Demographic factors and playing variables in online computer gaming.

Despite the growing popularity of online game playing, there has been no primary survey of its players. Therefore, an online questionnaire survey was used to examine basic demographic factors of online computer game players who played the popular online game Everquest (i.e., gender, age, marital status, nationality, education level, occupation). The survey also examined playing frequency (i.e., amount of time spent playing the game a week), playing history (i.e., how long they had been playing the game, who they played the game with, whether they had ever gender swapped their game character), the favorite and least favorite aspects of playing the game, and what they sacrifice (if anything) to play the game. Results showed that 81% of online game players were male, and that the mean age of players was 27.9 years of age. For many players, the social aspects of the game were the most important factor in playing. A small minority of players appear to play excessively (over 80 h a week), and results suggest that a small minority sacrifice important activities in order to play (e.g., sleep, time with family and/or partner, work, or schooling).     

Keeping a Place for Metaethics: Assessing Elliot's Dismissal of the Subjectivism/Objectivism Debate in Environmental Ethics

Abstract: Robert Elliot claims that the metaethical distinction between subjectivism and objectivism is unimportant in environmental ethics. He argues that because a sufficiently sophisticated subjectivist can accommodate all the intrinsic value an objectivist can, even in apparently problematic situations where humans either do not exist or do not have the relevant values, and because metaethical commitments fail to have any normative or motivational impact on rational debate, it makes no difference whether an environmental ethicist is a subjectivist or an objectivist. Elliot's dismissal, however, is unjustified. As it turns out, objectivists argue differently from the way subjectivists do, are motivated differently from the way subjectivists are, and are able to make a greater range of intrinsic value claims than subjectivists are. If Elliot's arguments have any appeal at all, it is only because he blurs the fundamental metaethical distinction in the first place and defends a subjectivism so objectivist that it is almost unrecognizable as subjectivism.     

Pediatric Predispositional Genetic Risk Communication: Potential Utility for Prevention and Control of Melanoma Risk as an Exemplar

Predispositional genetic testing among minor children is intensely debated due to the potential benefits and harms of providing this type of genetic information to children and their families. Existing guidelines on pediatric genetic testing state that predispositional testing could be appropriate for minors if preventive services exist that mitigate children’s risk for or severity of the health condition in question. We use the example of hereditary melanoma to illustrate the rationale for and potential application of genetic risk communication for an adult-onset cancer to a pediatric population where childhood behaviors may reduce risk of disease later in life. We draw from the adult melanoma genetic risk communication and pediatric health behavior change literatures to suggest ways in which genetic test reporting and complementary education could be delivered to children who carry a hereditary risk for melanoma and their families in order to foster children’s engagement in melanoma preventive behaviors. Genetic discoveries will continue to yield new opportunities to provide predispositional genetic risk information to unaffected individuals, including children, and could be delivered within programs that provide personalized and translational approaches to cancer prevention.     

Preliminary evidence that the limbal ring influences facial attractiveness

The limbal ring of the eye appears as a dark annulus where the iris meets the sclera. Both width and opacity of the limbal ring are influenced by iris pigmentation and optical properties of the region. With age the limbal ring becomes less prominent, making it a probabilistic indicator of youth and health. This raises the question: Are judgments of facial attractiveness sensitive to this signal in a potentially adaptive way? Here we show that the answer is yes. For male and female observers, both male and female faces with a dark and distinct limbal ring are rated as more attractive than otherwise identical faces with no limbal ring. This result is observed not just for upright faces but also for inverted faces, suggesting that the limbal ring is processed primarily as a local feature rather than as a configural feature in the analysis of facial beauty. We also discuss directions for future research that can clarify the role of the limbal ring in the visual perception of facial attractiveness.     

Association of the DAT1 genotype with inattentive behavior is mediated by reading ability in a general population sample

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disability (RD) frequently co-occur in the child population and therefore raise the possibility of shared genetic etiology. We used a quantitative trait loci (QTL) approach to assess the involvement of the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene polymorphism in mediating reading disability and poor attention in a general population sample of primary school children aged 6-11 years in the UK. The potential confounding effects of IQ and chronological age were also investigated. We found an independent association between the homozygous DAT1 10/10 repeat genotype and RD that was not accounted for by the level of ADHD symptoms. This finding suggests that the DAT1 gene polymorphism may influence a common neural mechanism underlying both reading acquisition and ADHD symptoms.     

Extending the metatheoretical framework of social/political influence to leadership: Political skill effects on situational appraisals,responses, and evaluations by others

Building off and extending the metatheoretical framework of political skill, we examined the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms through which the intrapsychic effects of political skill inform its interpersonal effects, and how these interpersonal effects ultimately are transmitted into desirable outcomes. Specifically, we argue that politically skilled leaders demonstrate better situational appraisals (i.e., understanding), and thus, more appropriate situational responses (e.g., consideration and initiating structure behaviors); the demonstration of appropriate situational responses is argued to positively affect subordinates’ evaluations of their leaders (i.e., instrumentality) and subordinates’ concomitant attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction) and behaviors (e.g., performance). Results provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, leader understanding mediated the relationship between political skill and consideration but not the relationship between political skill and structuring behaviors. Moreover, consideration was positively related to subordinates’ group-level instrumentality perceptions, whereas initiating structure was not. Finally, subordinates’ individual (within-level) perceptions of leader instrumentality were positively related to job satisfaction and performance. The implications of these findings as they relate to theory and practice are discussed along with this investigation's strengths, limitations, and directions for future research.     

African–American Religious Affiliation in the Late 20th Century: Cohort Variations and Patterns of Switching, 1973–1998

This article investigates shifts in religious affiliation among African Americans over the last three decades and across cohorts. I examine data from the 1973–1998 General Social Surveys to analyze denominational growth and decline, and patterns of religious switching. I compare variations in religious loyalty/switching and patterns of mobility across eight salient religious groupings; cohort variations are tested across pre– and post–civil rights cohorts. I examine a range of log–linear and log–multiplicative models to summarize patterns of switching and to see whether patterns vary across cohorts. I find that the "black mainline" Methodist and Baptist denominations lose members from switching and have lower market share because of the ascendance of conservative sects. Further, nonaffiliation is growing, particularly in the post–civil rights cohort. I found no variations in patterns of mobility over time or across cohorts—only in the rates of switching that drive the levels of mobility.     

A Sociological Assessment of Centenarians from Central Illinois Cemeteries, 1825–1985

Centenarians, the fastest growing age group in the United States, recently have become the focus of medical and social research. However, historically, little is known of centenarians beyond anecdotal narrative. This research identifies 60 centenarians from 55,914 burials between 1825 and 1985 in a single Midwest county. These centenarians are compared to a sample of burials from the same county and time span, and to patterns of current centenarians. The prevalence of centenarians, historically, compares more favorably with current prevalence rates than anticipated, suggesting regional concentrations of the oldest old. Racial crossover was found, as anticipated, but historically, centenarians were not as disproportionately female as is the contemporary centenarian population. Seasonal death patterns of centenarians are similar to, but more exaggerated than, the seasonal patterns of younger elderly. Finally, findings suggest that centenarians came from larger families than noncentenarians, and that these families experienced greater longevity.     

Turning an advantage into a disadvantage: Ambiguity effects in lexical decision versus reading tasks

When performing a lexical decision task, participants can correctly categorize letter strings as words faster if they have multiple meanings (i.e., ambiguous words) than if they have one meaning (i.e., unambiguous words). In contrast, when reading connected text, participants tend to fixate longer on ambiguous words than on unambiguous words. Why are ambiguous words at an advantage in one word recognition task, and at a disadvantage in another? These disparate results can be reconciled if it is assumed that ambiguous words are relatively fast to reach a semantic-blend state sufficient for supporting lexical decisions, but then slow to escape the blend when the task requires a specific meaning be retrieved. We report several experiments that support this possibility.