Tummy time without the tears: The impact of parent positioning and play

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants spend supervised time in the prone (tummy) position to foster motor development and prevent cranial deformities. However, infants may not tolerate the position, and consequently, caregivers may avoid placing their infants in the prone position. The AAP recommends that caregivers provide toys or interaction during tummy time. We evaluated the individual and combined effects of a play mat and experimenter interaction on negative vocalizations and head elevation during tummy time—positive effects were limited. Next, we evaluated a parent-led intervention wherein mothers interacted with their infants, using a toy, while lying chest-to-chest. This intervention was associated with a reduction in negative vocalizations and an increase in head elevation for the majority of infants. Additionally, mothers rated the effectiveness of the parent-led intervention more favorably than the experimenter-led intervention, suggesting the effects of the parent-led intervention were also socially valid.     

Supporting Survivors: The Roles of Rape Myths and Feminism in University Resident Assistants’ Response to Sexual Assault Disclosure Scenarios

Sex Roles - Sexual assault is a widespread and deleterious issue on U.S. college campuses. Resident assistants (RAs) in university housing are in a unique position to support students who...     

An integrated threat model of explicit and implicit attitudes

The current study applied integrated threat theory (ITT) to the prediction of implicit and explicit attitudes toward African‐Americans. We tested models predicting attitudes from threats (intergroup anxiety, realistic, and symbolic) and antecedents to threat (contact, status, ingroup identification, and negative stereotyping). Data collected from 389 White undergraduate participants indicated that ITT is a good model for predicting both implicit and explicit attitudes. With few exceptions, antecedents predicted threats, and threats mediated the impact of antecedents on attitudes. This work adds importantly to ITT as it demonstrated common predictors of explicit and implicit attitudes, distinguished between negative and positive forms of contact, and tested a latent variable model. We discuss theoretical implications for dual process interpretations of implicit and explicit attitudes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Minimal Contact Intervention with Autologous BMT Patients: Impact on QOL and Emotional Distress

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is often a last treatment option for individuals who have experienced relapse or treatment failure and is often accompanied by increased levels of distress and reductions in quality of life (QOL). Despite this, few studies have been designed to improve post-BMT QOL and reduce distress. The current study examined the course of distress and QOL in 26 autologus BMT patients and the effect on distress and QOL of providing a minimal contact workbook intervention. Physical well-being decreased following the BMT, but increased at 2- and 6-month follow-up assessments, and distress did not significantly vary over the course of the study for patients in the standard care and workbook intervention groups. Examination of the reasons for the lack of group differences revealed that approximately half of the individuals randomized to the workbook intervention did not look at the material; with those that did reporting higher QOL, decreased anxiety, more adaptive coping, and decreased religiosity. The results argue for the importance of targeting patients at need prior to the transplant procedure, triaging them based on specific characteristics, and providing treatments that match these characteristics.     

Semantic distance norms computed from an electronic dictionary (WordNet).

WordNet, an electronic dictionary (or lexical database), is a valuable resource for computational and cognitive scientists. Recent work on the computing of semantic distances among nodes (synsets) in WordNet has made it possible to build a large database of semantic distances for use in selecting word pairs for psychological research. The database now contains nearly 50,000 pairs of words that have values for semantic distance, associative strength, and similarity based on co-occurrence. Semantic distance was found to correlate weakly with these other measures but to correlate more strongly with another measure of semantic relatedness, featural similarity. Hierarchical clustering analysis suggested that the knowledge structure underlying semantic distance is similar in gross form to that underlying featural similarity. In experiments in which semantic similarity ratings were used, human participants were able to discriminate semantic distance. Thus, semantic distance as derived from WordNet appears distinct from other measures of word pair relatedness and is psychologically functional. This database may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.     

A Comparison of Family Environment Characteristics Among White (Non‐Hispanic), Hispanic,and African Caribbean Groups

To investigate differences in the family environments of different cultural groups, the Family Environment Scale and a clinical interview were administered to 153 college students from White (non‐Hispanic), Hispanic, and African Caribbean backgrounds. A multivariate analysis of covariance and post hoc comparisons revealed significant differences between the groups on the Expressiveness, Independence, and Moral‐Religious Emphasis subscales. Para investigar las distinciones en los ambientes familiares entre grupos culturales diferentes, la Escala del Ambiente Familiar (FES) y una entrevista clínica fueron administradas a 153 estudiantes colegiales Blancos (no‐Hispanos), Hispanos, y Africano‐Caribeños. Un análisis de la covariancia multivariado y comparaciones post hoes revelarón diferencias significativas entre los grupos en Expresividad, Independencia, y Enfasis Moral‐Religioso.     

Children’s and Adults’ Predictions of Black,White, and Multiracial Friendship Patterns

Cross-race friendships can promote the development of positive racial attitudes, yet they are relatively uncommon and decline with age. In an effort to further our understanding of the extent to which children expect cross-race friendships to occur, we examined 4- to 6-year-olds’ (and adults’) use of race when predicting other children’s friendship patterns. In contrast to previous research, we included White (Studies 1 and 2), Black (Study 3), and Multiracial (Study 4) participants and examined how they predicted the friendship patterns of White, Black, and Multiracial targets. Distinct response patterns were found as a function of target race, participant age group, and participant race. Participants in all groups predicted that White children would have mostly White friends and Black children would have mostly Black friends. Moreover, most participant groups predicted that Multiracial children would have Black and White friends. However, White adults predicted that Multiracial children would have mostly Black friends, whereas Multiracial children predicted that Multiracial children would have mostly White friends. These data are important for understanding beliefs about cross-race friendships, social group variation in race-based reasoning, and the experiences of Multiracial individuals more broadly.     

Do children learn the integers by induction?

According to one theory about how children learn the meaning of the words for the positive integers, they first learn that "one," "two," and "three" stand for appropriately sized sets. They then conclude by inductive inference that the next numeral in the count sequence denotes the size of sets containing one more object than the size denoted by the preceding numeral. We have previously argued, however, that the conclusion of this Induction does not distinguish the standard meaning of the integers from nonstandard meanings in which, for example, "ten" could mean set sizes of 10, 20, 30,... elements. Margolis and Laurence [Margolis, E., & Laurence, S. (2008). How to learn the natural numbers: Inductive inference and the acquisition of number concepts. Cognition, 106, 924-939] believe that our argument depends on attributing to children "radically indeterminate" concepts. We show, first, that our conclusion is compatible with perfectly determinate meanings for "one" through "three." Second, although the inductive inference is indeed indeterminate - which is why it is consistent with nonstandard meanings - making it determinate presupposes the constraints that the inference is supposed to produce.     

Three factors that promote positive induction when rats respond for 1% sucrose

Studies have demonstrated that rats will increase their operant rate of response for a low-valued reinforcer if a high-valued reinforcer will be available later in the session. Research on this positive induction effect suggests that at least three factors account for its appearance: premature responding for the yet unavailable high-valued reinforcer, an increase in the reinforcing value of the low-valued reinforcer, and responding controlled (e.g., elicited) by the response manipulandum. The present experiment tested whether the size of induction could be systematically altered by varying these factors. Twenty-four rats responded in sessions in which 1% sucrose or a food pellet served as the reinforcer in the first or second half of the session. In some sessions, the same operant response was required in both halves of the session. In others, different responses were required. Half of the rats received the different reinforcers in one food trough while the other half received reinforcers in the different halves of the session in different food troughs. Results demonstrated that a large positive induction effect was observed when all of the above factors were present to contribute to the effect (i.e., high-valued reinforcer upcoming, earned by making the same response, delivered to the same food trough). A small, but significant, induction effect remained when all three were absent (i.e., high-valued reinforcer delivered first, earned by making a different response, delivered to a different food trough). The results support the idea that these three factors are the main contributors to the appearance of this positive induction effect. However, at least one additional factor must also contribute.     

Diagnostic hypothesis generation and human judgment

Diagnostic hypothesis-generation processes are ubiquitous in human reasoning. For example, clinicians generate disease hypotheses to explain symptoms and help guide treatment, auditors generate hypotheses for identifying sources of accounting errors, and laypeople generate hypotheses to explain patterns of information (i.e., data) in the environment. The authors introduce a general model of human judgment aimed at describing how people generate hypotheses from memory and how these hypotheses serve as the basis of probability judgment and hypothesis testing. In 3 simulation studies, the authors illustrate the properties of the model, as well as its applicability to explaining several common findings in judgment and decision making, including how errors and biases in hypothesis generation can cascade into errors and biases in judgment.