Authorship Matrix: A Rational Approach to Quantify Individual Contributions and Responsibilities in Multi-Author Scientific Articles

We propose a rational method for addressing an important question—who deserves to be an author of a scientific article? We review various contentious issues associated with this question and recommend that the scientific community should view authorship in terms of contributions and responsibilities, rather than credits. We propose a new paradigm that conceptually divides a scientific article into four basic elements: ideas, work, writing, and stewardship. We employ these four fundamental elements to modify the well-known International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines. The modified ICMJE guidelines are then used as the basis to develop an approach to quantify individual contributions and responsibilities in multi-author articles. The outcome of the approach is an authorship matrix, which can be used to answer several nagging questions related to authorship.     

The role of feedback and dot presentation format in younger and older adults’ number estimation

Numerosity estimation, the rapid assessment of the number of items in a visual scene, is historically inaccurate. We assessed whether providing feedback regarding the correct numerosity on either 0%, 50%, or 100% of the trials would affect younger and older adults’ estimation accuracy for randomized, clustered (i.e., groups of 3 or 7 dots), and stacked (i.e., column) dot formats. Participants provided estimates and confidence ratings in six blocks, each containing 48 trials (16 numerosities shown in each format). Feedback frequency was manipulated between participants during blocks 1–4; no feedback was provided during blocks 5 and 6, which contained old and new numerosities and previously estimated presentations rotated 90°. Estimation accuracy was age equivalent across blocks despite younger adults initially being more accurate than older adults. Feedback improved both age groups’ accuracy. Stacked presentations were most accurately estimated but were more likely to be over-estimated than clustered and randomized presentations. Older adults gave lower confidence ratings than younger adults despite both age groups showing increased confidence across blocks, for more structured presentation formats, and as feedback frequency increased. These results expand our understanding of the role of presentation format and feedback in producing age equivalence or age-related differences in numerosity estimation.     

Differential parenting and children's behavioral problems: curvilinear associations and mother-father combined effects

In this study the associations between mothers' and fathers' differential parenting and children's oppositional and emotional problems were examined. A curvilinear relationship between differential parenting and children's outcomes was hypothesized, as well as the combined effect of mothers' and fathers' parenting. Data came from a community sample of 599 two-parent families with multiple children per family and were analyzed using a cross-classified multilevel model. Results showed that both family average parenting and differential parenting explained unique variance in children's outcomes. The curvilinear hypothesis was supported for oppositional behavior but not for emotional problems. The effects of mother and father positivity were found to be additive for both family average parenting and differential parenting, but for negativity there was evidence for multiplicative effects.     

Mentoring: Processes and Perceptions of Sport and Exercise Psychology Graduate Students

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference programs address cultural diversity. A content analysis was conducted by analyzing 5214 AASP conference program abstracts from 1986 to 2007. Only 10.5% of all abstracts included discussion of a cultural diversity issue and 31.9% included a diverse sample. Of those abstracts that addressed cultural diversity issues, the majority addressed gender, with almost no attention to race and ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, social class, disability, or older adults. These results highlight the continuing neglect, but compelling need to address cultural diversity in sport and exercise psychology, and specifically within AASP programming.     

Comment les parents,les enseignants et les cliniciens évaluent les troubles du comportement externalisé du jeune enfant ? Étude de la variabilité des jugements évaluatifs et de son impact sur le développement de l’enfant

Present study aims at refining assessment of preschoolers’ behavior. Data was provided with questionnaires and observation on 118 preschoolers when recruited and 12 months later by their parents, their teachers and clinicians. The results confirmed high variations in informants’ ratings as well as negative effects of such variations regarding later child's development. The results imply the need for a multi-informant and multi-method assessment of preschoolers’ disruptive behavior. The implications of our findings for clinical purpose are discussed.     

Medical Ethics Education: A Survey of Opinion of Medical Students in a Nigerian University

In Nigeria, medical education remains focused on the traditional clinical and basic medical science components, leaving students to develop moral attitudes passively through observation and intuition. In order to ascertain the adequacy of this method of moral formations, we studied the opinions of medical students in a Nigerian university towards medical ethics training. Self administered semi-structured questionnaires were completed by final year medical students of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. There were 82 (64.1%) male and 44 (34.4%) female respondents. The median age was 26 years. Most students (80.5%) responded that they did not receive enough training in medical ethics. The ethics instructions they received did not sufficiently prepare them for the ethical challenges they came across as medical students. Though inadequate, the few hours of lecture and discussion on human values and professional etiquette which they received positively influenced their moral reasoning. They identified end-of-life issues, dealing with financial issues and handling socio-cultural beliefs of patients and relations as some challenges that medical doctors are ill-prepared for by their current training. Most, 85.9% believed that formal medical ethics education would be worthwhile as it would enhance the making of complete and better doctors. They recommended incorporating bioethics as a course in the medical school curriculum. Nigerian medical students encounter ethical challenges for which they have not been adequately trained to resolve. They recommended formal medical ethics training in their curriculum and a uniform bioethics programme in the country.     

Self-Efficacy Beliefs Amongst Parents of Young Children: Validation of a Self-Report Measure

The self-efficacy belief (SEB) concept is discussed in the context of parenting. A questionnaire, the Echelle Globale du Sentiment de Compétence Parentale (EGSCP), assessing several domain-specific SEBs and three related cognitive constructs, was developed with 705 French-speaking parents of 3- to 7-year-old children. The EGSCP displayed good psychometric properties. Age-related differences and differences between mothers and fathers illustrated the questionnaire’s discriminative properties. Relations were also found between EGSCP and several criterion variables: support, satisfaction, self-esteem and stress, childrearing behavior, and children’s social competence and behavior. The refinement of the SEB concept in the parenting context provides a more comprehensive view of both mothers’ and fathers’ cognition. The empirical and clinical implications of this are discussed.     

The role of feature type and causal status in 4–5-year-old children's biological categorizations

The present study investigated the role of the causal status of features and feature type in biological categorizations by young children. Study 1 showed that 5-year-olds are more strongly influenced by causal features than effect features; 4-year-olds exhibit no such tendency. There therefore appears to be a conceptual change between the ages of 4 and 5 in the evaluation of the causal relations between features that characterize biological categories. The aim of Study 2 was to identify the nature of the abstract beliefs that underlie children's categorial choices. Results show that 5-year-olds base category choices on causal features only when the status of the cause is associated with an internal feature and not if the feature is merely a surface feature. Children thus use biological knowledge to perform the task.