“A Tiger Behind, and Coming up Fast”: Governmentality and the Politics of Population Control in China

China has a growing superaging population, known colloquially as a tiger behind. This phenomenon has been traditionally analyzed by conventional social science methodology as a question of resource allocation to a burgeoning elderly population. However, population policies in China have emerged as key vehicles used to legitimize and position the identities that older people adopt. They contain specific yet continually changing technologies that function to mediate relations between older people and the Chinese state. They also represent an increase in state control that can be exerted on lifestyles in family form and older age and thus, the wider social meanings associated with that part of society and lifecourse. This article briefly summarizes the empirical detail and context of superaging in China, presenting an original theoretical analysis based on a reading of the work of Michel Foucault. The interrelationship between the Chinese government and older people is identified in terms of Foucault's (1978) and Rose and Miller's (1992) concept of governmentality. The article highlights how and why older people are the subjects of the Chinese state's gaze.     

ON THE INABILITY OF INTERVAL TIME SAMPLING TO REFLECT FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE DATA1

Interval time sampling yields the result, percentage of intervals scored. It is rudimentary to note that this measure per se does not constitute a response dimension. It is a useful behavioral measure, therefore, only to the extent that it accurately reflects the nature and degree of the fundamental dimensions from which it is drawn i.e., frequency and duration. The correspondence between scored intervals and response duration is fairly well understood (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1975, 8 , 463–469; 1977, 10 , 325–332). This study determined the correspondence between scored intervals and response frequency. Eleven, 30-minute experimental sessions that differed along the variables of frequency of occurrence and time per response (the average length of a response per session) were computer simulated. In the first group of four sessions, the frequencies were 45, 100, 150, and 300; in these sessions, all responses ranged from one to three seconds. In the second group of four sessions, the frequencies were 31, 61, 101, and 152; in these sessions, all responses ranged from three to nine seconds. In the last group of three sessions, the frequencies were 25, 34, and 50; here, all responses ranged from nine to 27 seconds. The response distribution within the above ranges was rectangular, with each whole second represented once. The responses were selected by a random number generator, and on each trial every number in the distribution had an equal probability of occurrence. These provisions produced a linear pattern of responding. The time per response in the three groups of sessions were 2, 6, and 18 seconds. For all sessions, event recordings were made and analyzed. The analysis consisted of using partial interval time sampling to determine the percentage of intervals scored; this total was subdivided into intervals containing (1) single responses, (2) multiple responses, (3) continuing responses, and (4) response initiations or terminations. The analysis was performed when the length of the observation interval was 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, and 120 seconds. An additional session drawn from a study that contained real-life data was subjected to this same analysis. The most significant results were derived by finding the ratio of scored intervals containing single responses to the total intervals scored. If every scored interval contained a single response, this ratio would equal 1.0; if no scored interval contained a single response, the ratio would be 0.0. It can be seen that this ratio is an objective expression of the validity of interval time sampling as a measure of response frequency. Of 66 data points (11 sessions × six observation lengths per session), only five were equal to or greater than 0.80. These five points were all found in just two sessions (f = 45, 100). A validity index of less than 0.50 was observed in 49 of the 66 points. Also, the validity index increased, peaked, and then decreased within sessions as the length of the observation interval was increased. The results from the real-life session were in close agreement with those obtained from the simulations. The importance of these and previous findings lies in the demonstration that changes in scored intervals need not represent true behavior change. The data indicate that there are many combinations of behavioral frequency and duration where interval time sampling cannot produce valid measurement results.     

A proposed index of the conformity of one sociometric measurement to another

An index is proposed to measure the extent of agreement of the data of a sociometric test with another test made at an earlier time or on another test criterion. The index is used to define an index of concordancebetween the two tests. It is shown how the index may be used for either individuals or groups. Tests of the hypothesis that agreement is random are given for all cases and applied to an example.Work done under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research.     

An Investigation of Stereotype Threat in Employment Tests1

This investigation extends stereotype threat research by examining its effect on sex and ethnicity in employment testing. Study 1 used archival data from a company‐specific cognitive ability test, demonstrating score increases (greater for some minorities) when applicants completed demographic items after a cognitive skills test, rather than before the test. The first experiment (Study 2) used college students taking the same company‐specific test with inconclusive results. Possible reasons dictated the design of a second experiment with a college population (Study 3). This study used the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT) and investigated priming through positioning of demographic items, as well as high/low threat. Positioning of the demographic items after the WPT was associated with an increase in test scores.     

Impulsivity predicts treatment outcome in obese children

Treatment for obesity is still running short, particularly on the long term. However, some people do take advantage of treatments and are able to retain their weight loss. What makes the difference between those who can keep their weight loss and those who cannot? One possible predictor of relapse in obesity treatment is impulsivity. Overall, obese people are found to be more impulsive than lean people, especially obese binge eaters. Intuitively, it would make sense that the most impulsive people are less able to keep control over eating behaviour. Therefore, impulsivity could serve as an obstacle for treatment. In the present study impulsivity was measured with a behavioural task (the stop signal task) in 26 obese children. Overweight of the children was measured before and after treatment and at 6 and 12 months follow ups. The results show that impulsivity was related to overweight at all moments: The most impulsive children were the most overweight ones; even after 12 months. Moreover, impulsivity predicted therapy success: the most impulsive children lost less weight. Impulsivity appears to contribute to the difference between succeeding or failing in attempts to lose weight.     

A Case Study of the Coping Power Program for Angry and Aggressive Youth

This paper illustrates the application of the Coping Power program with an 11-year-old boy and his father. Coping Power is a manualized preventive intervention for school-age children at-risk for disruptive and delinquent behavior. Cognitive-behavioral techniques are taught in separate child and parent groups to improve children’s social and emotional competencies. This case study highlights the core content of the Coping Power child and parent intervention components, the contextual social cognitive risk factors that the program targets, and the empirical support for the program’s effectiveness.     

Training AIDS and Anger Prevention Social Skills in At‐Risk Adolescents

Youth in alternative schools often engage in high rates of risk behaviors for AIDS and violence. This study included 42 youth, ages 13 to 18, from alternative schools in San Diego, CA, and tested the effectiveness of behavioral skills training based on the Behavioral‐Ecological Model. Two interventions were evaluated: one teaching condom use skills and the other teaching anger management skills. Changes in most skills were significant at postintervention but were not maintained at 6 months. Few risk‐related attitudes or behaviors improved at 6 months for either group.     

Criminal Crews,Codes, and Contexts: Differences and Similarities across the Code of the Street,Convict Code,Street Gangs,and Prison Gangs

We use 16 characterizations of crews, codes, and contexts to determine if offender subcultures (code of the street, convict code, street and prison gangs) converge, complement, or are independent of one another. We find extensive overlap across offender subcultures with “belief” subcultures in street and prison settings mirroring the “group” subcultures in those respective settings. Findings generate a call for comparative research on the convergences and divergences across subcultures on the street and in prisons with a specific emphasis on the impact that importation, deprivation, and exportation have on policy and programming importation for both the street and prison settings.     

Noise-robust fixation detection in eye movement data: Identification by two-means clustering (I2MC)

Eye-tracking research in infants and older children has gained a lot of momentum over the last decades. Although eye-tracking research in these participant groups has become easier with the advance of the remote eye-tracker, this often comes at the cost of poorer data quality than in research with well-trained adults (Hessels, Andersson, Hooge, Nyström, & Kemner Infancy, 20, 601–633, 2015; Wass, Forssman, & Leppänen Infancy, 19, 427–460, 2014). Current fixation detection algorithms are not built for data from infants and young children. As a result, some researchers have even turned to hand correction of fixation detections (Saez de Urabain, Johnson, & Smith Behavior Research Methods, 47, 53–72, 2015). Here we introduce a fixation detection algorithm—identification by two-means clustering (I2MC)—built specifically for data across a wide range of noise levels and when periods of data loss may occur. We evaluated the I2MC algorithm against seven state-of-the-art event detection algorithms, and report that the I2MC algorithm’s output is the most robust to high noise and data loss levels. The algorithm is automatic, works offline, and is suitable for eye-tracking data recorded with remote or tower-mounted eye-trackers using static stimuli. In addition to application of the I2MC algorithm in eye-tracking research with infants, school children, and certain patient groups, the I2MC algorithm also may be useful when the noise and data loss levels are markedly different between trials, participants, or time points (e.g., longitudinal research).     

A secreted form of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (sAPP695) improves spatial recognition memory in OF1 mice

The beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and appears to be a multifunctional protein. Secreted forms of APP (sAPP) have memory-enhancing effects in certain behavioral paradigms. To investigate sAPP's role in spatial memory processes, we adapted a spatial recognition task and evaluated (1) the performance of OF1 mice after massed training (single 15-min acquisition session) and distributed training (three 5-min acquisition sessions), (2) the decline of spatial recognition performance by introducing different delays (5min, 1, 3, and 24h) between the acquisition and retention phases, and (3) the effects of sAPP(695) on spatial recognition memory. In the present study, mice selectively reacted to a change in the spatial configuration of five objects. Indeed, 3min post-acquisition, mice performed similarly in the massed and distributed versions of the task, by re-exploring the two displaced objects only, whereas mice exposed to the same spatial configuration did not. Additionally, all mice did react to a novel object in a subsequent object recognition phase. Mice detected object displacements 5min, 1h, or 3h post-acquisition, but no more at a 24h-delay. Finally, mice treated with sAPP(695) intracerebroventricularly at a dose of 0.5pg/4microL/mouse, 20-min pre-acquisition or 5-min post-acquisition, still reacted to a spatial change in objects position 24h post-acquisition, in marked contrast to NaCl-treated mice. Our data demonstrate that sAPP(695) significantly improves a form of spatial memory, and confirms the hypothesis of an action of this protein on early memory processes.