Time-dependent effects of treadmill exercise on aversive memory and cyclooxygenase pathway function

Exercise induces brain function adaptations and improves learning and memory; however the time window of exercise effects has been poorly investigated. Studies demonstrate an important role for cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway function in the mechanisms underlying memory formation. The aim of present work was to investigate the effects of treadmill exercise on aversive memory and COX-2, PGE(2) and E-prostanoid receptors contents in the rat hippocampus at different time points after exercise has ended. Adult male Wistar rats were assigned to non-exercised (sedentary) and exercised (running daily for 20min, for 2weeks) groups. The inhibitory avoidance task was used to assess aversive memory and the COX-2, PGE(2) and E-prostanoid receptors (EP1, EP2, EP3 and EP4) levels were determined 1h, 18h, 3days or 7days after the last training session of treadmill exercise. The step down latency in the inhibitory avoidance, COX-2 and EP4 receptors levels were acutely increased by exercise, with a significant positive correlation between aversive memory performance and COX-2 levels. Increased EP2 content decreased PGE(2) levels were observed 7days after the last running session. The treadmill exercise protocol facilitates inhibitory avoidance memory and induces time-dependent changes on COX-2 pathways function (COX-2, PGE(2) and EP receptors).     

Self-determined profiles of academic motivation

Motivation and Emotion - This study was designed to investigate academic motivation profiles (and their similarity) among distinct samples of high school students. Anchored in recent developments...     

The Job Engagement Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Form in English and French

Journal of Business and Psychology - The original 18-item Job Engagement Scale (JES18) operationalizes a multidimensional hierarchical conceptualization by Kahn (1990) of the investment and...     

Recollecting positive and negative autobiographical memories disrupts working memory

The present article reports two experiments examining the impact of recollecting emotionally valenced autobiographical memories on subsequent working memory (WM) task performance. Experiment 1 found that negatively valenced recollection significantly disrupted performance on a supra-span spatial WM task. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings to a verbal WM task (digit recall), and found that both negative and positive autobiographical recollections had a detrimental effect on verbal WM. In addition, we observed that these disruptive effects were more apparent on early trials, immediately following autobiographical recollection. Overall, these findings show that both positive and negative affect can disrupt WM when the mood-eliciting context is based on autobiographical memories. Furthermore, these results indicate that the emotional disruption of WM can take place across different modalities of WM (verbal and visuo-spatial).     

Statistical power of latent growth curve models to detect quadratic growth

Latent curve models (LCMs) have been used extensively to analyze longitudinal data. However, little is known about the power of LCMs to detect nonlinear trends when they are present in the data. For this study, we utilized simulated data to investigate the power of LCMs to detect the mean of the quadratic slope, Type I error rates, and rates of nonconvergence during the estimation of quadratic LCMs. Five factors were examined: the number of time points, growth magnitude, interindividual variability, sample size, and the R ²s of the measured variables. The results showed that the empirical Type I error rates were close to the nominal value of 5 %. The empirical power to detect the mean of the quadratic slope was affected by the simulation factors. Finally, a substantial proportion of samples failed to converge under conditions of no to small variation in the quadratic factor, small sample sizes, and small R ² of the repeated measures. In general, we recommended that quadratic LCMs be based on samples of (a) at least 250 but ideally 400, when four measurement points are available; (b) at least 100 but ideally 150, when six measurement points are available; (c) at least 50 but ideally 100, when ten measurement points are available.     

Research Agenda to Facilitate Community Participation In HIV Vaccine Research: A Participatory Approach

This article reports on a participatory process to generating a research agenda to guide research on community participation in HIV vaccine research. Community members representing stakeholder parties involved in the HIV vaccine research enterprise were invited to participate in the process. Fourty-five participants participated in the process and we used interactive techniques to stimulate discussion and interaction between community members at different levels of the HIV vaccine research enterprise. Through the process we generated a locally grounded research agenda to guide research on community participation in HIV vaccine research that originates out of the experiences, challenges and concerns of community members.     

Commitment, enjoyment and motivation in young soccer competitive players

Building upon Deci's and Ryan (1985) Self-determination theory as well as the sportive behavioral correlates of the model of Commitment (Scanlan et al., 1976), this study tries to establish the relationship between motivation and commitment in youth sport. For this purpose 454 young competitive soccer players answered the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ) during the regular season. The SMS measures the three dimensions of the Motivational continuum (the Amotivation, the Extrinsic Motivation and the Intrinsic Motivation). The SCQ measures the Sportive Commitment and its composing factors such as the Enjoyment, the Alternatives to the sport, and the Social Pressure. Our findings provided a clear pattern of the influence of motivation in sport enjoyment and commitment, outlining the positive contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to enjoyment and commitment. Amotivation, contributes positively to alternatives to sport and negatively to enjoyment and commitment, It should be noted that extrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to enjoyment whereas intrinsic motivation has a higher contribution to commitment.     

Dual Identification and the (De‐)Politicization of Migrants: Longitudinal and Comparative Evidence

The article examines the role of dual identification with both the ethnocultural ingroup and the society of residence in the politicization of migrants. The researchers employed a longitudinal and comparative research design with members of the two largest, but sociologically very different, migrant groups in Germany as research participants (i.e. Turkish migrants and Russian migrants). In line with prior work that has shown that, among members of aggrieved groups, dual identity functions as a politicized collective identity, we found that dual identification fostered political engagement among Turkish migrants. In contrast, Russian migrants reported no substantial grievances, and dual identification negatively affected their subsequent political engagement. The contributions of these findings to an articulation of research on politicization with research on intergroup conflict and a more comprehensive understanding of political phenomena driven by dual identification are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive processes in writing during pause and execution periods

The present study investigated how writing processes are activated during pause and execution periods. In two experiments, handwriting demands were manipulated by asking participants to compose with their familiar handwriting or with a high-demanding cursive uppercase calligraphy. Experiment 1 investigated narrative writing, a task with low planning demands. Experiment 2 addressed essay writing, a task with stronger planning demands. Occurrences of processes and their cognitive effort were analysed by asking participants to respond to random auditory probes and then to report their ongoing mental activity according to learned categories referring to the planning, translating, and revising writing processes. All together, the findings indicate that demands on planning did not affect how writing processes were activated during pauses and execution periods but automaticity of handwriting did. When handwriting was effortless, translating was mostly activated in parallel with motor execution, whereas revising and planning were mainly activated during pauses. However, none of the writing processes could be characterised as being typical of pauses, since translating was activated to a similar extent as the other two processes. By contrast, when handwriting was effortful, participants shifted to a more sequential functioning and activated translating mainly during pauses.