Familiarity seekers are fast and novelty seekers are slow

Christie and Klein (1995) demonstrated that a familiar item (word) rapidly attracts attention when presented simultaneously with an unfamiliar item (nonword). However, this finding has never been replicated. The current study is an attempt at such a replication. Participants were presented a familiar word and unfamiliar nonword in the experimental condition. At varying times after stimulus onset one of the items moved, and the participant reported the direction of the movement. A replication of Christie and Klein would be obtained if performance was better for movement discrimination of the familiar item shortly after onset but not at later intervals. The original finding was replicated in fast participants while slower participants show a different effect. A potential individual difference variable is suggested to explain this difference between the fast and slow participants.     

Behavior Problems in Young Children With or At Risk for Developmental Delay

We examined the prevalence of behavior problems and their relationship to child, parent, and family factors in 76 children with or at risk for developmental delay. Parents reported that 42% of the children had behavior problems. Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) scores revealed that 25% of the sample scored above the borderline cutoff. Although the total, externalizing, and internalizing mean CBC scores did not differ from the normative group (same-aged peers without developmental delay), each of the syndrome subscales was significantly higher in the study group. The Reiss Scales for Children's Dual Diagnosis revealed that, as compared to older children (4 years) with developmental delay, the study sample scored significantly lower on the total score and 8 of the 10 subscales. Increased CBC total scores were significantly related to dependency and management of the child, birth weight, gestational length, paternal illness, maternal depression, perceived personal burden of care, maternal escape-avoidance coping strategy, family disharmony, and financial stress. CBC total scores were significantly negatively correlated with being of a multiple birth, paternal education, maternal employment, two-parent family, family social support, and family income. Multiple regression analyses revealed that an empirically-derived combination of child, parent, and family variables accounted for 31% of the variance in CBC total scores. Our findings suggest that 2-year old children with or at-risk for developmental delay may already be showing signs of increased risk of behavior problems relative to peers without developmental delay. We identified several child, parent, and family variables that may help to pinpoint children at increased riskxs for psychopathology.     

Individual and group psychotherapy with infertile couples

After reviewing some of the relevant literature, the writers proceed to describe a new development in psychotherapy for couples presenting with relatively unexplained infertility. Several couples who had failed to achieve conception (despite the use of assisted reproductive techniques and personal psychotherapy) were brought together into a supportive-expressive group led by the writers, an experienced analytic cotherapy couple. An interesting outcome is described, and mention made of current plans for a future research project.     

Age-related differences and similarities in dual-task interference

Differences between younger adults (mean age, 20.7 years) and older adults (mean age, 72.7 years) in dual-task performance were examined in 7 experiments in which the overlap between 2 simple tasks was systematically varied. The results were better fit by a task-switching model in which age was assumed to produce generalized slowing than by a shared-capacity model in which age was assumed to reduce processing resources. The functional architecture of task processing appears the same in younger and older adults. There was no evidence for a specific impairment in the ability of older adults to manage simultaneous tasks. There was evidence for both input and output interference, which may be greater in older adults.     

Relationships between physical exercise and cognitive abilities in older adults

We investigated relationships between physical exercise and the cognitive abilities of older adults. We hypothesized that the performance of vigorous exercisers would be superior to that of sedentary individuals on measures of reasoning, working memory, and reaction time. We gave a series of cognitive tasks to 62 older men and women who exercised vigorously and 62 sedentary men and women. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance, with age and education as covariates, indicated that the performance of the exercisers was significantly better on measures of reasoning, working memory, and reaction time. Between-group differences persisted when vocabulary, on which the performance of exercisers was superior, was used as a third covariate. Subsequent analyses showed that neither self-rated health, medical conditions, nor medications contributed to the differences between exercise groups. Results suggest that the possible contribution of physical exercise to individual differences in cognition among older adults should be further investigated.     

Careers guidance and social mobility in UK higher education: practitioner perspectives

This paper reveals findings from a small-scale research project which explored how university careers advisers experience their role in guiding clients within a labour market where barriers to social mobility prevail. The research discovers that advisers' daily work gives them a depth of insight into social mobility. The professional turbulence in which advisers operate and the evolution of their role from in-depth work to a focus on breadth is chronicled. University environments vary with regard to the scope advisers have to impact lives, but a strong set of values anchors them. Recommendations are made with regard to how high quality careers information, advice and guidance can support social mobility for traditionally disadvantaged students into the labour market.     

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Positive memories tend to hold their affective intensity across time better than negative memories, a phenomenon referred to as the fading affect bias (FAB). An initial study explored this bias in the context of parents' affective responses to memories involving their children. Specifically, parents (N = 90 for Study 1) were asked to recall three positive events and three negative events involving their children. Next, parents rated how positively or negatively they felt when each event occurred and at recall. Results revealed that parents at high risk of physical child abuse showed a smaller FAB than low‐risk parents. The smaller FAB effect observed among high‐risk parents occurred largely because affect associated with negative child‐related events faded minimally over time. This risk moderation effect did not emerge in a second study in which parents (N = 90 for Study 2) recalled general events that were not limited to events involving children. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.