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Research based on the Category Adjustment model concluded that the spatial distribution of target locations does not influence location estimation responses [Huttenlocher, J., Hedges, L., Corrigan, B., & Crawford, L. E. (2004). Spatial categories and the estimation of location. Cognition, 93, 75-97]. This conflicts with earlier results showing that location estimation is biased relative to the spatial distribution of targets [Spencer, J. P., & Hund, A. M. (2002). Prototypes and particulars: Geometric and experience-dependent spatial categories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 16-37]. Here, we resolve this controversy by using a task based on Huttenlocher et al. (Experiment 4) with minor modifications to enhance our ability to detect experience-dependent effects. Results after the first block of trials replicate the pattern reported in Huttenlocher et al. After additional experience, however, participants showed biases that significantly shifted according to the target distributions. These results are consistent with the Dynamic Field Theory, an alternative theory of spatial cognition that integrates long-term memory traces across trials relative to the perceived structure of the task space., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, educators, LGBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning their sexuality) students, and their allies in a southwestern Pennsylvania sample reported their perceptions of bullying of LGBTQ youth and school climate and awareness of anti-bullying laws and policies within their school systems. Results indicate differences in students’ and educators’ perceptions of the frequency of bullying of LGBTQ students and support for LGBTQ students. LGBTQ students report significantly more bullying of LGBTQ students than their straight allies as well as educators for all forms of bullying assessed. Additionally, educators perceive higher levels of support for students from school personnel and students than reported by students. The importance of educator understanding and intervention in the bullying experiences of LGBTQ students is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research has emphasized the linkage between performance in immediate serial recall of lists, nonword repetition, and word learning. Recently, it has been reported that primacy and recency effects are obtained in repetition of individual syllables within nonwords (Gupta, in press). Five experiments examined whether such with- in-nonword primacy and recency effects are attributable to common sequencing mechanisms that are shared with immediate list recall. Experiments 1 and 2 indicated that the primacy and recency effects are not simply due to greater morphological salience at the beginnings/endings of nonwords, and that the serial position effects generalize to different stimuli and across a variety of stimulus lengths. Experiment 3 indicated that the primacy and recency effects are similar to those obtained in list recall. Experiments 4 and 5 examined alternative hypotheses for the observed serial position effects, concluding that the alternative hypotheses fail to account for the obtained pattern of results. These results provide support for the common sequencing mechanisms hypothesis. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the relationship between list recall and nonword repetition, and in terms of broader issues in word learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]