Why don't they just let it go?

Discrepancies between what children expect about physical causality (indexed by looking time) and how they act on that knowledge have led to criticisms of claims about what infants "know." Baillargeon [Baillargeon, R. (1999). Young infants' expectations about hidden objects: A reply to three challenges. Developmental Science, 2, 115-163] advocates examining more tasks before revising views of early cognitive development. We report another discrepancy which suggests an additional indicator of what is salient for preverbal infants. While examining the Uzgiris-Hunt test performances of 40 children (26 females), 7.6-26.9-months-old, infants appeared captivated by the bouncing of a small rubber ball. However, most infants reproduced the motion of the bounce event itself, repeatedly hitting the ball against the table, rather than the experimenter's action (dropping). Comparing performances of those who did and did not imitate the drop, two possibly interrelated interpretations remained consistent with the data: infants perform goal-directed imitation of interesting phenomena, perhaps because they believe they must apply force to make them happen.     

Physical education teachers in Australia: Why do they stay?

Studies related to reasons why teachers stay are far less frequent than those reporting reasons to leave. This study assessed the factors that satisfied PE teachers and the motivators to stay in PE teaching. Physical educator stayers (N?=?139) responded to a ‘PE Teachers’ Career Intentions Questionnaire’, ‘Basic Satisfaction Needs at Work Scale’ and an open-ended question to ascertain retention motivators. Basic needs satisfaction for competence, autonomy and relatedness support, along with satisfaction for ‘professional interaction’, ‘participation in decision-making’, ‘organisation of teaching’, and ‘respect’ predicted retention. PE teachers gain work-related motivation from their expertise, the opportunity to implement ideas collaboratively, but also the sense of efficacy to control their pedagogy and student outcomes of focus. Supportive policy and actions; not just the absence of career-thwarting stimuli, appear vital for teacher self-efficacy, leading to career fulfillment. Quality mentoring programs may serve to enhance PE teacher satisfaction and are worthy of further investigation.     

Why they may say, “i don't know”

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an interpersonal perception inventory which would demonstrate that various ratings of facial caricature drawings when made by a husband and wife can be used as a predictor of marital adjustment. The subjects in this study were 30 operationally defined adjusted and 30 non-adjusted couples. A series of three tests were administered to each couple: 1) The Facial Interpersonal Perception Inventory (FIPI), the instrument designed in this study to assess interpersonal perception and marital adjustment; 2) The Locke and Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test; and 3) The Short Marital Conventionalization Scale. Analysis of the data collected relative to the principal objectives of the study established both criterion and concurrent validity for the FIPI. Reliability and internal consistency was established through a test-retest method. Implications of these findings as they relate to interpersonal perception and marital adjustment are discussed.     

Why are there so few ethnic minorities in ecology and evolutionary biology? Challenges to inclusion and the role of sense of belonging

Social Psychology of Education - African Americans and other ethnic minorities are severely underrepresented in both graduate education and among the professoriate in ecology and evolutionary...     

Shoot or don't shoot? Why police officers are more inclined to shoot when they are anxious

We investigated the effect of anxiety on police officers' shooting decisions. Thirty-six police officers participated and executed a low- and high-anxiety video-based test that required them to shoot or not shoot at rapidly appearing suspects that either had a gun and "shot," or had no gun and "surrendered." Anxiety was manipulated by turning on (high anxiety) or turning off (low anxiety) a so-called "shootback canon" that could fire small plastic bullets at the participants. When performing under anxiety, police officers showed a response bias toward shooting, implying that they accidentally shot more often at suspects that surrendered. Furthermore, shot accuracy was lower under anxiety and officers responded faster when suspects had a gun. Finally, because gaze behavior appeared to be unaffected by anxiety, it is concluded that when they were anxious, officers were more inclined to respond on the basis of threat-related inferences and expectations rather than objective, task-relevant visual information.     

Dementia and agitation in nursing home residents: how are they related?

The link between agitated behaviors and cognitive functioning in 408 nursing home residents was examined. Results showed that cognitively impaired residents manifested aggressive behaviors (e.g., cursing, hitting) and physically nonaggressive behaviors (e.g., pacing). The highest levels of physically nonaggressive behaviors were manifested by those residents who presented intermediate levels of impairment in their performance of activities of daily living. Cognitively intact residents exhibited verbally agitated behaviors (e.g., complaining). These findings have important implications for caregivers of agitated nursing home residents.     

Why do they exercise less? Barriers to exercise in high-anxiety-sensitive women

Anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of arousal sensations) is a risk factor for mental and physical health problems, including physical inactivity. Because of the many mental and physical health benefits of exercise, it is important to better understand why high-AS individuals may be less likely to exercise. The present study's aim was to understand the role of barriers to exercise in explaining lower levels of physical exercise in high-AS individuals. Participants were undergraduate women who were selected as high (n = 82) or low (n = 72) AS. High-AS women participated in less physical exercise and perceived themselves as less fit than low-AS women. Mediation analyses revealed that barriers to exercise accounted for the inverse relationships between AS group and physical exercise/fitness levels. Findings suggest that efforts to increase physical exercise in at-risk populations, such as high-AS individuals, should not focus exclusively on benefits to exercise but should also target reasons why these individuals are exercising less.     

A new American dilemma? The effect of ethnic identification and public service on the national inclusion of ethnic minorities

Three experiments integrate research from political science and social psychology to examine the consequences of two competing visions of American national identity. American identity has been defined not only in terms of shared ethnocultural heritage originating in Europe (the ethnocultural prototype) but also in terms of shared commitment to civic service (the civic responsibility prototype). Three experiments tested the consequence of highlighting each of these national prototypes on perceivers' inclusion of ethnic minorities as legitimately American. Experiments 1–3 showed that highlighting ethnic minorities' allegiance to their ethnic subgroup (versus downplaying it) challenges the ethnocultural prototype and makes ethnic minorities appear less American. Process data showed that this effect was mediated by increased threats to American distinctiveness. By contrast, emphasizing ethnic minorities' national service (versus local community service) highlights ethnic minorities' fit with the civic responsibility prototype and makes ethnic minorities appear more American (Experiments 2–3). Process data showed that this effect was mediated by enhanced American distinctiveness. Collectively, these experiments highlight how inclusion of ethnic minorities in the nation can wax and wane depending on which definition of national character is salient in the social context. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of children's entertainment television viewing: Why are they tuning in?

Three hundred and twenty six 3- and 5-year-olds (N = 160 3-year-olds) participated in a longitudinal study of the sociological and ecological predictors of children's general audience and child entertainment viewing. Viewing was assessed through five weekly diaries for each child, completed by families over a two-year period. Concurrent analyses of program availability, family demographics/attributes, and child characteristics indicated that children who were frequent viewers of entertainment programs had parents who had limited education, access to cable, and incorporated television into their activities. Although parental regulation and encouragement played a role in children's viewing experiences, particularly at 5 and 7 years of age, the strongest long-term predictors on children's entertainment viewing were parents' education, family size, and the age and sex of the child. Parents need to become more aware of their role in shaping their children's viewing habits. Responsibility for improving children's television viewing experiences, however, should not rely solely with parents but must be shared by educators, broadcasters, and legislators.     

Why don't health professionals check patient understanding? A questionnaire-based study

Checking patient understanding, by asking questions about information presented in a medical consultation, is a core communication skill but its use is not frequently assessed. The newborn hearing screening commenced in England with a pilot of its implementation in January 2002. Because it is a new screening test, it provided an opportunity for studying the effective communication of novel information. A randomized controlled trial of training newborn hearing screeners to present information about the screening test and to ask questions to check understanding was commenced but had to be prematurely ended as the majority of the screeners did not ask the questions. The aim of this study was to understand why the screeners did not ask questions to check understanding of the information provided. Questionnaires were sent to screeners who participated in the study to elicit their responses to the use of the questions to check understanding. A response rate of 87% (26/30) was achieved. Screeners who reported not asking the questions were more likely to express a lack of confidence in their ability to ask questions, and to perceive asking questions as an ineffective way of increasing patient understanding. The study suggests that the ability and willingness of healthcare professionals to use simple communication skills may have been overestimated and training needs to target skills as well as beliefs about the effectiveness of using them.     

Why do battered women stay?: Three decades of research

A review of the domestic violence research was conducted to assess the most salient factors that predict the likelihood of a woman remaining in or leaving an abusive relationship. The research is still in its early stage and no single theory can confidently predict this tendency on the part of battered women. Research that currently appears to provide the best explanations for remaining in an abusive relationship and factors that enable women to end their abuse are summarized.     

Why don't you believe me? Detecting deception in messages written by nonnative and native speakers

Detecting lies is crucial in numerous contexts, including situations in which individuals do not interact in their native language. Previous research suggests that individuals are perceived as less credible when they communicate in a nonnative compared with native language. The current study was the first to test this effect in truthful and fabricated messages written by native and nonnative English speakers. One hundred native English speakers judged the veracity of these messages, and overall, they proved less likely to believe and to correctly classify nonnative speakers' messages; differences in verbal cues between native and nonnative speakers' messages partly explained the differences in the judgments. Given the increased use of nonnative languages in a globalized world, the discrimination against nonnative speakers in veracity judgments is problematic. Further research should more thoroughly investigate the role of verbal cues in written and spoken nonnative language to enable the development of effective interventions.     

Why don't our institutes teach the methodology of clinical psychoanalytic evidence?

One of the most pressing theoretical, therapeutic, and educational problems confronting the advance of psychoanalysis is our confusion about the nature of clinical evidence. There is considerable disagreement among psychoanalysts about how to define evidence. Recently, there has also been a growing tendency toward evidential nihilism, justified by some of the more radical constructivist-narrative views of postmodern epistemology. Two surveys, conducted ten years apart, of all the psychoanalytic institutes recognized by the American Psychoanalytic Association, indicate a continuing and disturbing neglect of this topic in the curricula of our institutes. This paper reports the views of a number of psychoanalytic educators who participated in these surveys and is intended to stimulate discussion about the causes of this critical problem.