Stephen Ceci, PhD - US grants

The proposed five-phase program of research is designed to investigate the nature, generality, and developmental course of "intelligence", focusing on the role of knowledge and context in shaping cognitive performance. In PHASE 1 of the research plan, a set of familiar semantic and alphanumeric stimuli will be presented to subjects as part of two covergent scaling exercises. The purpose of these tasks is to determine the representation of these stimuli in long term memory, as the arguments, predictions, and interpretations in later phases of the research plan depend upon such a determination. In PHASE 2 a micro-level assessment of intellectual components will be conducted (speed of encoding). Subjects will be presented these and novel stimuli (moving baseball images) at the minimum onset durations and interstimulus intervals necessary to encode them. If encoding operations can be differentiated on the basis of the structure of a stimulus' underlying representation, this would complicate notions of intelligence that are based on the neurological underpinnings of information processing constructs, as such constructs would be shown to be context- and stimulus- specific and not indicative of neural functioning in any direct sense. In PHASE 3 of the research plan, another micro-level assessment will be undertaken of three mechanisms governing the sequence of operations in retrieving information from semantic memory. "Semantic distance effects", "reverse distance effects", and the "same/different effect" will be explored as a function of the degree of elaborateness of a stimulus' representation. In PHASE 4 a macro-level assessment of intelligence will be carried out, focusing on complex thinking and reasoning skills. The goal here will be to determine the interrelationship between: a) complexity at a distance perdiction task, b) micro-level information processing parameters, and c) one traditional indicant of intellectual functioning, IQ. The reasoning tasks will be "driven" by algorithms of varying complexity and in novel vs familiar contexts. In PHASE 5, a bio-ecological model will be further developed to account for the findings from the four previous phases. Several empirical tests involving the complexity of expert and novice gamblers' thinking and reasoning skills will be carried out and the bio-ecological model will be evaluated and extended in light of these results. If time permits, PHASE 6 will be conducted. This is comprised of two sets of experiments that are as yet only partially formulated.

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from investigator's abstract) This research program proposes to examine the veracity and durability of memories encoded during the first three years after birth and tested over retention intervals up to two years later. The proposed study intends to provide an ecologically valid empirical test of memory for experiences occurring during this period. Infants from 6 to 36 months will be exposed to a puppet for a period of four weeks (5 min/day, 5 days/week). The puppet will have several built-in features designed to permit later tests of memory for auditory, olfactory, and visual characteristics: two mittens will be tailored to fit the puppet's hands, one (color A) attached permanently, and the other (color B) will be removable. The removable mitten will contain age-appropriate treats and these will be continually reinserted into the mitten for the child to discover every day during his or her 4-week familiarization period with the puppet. A mini recorder will be located within the puppet's head that plays an unfamiliar melody each time its nose is squeezed. Finally, the puppet will be fragranced with an unfamiliar, commercially unavailable scent. Beginning six months after the familiarization period one third of the trained sample of infants and toddlers at each age will be compared to a control group for their recollections of the puppet. The remaining two thirds of the sample will be tested either 12 or 24 months later. This testing will follow a cohort sequential design that is described below.

9312202 CECI This research will address several questions about the capacity of children to serve as witnesses in legal proceedings, including criminal trials, juvenile court hearings, and civil proceedings such as family courts. There has been much controversy in this area because children are often the only witnesses to events resulting in criminal charges that identify them as victims, and they are frequently in the middle of bitter divorce cases. The courts have made procedural rulings but the scientific basis for these rulings has been challenged. This research will provide some answers to some questions in this complex field by examining the extent to which childrens' memories are susceptible to suggestion and the effectiveness of investigative techniques. The research will not exhaust the questions to be examined or the different methodological approaches that might be used, but it represents a solid beginning in an important area of psychology and law. The project is comprised of three experimental studies involving pre-school age children: (1) childrens' capacity to distinguish in memory between true and false events, (2) childrens' recollection of stressful events after a series of interviews about them, including the use of anatomical dolls, and (3) the effects, on the accuracy of childrens' testimony and on jurors' perceptions of their credibility, of shielding children from the alleged perpetrator during testimony. This research will make an important empirical and theoretical contribution to scientific knowledge about childrens' reports, and a significant contribution to sound legal practice and the reliability of legal processes. ***

The science of psychology has produced a large body of outstanding research on behavioral and social phenomena. In terms of public awareness, however, the potential of psychology may be among the best kept secrets in science, among the public, policymakers, and other scientists. The American Psychological Society is launching a new journal to address this problem. "Psychological Science in the Public Interest (PSPI)" will present the best scientific evidence on issues of public interest. This grant will broaden the dissemination of PSPI reports to the public.

Every day we hear media reports of far-reaching decisions affecting children's lives--made by legislators, politicians, school boards, government agencies, judges, and others--ostensibly based on sound research. But basic scientists often cringe when they learn of the misunderstanding and misapplication of the research that allegedly informs these decisions. There exists in our society a schism between the scientists who conduct sound empirical research and the decision-makers who translate it into practice. The goal of CIRC is to improve the quality of the conduct and dissemination of child-related research. We aim to place rigorous, scientifically defensible research findings into the hands of society's decision-makers to better inform their thinking about complex issues and the decisions they make. Research conducted through the institute will also inform basic science in the core disciplines. CIRC will achieve these goals by commissioning and servicing national teams of outstanding developmental scientists to study policy-relevant questions and create a consensus report for broad dissemination. Questions will be selected on the basis of their potential to contribute core knowledge to basic science. The planned dissemination process is designed to inform policy-makers and also to impact the lives of the next generation of scholars now in high school, college, and graduate school.
CIRC will foster the integration of research, undergraduate education, graduate and postdoctoral training, and public dissemination of rigorous child-related scholarship with the potential to benefit children, science, and society. CIRC's research will tap the developmental sciences (including developmental psychology, economics, medicine, neuroscience, and life-course sociology). CIRC's goals will be accomplished through the interaction of seven components designed to (a) contribute to basic scientific knowledge, (b) inform policy and the media, and (c) integrate these first two goals with undergraduate education of underserved populations and graduate/postgraduate training of the next generation of scholars. CIRC will enable multidisciplinary teams to undertake studies pertaining to children in any substantive area of developmental science (e.g., social, cognitive, biological).
CIRC's seven components are: 1) A mechanism to commission high quality, developmental science studies on questions of relevance to children; 2) The assembling of an Advisory Board of eminent scholars from developmental psychology, neuroscience, economics, medicine, policy, and sociology, who will guide the selection of research topics to be commissioned and the nomination of scholars to conduct the research. The Advisory Board will also mentor postdocs and grad students, advise teams of visiting scholars on substantive issues, participate in miniconferences, and help spread the word about CIRC's existence and aims; 3) Graduate and postdoctoral training experiences to provide the next generation of scholars with unique training in conducting rigorous developmental research that benefits children; 4) A postsecondary training initiative to insert into current curricula the results of commissioned studies, targeting colleges and universities with substantial Latino and African American enrolments and low-SES community colleges serving students of all races; 5) Formal print dissemination (the publication of a monograph series translating promising developmental research into policy proposals, the preparation of press releases, etc.); 6) Formal non-print dissemination (the organization of miniconferences, a public web site, and press conferences); and 7) Coordination with existing Cornell centers and institutes to leverage resources of this proposal.