Entitled to Speak: Talk in the Classroom

For young children, learning begins in conversation contexts such as schools. The author of this paper contends that talk activities are fundamental to future knowledge and understanding. Implicit is critique of a current British model that values the practice of speaking through effective talk. This view is contrasted to one centered on expressive speech and authentic listening.     

cTRAIN: A computer-aided training system developed in SuperCard for teaching skills using behavioral education principles

A computer-aided training program was developed in SuperCard and piloted with professional painters. Taking a modern programmed-instruction/behavioral-education approach, cTRAIN is structured as a series ofinformation sets. Each information set consists of a series of informationscreens (three to five recommended) followed by quiz screens (one to three recommended) structured as fourresponse multiple choice questions. Correct quiz responses produce positive feedback and continuation in the series, whereas incorrect responses result in “error“ feedback and return the student to the beginning of the information set to repeat the same information screens and the same quiz question. This report demonstrates a specific implementation, respiratory protection requirements, using the flexible cTRAIN system for developing training modules. Fifteen adults completed the respiratory protection program, demonstrating substantial and significant (p < .0001 by pairedt test) gains from baseline pretest (19.4 out of 30 questions) to the immediate posttest (28.1). Performance remained elevated (26.4) on a retest taken 1 week later.     

Dealing with the long-term social implications of research

Biomedical and behavioral research may affect strongly held social values and thereby create significant controversy over whether such research should be permitted in the first place. Institutional review boards (IRBs) responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of participants in research are sometimes faced with review of protocols that have significant implications for social policy and the potential for negative social consequences. Although IRB members often raise concerns about potential long-term social implications in protocol review, federal regulations strongly discourage IRBs from considering them in their decisions. Yet IRBs often do consider the social implications of research protocols and sometimes create significant delays in initiating or even prevent such research. The social implications of research are important topics for public scrutiny and professional discussion. This article examines the reasons that the federal regulations preclude IRBs from assessing the social risks of research, and examines alternative approaches that have been used with varying success by national advisory groups to provide such guidance. The article concludes with recommendations for characteristics of a national advisory group that could successfully fulfill this need, including sustainability, independence, diverse and relevant expertise, and public transparency.     

Decision-making under risk conditions is susceptible to interference by a secondary executive task

Recent research suggests two ways of making decisions: an intuitive and an analytical one. The current study examines whether a secondary executive task interferes with advantageous decision-making in the Game of Dice Task (GDT), a decision-making task with explicit and stable rules that taps executive functioning. One group of participants performed the original GDT solely, two groups performed either the GDT and a 1-back or a 2-back working memory task as a secondary task simultaneously. Results show that the group which performed the GDT and the secondary task with high executive load (2-back) decided less advantageously than the group which did not perform a secondary executive task. These findings give further evidence for the view that decision-making under risky conditions taps into the rational-analytical system which acts in a serial and not parallel way as performance on the GDT is disturbed by a parallel task that also requires executive resources.     

Zur Altersabh?ngigkeit von Risikovariablen bei Sexualdelinquenz

Based on a sample of 612 male sex offenders, this study examined the latent dimensions of actuarial risk variables, their age-related development and their age-related relevance for the prediction of sexual recidivism within a follow-up period of 5 years. According to the work of Roberts et al. [25] 8 items from Static-99 and Risk Matrix 2000 were examined for their underlying factor structure. The result was a 3-factor solution, which accounted for 63% of the variance and largely replicated the previous findings by Roberts et al. [25]. Following these authors the three scales sexual deviance, dissociality and detachment were calculated from the risk variables and examined in detail. The analysis revealed an increase in sexually deviant personality traits with advancing age of the offenders at the beginning of the follow-up period. No age-related changes were observed in dissocial characteristics. Concerning the detachment scale a negative correlation with the offenders age was apparent. All three risk scales proved to be prognostically relevant in the total sample. On closer examination, however, only sexual deviance showed prognostic relevance in all age groups. In contrast, dissociality was only relevant for the prediction of sexual recidivism in the older offender groups and detachment only in the younger offender groups.     

Watching pornographic pictures on the Internet: role of sexual arousal ratings and psychological-psychiatric symptoms for using Internet sex sites excessively

Excessive or addictive Internet use can be linked to different online activities, such as Internet gaming or cybersex. The usage of Internet pornography sites is one important facet of online sexual activity. The aim of the present work was to examine potential predictors of a tendency toward cybersex addiction in terms of subjective complaints in everyday life due to online sexual activities. We focused on the subjective evaluation of Internet pornographic material with respect to sexual arousal and emotional valence, as well as on psychological symptoms as potential predictors. We examined 89 heterosexual, male participants with an experimental task assessing subjective sexual arousal and emotional valence of Internet pornographic pictures. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and a modified version of the IAT for online sexual activities (IATsex), as well as several further questionnaires measuring psychological symptoms and facets of personality were also administered to the participants. Results indicate that self-reported problems in daily life linked to online sexual activities were predicted by subjective sexual arousal ratings of the pornographic material, global severity of psychological symptoms, and the number of sex applications used when being on Internet sex sites in daily life, while the time spent on Internet sex sites (minutes per day) did not significantly contribute to explanation of variance in IATsex score. Personality facets were not significantly correlated with the IATsex score. The study demonstrates the important role of subjective arousal and psychological symptoms as potential correlates of development or maintenance of excessive online sexual activity.     

Identifying Barriers and Catalysts to Fostering Pro-Environmental Behavior: Opportunities and Challenges for Community Psychology

In this paper, we report on an exploratory study of perceived barriers and catalysts to increasing pro-environmental behavior among people associated with the environmental movement. Perceived barriers include time, money, low efficacy and hopelessness. Catalysts focus on changing social norms, especially through education and institutional support. We discuss the tragedy of the commons and free-riding as impediments to change. We use this study as an entryway to hypothesize opportunities and challenges that community psychologists face in motivating and supporting actions to reduce the impact of global climate change. We provide examples of how community psychologists can foster these changes. In short, we argue that community psychology is well positioned to take a leading role in the fight for a carbon neutral future.     

Rape Myths: History, Individual and Institutional-Level Presence, and Implications for Change

Rape myths, which are present at both the individual and institutional/societal levels, are one way in which sexual violence has been sustained and justified throughout history. In light of an increasing accumulation of rape myth research across a variety of disciplines, this paper proposes to use a feminist lens to provide an overview of the historical origins of rape myths, to document the current manifestations of these myths in American society, and to summarize the current body of research literature. We focus on the history of several specific rape myths (i.e., ??husbands cannot rape their wives,?? ??women enjoy rape,?? ??women ask to be raped,?? and ??women lie about being raped??) and how these particular myths permeate current legal, religious, and media institutions (despite their falsehood). The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and describes how existing evidence could be used to aid in eradicating rape myths at both the individual and institutional levels.     

The impact of a stress induction task on tic frequencies in youth with Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Tic fluctuations are common and thought to be attributable in part, to contextual variables. Stress is one such variable, but its effects and mechanism of action are poorly understood. The current study measured the effects of a stress induction task on tic frequencies during periods of suppression and non-suppression of tics. Ten youth with TS between the ages of 9 and 17 were exposed to four conditions in random sequence: free-to-tic baseline (BL), reinforced tic suppression (SUP), reinforced tic suppression plus a stress induction task (SUP + STRESS), and a stress induction task alone (STRESS). Tic frequencies did not differ during STRESS and BL. Tic frequencies were greater in SUP + STRESS than SUP. Stress may impact tics through disrupting suppression efforts. Clinically, results suggest that interventions designed to improve tic inhibition in the presence of acute stressors may be beneficial.     

The use of the bared-teeth display during play fighting in Tonkean macaques (Macaca tonkeana): sometimes it is all about oneself

Play signals are viewed as important means by which animals inform each other that bites, strikes, and throws that occur during play fighting are indeed playful rather than serious. One such signal is the open mouth play face that is common in primates and many other mammals. Unfortunately, as most play fighting involves biting, it can be ambiguous as to whether any instance of opening the mouth is performed to communicate playful intent or is simply a preparation for biting. In this study, open mouths co-occurring with the bared-teeth display (teeth-baring) in Tonkean macaques were used to assess the context in which facial gestures only relevant for signaling (i.e., teeth-baring is not necessary for biting) are used during play. Two predictions arising from the hypothesis that play signals are used to facilitate playful contact were tested: that the open mouth with teeth-baring should (1) be most frequent preceding contact, and (2) that it should be performed most often when bites are directed at orientations that is visible to the recipient. The data only partially support these predictions. The open mouth with teeth-baring is also frequently used when a monkey withdraws from playful contact. Moreover, it is associated with bites to body targets, such as the rump, that offer little prospect for detection by the recipient; this supports the possibility that play signals may sometimes be emitted not to communicate with the partner but with the performer itself. Thus, play signals serve multiple functions during play fighting.