Beat It! Music Overloads Novice Dancers

Together with melody, harmony, and timbre, rhythm and beat provide temporal structure for movement timing. Such musical features may act as cues to the phrasing and dynamics of a dance choreographed to the music. Novice dancers (N = 54) learned to criterion a novel 32‐s dance‐pop routine, either to full music or to the rhythm of that music. At test, participants recalled the dance to the same music, rhythm, new music, and in silence. If musical features aid memory, then full music during learning and test should result in superior dance recall, whereas if rhythm alone aids memory, then rhythm during learning and test should result in superior recall. The presence of a rhythm accompaniment during learning provided a significantly greater memory advantage for the recall of dance‐pop steps than full music. After learning to full music, silence at test enhanced recall. Findings are discussed in terms of entrainment and cognitive load. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of feedback and dot presentation format in younger and older adults’ number estimation

Numerosity estimation, the rapid assessment of the number of items in a visual scene, is historically inaccurate. We assessed whether providing feedback regarding the correct numerosity on either 0%, 50%, or 100% of the trials would affect younger and older adults’ estimation accuracy for randomized, clustered (i.e., groups of 3 or 7 dots), and stacked (i.e., column) dot formats. Participants provided estimates and confidence ratings in six blocks, each containing 48 trials (16 numerosities shown in each format). Feedback frequency was manipulated between participants during blocks 1–4; no feedback was provided during blocks 5 and 6, which contained old and new numerosities and previously estimated presentations rotated 90°. Estimation accuracy was age equivalent across blocks despite younger adults initially being more accurate than older adults. Feedback improved both age groups’ accuracy. Stacked presentations were most accurately estimated but were more likely to be over-estimated than clustered and randomized presentations. Older adults gave lower confidence ratings than younger adults despite both age groups showing increased confidence across blocks, for more structured presentation formats, and as feedback frequency increased. These results expand our understanding of the role of presentation format and feedback in producing age equivalence or age-related differences in numerosity estimation.     

Teaching Genomic Counseling: Preparing the Genetic Counseling Workforce for the Genomic Era

Genetic counselors have a long-standing history of working on the clinical forefront of implementing new genetic technology. Genomic sequencing is no exception. The rapid advancement of genomic sequencing technologies, including but not limited to next generation sequencing approaches, across all subspecialties of genetic counseling mandates attention to genetic counselor training at both the graduate and continuing education levels. The current era provides a tremendous opportunity for counselors to become actively involved in making genomics more accessible, engaging the population in decisions to undergo sequencing and effectively translating genomic information to promote health and well-being. In this commentary, we explore reasons why genomic sequencing warrants particular consideration and put forward strategies for training program curricula and continuing education programs to meet this need.     

Modified Taylor Complex Figure: Normative data from 290 adults

Data for copying and delayed recall (after a 15‐min delay) of the Modified Taylor Complex Figure (MTCF), an alternative form of the Rey‐Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), were collected from 290 healthy participants. Normative data are provided. Age and education were significantly correlated with MTCF scores and must be corrected for to interpret results accurately. More specifically, increasing age adversely affected performance, whereas a higher education resulted in a better performance. Twenty‐five participants were tested with both complex figures (MTCF and ROCF) in two separate sessions to assess correlation, which proved to be high. The collected data allow using the MTCF as a valid alternative material for testing visual long‐term memory avoiding implicit learning that can occur when the same version of the ROCF is used for repeated testing sessions.     

The Development of Gender Identity,Gender Roles,and Gender Relations in Gifted Students

This article describes the interaction of giftedness with gender identity, gender role, and gender relations. The authors explored ways in which many gifted educational practices are gendered, a model for the development of talent in the context of gender and gender relations, and ways of reducing gender inequities in the realization of potential for both male and female students. Issues that are unique to gifted individuals are aligned with suggestions for counseling interventions.     

Concurrent Movement Impairs Incidental But Not Intentional Statistical Learning

The effect of concurrent movement on incidental versus intentional statistical learning was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants learned the statistical regularities embedded within familiarization stimuli implicitly, whereas in Experiment 2 they were made aware of the embedded regularities and were instructed explicitly to learn these regularities. Experiment 1 demonstrated that while the control group were able to learn the statistical regularities, the resistance‐free cycling group and the exercise group did not demonstrate learning. This is in contrast with the findings of Experiment 2, where all three groups demonstrated significant levels of learning. The results suggest that the movement demands, rather than the physiological stress, interfered with statistical learning. We suggest movement activates the striatum, which is not only responsible for motor control but also plays a role in incidental learning.