Exploring the Limits of Peripheral Vision for the Control of Movement

The role played by peripheral visual information in the control of aiming movements is not fully understood, as is indicated by the conflicting results reported in the literature. In the present study, the authors tested and confirmed the hypothesis that the source of the conflict lies in the portion of the visual peripheral field that has been under scrutiny in the different studies. Participants (N = 60) moved a computer mouse from a fixed starting position to 1 of 3 targets under varied vision conditions. The portion of the peripheral visual field that best ensured directional accuracy of a sweeping movement was found to be located between 20° and 10° of visual angle, whereas the area found to favor directional accuracy of an aiming movement comprised 30° through 10° of visual angle.     

The effect of culture on a visual-spatial memory task.

The visual-spatial memory ability of 25 Zairian elementary school children was compared with that of 23 Scottish children, using a variation of Kearins's (1976) object placement task. The Scottish children demonstrated significantly better visual-spatial memory than the Zairian children when the easiest (small household objects) of three arrays was presented. The Scottish and Zairian children demonstrated a similar level of visual-spatial ability when the other two arrays (geometric shapes and a variety of natural pieces of wood) were presented, and there were no significant gender differences. Although the Australian Aboriginal children's performance on the visual-spatial task in Drinkwater's (1976) study was superior to the White children's performance (Kearins, 1976, 1981), the Zairian children's performance in this study was not. Perhaps the Aboriginal groups, over countless generations navigating the trackless desert of western Australia, were forced by their environment to develop an aptitude for direction finding that Zairians (whose ecological situation more closely resembles that of Europeans) have not.     

Links Between Early Personal Characteristics,Longitudinal Profiles of Peer Victimization in School and Victimization in College or at Work

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This study used a longitudinal design from age six through age 19 (N?=?1206 (603 girls)) to examine the associations between...     

分离遗传与环境对儿童发展的影响：介绍一个新颖的研究方法

本文介绍一个可以用于研究遗传与环境互动的新颖方法。此研究收集了上千个4~10岁儿童的数据。这些儿童的出生都借助于不同的辅助受孕技术（Assisted Reproductive Technologies）,包括试管婴儿、精子捐赠、卵子捐赠、胚胎捐赠及代孕技术。本项目通过妇科（助孕）医院收集被试的行为数据,包括家庭互动、养育方式、父母婚姻质量、家庭成员的心理健康及经济状况等。本文选择性地介绍一些分析的结果,以彰显这种设计在分离遗传和产前产后环境对儿童发展的贡献。首先,我们比较了“助孕”儿童与“自然孕”儿童在父母冲突、父母对子女敌意以及儿童抑郁症状之间关系的异同。其次,我们比较了这两组儿童在父母抑郁症状、家庭关系质量以及儿童抑郁症状之间关系的异同。再次,本文介绍了这一可分离遗传与环境因素的研究设计。最后,我们讨论了这一设计对发展心理病干预及预防的意义     

Intrinsic,identified, and controlled types of motivation for school subjects in young elementary school children

Background. There are two approaches to the differential examination of school motivation. The first is to examine motivation towards specific school subjects (between school subject differentiation). The second is to examine school motivation as a multidimensional concept that varies in terms of not only intensity but also quality (within school subject differentiation). These two differential approaches have led to important discoveries and provided a better understanding of student motivational dynamics. However, little research has combined these two approaches. Aims. This study examines young elementary students' motivations across school subjects (writing, reading, and maths) from the stance of self‐determination theory. First, we tested whether children self‐report different levels of intrinsic, identified, and controlled motivation towards specific school subjects. Second, we verified whether children self‐report differentiated types of motivation across school subjects. Sample. Participants were 425 French‐Canadian children (225 girls, 200 boys) from three elementary schools. Children were in Grades 1 (N=121), 2 (N=126), and 3 (N=178). Results. Results show that, for a given school subject, young elementary students self‐report different levels of intrinsic, identified, and controlled motivation. Results also indicate that children self‐report different levels of motivation types across school subjects. Our findings also show that most differentiation effects increase across grades. Some gender effects were also observed. Conclusion. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing among types of school motivation towards specific school subjects in the early elementary years.     

Infant visual habituation and parental psychological distress

Research is equivocal concerning the relationship between parental psychological distress and infant cognitive functioning. Four potential limitations of the literature are addressed: reliance on mothers' but not fathers' psychological distress, use of categorical measures of psychological distress, use of standardized measures of infant cognitive functioning, and failure to take into account potential gender differences. Ninety‐nine twin pairs and both their mothers and fathers were assessed. Infants cognitive functioning was assessed using an infant‐controlled habituation–recovery–dishabituation task. Maternal and paternal psychological distress was assessed using the Symptom Check List‐90‐Revised. No gender differences were obtained for infant visual information‐processing abilities or parental psychological distress. Maternal and paternal psychological distress was related to female visual encoding abilities only. It was concluded that parental psychological distress might degrade parent–infant interactions. Characteristics of girls when faced with parents exhibiting psychiatric difficulties may exacerbate difficulties of parent–infant interactions, thereby hindering the full development of cognitive abilities involved in the process of habituation. A need exists to examine the relationship between parental psychological distress and infant visual attention separately for girls and boys. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Forgotten warriors: an evaluation of the emotional well-being of presently incarcerated Vietnam veterans

The emotional well-being of a group of incarcerated Vietnam veterans within the maximum security section of a state prison was assessed along with comparison groups of veterans and nonveterans. The Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1965), the Adjective Check List (ACL) (Gough & Heilbrun, 1983), and the Military Life Questionnaire (MLQ) (Panzarella, Mantell, & Bridenbaugh, 1978) were administered. Both the factors of incarceration and Vietnam experience proved significant on a number of MAACL, ACL, and MLQ measures, including depression, anxiety, hostility, and personal adjustment. The MLQ results also indicated that, compared to their nonincarcerated counterparts, the incarcerated veterans were more likely to be black, to have come from a less supportive family background, to have been assigned to an Army infantry combat unit, to have been injured in combat, and to have witnessed or been involved in the killing of enemy soldiers, prisoners, and civilians while in Vietnam. Many incarcerated veterans apparently began as poor prospects in terms of their social, economic, and interpersonal well-being. They went to Vietnam, bore the brunt of these experiences, and emerged as even poorer prospects, all the more at risk and prone to incarceration.