Aging-related cocontraction effects during ankle strategy balance recovery following tether release in women

Increased antagonistic muscle activation during balance recovery has been documented during proprioceptive reliant responses in older adults. The authors examined ankle muscle cocontraction levels in young and older adults during balance recovery from a tether-release-induced, vestibular-input-reliant perturbation. Nine healthy young adult and 9 older women without history of falls performed maximum isometric plantar flexion and dorsiflexion trials followed by balance recovery trials using the ankle strategy. Surface electromyography data normalized to isometric conditions were analyzed during the 100 ms prior to release, the 50 ms immediately after release, and the 100-ms epochs from 100-400 ms following release. No differences existed in gastrocnemius and soleus activity levels (p > .05), though antagonistic tibialis anterior activity was greater in the older adults during the 300-400 ms epoch (young: 23.5 ± 5.8%, older: 38.7 ± 9.4%; p = .001). Vestibular-dominated perturbations may increase antagonistic activity during the recovery phase in older adults, inhibiting efficient balance recovery during proprioceptive and vestibular reliant perturbations.     

Use of electronic games by young children and fundamental movement skills?

This study investigated associations between pre-school children's time spent playing electronic games and their fundamental movement skills. In 2009, 53 children had physical activity (Actigraph accelerometer counts per minute), parent proxy-report of child's time in interactive and non-interactive electronic games (min./week), and movement skill (Test of Gross Motor Development-2) assessed. Hierarchical linear regression, adjusting for age (range = 3-6 years), sex (Step 1), and physical activity (cpm; M=687, SD=175.42; Step 2), examined the relationship between time in (a) non-interactive and (b) interactive electronic games and locomotor and object control skill. More than half (59%, n=31) of the children were female. Adjusted time in interactive game use was associated with object control but not locomotor skill. Adjusted time in non-interactive game use had no association with object control or locomotor skill. Greater time spent playing interactive electronic games is associated with higher object control skill proficiency in these young children. Longitudinal and experimental research is required to determine if playing these games improves object control skills or if children with greater object control skill proficiency prefer and play these games.     

Emotions in context: Anger causes ethnic bias but not gender bias in men but not women

Emotions influence information processing because they are assumed to carry valuable information. We predict that induced anger will increase ethnic but not gender intergroup bias because anger is related to conflicts for resources, and ethnic groups typically compete for resources, whereas gender groups typically engage in relations of positive interdependence. Furthermore, we also predict that this increased ethnic intergroup bias should only be observed among men because men show more group‐based reactions to intergroup conflict than women do. Two studies, with 65 and 120 participants, respectively, indeed show that anger induction increases ethnic but not gender intergroup bias and only for men. Intergroup bias was measured with an implicit measure. In Study 2, we additionally predict (and find) that fear induction does not change ethnic or gender intergroup bias because intergroup bias is a psychological preparation for collective action and fear is not associated with taking action against out‐groups. We conclude that the effect of anger depends on its specific informational potential in a particular intergroup context. These results highlight that gender groups differ on a crucial point from ethnic groups and call for more attention to the effect of people's gender in intergroup relations research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is Adolescent Bullying an Evolutionary Adaptation?

Bullying appears to be ubiquitous across cultures, involving hundreds of millions of adolescents worldwide, and has potentially serious negative consequences for its participants (particularly victims). We challenge the traditionally held belief that bullying results from maladaptive development by reviewing evidence that bullying may be, in part, an evolved, facultative, adaptive strategy that offers some benefits to its practitioners. In support of this view, we draw from research that suggests bullying serves to promote adolescent bullies' evolutionarily-relevant somatic, sexual, and dominance goals, has a genetic basis, and is widespread among nonhuman animals. We identify and explain differences in the bullying behavior of the two sexes, as well as when and why bullying is adaptive and when it may not be. We offer commentary on both the failures and successes of current anti-bullying interventions from an evolutionary perspective and suggest future directions for both research and anti-bullying interventions.     

Revisiting “Kindergarten as academic boot camp”: a nationwide study of ability grouping and psycho-social development

We revisit Harry L. Gracey’s perspective of kindergarten as academic boot camp where, at school entry, children acquire the student role through a structured program of activities. We provide further insights into the crucial mechanisms of socialization that occur in U.S. kindergartens by examining the relationship between within-class ability grouping and attributes of children’s psycho-social development that are critical for school success. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) and incorporating stratified propensity scores into multi-level models, our analyses link within-class ability grouping to student behaviors in a manner that supports the concerns raised by ability grouping critics. Children in low ability groups show slower development in approaches to learning than comparable ungrouped children. Children in high ability groups show more accelerated development in all psycho-social attributes considered (approaches to learning, interpersonal skills, self control and externalizing problem behaviors) than comparable ungrouped children. These asymmetrical findings suggest that children placed in high and low ability groups are socialized into different versions of the student role.     

Effects of sleep on positive,negative and neutral valenced story and image memory

During sleep, emotional memories are preferentially strengthened. However, most studies on sleep and emotional memory focus on comparing negative valence with neutral valence stimuli. This study compared the sleep-dependent memory effects for stories and images, each comprising negative, neutral, and positive stimuli. It was hypothesized that a sleep effect would be seen for negatively and positively valenced stimuli. A novel story memory task (comprising three stories), and photographs from the Nencki Affective Picture database were presented for learning to 61 healthy adults (ages 18–25). They were tested for memory on the two tasks immediately, and then again after either a 2-hr nap (n = 31; 17 women, 14 men) or 2-hr wake period (n = 30; 13 women, 17 men). At second testing, the sleep condition had significantly better recall compared to the wake condition on both tasks. There was a relationship with valence only for the story task, with better performance for the sleep condition on the negatively and positively valenced texts, but not on the neutral text. There were no significant relationships between memory measures and sleep-stage duration and EEG power variables. The story memory findings support the hypothesis that memory consolidation prioritizes emotional memory, whether positively or negatively valenced.     

Transdiagnostic assessment of temporal experience (TATE) a tool for assessing abnormal time experiences

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - Currently, anomalous lived temporality is not included in the main diagnostic criteria or standard symptom checklists. In this article, we present the...     

Unique Ways in Which the Quality of Friendships Matter for Life Satisfaction

Journal of Happiness Studies - The quality of individuals’ social relationships consistently predicts greater well-being. But little is known about the relative importance of different...