other animals are (1) a part
of the nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system and (2) a hormone system called the
hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal (HPA) axis. Both systems enable the brain to communicate with the
rest of the body. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system produces several physiological
responses within seconds, such as an accelerated heart rate, increased respiration, and blood flow
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redistribution from the skin to the skeletal muscles. These responses facilitate the “fight or flight”
behavioral response (Sapolsky 1993).
48. The Role of the HPA Axis
Activation of the HPA axis induces glucocorticoid secretion, which in turn affects a wide
range of physiological responses, such as changes in blood sugar levels, and blood pressure, fat
redistribution, muscle break- down, and immune system modulation (Sapolsky 1993). Although
these hormonal effects develop much more slowly (i.e., within hours) than those of the sym-
pathetic nervous system, they may persist for several days and are vital to survival in the face of
severe physical challenges. It is unclear, however, to what extent the activation of the sympathetic
nervous system and the HPA axis helps combat psychological stress, which may not require such
extensive physiological responses. The potential inappropriateness of HPA axis activation in the
absence of physical stress is of special concern, because glucocorticoids exert such long-lasting
effects.
49. The HPA axis consists of three groups of hormone- producing cells. They reside,
respectively, in the brain region called the hypothalamus; in a hormone-secreting gland called the
pituitary gland (located just below the hypothalamus); and in the adrenal glands, which are situated
on top of the kidneys. These groups of cells act in a coordinated fashion to control the secretion of
glucocorticoid hormones from the adrenal gland into general circulation.
50. Glucocorticoid secretion from the adrenal glands depends directly on the release of the
adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary gland and indirectly on the release of the
corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) from the hypothalamus (see figure 2 in the article, p. 274).
This hormone “cascade” becomes activated whenever CRH-producing nerve cells (i.e., neurons) in
the hypothalamus are stimulated by neural input from other brain regions, usually in response to a
stressful situation. As a result of this stimulation, these hypothalamic neurons secrete CRH into
specific blood vessels located at the junction of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. CRH then
is transported through these blood vessels to the pituitary gland (i.e., the anterior pituitary), where it
stimulates specialized cells (i.e., corticotrope cells) to secrete ACTH into the bloodstream.
Through the blood, ACTH is transported to the adrenal glands, where it induces certain cells to
release glucocorticoids into the bloodstream. Thus, although glucocorticoid production and
secretion occur in small glands located above the kidneys, these processes are ultimately controlled
by the activity of various brain regions.
51. Glucocorticoid hormones have a wide range of regulatory effects on virtually every organ
system in the body, including the central nervous system (i.e., the brain and spinal cord). Cortisol’s
ability to affect many body systems allows this hormone to be an effective mediator of a
generalized stress response. At the same time, however, the extensive range of cortisol’s effects
necessitates tight regulation of the hormone’s levels. This control is achieved largely through a
negative feedback mechanism (de Kloet et al. 1998). Thus, cortisol itself either directly or indirectly
inhibits the CRH-producing neurons in the hypothalamus and the ACTH-producing cells in the
anterior pituitary that control cortisol secretion, thereby blunting overall HPA axis activity and
subsequent cortisol secretion.
52. Although this negative feedback normally is a highly effective means of ensuring that the
body is not exposed to any more cortisol than is warranted by the conditions at hand, experimental
evidence has indicated that with increasing age, this regulatory mechanism becomes impaired
(Sapolsky et al. 1986). As discussed below, impaired cortisol negative feedback in older humans
may contribute to a greater risk of alcohol-induced pathophysiology.
53. Impairment of the HPA Axis and Its Consequences
Researchers and clinicians have gained some insight into the consequences of extreme
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chronic elevation of cortisol levels from studying patients with Cushing’s syndrome, a disorder that
is characterized by cortisol overproduction, usually caused by an adrenal or pituitary tumor.
Symptoms include diabetes, muscle weakness, skin disorders, obesity of the torso, brittle bones
(i.e., osteoporosis), disrupted menstruation, high blood pressure (i.e., hypertension), and increased
susceptibility to infections (Veldman and Meinders 1996). Although chronic stress does not cause
full-blown Cushing’s syndrome, the stress-induced chronic elevation of cortisol levels may
exacerbate some related disorders, such as diabetes and osteoporosis, while simultaneously
decreasing a person’s resistance to infectious agents.
54. Cushing’s syndrome is not the only disorder associated with abnormal cortisol levels.
Dysregulation of cortisol secretion also occurs with some neuropsychological disorders, most
notably depression, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder,
and fibromyalgia (i.e., a recently defined syndrome of generalized pain) (de Kloet et al. 1998;
Demitrack 1998). Researchers do not yet know, however, whether altered cortisol levels contribute
to the development of these disorders or are merely a by-product of the conditions.
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I. Pronunciation
Pronounce the words:
anxiety (§3)
simultaneously (§3)
alcohol (§3)
percent (§3)
threshold (§3)
analogous (§15)
prolonged (§25)
hierarchy (§22)
dementia (§20)
Alzheimer’s (§20)
II. Find synonyms to the words on your left:
thoroughly (§7) meticulously through proper

a bout (§10) a lot addiction a period of time
resiliency (§13) resistance vulnerability adaptability
acute (§18) chronic great sharp
to precede (§25) to antecede to procede to stem from
to exacerbate (§27) to aggravate to speed to modify
to break down (§29) to destroy to metabolize to remove
III. Compare and contrast the following notions:

Physiological response / Psychological response (§2)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Alcoholic (§7) / Drinker (§9)
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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Accelerated aging / Exaggerated aging (§40)

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
IV. Explain or paraphrase the expressions below:

to be alcohol-sensitive (§5)
to be surgically removed (§11)
brittle bones (§40)
V. Decide whether the statements below are true of false:
1. Approximately 40 % of alcohol users suffer from “pseudo-Cushing’s syndrome. (§8)

2. Consumption of alcohol affects the normal functioning during consumption as well as
alcohol withdrawal (§10).
3. A two-way interaction appears to exist between stress and aging. (§15)
4. The HPA axis response reduces in response to stress as well as alcohol exposure. (§17)
5. Impaired HPA axis resiliency occurs in older animals. (§18,19)
6. There is a well-known belief that premature aging is caused by stressful situations one
encounter in life. (§22)
7. It was found that the corticosterone levels of aged rats took more time to go back to basal
levels after the stressful event was over in comparison with younger or unimpaired rats.
(§25)
8. Researchers do not know why impaired tolerance develops in older humans. (§29)
9. Tolerance development to alcohol results principally in a general reduction in the
organism’s response to a certain amount of alcohol. (§30)
10. The process of premature or exaggerated aging in alcoholics in alcoholics is due to
excessive cortisol secretion. (§32)
11. A drink can produce higher BACs in older people than in younger ones mainly because of
the increase in fatty tissues, which are not capable of dissolving alcohol in contrast to the
muscles. (§36)
12. The body responds to the stress differently depending on the source of the stress. (§46)
VI. Singular or Plural?
Consider the following: ‘this species’ (§22). Why is the pronoun ‘this’ in singular while the noun
ends in –s?
Singular Plural
1. a pair of shorts (is) 1. trousers, shorts, jeans, pyjamas, tights,
scissors, glasses
2. a person 2. people
3. mathematics, physics, economics, 3. politics, statistics, economics
athletics, gymnastics
As academic disciplines: General use
Politics is my favourite subject. Her politics trouble me. (=political
Statistics is the worst discipline. belief)
Statistics show an increase in sales.
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(=numerical info)
4. means, series, species
a TV series several TV series
5. collective nouns: army, association, audience, class, college, committee, company,
crowd, crew, family, government, group, jury, press, population, school, team,
university
As a whole Each individual counts
Is your group ready? (as a whole) The group will take their exam next week
(each student in this group will take it)
6. information, knowledge, news 6. police
Police are looking into this case.
7. countries even if in plural 7. names of sport teams
the Unites States is France take on Belgium at golf.
the Netherlands is
8. if the subject is a clause
To keep him occupied is not that easy.
What worries politicians is the situation
in the Middle East.
9. measurements, amounts, quantities
30 euros is a lot for this book!
VII. Root words

Give as many words as possible with the same root as in the word ‘alcohol’ (§3).
VIII. The emphatic ‘DO’

Investigators do know, however, that chronic exposure in humans to both elevated glucocorticoid
levels and alcohol produces symptoms resembling premature or exaggerated aging (§1).
Explain the appearance of the auxiliary verb “do” in this sentence.

Why is the auxiliary verb used in the affirmative sentence in the Present Simple tense?
Use the verb ‘to do’ to emphasise in the following sentences:

1. Someone who has a significantly lower I.Q. than the average adult, may be seen as
abnormal.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
2. Factors such as environmental setting, family, community and the media all shape a child.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
3. They report being more dissatisfied with their bodies and often weigh more and are shorter
when they finish puberty.
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______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
4. For boys who physically mature earlier, there also exist a number of negative
consequences.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
5. This reflects the difficulties that teens have adjusting to biological and social changes.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
IX. Prepositions
Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions:

1. Groups can be seen as resolving issues in each of these stages in order to be able to develop
______ the next stage.
2. Evolutionary psychology proposes that the majority of human psychological mechanisms
are adapted _____ reproductive problems frequently encountered in Pleistocene
environments.
3. Biological approaches suggest that genetics is responsible _____ personality.
4. According ____ Freud, personality is based ____ the dynamic interactions of the id, ego,
and super-ego.
5. This is part of the field's "human science" approach _____ psychology and involves an
emphasis on the actual experience of persons.
6. Some psychologists may look ____ how biological influences contribute ____ violence,
while other psychologists might look ____ factors such as culture, family relationships,
social pressure and situational variables influence violence.
7. The colours below are often associated _____ much different meanings.
8. There are three main approaches one can use in order to increase tolerance _____
frustration.
9. The difference between them must be attributable ____ the one way in which they were
different.
10. Attachment theory provides not only a framework for understanding emotional reactions
_____ infants, but also a framework for understanding love, loneliness, and grief in adults.
11. Our success and happiness depend _____ identifying our goals precisely and chasing them
effectively, both of which, in turn, depend _____ how well we manage our thoughts.
12. It may be involved _____ changing neural connections for a period of three months or more
after the initial learning.
13. Piaget's work had a profound influence ____ psychology, especially our understanding
children's intellectual development.
14. Play appears to have important positive effects _____ the brain and ____ a child’s ability to
learn.
15. Then a combination of research findings resulted _____ the belated removal of
homosexuality from psychology's official list of mental illnesses.
16. In addition, to ensure that vulnerability ____ criticism was not merely a reflection of a
child's academic competence, teachers were asked to rate each child's overall academic
ability from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high).
17. An experiment was carried out where 18—20-year-old single female participants were
exposed ____ romantic lyrics or ____ neutral ones while waiting for the experiment to start.
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18. Highly creative people have brain similar _____ those with schizophrenia.
19. If we did not die straight out, we would adapt ____ our new environment.
20. Teens don't suffer _____ "real" depression.
21. Susceptibility _____ reward was significantly higher in males.
22. The mind consists _____ units or elements and could be understood by mapping and
studying them in combination.
23. Even the diversity of tendencies only represents the successive rebirths of this illusion that
consists ____ believing that science can save scholasticism.
24. Natural selection cannot account _____ all biological phenomena, and differentiating among
such phenomena is extremely difficult for evolutionary psychologists.
25. Early physiology research on behaviour and brain had a very dramatic impact _____
psychology as it is today, ultimately leading ____ the application of many scientific
methodologies that study the human behaviour and thought.
26. This trend in psychology paralleled advances _____ several other fields, including
neuroscience, mathematics, anthropology, and computer science.
27. Some species of animals are especially adept ____ detecting human body language, both
voluntary and involuntary.
28. Cells secrete ____ the bloodstream.
X. Word-building
Look at the two words ‘to disallow’ (§4) and ‘to disinhibit’ (§4). What does the prefix dis- mean?
Give more examples with the same prefix.
XI. Linking words

Have a look at the linking words below:
paradoxically (§1)
interestingly (§3)
conversely (§7)
similarly (§11)
finally (§11)
consequently (§16)
accordingly (§25)
simultaneously (§42)
possibly (§43)
What is the common trait of all these words? What does each of them mean? Provide more linking
words of the same character.
When can the linking word ‘to date’ (§32) be used?
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ANALYSIS OF IDENTIFICATION ACCURACY:

Determining the Accuracy of Eyewitness Identifications
Using Statement Analysis
Jennifer L. Short and J. Thomas Dalby
University of Calgary
Abstract
Statement analysis has been used for years to determine the accuracy of statements. The
Judgement of Memory Characteristics Questionnaire was revised in the current study to assess the
accuracy of eyewitness identifications. Participants watched a video of a theft then identified the
perpetrator from a line-up. Two statements were obtained: descriptions of the perpetrator and post-
identification statements. The characteristics present in descriptions did not predict identification
accuracy. However, analysis of the characteristics present in post-identification statements resulted
in two predictive factors: Quality of Description and Amount of Detail. Statement analysis of post-
identification statements resulted in a 70% correct classification rate of identifications. Further
development of this measure and subsequent application of it to forensic investigations could help
minimize the detrimental effects of inaccurate identifications.
1. Determining the Accuracy of Eyewitness Identifications Using Statement Analysis
Eyewitness identification evidence in a criminal case may be perceived as overwhelming
proof that a suspect committed the crime of which he/she is accused. When presented, these
identifications are influential factors in the outcome of a case. Unfortunately, inaccurate eyewitness
identifications have historically been found responsible for more wrongful convictions than all other
factors combined (Huff, Rattner, & Sagarin, 1986; Wells et al., 1998). The number of exonerations
in the United States that occurred when DNA analysis became available illustrates the poor
accuracy of eyewitness identifications. Of the 181 convictions reported by the Innocence Project
that were overturned based on DNA, more than 75% had been prosecuted based on inaccurate
identifications (Innocence Project, n.d.). In one case, Kirk Bloodsworth was sentenced to death for
rape and murder due to 5 eyewitness identifications and self-incriminating statements. The
conviction was later overturned when DNA proved his innocence (Wells et al., 1998). Therefore, it
is essential that the forensic community increasingly recognizes the fallibility of eyewitness
memory and takes measures to minimize the consequences of inaccurate identifications.
2. Differences between Accurate and Inaccurate Identifications
Previous studies have examined the qualitative differences between accurate and inaccurate
eyewitness identifications, including behavioural characteristics of witnesses and information
provided by them. One consistent finding is that accurate witnesses report making more absolute
judgments than inaccurate witnesses, indicating they immediately knew which photo depicted the
perpetrator. Conversely, inaccurate witnesses tend to reach a decision regarding the identification
through a process of eliminating the other photos (Dunning & Stern, 1994; Smith, Lindsay, &
Pryke, 2000). As indicated by this finding, identification decisions made by accurate witnesses are
affected by their own memory of the person while line-up photos affect inaccurate witnesses
(Dunning & Stern, 1994).
3. In addition to the differences between accurate and inaccurate eyewitnesses in the process
of identification, differences also exist in the characteristics of their memorial reports. Witnesses
who make accurate identifications tend to report a clearer memory for the perpetrator's face than
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inaccurate witnesses (Smith et al., 2000). Related to this clearer memory, accurate witnesses tend to
report more distinct details when describing the perpetrator than inaccurate witnesses (Sporer,
1992). Finally, accurate witnesses are more confident in their identifications (Dunning & Stern,
1994; Smith et al., 2000; Sporer, 1992).
4. These reliable differences in the behaviours and memory reports of eyewitnesses may
provide information that can be useful for predicting the accuracy of identifications. In one study,
raters predicted the accuracy of identifications based upon various differences including type of
identification (automatic vs. elimination), impact of photos, and impact of memory (Dunning &
Stern, 1994). Raters informed of these differences were able to correctly classify the identifications
as accurate or inaccurate 65.8% of the time. Rater training on these differences increased the rate of
correctly classifying inaccurate identifications as compared to non-trained raters. However, this
training did not change the correct classification rate of accurate identifications.
5. Statement Analysis
The ability to correctly assess the accuracy of identifications would provide an important
investigative tool that could potentially decrease the rate of wrongful convictions based on
eyewitness identifications. Although a measure for classifying identifications has not been
developed thus far, similar procedures have been used for years to assess the veridicality of
statements obtained in forensic settings. These statement analysis procedures are based upon the
Undeutsch hypothesis, which indicates that statements based on experience differ both in content
and quality from statements based on invention or fantasy (Vrij, Edward, Roberts, & Bull, 2000).
Statement analysis involves examining the qualitative characteristics of statements and determining
the veridicality of the statement based on the presence/absence of these characteristics. For
example, accurate statements tend to contain more sensory information, time information,
clarity/vividness, semantic information, spatial information, emotions/feelings, reconstructability of
the story, and realism. Inaccurate statements tend to contain more cognitive operations (Sporer,
2004).
6. The first of these measures to be developed was Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA),
which was originally intended for use with children recalling sexual abuse (Steller & Koehnken,
1989). Despite the original intent, CBCA has been used and validated with adult populations.
Another form of statement analysis, Reality Monitoring (RM), was later developed (see Masip,
Sporer, Garrido, & Herrero, 2005). RM allowed for increased ease of use, required less training,
and had better inter-rater reliability compared to CBCA. Most recently, a form of RM labelled the
Judgment of Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (JMCQ; Sporer, 2004) was developed based on
the original Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (Johnson, Foley, Suengas, & Raye, 1988). The
JMCQ provides specific questions related to 43 items. For example, "are details described only
superficially or very precisely?" (Sporer, 2004: p. 99). The statement being analysed will be rated
on each of these items using a 7-point Likert scale. As it is the form of statement analysis that
requires the least amount of training, the JMCQ may be the most practical version on which to train
forensic investigators. However, all the incarnations of statement analysis have maintained the goal
of veridicality assessment as determined by the examination of characteristics present in the
statements.
7. The application of statement analysis to true and fabricated statements has resulted in
varied but good correct classification rates. The use of CBCA in lab settings has resulted in correct
classification of the veridicality of statements ranging from 65 to 73% (Masip et al., 2005). Overall
correct classification of statements as accurate or inaccurate using RM range from 64 to 86%
(Masip et al., 2005; Sporer, 2004). Although these measures do not allow for perfect accuracy when
assessing the veridicality of statements, the correct classification rates indicate valid instruments
that can provide important information during forensic investigations.
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8. Similarly, the application of statement analysis to statements relevant to eyewitness

identifications could provide insightful information for investigations. When a witness is questioned
and later identifies a person presented in a line-up, two statements may be obtained that can be
analysed. First, the witness provides a description of the person who committed the witnessed
crime. Second, Canadian guidelines recommend that witnesses explain what characteristics or
overall impressions led them to identify the person chosen (Brooks, 1983). The presence of
previously discussed differences between accurate and inaccurate identifications (Dunning & Stern,
1994; Smith et al., 2000; Sporer, 1992) indicates that statement analysis procedures may be
applicable to the assessment of identification accuracy. Currently developed procedures contain
some items that would be appropriate for use with identification statements, such as quantity of
visual details and clarity of the memory (Sporer, 2004). However, other characteristics that are
assessed using statement analysis would not be present in statements related to the appearance of a
person. For example, CBCA examines contextual embedding (Stellar & Koehnken, 1989) and the
JMCQ examines temporal details such as day and season (Sporer, 2004). Therefore, adaptation of
current statement analysis procedures may be a useful investigative tool for assessing the accuracy
of eyewitness identifications.
9. Current Study
The current study was a preliminary investigation into the efficacy of statement analysis for
determining the accuracy of eyewitness identification. The JMCQ was adapted to become
appropriate for analysis of eyewitness descriptions and post-identification statements. Specifically,
8 of the original 43 JMCQ items were applicable to these statement types: clarity, colours, quantity
of visual details, vividness, precision of details, thoughts, quality of remembering, and doubts about
accuracy of remembering. In addition to the 8 original JMCQ items, statements were analysed on
characteristics examined in previous eyewitness identification studies. The pre-identification
confidence provided by the eyewitnesses was analysed with the description (Sporer, 1992). The
post-identification statements were examined on type of identification (absolute vs. relative:
Dunning & Stern, 1994; Smith et al., 2000). The types of characteristics (dynamic vs. static)
portrayed in the descriptions and post-identification statements were also examined. This item is
included due to the potential impact of relying upon dynamic, changing characteristics when the
identifications may occur after a considerable time lapse in a forensic situation. Therefore, the
primary goal of the current study was to determine if the development of a statement analysis
procedure is appropriate for assessing the accuracy of eyewitness identifications.
10. Method
Participants
Participants were 113 undergraduate students at the University of Calgary who participated in
exchange for .5 credits toward a psychology course of their choice. Seven participants were
excluded because they did not choose a person from the photo line-up. A total of 106 participants
completed the study.
11. Materials
Theft videotape. A 45 second video depicting a theft was shown to all participants on a 27-
inch (68.58 centimetre) colour monitor. In the video, a man enters a hair salon and sits on a couch
next to a woman reading a magazine. The woman forgets her purse on the couch when she leaves
the scene. The man then looks around nervously and steals the purse. The video ends when the man
leaves the scene with the woman’s purse.
12. Distractor task. Participants were provided with a 2-minute distractor task in which they
looked for the 18 differences between two cartoon pictures. This task was presented to allow a brief
time lapse between the participant providing a description of the perpetrator and identifying the
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suspect in the line-up. A Find the Differences puzzle was chosen to focus the participants’ attention
on contextual information irrelevant to the scene presented in the video.
13. Photographic line-up. Although current guidelines recommend the use of sequential line-
ups (FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee Working Group, 2004; Manitoba Justice, 2001), only 5
of 10 surveyed Canadian police agencies surveyed use this procedure. The remaining 5 police
agencies continue to use simultaneous line-ups (FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee Working
Group, 2004). Due to only partial adoption of the guidelines regarding line-up type, participants
were presented with the more traditional simultaneous photographic line-up depicting 8 men.
Photos were 2.6 by 2 inch (6.8 by 5 centimetre) colour photographs labelled with the numbers 1
through 8. Photographs showed a front view of the men’s heads and necks. The perpetrator was
consistently shown in position number 7. The remaining seven photographs showed foils that had
similar characteristics as the perpetrator. For example, foils and the perpetrator all had brown hair,
had similar hairstyles, were Caucasian, and were of a similar age.
14. Procedure
Participants viewed the theft videotape at the beginning of the test session. Immediately after
watching the video, participants were interviewed by the first author. This interview began by the
participants describing in detail the person who stole the purse. Following the free narrative
description, mental images described by participants were probed until their recall of that image
was exhausted (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). Each mental image described in the free narrative was
similarly probed. If participants did not describe anything about the perpetrators hair, build, or face,
the interviewer asked if they had noticed anything about that feature. All questions and probes were
worded in a neutral manner that did not introduce misinformation and were not misleading.
Participants were then asked how confident they were that they could accurately identify the
perpetrator if asked to do so. As recommended in the Thomas Sophonow inquiry (Manitoba Justice,
2001), this description was audio-taped and later transcribed for analysis.
15. Following this interview, participants were provided with a distractor task in which they
were instructed to look for the 18 differences between two cartoon pictures. The interviewer left the
room during the two minutes provided for the Find the Differences puzzle. After the two minutes
allotted for the distractor task had elapsed, the interviewer returned with a photo line-up.
Participants were instructed to take their time to think back to the scene they had watched on the
videotape, carefully look at each of the photographs shown in the line-up, and let the interviewer
know when they were ready to identify the purse thief. Participants who asked if the perpetrator was
in the line-up or indicated they did not think he was in the line-up were told they could respond that
the perpetrator was not present.
16. Consistent with Canadian guidelines (Brooks, 1983), participants who made
identifications were asked what characteristics or overall impressions led them to choose the person
indicated. This question and the interviewer’s response to identifications was worded to minimize
post-identification feedback to participants, responding to the identification as follows:
“Can you tell me what characteristics or overall impressions led you to choose number X”
17. As with the initial description, each mental image described in the post-identification
statement was probed for further details (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992). If participants responded
vaguely by naming a feature (for example, the hair), the interviewer asked what about that feature
had led them to choose him. This post-identification statement was audio-taped (Manitoba Justice,
2001) and later transcribed for analysis.
18. Through discussion with the researcher, two independent raters were trained on the items
present in the statement analysis used when analysing both statement types. They rated a practice
description and post-interview statement on each of the relevant items using a 7-point Likert scale.
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Both types of statements were rated on clarity, colours, quantity of visual details, vividness,
precision of details, thoughts, quality of remembering, doubts about the accuracy of remembering,
and description of features. Descriptions were also rated on pre-identification confidence. Post-
identification statements were also rated on recognition type. Discrepancies were resolved through
discussion. Any confusion about the items following the practice ratings was also resolved.
Following this practice and discussion, both raters expressed confidence in their ability to
accurately rate the statements. Each rater independently analysed the statements provided by
participants. After completing the ratings, discrepancies were resolved by the two raters through
discussion.
19. Results
Inter-rater Reliability
Inter-rater reliability was determined by correlating the ratings assigned by the two raters on
each item. The confidence provided by each participant was excluded from the analysis because
that rating was a direct conversion from the percentage provided to a rating on the 7-point Likert
scale. The remaining 19 items were included. The analysis revealed moderate inter-rater reliability,
r = .578, p < .001.
20. Accurate Identification Rate
Of the 106 participants, 34 (32%) correctly identified the perpetrator in the photo line-up.
Differences between Accurate and Inaccurate Identifications
Statement ratings of accurate and inaccurate statements were compared for each of the 20
items analysed. The eyewitnesses’ thoughts were described more in the description for accurate
identifications (M = 3.00) than inaccurate identifications (M = 2.25), t (104) = 2.04, p = .044. There
was a marginally significant difference in the eyewitnesses’ confidence in their ability to identify
the suspect. Higher confidence ratings were present with an accurate identification (M = 5.24) than
when the identification was inaccurate (M = 4.91), t (88.55) = 1.97, p = .052. The following items
were not significantly different for accurate and inaccurate identifications in the description: clarity,
description of colours, quantity of visual details, vividness, precision of details, quality of
remembering, doubts about accuracy of remembering, and description of features.
21. The post-identification statement was rated higher on clarity when the identifications were
accurate (M = 4.24) than when they were inaccurate (M = 3.82), t (104) = 2.03, p = .045. Similarly,
the quality of remembering in the post-identification statement was rated higher for accurate
identifications (M = 4.00) than inaccurate ones (M = 3.54), t (104) = 2.65, p = .009. The following
items were not significantly different for accurate and inaccurate identifications in the post-
identification statement: description of colours, quantity of visual details, vividness, precision of
details, thoughts, doubts about accuracy of remembering, description of features, and type of
recognition.
22. Prediction of Identification Accuracy
Common factor analyses using varimax rotations were conducted on the items that were used
to analyse the statements. These determined the subscales that could be used to assess the accuracy
of eyewitness identifications, as shown in Table 1. Factor analyses were conducted on: 1) the
description items; 2) the post-identification statement items; 3) all the items used to assess both the
descriptions and post-identification statements. Scores were then calculated for each of the
extracted factors by averaging the scores of the contributing items. Logistic regression was
conducted on factor scores to determine the extent to which the factors obtained could correctly
classify the identifications as accurate or inaccurate. Ideally, both types of statements would be
obtained in an investigation. However, analysing the items for each statement type separately
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113
provides information about the utility of these items when only one statement is available for
assessment.
23. Description. Using an eigenvalue cut-off point of 1.0, factor analysis of the 10 items used
to analyse the descriptions revealed 3 factors: Quality of Description, Confidence, and Description
of Colours. The communality cut-off point for inclusion of items in a factor was .30. Therefore, 6
items loaded substantively on Quality of Description: clarity, quantity of visual details, vividness,
precision of details, quality of remembering, and description of features. This factor accounts for
38% of the variability in the original 10 items. The second factor, Confidence, had 2 items load
substantively: doubts about accuracy of remembering and confidence. The Confidence factor
accounts for 14% of the variability in the items. Finally, one item loaded substantively on the
Description of Colours factor: colours. This factor accounts for 12% of the variability in the original
items. Overall, the three factors extracted for analysis of the description account for 64% of the
variability in identification accuracy. There is not a significant amount of unaccounted for variance
remaining with this solution, χ2 (18) = 13.47, p = .76.
24. When the three factors extracted from the description items are used to analyse the
description, the overall rate of correctly classifying identifications as accurate or inaccurate was
predicted at 68%. The predicted correct classification rate of accurate identifications was 0% and
was 100% for inaccurate identifications. Therefore, all identifications would be classified as
inaccurate when analysing the description using Quality of Description, Confidence, and Colours.
None of these subscales are significant predictors of identification accuracy, zs < 1.00, p > .05.
25. Post-Identification Statement. Factor analysis of the items used to analyse the
postidentification statement revealed three factors: Quality of Description, Amount of Detail, and
Confidence. Six items loaded substantively onto Quality of Description: clarity, quantity of visual
detail, vividness, precision of detail, thoughts, and quality of remembering. This first factor
accounted for 28% of the variability in the original 10 items.
26. The second factor, Amount of Detail, was composed of three of the original items:
quantity of detail, vividness, and precision of detail. This factor accounted for 15% of the items
analysed. Two items loaded substantively onto the Confidence factor: doubts about accuracy of
remembering and recognition type. Confidence accounts for 14% of the original items. Overall, the
three factors extracted in this factor analysis accounts for 57% of the variability in identification
accuracy. There is not a significant amount of unaccounted for variance remaining with this
solution, χ2 (18) = 19.70, p = .35.
27. When analysing the post-identification statements using the three factors extracted, an
overall correct classification rate of 70% is predicted. Unlike the predictions made when analysing
the description, these factors can be used to correctly classify both accurate and inaccurate
identifications. The logistic regression predicts that accurate identifications will be correctly
classified 15% of the time and the correct classification rate of inaccurate ones is 96%. Quality of
Description significantly predicts the accuracy of identifications, z = 2.37, p = .018. With every
one-point increase of this factor on the Likert scale, it is 5.8 times more likely that the identification
is inaccurate. Therefore, eyewitnesses who make inaccurate identifications will also provide post-
identification statements that received a higher rating on Quality of Description. The predictive
ability of Amount of Detail is marginally significant, z = 1.92, p = .055. With every one-point
increase on this factor, it is 3.0 times more likely that the identification is accurate. The final factor,
Confidence, does not significantly predict accuracy, z = .74, p > .05. Therefore, a high rating on
Amount of Detail and a low rating on Quality of Description will likely characterize the post-
identification statement accompanying an accurate identification.
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28. Description and Post-Identification Statement. Six factors were extracted when the items
used to analyse the descriptions and post-identification statements were analysed together: Overall
Quality, Quality of the Explanation, Identification Confidence, Description Confidence, Description
of Thoughts, and Description of Features. Ten items loaded substantively onto Overall Quality,
eight of which are used to analyse the description: clarity, colours, quantity of visual details,
vividness, precision of details, quality of remembering, doubts about accuracy of remembering, and
description of features. The remaining two items that loaded onto this factor are used to analyse the
post-identification statements: clarity and thoughts. Overall Quality accounts for 20% of the
variability in the original 20 items. All seven of the items that loaded substantively onto the second
factor, Quality of Explanation, are used to analyse the post-identification statements: clarity,
colours, quantity of visual details, vividness, precision of details, thoughts, and quality of
remembering. This factor accounts for 19% of the variability in the items. The Identification
Confidence factor has four items load onto it, all of which analyse the post-identification statement:
clarity, quality of remembering, doubts about accuracy of remembering, and recognition type.
Identification Confidence accounts for 7% of the item variability. Description Confidence has two
items loading onto it, both of which are used to analyse the description: doubts about accuracy of
remembering and confidence. This factor accounts for 6% of the variability in the original items.
The fifth factor, Description of Thoughts, has the thoughts items for both the descriptions and post-
identification statements loading onto it. This accounts for 6% of the variability. Finally, the
description of features item from both statements load onto the Description of Features factor. This
factor accounts for 6% of the variability in the original items. Overall, the six factors extracted
account for 64% of the variability in the 20 items analysed. There is not a significant amount of
unaccounted for variance remaining with this solution, χ2 (85) = 66.20, p = .935.
29. Analysing both the description and the post-identification statement using the 6 factors
extracted from the original 20 items results in an overall correct classification of 70% predicted.
The correct classification rate is predicted to be 21% for accurate identifications and 93% for
inaccurate ones. However, none of the subscales significantly predict the accuracy of
identifications, zs < 1.50, p > .05.
30. Discussion
The correct identification rate obtained in the current study was particularly low (32%),
potentially because of the temporal arrangement of the tasks. According to the verbal
overshadowing literature (see Schooler, 2002), providing a description of the perpetrator would
have activated verbal processes for the participants. In turn, the nonverbal processes required for
accurate identification may have been inhibited, resulting in poor accuracy when identifying the
perpetrator. This verbal overshadowing effect has previously been found to affect facial recognition
(Clare & Lewandowsky, 2004; Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990) and may have had a similar
detrimental effect in the current study.
31. Although prior research has found that certain factors are predictive of identification
accuracy (Smith et al., 2000; Sporer, 1992), an instrument had not been developed for this purpose.
The present study attempted to revise a previously developed statement analysis procedure, the
JMCQ (Sporer, 2004), for use with statements relevant to eyewitness identification. The eight
appropriate JMCQ items and two additional items related to the descriptions formed three factors
potentially useful for determining the accuracy of identifications: Quality of Description,
Confidence, and Description of Colours. Unfortunately, none of these three factors were predictive
of identification accuracy. Using them to classify identifications would likely result in all of them
being classified as inaccurate. Although incorrect eyewitness identification may occur often, as
evidenced by a 32% correct identification rate in the current study, they are certainly not all
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115
inaccurate. Therefore, the revised JMCQ developed for analysis of descriptions is not useful for
predicting the accuracy of identifications.
32. These results are consistent with previous research that failed to find a relationship
between descriptions and identification accuracy. For example, the accuracy of a perpetrator
description is not related to the accuracy of later line-up identification (Pigott & Brigham, 1985;
Yarmey, 2004). In addition, eyewitnesses are often inaccurate in their descriptions. Yarmey (2004)
found that witnesses were very accurate in their recall of a person’s hairstyle and age with 92 and
97% correct recall respectively. However, they were quite inaccurate at recalling six other physical
characteristics, such as eye colour and height. The correct recall rate for these characteristics ranged
from 21 to 64%. Dependence on an initial description is often necessary for narrowing down
possible suspects. The combination of these studies indicates that the relationship between
descriptions and identifications should be interpreted with caution.
33. Analysis of the eight JMCQ items and two additional items used to analyse the post-
identification statement revealed three factors: Quality of Description, Amount of Detail, and
Confidence. The first two factors listed are predictive of identification accuracy. An accurate
identification will likely be accompanied by a post-identification statement with a low rating on
Quality of Description and a high rating on Amount of Detail. Application of these factor scores
will result in correctly classifying identifications as accurate or inaccurate approximately 70% of
the time. Inaccurate statements will be correctly classified most of the time (96%) while accurate
statements will often be misclassified. This indicates that the revised JMCQ, the Judgement of
Memory Characteristics Questionnaire – Eyewitness (JMCQ-E), has high positive predictive power.
False negative classifications will result more often than false positives. Therefore, classification of
identifications as accurate would be particularly strong evidence for their accuracy. Classification of
identifications as inaccurate would necessitate the presence of strong corroborating evidence
separate from eyewitness memory.
34. The eyewitness identification procedures recommended in Canada suggest that post-
identification statements be obtained from witnesses, in which they indicate what led to their line-
up choice (Brooks, 1983). However, the standards developed in the United States do not make this
recommendation (Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence, 1990). The potential benefits
of analysing post-identification statements to determine identification accuracy suggests law
enforcement agencies should endeavour to obtain these statements. They will provide additional
evidence that will not only be a self-report measure but can be analysed systematically to provide
insight into the identification itself.
35. The benefits of analysing the post-identification statement disappear when the description
is assessed concurrently. Analysis of the 10 description items and 10 post-identification statement
items together result in six factors: Overall Quality, Quality of Explanation, Identification
Confidence, Description Confidence, Description of Thoughts, and Description of Features.
However, none of these factors predict the accuracy of identifications. Therefore, prediction of
identification accuracy is impaired by analysis of descriptions both alone and in combination with
the post-identification statement.
36. Overall, the results of this study indicate that statement analysis can be beneficial in
investigations relying on eyewitness identification. Further development of this procedure, the
JMCQ-E, can help investigators detect reliable identifications. The classification of identifications
as accurate, in turn, may increase their influence on investigations due to the positive predictive
power of the procedure. Statement analysis would also indicate the necessity of more non-
eyewitness reliant evidence when identifications are classified as inaccurate. The evidence provided
by the JMCQ-E would likely not be admissible in court because it goes to the question of guilt or
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innocence. However, the ability to assess the reliability of evidence will strengthen the
investigations and potentially minimize the consequences of incorrect identifications.
37. The JMCQ-E is predictive of identification accuracy/inaccuracy. However, the overall
correct classification rate of 70% indicates room for improvement. Addition of other potentially
predictive items may improve the rate at which identifications are correctly classified using this
measure. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has recommended that eyewitness identifications be
evaluated based on five criteria: (1) certainty in the accuracy of the identification; (2) quality of the
eyewitness’ view of the perpetrator; (3) amount of attention the eyewitness paid to the perpetrator;
(4) how well the description matches the suspect’s appearance; and (5) the amount of time elapsed
between witnessing the event and providing an identification (Bradfield & Wells, 2000). Some
potentially useful factors indicated by previous research are the time witnesses take to make the
identification and post-identification confidence (Smith et al., 2000; Sporer, 1992). Addition of
these factors to the JMCQ-E may increase the predictive utility of the measure when evaluating
both descriptions and post-identification statements.
38. Development of the JMCQ-E in a lab setting requires that this measure be tested using
statements obtained in a forensic setting. An instrument valid for classification of identifications in
a lab setting is not necessarily valid in a forensic situation due to the different environments in
which the scene is witnessed and the statements obtained. For example, the witness’s attention may
not be as focused on the details of interest in a natural setting compared to a lab. Also, a more
emotional response may result when a person witnesses an event in person rather than on a video.
These disparities may result in differences encoding and recalling information about the experience.
Therefore, the effects of environmental influences in a natural setting on the utility of the JMCQ-E
need to be examined.
39. In a forensic setting, eyewitnesses may make a number of choices when presented with a
line-up. The current study investigated the possibility of classifying two types of identifications
using statement analysis: inaccurate and accurate. Inaccurate identifications were those in which the
participant incorrectly identified one of the seven foils present in the line-up. Accurate
identifications were those in which the participant correctly chose the perpetrator from the line-up.
However, eyewitnesses may choose not to identify any of the people presented in the line-up. Such
non-identifications can be accurate (the perpetrator is not present in the line-up) or inaccurate (the
perpetrator is present in the line-up). As non-identifications are also likely to occur in forensic
situations, it is important to examine the utility of statement analysis when classifying these as
accurate or inaccurate. Therefore, future research should be directed at validating the JMCQ-E
when all four identification types are analysed: accurate identifications, inaccurate identifications,
accurate nonidentifications, and inaccurate non-identifications.
40. Another concern about the utility of the JMCQ-E relates to line-up type. The presentation
of photo line-ups can occur in two ways: simultaneous or sequential. The current study involved the
use a simultaneous line-up. However, a shift to sequential lineups is occurring in some law
enforcement agencies (Gronlund, 2004; Yarmey, 2003). This change is an attempt to improve
accuracy of identifications by increasing the eyewitness’s dependence on absolute decision
processes (Gronlund, 2004; Kneller, Memon, Stevenage, 2001). In addition to this shift in decision
processes, differential presentation of photos in line-up procedures may affect other features of
statements related to identification. For example, the use of an absolute decision strategy may result
in the expression of more doubts about the accuracy of remembering. Therefore, the use of
sequential line-ups could affect the validity of the JMCQ-E in assessing the accuracy of the
identifications. Future research should explore the efficacy of this measure when used in concert
with sequential line-ups.
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117
41. In conclusion, the analysis of the JMCQ-E indicates that statement analysis is useful for
assessing the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. However, this utility is only present when
post-identification statements are analysed. As the current study is the first one of its kind, future
research is necessary to ensure the measure continues to be valid when assessing statements
obtained in forensic settings and when identifications are made using sequential line-ups.
Development and use of the JMCQ-E in police investigations could provide insight into the
reliability of eyewitness identifications obtained. Thus, this measure may be useful in minimizing
the detrimental effects of inaccurate eyewitness identifications.
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I. Find synonyms to the words from the left column:
overwhelming (§1) compelling uncontrollable enormous

Caucasian (§ 13) a person hailed from a European a member of the race
the Caucasus of people with white
skin
feature (§ 17) a part of the body finding trait
discrepancy (§ 18) problem variation discussion
marginally (§ 27) slightly significantly very
disparity (§ 38) similarity change difference
II. Compare and contrast:
Guilt / Innocence (§36)

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Simultaneous / Sequential (§40)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
III. Paraphrase or explain the following expressions:
self-incriminating statements (§1)

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
to overturn conviction (§1)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
to commit the witnessed crime (§8)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
contextual embedding (§8)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
time lapse (§12)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
varimax rotations (§ 22)
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119
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
the predictive ability (§ 27)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
verbal overshadowing literature (§ 30)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
room for improvement (§ 37)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
IV. Give definitions:
Eyewitness identification (§ 1)
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Law enforcement agencies (§ 34)

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
V. The World of Crime – Part II
Write a paragraph using the words below (be sure that you understand their meanings):
a theft a perpetrator a line-up to prosecute

conviction to question a suspect
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
VI. Subjunctive Mood
Consider the following sentences:
The eyewitness identification procedures recommended in Canada suggest that post-identification

statements be obtained from witnesses… (§34)
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Development of the JMCS-E in a lab setting requires that this measure be tested using statements
obtained in a forensic setting (§ 38).
The subjunctive is used to express intention, proposal, or obligation about the future.
Three ways of using subjunctive:
- in very formal style, the verb is used in its basic form (to suggest, to insist, to recommend,
to demand; important, essential, imperative, crucial, and vital)
e.g. Researchers recommend that the process of aging be studied more.
- in less formal, almost neutral style, the auxiliary verb ‘should’ is used
e.g. Researchers recommend that the process of aging should be studied more.
- in informal style in contemporary English, it is possible to use the normal tense form
e.g. Researchers recommend that the process of aging is studied more.
NB: such verbs as ‘to advise’, ‘to ask’, ‘to command’, ‘to instruct’, ‘to request’, ‘to require’,
and ‘to warn’ do not require the use of ‘should’ or ‘that-clause’, you can just use the infinitive:
e.g. Jude asked them to give him a lift.
Make the sentences below more formal:
1. They suggest that the group should continue the studies.

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
2. Researchers insist that the brain should respond in the same way to acute and chronic sleep
loss.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
3. To carry out this survey they demanded that participants should write a diary noting all
emotions they feel during the day.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
4. Doctors recommend that you should think positively for your well-being.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
5. It is crucial that children should be raised in love.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
6. It is important that the conditions under which the experiment is being performed should be
flawless.
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
VII. Word order
Look at the following:

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This factor accounted for 15% of the items analysed (§ 26).

When analysing the post-identification statements using the three factors extracted, an overall
correct classification rate of 70% is predicted (§ 27).
- A lot of participle adjectives follow the noun they define. They can be called ‘reduced
relatives’:
e.g. Jude saw a lot of people standing. Jude saw a lot of people who were staying.
- Applying, taken caused, found, included, and provided are mostly used after the noun:
e.g. Jude considered all the reasons provided.
- Affected, alleged, allocated, broken, chosen, identified, interested, remaining, resulting,

and stolen can be put either before the noun or after it:
e.g. The areas affected include several countries. or The affected areas include several countries.
NB: It is preferred to use participle adjectives after the noun in academic writing.
Give 3 examples of your own with participle adjectives used after the noun.
VIII. Singular or Plural
Have a look at the sentence below:
However, analysing the items for each statement type separately provides information about the
utility of these items when only one statement is available for assessment.
Find the subject in the previous sentence. Which part of speech does it belong to?
Use the verb in the singular form if:

- the subject is an infinitive
e.g. To catch up with all the news is impossible if you don’t know Jude.
- the subject is a gerund
e.g. Going with Jude to the park was a real pleasure.
- the subject is a clause
e.g. Whatever Jude decides is important to us.
NB: if the subject is a what-clause, use the verb in the singular form if the following noun is
singular; use the plural form or singular of the verb if the noun is plural (in academic writing, it is
preferred to use the verb in the plural form).
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Complete the sentences below with a singular or plural verb in the brackets:
1. Exploring further the issue of work aggression _________ (to be) essentially important for
the modern society.
2. To decide whether humans are affected in the same way by stressful situations
____________ (to stay) the objective of this research.
3. Whoever first decided to call this a separate branch of psychology _________ (to be)
absolutely right.
4. What is needed for conducting this research ________ (to be) your skills and knowledge.
5. Many people believe that conducting experiments on animals _______ (to be) inhuman.
6. What most researchers agree upon _______ (to be) the methods to work out the relationship
between stress and aging.
IX. Prepositions
Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions:
1. His work on management is applicable _____ transpersonal business studies.

2. The brain is composed ______ three primary divisions, the forebrain, midbrain, and
hindbrain, and divided _______ the left and right hemispheres.
3. Further questions and observations will attempt to narrow ______ the possibilities.
4. The initial question of how to define psychology helped establish it as a science separate
______ physiology and philosophy.
5. Gambling psychology offers insight ______ self-control, risk-taking, and impulsiveness.
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123
How Humour Heals: An Anatomical Perspective

Arthur Asa Berger
Professor Emeritus
Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts
San Francisco State University
The notion that humour is something that heals is now generally well recognized. Norman
Cousins' book, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient spread the news of humour's
healing powers to the general public. But well before Cousins came along, many others had been
doing research and writing about the healing power of humour.
1. A Bio/Psycho/Social/Cultural Perspective on the Effects of Humour

Thus, the indefatigable William Fry, the notorious chimp tickler, had explained in an address
given to the American Orthopsychiatric Association in Washington D.C. as early as 1979 that:
"Mirthful laughter has a scientifically demonstrable exercise impact on several body systems.
Muscles are activated; heart rate is increased; respiration is amplified, with increase in oxygen
exchange--all similar to the desirable effects of athletic exercise. Stress is antagonized by humour
in both its mental or emotional aspects and its physical aspect. Emotional tension, contributing to
stress, is lowered through the cathartic effects of humour. Mirthful laughter is followed by state of
compensatory physical relations, diminishing physical tension."
2. Fry has made numerous other contributions dealing with the relation of humour and health,
and a considerable number of other scholars have done so, as well.
I don't think it is necessary, then, to argue that humour is generally held to help people, in a
number of different ways. I will suggest, in this little essay, that exploring how humour "heals"
should take what I describe as a bio/psycho/social/cultural perspective. I will be dealing, then, with
the biological, the psychological, the social, and the cultural aspects of humour as they relate to
health. These can be correlated with responses of the body (in the biological area) and kinds of
communication (in other areas):
Area Kind of Communication

Biological Internal: physical responses by body
Psychological Intrapersonal: Internal dialogues, etc.
Social Interpersonal: relations with others
Cultural Coded: learned methods of coping
Fig. 1: Humour and the Bio/Psycho/Social/Cultural Perspective

I will deal with these four areas in my analysis of how humour heals, but first, a radical
proposal.
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3. A Radical Proposal: It's the Techniques Found in Humour That Do the Work
I have suggested, in earlier works, that there are 45 techniques, which, used in various
permutations and combinations, generate humour in humourous texts: jokes, cartoons, comic strips,
plays, movies--you name it. These techniques are the engines that drive the car of comedy and
humour and it is these techniques, not the subjects of humour that are the crucial matter in
understanding how humour heals. I have discussed these techniques in some detail in my book, An
Anatomy of Humour (Transaction, 1993) and will not go over them but I will offer them for readers.
Language Logic Identity Action

Allusion Absurdity Before/After Chase
Bombast Accident Burlesque Slapstick
Definition Analogy Caricature Speed
Exaggeration Catalogue Eccentricity
Facetiousness Coincidence Embarrassment
Insults Comparison Exposure
Infantilism Disappointment Grotesque
Irony Ignorance Imitation
Misunderstanding Mistakes Impersonation
Over literalness Repetition Mimicry
Puns/Wordplay Reversal Parody
Repartee Rigidity Scale
Ridicule Theme & Stereotype
Sarcasm Variation
Satire Unmasking
Here are the 45 Techniques Numbered and placed in Alphabetical Order.

1. Absurdity 16. Embarrassment 31. Parody
2. Accident 17. Exaggeration 32. Puns
3. Allusion 18. Exposure 33. Repartee
4. Analogy 19. Facetiousness 34. Repetition
5. Before/After 20. Grotesque 35. Reversal
6. Bombas 21. Ignorance 36. Ridicule
7. Burlesque 22. Imitation 37. Rigidity
8. Caricature 23. Impersonation 38. Sarcasm
9. Catalogue 24. Infantilism 39. Satire
10. Chase Scene 25. Insults 40. Scale, Size
11. Coincidence 26. Irony 41. Slapstick
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125
12. Comparison 27. Literalness 42. Speed

13. Definition 28. Mimicry 43. Stereotypes
14. Disappointment 29. Mistakes 44. Theme/Var.
15. Eccentricity 30. Misunderstanding 45. Unmasking
Techniques of Humour in Alphabetical Order
4. I elicited these techniques when I made a substantial content analysis of humourous works,
asking the question "what is it that is generating the humour in the text I am examining?" After I
found that I had 45 techniques I discovered that they fit into four categories: humour that deal with
logical considerations, humour that deals with identity, humour that is essentially linguistic, and
humour based on physical actions--speed, body language and so on.
5. What I will suggest is that it is these techniques, in themselves, and separated from jokes,
riddles, random comments that evoke laughter--or any other form of humour--are what help us
when we experience mirthful laughter. It is the techniques, often working in combination, behind
the message or content aspect of the humour, that does the work of healing and helping people deal
with anxieties and other problems.
6. Humour at the Biological and at the Intrapersonal Level
Let me assume that I have already covered the biological aspects of humour. We have seen
that mirthful laughter has an immediate physical effect on a number of systems in the body and
there is ample evidence that mirthful laughter stimulates the production of endorphins and has other
immediate physical benefits. At the biological level, we have a kind of visceral or neuro-physical
communication as the body responds, immediately, to the stimuli generated by humour and
laughter.
7. At the intrapersonal level, when we laugh at ourselves (so to speak), humour helps us
recognize that there is an element of absurdity in life, helps us recognize the negative consequences
of being overly serious about ourselves, and helps us deal with the internal dialogue we often carry
on in our heads that often causes problems for us. Many jokes and other humourous texts can be
thought of as being similar to stories that Hindu medicine healers make up to help patients deal with
their problems.
8. According to Bruno Bettelheim, who discusses this matter in his book The Uses of
Enchantment , these medicine men create a story which gives form to the problems the person
suffers from and by contemplating this story, the afflicted person is able to understand the impasses
he or she is suffering from and ways these problems might be resolved. There is a big difference
between being given some abstract information about a problem a person is suffering from and
creating a narrative in which this problem is dramatized and ways the problem may be dealt with
are suggested.
9. In one of Matt Groening's strips in Life in Hell , ("Parents Out of Control") he has a
character offer a monologue on the various horrendous things parents often do to their children.
This character says:
They can really screw up your mind, because they're the only parents you know. So you think
this is the way the world is, but it isn't. And you end up growing up all weird and damaged and
unhappy...
10. Groening is offering a lecture, actually, in cartoon form, on the problems that people face
growing up in so-called dysfunctional families. His zany characters and his nonidealised picture of
families has, I would suggest, a considerable value to many people who can recognize that they,
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too, might have had a "childhood in hell," and can laugh at Groening's characters--and then,
recognizing that they are like countless others, and can also laugh at themselves. We have here the
techniques of analogy and exaggeration at work. Misery, we have been told, likes company--and so,
it would seem, do children from dysfunctional families...and others who suffer from one affliction
or another.
They recognize that they are not alone.
11. The Social or Interpersonal Level of Humour

Let me move on, now, to the next level of analysis--the social or interpersonal level, when
there are interactions between individuals that are of consequence. Consider the following joke. (A
joke will be understood to be a short narrative, meant to amuse, with a punch line.)
12. TRIED IT ONCE AND DIDN'T LIKE IT

Smith is in his club and he's alone, except for one other person. Trying to be sociable, Smith asks
the person, "can I buy you a drink?" "No," says the person. "I tried it once and didn't like it." "Oh,"
says Smith. "Well, would you like to shoot some pool with me?" "No," says the man. "I tried it once
and didn't like it. Besides, my son is coming soon." "Your only son, I presume," says Smith .
13. The man in this joke is rigid--he has the same answer to all of Smith's inquiries. "Tried it
once and didn't like it." Thus, the punch line, "Your only son" picks up on this and shows the
futility of rigidity. This joke, like a story made up by our Hindu healer for a person who suffers
from rigidity and perhaps a mild form of obsessive-compulsive behaviour, has something to teach
us--even though we might not recognize we are learning anything.
14. Rigidity, over-literalness, and other similar forms of behaviour are then ridiculed and one
is led to see, in the events that take place in the joke, of the folly of these kinds of behaviour. In
order to function in society, and get along with others, we need to be flexible and able to adjust to
various problems and complicated situations that come our way. In dramatic comedies, jokes, and
other forms of humour, we often have rigid, monomaniacal types who are the butts of the humour:
misers, gluttons, dirty old men and women, and so on.
15. Let me offer a poem that shows the folly of being rigid.
Here lies the body of John O'Day
Who died maintaining the right of way.
He was right, dead right, as he walked along.
But he's just as dead as if he had been wrong.
16. We find many jokes, cartoons and comics deal with problems people face at the
interpersonal level--focusing attention on relations between men and women, workers and bosses,
parents and children, and so on. And sometimes, we have humour that has a direct socio-political
dimension, as we find in many episodes of Doonesbury.
17. How Humour Heals at the Cultural Level

We are now at the final level of analysis, the cultural level--in which humour functions as a
kind of coding that pervades a given cultural group or sub-cultural group of some kind. Culture is
defined in many different ways, but the anthropological view of culture, which is the one I am
concerned with here, generally suggests that culture deals with ways of living that are passed on
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127
from one generation to another. Culture involves notions of what is good and bad, what is beautiful
and ugly, what is sacred and profane, and how to relate to others and function in society.
(Anthropologists have offered more than a hundred different definitions of culture but they all deal
with these topics, and see culture as a kind of coding or set of rules for living.)
18. On the cultural or perhaps sub-cultural level, Jewish humour is worth considering. There
are two strains of Jewish humour: that which comes from the shtetls and Eastern-European Jewish
life in the early twentieth century and more contemporary Jewish humour, stemming from the
experience of Jews in modern societies. In the shtetls, the Jews were generally poor, were
constantly persecuted (suffered from pogroms and other forms of anti-Semitism) but though they
lived precariously, on the thin margin of survival, their humour radiates with warmth.
19. Jewish humour, as I understand it, is humour told by Jews that deals with Jewish beliefs,
institutions, cultural practices, historical experiences and related matters. This humour, in its
Eastern European form, involves a remarkable collection of eccentric types and zanies--schlemiels,
schlimazels, schnorrers, schadkens and so on--who developed as a consequence of the harsh
conditions under which everyone lived and who were accepted as part of life in the shtetls. Jewish
humour helped the Jews in the shtetls survive; it was a valuable adaptive coping technique. It kept
them alert, it taught them how to laugh at themselves and helped them deal with the anxiety that
they experienced.
20. On Techniques of Humour and Their Functions

Let me suggest some of the more common techniques of humour used by Jews in Eastern
Europe (and in contemporary countries as well) that are connected to their marginality and relative
powerlessness. Jews were required to use techniques that were not too overtly hostile and whose
aggression could not be easily recognized.
21. In many cases we find the Jews using "victim humour" which can be thought of as
aggression or "insult humour" that is turned against the teller. But the use of this victim humour is
not an exercise in masochism but a subtle and indirect way of attacking enemies. Freud said that he
could think of no people who made fun of themselves more than the Jews, but this "making fun" of
oneself was not a matter of self-hate, at all. It was a defensive form of aggression against others
who were more powerful. Let me offer and example.
22. I'LL TAKE TEN

God comes down to the Assyrians and says "I have a commandment I'd like to give you." What is
it?” ask the Assyrians "Thou shall not commit adultery!" says God. "No thanks, " say the Assyrians.
So then God comes down to the Babylonians and says "I have a commandment I'd like to give you."
"What is this commandment?" ask the Egyptians. "Thou shall not commit adultery!" says God. "No
way!" say the Egyptians. So God comes to Moses and says "I have a commandment I'd like to give
you!" "How much does it cost?" asks Moses. "Nothing!" says God. "Then I'll have ten!" says Moses.
23. This joke seems to deal with the stereotype of Jewish cheapness. Moses doesn't ask what
the commandment is but how much it costs. But in reality or on a more profound level, it could be
argued, the joke deals with the rejection of God and his commandments by others. And the
stereotype of Jewish cheapness (ironic in that the Jews are amongst the most generous contributors
to charities in the United States ) must be seen against the background of poverty and deprivation
that was the lot of most Jews in the shtetls and small communities in Eastern Europe .
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24. Let us consider, then, some of the basic techniques of humour Jews use in their humour,
keeping in mind their relative powerlessness and social marginality. In the United States of America
, we must remember, approximately 98 out of every 100 people are NOT Jewish.
Technique of Humour Benefits: (Shows that)

Absurdity Life is full of illogicalities, crazy things
Accidents People make mistakes all the time
Allusions Others screw up, too
Exposure People do lots of stupid things
Mistakes Life is a comedy of errors
Misunderstanding People often get confused about things
Rigidity Fixations and obsessiveness are self-defeating
Techniques of Humour and Their Functions
25. Jewish humour, I would suggest, functioned as a means of transcendence for the Jews in
the shtetls and also helped give the Jews a stronger sense of identity. These techniques of humour
have the same function for people from other religions as well, I should add.
26. Conclusions
Humour, we see, functions on many different levels and has many positive effects. At the
biological level, laughter provides exercise and stimulates the production of endorphins. At the
psychological or intrapsychic level, it helps us cope with our internal dialogues and lessen the
severity of our feelings of guilt and anxiety. At the social or interpersonal level, it facilitates our
relations with others (sometimes distracting us when we are angry or confusing communication so
that people who should be antagonistic towards one another don't recognize they should be hostile).
And at the cultural level, humour helps members of various sub-cultures and cultures maintain their
identity and cope with problems connected to their marginality and status.
27. Humourists are, it could be said, unacknowledged therapists and humour has obvious and
impressive therapeutic value--at every level we find it. Humour helps us avoid obsessive behavior,
it relieves us of feelings of guilt, it fosters creativity, and it purges us of violent emotions. Conrad
Hyers points out in Zen and the Comic Spirit that the Zen masters acted like clowns and made use
of humour in their teaching for hundreds of years.
28. Our humourists and comedians can be thought of, then, as secularized versions of the Zen
masters. These humourist who, without recognizing what they are doing (and often without our
recognizing what they are doing to us and for us) help heal us, and perhaps also help us learn how
to heal ourselves.
He and she who laughs, lasts and those who laugh last, laugh best.
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129
I. Pronounce the words below:

laughter (§1)
muscle (§1)
facetiousness (§3)
ridicule (§3)
visceral (§6)
masochism (§21)
II. Find the synonyms to the words on your left:
notorious (§1) infamous famous well-known

considerable (§2) significant average small
permutation (§3) a significant mutation an ordered the act of altering the
arrangement of the given set of objects
numbers
ample (§6) debatable clear-cut sufficient
overly (§7) not enough serious almost too
horrendous (§9) boring terrible abusing
to face (§10) to encounter to look to to accept
III. Find antonyms in the text to the words below:

beautiful (§17)
sacred (§17)
IV. Explain the following words or expressions:
chimp tickler (§1)
scholar (§2)
futility of rigidity (§13)
V. Compare and contrast the notions below:
Allusion / Analogy
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Sarcasm / Satire / Irony
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______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Cartoons / Comic Strips
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
VI. Singular or Plural?
I elicited these techniques when I made a substantial content analysis of humorous works… (§4).
The word ‘work’ is uncountable when it means:
- a job or an activity a person does regularly
e.g. Jude quit work when he was 25.
- physical or mental work to achieve sth
e.g. It is hard work to convince Jude to do this task.
- a study or research
e.g. Jude did his postgraduate work in Psychology.
- a place where a person does her / his job
e.g. Jude is still at work.
- papers, materials a person needs for doing work
e.g. Jude does not like to take work home with him.
‘Work’ is countable when it means:
- sth such as a painting, play, piece of music that is produces by a painter, writer, or musician
e.g. Works by O. Wilde are Jude’s favourite.
‘Work’ is used in the plural form when it means:
- activities involved in building or repairing things such as roads, bridges, etc.
e.g. Watch out, Jude! There are road works!
- a building/ group of buildings in which goods are produced in large quantities, or industrial
process happens
e.g. Beer works closed last year to Jude’s great disappointment.
Put the word ‘work’ either in the singular from or in the plural form (in some cases you will have to
put the verb in the brackets in the singular or plural form):
1. Using psychology at (work) can lead to promotions, good co-worker relationships, and
successful careers.
2. Freud's (work, to be) best considered literature and history.
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131
3. One of the researchers says that when people find their meaning that not only do they feel
better about themselves and their own (work, to improve), but the organization is more
successful.
4. The idea of analyzing activity as a method of scientific human psychology was proposed in
the early (work) of L. S. Vygotskii.
5. Bandura's (work, to be) considered part of the cognitive revolution in psychology that began
in the late 1960s.
6. Stress at (work) is a relatively new phenomenon of modern lifestyles.
7. His (work) on relationships (to have) been recognized by numerous awards, including the
prestigious President’s Award from the British Psychological Society for ‘distinguished
contributions to psychological knowledge’.
8. His current (work, to be) focused on young people and the media, language acquisition and
problem behaviour in adolescence.
9. The (work, to be) not presented in chronological order, but are, rather, grouped into sections.
10. Alchemical (work, to be) far more difficult.
VII. Being Politically Correct

… the afflicted person is able to understand the impasses he or she is suffering from… (§8).
Why is ‘he or she’ used instead of simply ‘he’ or simply ‘she’?

Do you know any other ways to transmit the same idea staying politically correct?
In contemporary English, there are several ways to avoid sexism in your speech or writing:
- You can use the pronouns ‘they’/ ‘them’/ ‘their’ to refer back to an indefinite pronoun
(everybody, anybody, etc.)
e.g. Everybody can go over Jude’s if they want.
NB: Some people consider this option incorrect as the word ‘everybody’ is grammatically singular,
and so the pronoun should be in accordance with this singular form. Try to avoid this structure in
academic writing.
- Use plural forms
e.g. A good psychologist knows what he should do. Good psychologists know what they should
do.
- Use sentences where there is no need to use personal pronouns
e.g. A good psychologist knows what to do.
- Use ‘he or she’, ‘he/she’, or ‘s/he’
e.g. A good psychologist knows what he or she should do.
NB: Be careful with the structure ‘he or she’, do not use it several times in a sentence as it makes
your writing/speech unnatural.
Decide whether the sentences below are politically correct. If not, correct them:
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1. A psychiatrist may also perform psychotherapy; but, in addition, he can prescribe

medications and perform ECT (electroconvulsive therapy).
2. In consequence, the average convicted murderer in the US now serves less than 6 years, the
average rapist just five. Moreover, once he is out, the murderer or rapist is immediately
eligible for welfare, food stamps, and other federal assistance.
3. A convicted drug user, no matter how desperate his circumstances may become, is denied
these benefits for the rest of his life.
4. The server sighs lightly and rolls her eyes, the way you would if you had to recite sixteen
salad dressings over and over all day long.
5. The American lawyer does wonderfully worthwhile things that fully justify charging his
clients 150 dollars per hour.
6. In an instant, the sales assistant is with you. “That’s one of our most popular lines,” she
says.
7. A student must keep in mind that he has paid full attention to the author’s idea.
8. An inference can be made that if no sources specified, the authors casts doubt on his
argument.
VIII.Root Words
Give as many words as possible with the same root as in the word ‘humour’ (§3).
IX. Phrasal Verbs

Complete the sentences below with the particles* below:
along on down to over from
1. Do not consider the first results that come __________.

2. The presenter went _________ the outline to make sure that the audience was following
the presentation.
3. He felt it was his duty to pass ________ these “fit” traits to his children.
4. Diversity in a group stems _______ differences in psychological, demographic, and
organisational characteristics.
5. The people came __________ the water and they began to fight, and many were killed.
X. Style
Is this text any different from the previous ones?
What makes it different?
*
When we speak about phrasal verbs, we use the term ‘particle’ to designate a small word just after
the verb. When it is not a phrasal verb, then use the term ‘preposition’.
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133
Would you use this style in your Critique Paper? Why?

Write out everything that in your opinion distinguishes the text from the others.
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Listening Comprehension
“Feeling like a fraud”
a) Listening for specific information
Sometimes, you will be asked to answer specific questions on specific information you have heard.
To do this task, you should first look at the questions in order to know what information you should
listen to.
Look at the questions below, and then listen to the recording:
1. When is impostorism likely to strike?
2. What is the “Horner effect”?
3. What did Horner’s research consist in?
4. What does the abbreviation IP stand for?
5. Are men affected by impostor feelings?
6. What does ‘feigning fraudulence’ mean?
7. Does the impostor phenomenon exist?
b) Listen to the recording one more time and complete the following:
1. There are three defining features of impostorism:

- ____________________________ perception ____________________________________
- fear ______________________________________________________________________
- _____________________tendency _____________________________________________
2. Possible causes of the impostor phenomenon:

- _________________ a child _____________________ selectively ____________________
- _______________expectations _____________roles_______________________________
- parents ___________________________________________________________________
3. The latest advise on how to overcome impostorism:

- ______________________feelings ____________________________________________
- _____________________ attitudes ____________________________________________
- explore ____________________________________________________________ success
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135
c) Listening for numerical information

It is important to be able to catch different numbers as while attending lectures, presentations,
interviews, or seminars you will be exposed to numerical information.
Have a look at the sentences below, and then listen once again to the recording:
1. In _______ Nature ran a career piece about the impostor phenomenon, citing the
example of two leading female scientists who still fear being found out.
2. It followed a similar Science career article from ______ entitled ‘No, you’re not an
impostor’.
3. She cites a _______ study by Margaret Gibbs and colleagues of randomly selected
American psychologists that found ______ per sent of them felt like impostors.
4. In a survey of over _______ people, Shaun Cowman and Joseph Ferrari found that those
who self-handicapped were also more likely to score high on a measure of the
impostor phenomenon.
5. In a _______ survey of academics, for example, Mary Topping and Ellen Kimmel
reported higher scores of impostorism among male staff compared with females.
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“Retirement: A new beginning?”
Listening for details

It is a very important skill that consists of trying to get every single detail while listening.
a) Listen to the recording and decide whether the statements below are true or false:
1. The number of elderly people is equal to that of teenagers.

2. Nowadays, retirement is seen as the last normative shift – the marker of the entry into old
age.
3. Retirement planning consists of financial advice, preparation for the social, emotional and
health changes of later life.
4. Retired people experience the life shift differently.
5. Elderly people who are best fit to a retired lifestyle are more involved in community
organisations and activities.
6. Retires people are happy to have more time for different activities after retirement.
b) Listen to the excerpt of the recording and fill in the gaps with suitable words:
A picture of highly active _____________ citizen emerged, engaged in a _________ range of

activities, from __________________, to studying for ___________, to participation in the
____________ of community organisations such as charities, ______________ or churches. Some
were so busy with a variety of ___________ that they could ____________ find time to be
interviewed!
While the number of activities, and the time invested in these, _____________ somewhat with
_______________ age, a separate analysis by Jenkins (2006) showed that the majority of older
citizens are extremely active, engaging _____________ in 11 different activities, and spending
nearly 20 hours a week in community organisations. Some __________ communities were kept
alive by the involvement of senior citizens _____________ events not only for each other but for
the whole community: running clubs, organisations and church events, arranging _________ car
________ sales, lotteries and other events, entertaining at local _________, and assisting in local
government. All these ______________ demonstrate how older citizens can provide ____________
resources for local communities and society generally.
c) Listen to the recording one more time and answer the questions:
1. Why is it difficult to define old age?

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137
2. What is the “empty nest” syndrome?

3. How do elderly people perceive old age?
4. Can we speak about the appearance of ‘emerging old age’ according to the recording?
Why?
5. Is it true that with increasing age people are pressed towards being less active?
a) Questions for further discussion:
1. How flexible should transitions to retirement be? Who should decide – the State, work
organisations, the individual?
2. If early planning for retirement were possible, when should it start and what should it consist
of?
3. What are the guidelines for an enjoyable, socially engaging age?
4. Should we abandon stage theories of development altogether?
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“Helping the homeless”
Look at the questions below and then listen to the recording:
1. Who are homeless people?
2. What are ‘sofa surfers’?
3. Is homelessness a social problem?
4. What are the reasons for people to leave home?
5. What is the relationship between psychotic illness and homelessness?
6. Did homelessness exist in Japan in the 20th century?

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139
7. What are the statistics for homeless people shown by Marianne van den Bree in her
research?
8. What are the independent significant risk factors in adolescence of becoming homeless?
9. How is IQ related to a child’s life experience?
10. How do people with an abusive background regulate their own emotions?
11. What are the principals of cognitive behavioural therapy?
12. Is it important to provide support to support staff who work with homeless people?
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“If it’s easy to read, it’s easy to do, pretty, good, and true”
Figure 1
Tuck your chin into your chest, and then lift your chin upward as far as possible. 6-10
repetitions
Lower your left ear toward your left shoulder and then your right ear toward your right
shoulder. 6-10 repetitions
Tuck your chin into your chest, and then lift your chin upward as far as possible. 6-10 repetitions
Lower your left ear toward your left shoulder and then your right ear toward your right shoulder.
repetitions
1. What is the subject matter of the recording?
2. How do people assess the level of difficulty of tasks?
3. What should instructions be if we want people to adopt a new behaviour?
4. In what manner should restaurant menus be written?
5. Does the print font influence whether people make any decision at all or defer the decision
to a later time?
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141
6. What did an experiment with two cordless phones by Novemsky show?
7. What is the relationship between familiarity and risk?
8. What experiment did Song and Schwartz carry out to establish this relationship?
9. How is people’s perception of the level of excitement and adventure affected by the names
of the rides in amusement parks?
10. What did Alter and Oppenheimer find in relation to familiarity and risk in the stock market?
11. What do people rely on to decide whether something is true or false?
12. What did Reber and Schwartz want to prove with the experiment when they presented the
participants with the statement ‘Orsono is a city in Chile’?
13. How should an aphorism be written to be perceived as true?

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14. Why shouldn’t we repeat erroneous statements?
15. Why do people prefer prototypical faces over more unusual ones?
16. Could you describe the experiment carried out to show that material presented in a difficult-
to-read print font receives more scrutiny?
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143
“Change blindness”
Listening for main information
When listening for main information, you do not have to concentrate on unimportant details. Try to
grasp the main idea of the recording.
Listen to the recording and be ready to describe the experiment carried out and its relevance to
psychology.
Prepare 3 questions that you would like to ask your group mates on the contents of the recording.
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Appendices
“Word building: suffix –ee”
An ambiguous suffix explored
By Michael Quinion (Quinion, 2010)
There seems to be something irresistibly droll about words in –ee which leads journalists
and other writers to constantly create new ones. Perhaps it is the belittling or diminutive sense
that makes it seem funny (by analogy with such words as “bootee” or “townee”, using another
sense of the –ee suffix) or perhaps it is the mouse-like squeak of the ending that attracts.
Whatever the cause, dozens of such words are generated each year, most of them destined to be
used once and never seen again. Here are some examples, mainly extracted from the British
newspapers The Guardian and The Independent on Sunday over the past couple of years:
arrestee, assaultee, auditee, auditionee, awardee, biographee, callee, contactee, contractee,

counsellee, dedicatee, defrostee, detachee, electee, explodee, extraditee, fixee, flirtee, floggee,
forgee, hittee, interactee, introducee, investee, lapsee, mentee, murderee, outee, ownee, phonee,
pickee, rapee, releasee, rescuee, sackee, shortlistee, slippee, spinee, staree, tagee, ticklee, trampolee.
Most of these new words denote some person who is the passive recipient of the action
concerned or is the one to whom something is done (for example, an extraditee is a person who
is extradited; a murderee is the person who has been murder ed). For these words the suffix is
being used in the same way it was when it was first introduced in medieval times as a word-
forming agent in legal English. The two suffixes –or and –ee formed a pair; the first indicating
the person initiating the action, the second the one receiving it. So we have pairs like appellor
and appellee, lessor and lessee, and mortgagor and mortgagee. When the suffix moved out of
legal English into the wider world, it took this sense with it, so we have words like trustee (a
person to whom something is entrusted), addressee (someone addressed), referee (one to whom
something is referred), transportee (a person who has been transported to a distant colony as a
punishment), and so on.
The trouble came when a number of words appeared, derived from French reflexive verbs
(where the subject and object are the same), in which the person concerned appears not to be the
object of the activity, but the one who initiates it; an absentee is someone who absents him- or
herself, not someone who is “absented” by another person; a refugee is actively seeking refuge,
though that situation may have been brought about by others. These words have been used as a
model for creating new ones and the result has been that we now have a number of words in
which the useful distinction in the old legal terms has been lost or blurred. The example which is
most often quoted is escapee, because the person who escapes is rarely a passive agent, but takes
the initiative; a better word would be escaper. Similarly, attendees are people who attend
meetings or conferences (also called conferees), but a strict interpretation of the suffix might
suggest that in both cases those attending have had the experience inflicted upon them (often
true, in my experience, but that’s not the sense meant). If the meeting is full, such people may
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145
also be standees (people who are standing because there are no seats). Likewise, a retiree is a
person who has retired (though this action may in fact have been involuntary).
An argument in favour of such words is that they have the nuance of denoting people for
whom the action concerned has been completed: an escapee has actually escaped, whereas an
escaper may merely be escaping; a returnee is someone who has actually returned, not just
someone who is in the process of returning. But the context usually makes clear which is meant
and this argument doesn’t hold for all such words.
Terms in –ee are often unattractive as well as illogical or confusing and, because of the
humorous undertones of many of them, can sometimes signal the wrong message. It would be
better to be cautious about inventing, or even using, words in –ee which are not part of the
standard language, and even then, as in the case of escapee, to consider whether there is a better
word.
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Punctuation
1. Simple sentences Mark was writing a letter.
2. Compound sentences (2 or > Mark was writing a letter, and And

independent clauses) Helen was playing the piano. So
But
Yet
For
Nor
Or
3. Complex sentences (a When he came home, she was Because, since, after, although,
dependent clause + an writing a letter. when, etc.
independent clause)
She was writing a letter when

he came home.
If an adverbial modifier of time, place or manner is at the beginning of the sentence, you should put
a comma after it.
On the 1st of April, people like playing jokes.
In the kitchen, she was cooking something delicious.
Relatives
people things
Defining relative
Can you see a woman You should read the text
who/that is just in front of which/that is on p.15.
who/that subject that/which
you?
The man Where’s your
that/who/whom/- you met homework
yesterday is my boss. that/who/whom (formal)/- object that/which (form)/ - that/which/- you’ve
prepared for today?
The driver that/- you’re What is the text that/-
staring at is approaching that/- … preposition preposition that/- ….preposition you’re looking for?
us.
The man whose name I A TV series,
always forget is coming characters of
to tea. of which/whose (in academic which/whose
whose possessive characters are mainly
writing)
doctors, is broadcast
every evening.
Non-defining
Doctor Andrews, who The text Peer pressure,
came last time, is going to ,which, / ,that, (some think which/that is on page
arrive. ,who, subject 15, deals with different
that is incorrect)
problems.
Doctor Andrews, who(m) The text Peer pressure,
you saw last time, is which/that you were
,which,/,that, (some think
coming today. ,whom/who, object supposed to read, deals

that is incorrect) with different
problems.
Doctor Andrews, at The text Peer pressure,
whom I shouted/who(m) I ,preposition+whom, , preposition+which,/ at which you are
shouted at, is arriving. preposition looking/which you are
/,who(m)…preposition, ,which+preposition, looking at, deals with
different problems.
Doctor Andrews, whose The text Peer pressure,
car I broke, is coming. problems of
which/whose problems
,of which,/whose (in we’ve discussed
,whose, possessive earlier, is one of the
152 / 152
academic writing)
text that you are going
147
to prepare for the

exam.
148
Tenses Overview
Continuous Perfect Perfect continuous

simple (to be+Ving) (to have+Ved/V3) (have been Ving)
Indicative 1. Present - Always, often, At 5 o’clock 1. Present – already, just, yet, For, since
words regurlarly, sometimes, from 1.Present - At the moment, today, this month, never, ever How long…?
time to time, usually, every day now 2. Past - yesterday by 6
(week) 2. Past - when he came home o’clock
2. Past - 2 years ago, often, while he was cleaning before he came.
always, yesterday, last week 3. Future - tomorrow at 5 3. Future - by 3 o’clock
3. Future - tomorrow, next o’clock tomorrow, before he comes
week tomorrow when he comes
home
present I often plant roses. I am planting roses now. I have just planted roses. She has been planting roses
She usually plants roses. She is planting roses now. Look! He has just planted since 4 o’clock.
Does she plant roses? We are planting roses now. roses. I have been planting roses for
She does not plant roses. Are you planting roses now? 3 hours.
V/Vs Am/is/are
Do, does
future She will plant roses tomorrow. She will be planting roses She will have planted roses She will have been planting
Will you plant roses next tomorrow at 2 o’clock. tomorrow by 5 o’clock. roses for 2 hours when he
week? Will she be planting roses comes home.
She won’t plant roses tomorrow when he comes?

tomorrow.
V
Shall, will
past She planted roses 2 years ago. I was planting roses yesterday She had already planted roses, She had been planting roses
Did you plant roses last week? at 5 o’clock. when he came home. for 2 hours when he came
We did not plant roses last You were planting roses home.
year. yesterday at 5 o’clock.
Ved/V2 Was/Were
Did
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149
How to Appraise an Article
Most psychology majors will likely be required to write a critique of a professional

psychology paper sometime during their academic career. Writing such a paper is a helpful exercise
to allow students to get a better understanding about writing professional psychology articles, and
how to conduct the necessary research. By studying and critiquing how professionals have
conducted their experiments and interpreted the results, students can better develop their own
methods for later use.
Starting the paper is the hardest step. First and foremost, read the paper in its entirety to
better grasp what the author is trying to convey. Rather than start from scratch at the beginning,
getting an idea of the topic at hand can better help with the interpretation of the article itself. After
reading over the paper fully, start at the beginning and review the introductory paragraph. The
hypothesis should be clearly stated and the background information should be described within this
section. If the paper was properly introduced, any basic questions the student may have should be
answered.
Is the hypothesis clearly stated?
Is necessary background information and previous research described in the introduction?
Next the article should consist of methods. The procedure being conducted should be clearly
outlined and the student should be able to tell which variables the research is going to measure
within the experiment. It is recommended at this point that the student begins taking notes about
what to include within the psychology critique paper as well as to point out things that may be
missing from the article in question.
Is the study procedure clearly outlined?
Can you determine which variables the researchers are measuring?
Following the method section should be discussion. A few questions the student may
consider asking regarding the article may include whether the results supported the initial
hypothesis and how the results of the study were interpreted in the first place. This is the main area
where students can discuss their own opinions on the matter, such as whether or not they agree on
the interpretation of the results. If they disagreed with them, they may wish to offer an alternative
interpretation.
Are all tables and graphs clearly labelled?
Do researchers provide enough statistical information?
Did the researchers collect all of the data needed to measure the variables in question?
How do the researchers interpret the results of the study?
Did the results support their hypothesis?
Do the conclusions drawn by the researchers seem reasonable?
Students should then prepare an outline for their own critique paper. Using the notes taken
while reading the article, constructing the outline of the paper can be a fairly simple process. Start
off by describing the author and the initial hypothesis. Follow this by including the thesis statement
as it is a crucial part of the critique.
The body of the psychology critique paper should partially contain material about what
the original article entailed, such as the main points, conduction of the experiment, results and
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discussion thereof. The second half of the body should provide the student's personal analysis of the
article itself, or the critique part.
Introduction. Begin your paper by describing the journal article and authors you are
critiquing. Provide the main hypothesis or thesis of the paper and explain why you think the
information is relevant.
Thesis Statement. The final part of your introduction should include your thesis statement.
Your thesis statement is the main concept of your critique.
Article Summary. Provide a brief summary of the article, outlining the main points, results,
and discussion.
Your Analysis. In this section, you should provide your critique of the article. Describe any
problems you had with the author’s premise, methods, or conclusions. Your critique might focus on
problems with the author’s argument, presentation, or on information and alternatives that have
been overlooked.
Finally, bring the critique to a conclusion by briefly restating the results of the article and
any issues that may have been present in the experiment, in interpretation of the results or in the
discussion of the aforementioned results.
Choose one of the texts from the study book, analyze it following the guidelines indicated
above, and write a critique paper of 2-3 pages (New Times Roman, 12, 1/5 spacing).
152 / 152
151
Bibliography
Berger, A. A. (2005 йил 1-May). http://www.ejop.org/archives/2005/05/how_humor_heals.html.
Retrieved 2010 йил 15-07 from EJOP: www.ejop.org
Brown, K., & Susan, H. (2002). Academic Encounters: Life in Society. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Hershcovis, S. M., Turner, N., Barling, J., Inness, M., LeBlanc, M. M., Arnold, K. A., et al. (2007
йил 24-August). Predicitng Workplace Aggression: A Meta-Analysis. Jounral of Applied
Psychology , 92 (1), pp. 228-238.
Hewings, M. (2005). Advanced Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge Univeristy Press.
Longman. (2006). Dictionary of Contemporary English. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Oxford University Press. (2007). Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms. Oxford.
Quinion, M. (2010, January 5). An Ambiguous Suffix Explored. Retrieved August 7, 2010 from
World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/ee.htm
Restori, A. F., Katz, G. S., & Lee, H. B. (2009 йил 1-April). EJOP. Retrieved 2010 йил 15-July
from EJOP:
http://www.ejop.org/images/11%202009/9.%20A%20Critique%20of%20the%20IQ%20%20A
chievement%20Discrepancy%20Model%20.pdf
Short, J. l., & Dalby, T. J. (2007 йил 17-August).
http://www.ejop.org/archives/2007/08/analysis_of_ide.html. Retrieved 2010 йил 15-July from
EJOP: www.ejop.org
Spencer, R. L., & Hutchison, K. E. (1999 йил 2-April). Alcohol, Aging, and the Stress Response.
Alcohol Research & Health , 23 (4), pp. 272-283.
the American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual. Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
Turton, N., & Heaton, J. (2009). Dictionary of Common Errors. Harlow: AddisonWesley Longman
Limited.
Wainright, J., & Patterson, C. J. (2006 йил 26-October). Delinquency, Victimization, and Substance
Use Among Adolescents with Female Same-Sex Parents. Jounral of Family Psychology , 20
(3), pp. 526-530.
Wallentin, M. (2008 йил 18-July). Putative Sex Differences in Verbal Abilities and Language
Cortex: A Critical Review. Aarhus, Denmark, Denmark. From Elsevier Inc.
Ziegler, J., Pech-Georgel, C., George, F., Alario, F.-X., & Lorenzi, C. (2005 йил 27-September).
Deficits in Speech Perception Predict Language Learning Impairment. PNAS , pp. 14110-
14115.
(Brown & Susan, 2002)(Hewings, 2005)(Oxford University Press, 2007)(Turton & Heaton,
2009)(Longman, 2006)(the American Psychological Association, 2009)(Berger, 2005)(Short &
Dalby, 2007)(Spencer & Hutchison, 1999) (Hershcovis, et al., 2007) (Wallentin, 2008) (Ziegler,
Pech-Georgel, George, Alario, & Lorenzi, 2005) (Wainright & Patterson, 2006) (Restori, Katz, &
Lee, 2009)
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Advanced English For Psychology Students

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- Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings

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Deficits in speech perception predict language

6. Two features of the present experimental design must be highlighted: First,

33. General Discussion

Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises

I. Find the synonym to the words below:

stuck (§2) to be unable to stumped left alone without

II. Think of the antonyms to the words above.

III. Explain in your own words the following terms or expressions:

language impairment (abstract)

V. CAN, to be ABLE TO DO sth, and to be CAPABLE OF doing sth

CAN do to be ABLE to do sth to be CAPABLE of doing sth

for actions that clever or good at doing sth, they don’t

NB: to enable = to make s.o. able to do sth

1. Going beyond simplistic dichotomies, scientists ____________________ to

VI. Affect or Effect?

‘Affect’ can only be a verb, and it can mean:

to do something that produces an effect or change in something or in someone's

Match the beginning of the sentence with its ending:

4. The term bystander d) effected cures without the use of

6. Aaron Wichman found that it’s not birth f) effected by a government.

VII. Are you ‘sick’? ‘ill’? or Do you have a ‘bug’?

1. Motion _____________ or kinetosis is a condition in which a disagreement

5. Huntington's _____________ is a genetic neurological disorder characterized

VIII. Singular or Plural?

Explain the absence of the article in ‘previous research’ (abstract).

IX. when + Past Participle

Consider the following sentence:

Make the sentences below more formal:

1. Which, when Rogerian Psychotherapy is applied properly, it shows the patient

3. While pink's calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of colour

X. Impersonal and Personal Passives

Active Voice Passive Impersonal Passive Personal

Transform Active Voice into Passive Impersonal and Personal:

1. People know that he is a very good specialist in behavioural psychology.

2. They say that people cope with trauma differently.

3. People believe that online therapy can help a lot of people.

5. They found that our brain has a built-in “negativity bias.”

XI. Tricky ‘whether’

3. before a to-infinitive (not ‘if’)

Other verbs that can be followed by ‘whether + to-infinitive’: to choose, to consider, to

4. in the pattern ‘as to’ (not ‘if’)

Other nouns and adjectives: conflict, confusion, disagreement, discussion, doubt,

In formal contexts, V + as to whether:

5. in a clause acting as a subject or complement (rather than ‘if’)

8. ‘whether’ can be followed immediately by ‘or not’ (not ‘if’)

e.g. I don’t know if this article is about aggression at work or not.

Write ‘whether’ of ‘if/whether’:

XII. Linking words

To a great extent (abstract)

Delinquency, Victimization, and Substance Use

Jennifer L. Wainright and Charlotte J. Patterson University of Virginia

5. We assessed levels of risk behavior among adolescent offspring of female

difficulties in their adjustment, especially during adolescence (Baumrind, 1995). The

Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises

I. Pronounce the words:

Explain why the underlined words are countable or uncountable:

VII. The World of Crime