Early developments in the ability to understand the relation between stimulus and reward

Delayed nonmatching to sample (DNMS) is used to test the recognition memory function dependent on the medial temporal lobe. Children cannot succeed on this task until about 21 months. Because robust recognition is present well before then, the late emergence of another ability must account for the late success on DNMS. Evidence is presented here that the critical late-maturing competence is the ability to grasp the relation between stimulus and reward--that is, to understand that the stimulus is a symbol or marker for the reward. Infants of 9 and 12 months were tested on 3 conditions of DNMS. A sample object was presented. After a delay, the sample and a novel object appeared; choice of the novel object was rewarded. In the standard task, the reward was in a well beneath the stimulus. In the verbal-reward condition the reward was not a separate object but was praise and applause. In the Velcro condition, the reward, although a separate and separable object, was attached to the base of the stimulus. Most infants at both ages succeeded in the verbal-reward and Velcro conditions but not in the standard condition.     

Ethnic similarities and differences in the association of emotional autonomy and adolescent outcomes: comparing Euro-American and Asian-American adolescents.

This study has conducted an ethnic comparison on the strength of the association between Individuation, a subscale from the Emotional Autonomy construct presented originally by Steinberg and Silverberg in 1986, and adolescent outcomes in terms of self-esteem and susceptibility to negative peer pressure. Consistent with what was expected, the association between Individuation and lowered self-esteem was more salient among 287 Asian-American adolescent boys than among 1,353 Euro-American adolescent boys. Contrary to what was hypothesized, the association between Individuation and susceptibility to negative peer pressure was more pronounced among 1,573 Euro-American adolescent girls than among 292 Asian-American adolescent girls.     

Interactions between color and word processing in a flanker task

To examine interactions between color and word attributes, participants responded, either manually or vocally, to a central target (color patch or word) flanked by a Stroop stimulus. Color and word attributes of the flanker affected both vocal and manual responding to color patches. Color and word flankers also affected manual responding to word targets, but only word flanker affected vocal responding to word targets. These results are not consistent with models (e.g., translational models) of Stroop tasks, which posit that interactions between colors and words occur only when vocal responding is required.     

Direct comparison of episodic encoding and retrieval of words: an event-related fMRI study

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare directly episodic encoding and retrieval. During encoding, subjects studied visually presented words and reported via keypress whether each word represented a pleasant or unpleasant concept (intentional, deep encoding). During the retrieval phase, subjects indicated (via keypress) whether visually presented words had previously been studied. No reliable differences were found during the recognition phase for words that had been previously studied and those that had not been studied. Areas preferentially active during encoding (relative to retrieval) included left superior frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, left superior temporal cortex, posterior cingulate, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Regions more active in retrieval than encoding included bilateral inferior parietal cortex, bilateral precuneus, right frontal polar cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right inferior frontal/insular cortex.     

The Role of Schools in Outcomes for Youth: Implications for Children's Mental Health Services Research

We explore the role of schools in children's mental health services research. Recent literature has suggested that schools play an important role in delivering services to children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems. Research in services research, though, has taken a fairly narrow view of which dimensions of school environments are relevant for inclusion in studies. We suggest that a broader view of school environments is appropriate and potentially beneficial to the field. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological model as a guide, we conceptualize schools as microsystems. Such an approach suggests that all aspects of school environments (treatment as well as non-treatment) are likely to influence many of the outcomes that children's mental health services research frequently targets (e.g., behavioral problems, problematic peer relationships, academic achievement, school attendance). We review literature from a variety of disciplines to suggest relevant features of schools, with particular attention to the role of peer dynamics within schools. We conclude with implications of this expanded conceptualization of schools for children's mental health services research.     

Dispositional and situational goal orientations as discriminators among recreational and competitive league athletes.

The present study examined the relationship between individual goal orientation, motivational team climate, perceived sport competence, and league structure among 216 youth soccer players. It was predicted that competitive league teams would report higher ego-involvement and performance-oriented team climate and lower sport competence than recreational teams. Discriminant analyses indicated that only the mastery-oriented team climate variable differentiated competitive and recreational teams. Athletes who participated in recreational teams reported a greater degree of mastery-oriented climate than competitive league players. The results suggest that athletes' perceptions of situational rather than dispositional aspects of achievement goals are more highly affected by the playing structure present in youth sport teams. The possible psychological benefits derived from the development of a mastery-oriented team climate in sports are discussed.     

Behavioural inhibition, anxious symptoms, and depressive symptoms: a short-term prospective examination of a diathesis-stress model

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between behavioural inhibition (BI) and anxious symptoms within a diathesis-stress framework, using a short-term prospective design. In addition, we examined whether BI acts as a specific vulnerability to anxious symptoms, or as a common vulnerability to both anxious and depressive symptoms. At time 1, 384 children in grades 3 through 6 completed self-report measures of BI, anxious symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Six weeks later, they completed self-report measures of hassles, anxious symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Results demonstrated that children with high BI who experienced high levels of hassles during the 6-week follow-up interval showed increases in anxious symptoms, but not depressive symptoms.