Author Index Volume 108, 2002

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 108, 2002     

Visual versus kinesthetic mental imagery: Efficacy for the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children

The main purposes of this study were (a) to compare the effects of mental imagery combined with physical practise and specific physical practise on the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children; (b) to determine the mental imagery (visual vs. kinesthetic), which is the most efficient for retention and transfer of a closed motor skill; and (c) to verify the relationship between movement image vividness and motor performance. As for the secondary purpose, it was to compare the effects of gender on motor learning. Participants (n = 96) were selected from 3 primary schools. These participants were divided into 6 groups and submitted to different experimental conditions. The experimental task required the participants to throw, with the nondominant hand (left hand), a ball toward a target composed of 3 concentric circles. The results demonstrated that performance obtained by the mental imagery (visual or kinesthetic) combined with physical practise group was, during the retention phase, equivalent to that produced by the specific physical practise group but significantly superior during the transfer of closed motor skill. These results showed the potential benefits of mental imagery as a retention strategy intended for motor skills and performance enhancement. Such results could be explained by the similarity of 3 principal functional evidences shared by mental and physical practise: behavioural, central, and peripheral (as suggested by Holmes & Collins, 2001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Internet and Advertisement

The Internet has revolutionized the way knowledge is currently produced, stored and disseminated. A few finger clicks on a keyboard can save time and many hours of search in libraries or shopping in stores. Online trademarks with an (e-) prefix such as e-library, e-business, e-health etc., are increasingly part of our daily professional vocabularies. However, the Internet has also produced multiple negative side effects, ranging from an unhealthy dependency to a dehumanization of human relationships. Fraudulent, unethical and scam practices are also flourishing through for example misleading online advertising methods. Some social and professional networks gather users’ profiles for selling and advertising purposes, sometimes by making it technically difficult to unsubscribe. Here, I discuss some of these unethical aspects and propose some potential solutions to reduce them.     

Food for thought: the effect of counterfactual thinking on the use of nutrition information

In three experiments, we examine the efficacy of counterfactual thinking (CFT) as a strategy to enhance consumers' motivation to process and use nutrition information on food packages. In the first study, we test whether CFT leads to greater motivation to process nutrition label information in the process of forming product attitudes. We also test whether motivation mediates the relationship between CFT and the influence of the nutrition label in product evaluation. In a second study, we test the effect of upward versus downward CFT on motivation. We also examine whether nutrition information on food packages moderates the relationship between CFT and product attitudes. In a third study, we examined the duration of the motivational effect of CFT. Results from the three studies support the role of CFT as a mechanism that enhances consumers' motivation to elaborate on and use nutrition information to form product attitudes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Food and Sustainability Challenges Under Climate Changes

Plants are permanently impacted by their environments, and their abilities to tolerate multiple fluctuating environmental conditions vary as a function of several genetic and natural factors. Over the past decades, scientific innovations and applications of the knowledge derived from biotechnological investigations to agriculture caused a substantial increase of the yields of many crops. However, due to exacerbating effects of climate change and a growing human population, a crisis of malnutrition may arise in the upcoming decades in some places in the world. So, effective, ethical and managerial regulations and fair policies should be set up and applied at the local and global levels so that Earth may fairly provide the food and living accommodation needed by its inhabitants. To save some energy consumption, electric devices (for e.g., smartphones, laptops, street lights, traffic lights, etc.) should be manufactured to work with solar energy, whenever available, particularly in sunny countries where sun is available most of the time. Such characteristic will save energy and make solar energy-based smartphones and laptops less cumbersome in terms of chargers and plugging issues.     

Fake Journals: Not Always Valid Ways to Distinguish Them

In their recent paper, Esfe et al. (Sci Eng Ethics, doi: 10.1007/s11948-014-9595-z 2014) present some criteria for fake journals and propose some ‘features’ to recognize them. While I share most of the authors’ concerns about this issue in general, some of the reported criteria are not fit to differentiate fake journals from genuine ones. Here are some examples derived from their list, which illustrate that such criteria are not necessarily specific to fake journals only, but they could also apply to well-established journals and, therefore, should not be considered as is.     

The Effectiveness of Attachment Injury Resolution Model (AIRM) on Increasing Trust among the Injured Women with Marital Infidelity: A Case Study Approach

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed at determining the effectiveness of emotionally-focused couple therapy, based on attachment injury resolution model (AIRM) on increasing trust among the injured women with marital infidelity. Method: The present study was a single case experiment of the multiple baseline design type. The population included all injured women with marital infidelity, referring to Bushehr family therapy clinics, among whom three women were selected and participated in the intervention through purposive sampling method, based on the desired recall, By considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria and answering the trust scale. Data analysis was conducted by visual analysis, clinically meaningful (reliable change index and normative comparison) and percentage improvement formula. Results: The percentage obtained from the overall increase of trust among the injured women during the therapy was 38.76 and follow-up was 48.58. In addition, the reliable change index during the therapy and a follow-up was 2.77 and 3.49 in the first couple, 3.10 and 3.62 in the second couple, 2.66 and 3.67 in the third couple indicating that these values were significant and higher than z?=?1.96 during the therapy and follow-up (p?=?0.05). Conclusion: Based on the research results, the emotionally-focused couple therapy based on attachment injury resolution model can be used as an effective intervention in reducing the injuries by marital infidelity.