African American, White and Latino Fathers’ Activities with their Sons and Daughters in Early Childhood

We examined the activities that low-income, ethnically diverse fathers of sons versus daughters engage in with their children in the preschool years. African American, Latino, and White fathers (N?=?426) from research sites across the United States, were interviewed about their caregiving, play, literacy, and visiting activities when their children were 2?years, 3?years, and preschool age. Fathers of boys engaged more frequently in physical play than fathers of girls, whereas fathers of girls engaged more frequently in literacy activities. Moreover, gendered patterns of father engagement were already evident at the 2-year assessment, suggesting that fathers channel their children toward gender-typed activities well before their children have a clear understanding of gender roles. Ethnic differences were also found in fathers’ activities with children, and child gender moderated ethnic patterns of behavior. For example, Black fathers of sons reported the highest levels of engagement in caregiving, play and visiting activities, and both Latino and African American fathers of sons engaged in more visiting activities compared to White fathers of sons. Fathers’ education and marital status were also associated with fathers’ activities. Married fathers and those with a high school diploma more frequently engaged in literacy activities than unmarried fathers without a diploma; moreover, although Latino fathers engaged less in caregiving activities than African American and White fathers, this difference attenuated after controlling for differences in fathers’ education. The activities children share with their fathers vary by child gender, race/ethnicity, and family circumstances and offer insight into early gendered experiences in the family.     

Self-Affirmation in Occupational Training: Effects on the Math Performance of French Women Nurses under Stereotype Threat

This study examined the conditions affecting the math performance of French female student nurses in a setting where they were likely to experience stereotype threat (supposedly poor scientific skills), but in a context which enhanced their status as women and strengthened their self-affirmation. We hypothesized that self-affirmation through their nursing identity would deflect the negative impact of the stereotype threat on performance and would reduce the threat’s harmful impact on attentional processes, as reflected in perceived stress, perceived concentration and self-estimate of performance. Ninety-five female students enrolled in a nursing school in France carried out a dosage calculation—a typical nursing task—which drew directly on their math skills. They were assigned to one of four experimental conditions: 2 (threat: task presented as being diagnostic of women’s difficulty in math calculation compared to men vs. no threat: task presented as a typical nursing-school exercise) x 2 (self-affirmation: choosing from a list and describing the most important characteristics for them as women and as nurses vs. control condition: same task but for the characteristics that were least important for them but important for other people). As expected, under stereotype threat relating to their math skills, women performed better under the self-affirmation condition than under the control condition. However, this improved performance was associated with a lower self-estimate of their performance. We discuss the consequences, in this specific occupational and cultural context, on the way women can overcome the negative impact of gender stereotypes.     

The Relationship Between Supervisee Stress,Coping Resources,the Working Alliance,and the Supervisory Working Alliance

The authors examined the relationship of perceived stress, specific types of coping resources, the working alliance, and the supervisory working alliance among 232 counselor supervisees. The working alliance and the supervisory working alliance were negatively related to perceived stress and positively related to multiple coping resources. Two regression models for predicting the working alliance and supervisory working alliance from perceived stress and specific coping resources were significant. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

"When the age is in, the wit is out": Age-related self-categorization and deficit expectations reduce performance on clinical tests used in dementia assessment

This study examined the combined effects of age-based self-categorization and aging expectations on cognitive performance in a clinical context. An experimental study manipulated older adults' salient self-categorization as Younger or Older, as well as expectations that aging involves a specific memory decline versus generalized cognitive decline. Memory and general ability tests that are typically used in dementia screening were then administered. As predicted, self-categorization as Older dramatically reduced performance, but the measure on which this effect was revealed depended on aging expectations. Participants who self-categorized as Older and expected memory to decline performed worse on memory tests. Conversely, participants who self-categorized as Older and expected widespread cognitive decline performed worse on the general ability test. The clinical implications for the latter group were profound, because 70% met the diagnostic criterion for dementia, compared with an average of 14% in other conditions. The importance of self-categorization processes when interpreting performance on tests used to diagnose dementia are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Family relations, mental health and adherence to nutritional guidelines in patients facing dialysis initiation

This study investigated the effect of family relations on patients' adjustment to dialysis. The two main aims were to develop a family typology, and to explore the influence of family profile on the patient's anxiety, depression and adherence to nutritional guidelines. The sample consisted of 120 patients (mean age 63 years; 67.5% of men). They completed several measures 1, 6 and 12 months after dialysis initiation. The scales used were the Family Relationship Index and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Perceived adherence to nutritional guidelines was assessed using two visual analogical scales. Results showed that family relations remained stable over time. Cluster analysis yielded three family profiles, which were named conflict, communicative and supportive families. Patients belonging to conflict families perceived themselves as less adhering to nutritional guidelines. For these patients, anxiety and depressive moods increased significantly over time, whereas mental health remained stable over time for communicative and supportive families. This research underlines that family relations are essential in global consideration of the care of patients treated by dialysis. Conflict families seem especially at risk. They should be identified early to help them adapt to this stressful treatment.     

In the Dock: Chimeric Image Composites Reduce Identification Accuracy

The aim of presenting chimeric images (formed from opposing halves of a pair of same or different faces) in court settings is to optimise the accuracy of identification decisions based on CCTV evidence. The experiments reported here examined the utility of this technique. Experiment 1 examined the accuracy of face matching with vertically split, aligned chimeric images, misaligned hemi‐faces and full‐face images. Experiment 2 replicated the first experiment but replaced the misaligned images with opposing hemi‐faces separated by a gap. The final experiment used horizontally split faces. All three experiments showed that matching was less accurate with aligned chimeric images than with full‐face images. Furthermore, the pattern of responses obtained with chimeric images differed significantly from full‐face matching and misaligned/separated hemi‐face matching. Chimeric images produced a bias towards same responses even when the face halves were different. The results suggest caution in the use of chimeric images in court. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implicit Memory in Korsakoff’s Syndrome: A Review of Procedural Learning and Priming Studies

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) is characterized by dense anterograde amnesia resulting from damage to the diencephalon region, typically resulting from chronic alcohol abuse and thiamine deficiency. This review assesses the integrity of the implicit memory system in KS, focusing on studies of procedural learning and priming. KS patients are impaired on several measures of procedural memory, most likely due to impairment in cognitive functions associated with alcohol-related neural damage outside of the diencephalon. The pattern of performance on tasks of implicit priming suggests reliance on a residual, non-flexible memory operating more or less in an automatic fashion. Our review concludes that whether measures of implicit memory reveal intact or impaired performance in individuals with KS depends heavily on specific task parameters and demands, including timing between stimuli, the specific nature of the stimuli used in a task, and the integrity of supportive cognitive functions necessary for performance.     

Attention failures versus misplaced diligence: separating attention lapses from speed-accuracy trade-offs

In two studies of a GO-NOGO task assessing sustained attention, we examined the effects of (1) altering speed-accuracy trade-offs through instructions (emphasizing both speed and accuracy or accuracy only) and (2) auditory alerts distributed throughout the task. Instructions emphasizing accuracy reduced errors and changed the distribution of GO trial RTs. Additionally, correlations between errors and increasing RTs produced a U-function; excessively fast and slow RTs accounted for much of the variance of errors. Contrary to previous reports, alerts increased errors and RT variability. The results suggest that (1) standard instructions for sustained attention tasks, emphasizing speed and accuracy equally, produce errors arising from attempts to conform to the misleading requirement for speed, which become conflated with attention-lapse produced errors and (2) auditory alerts have complex, and sometimes deleterious, effects on attention. We argue that instructions emphasizing accuracy provide a more precise assessment of attention lapses in sustained attention tasks.     

Teaching College in the Time of COVID-19: Gender and Race Differences in Faculty Emotional Labor

Sex Roles - The COVID-19 pandemic placed new teaching demands upon faculty that may have exacerbated existing race and gender disparities in the amount of emotional labor they perform. The present...     

Agreeableness and Conscientiousness promote successful adaptation to the Covid-19 pandemic through effective internalization of public health guidelines

Motivation and Emotion - Social distancing (SD) was an effective way of reducing virus transmission during the deadly and highly infectious COVID-19 pandemic. Using a prospective longitudinal...