Decomposing the interaction between retention interval and study/test practice: the role of retrievability

Even without feedback, test practice enhances delayed performance compared to study practice, but the size of the effect is variable across studies. We investigated the benefit of testing, separating initially retrievable items from initially nonretrievable items. In two experiments, an initial test determined item retrievability. Retrievable or nonretrievable items were subsequently presented for repeated study or test practice. Collapsing across items, in Experiment 1, we obtained the typical cross-over interaction between retention interval and practice type. For retrievable items, however, the cross-over interaction was quantitatively different, with a small study benefit for an immediate test and a larger testing benefit after a delay. For nonretrievable items, there was a large study benefit for an immediate test, but one week later there was no difference between the study and test practice conditions. In Experiment 2, initially nonretrievable items were given additional study followed by either an immediate test or even more additional study, and one week later performance did not differ between the two conditions. These results indicate that the effect size of study/test practice is due to the relative contribution of retrievable and nonretrievable items.     

Self-report and startle-based measures of emotional reactions to body image cues as predictors of Drive for Thinness and Body Dissatisfaction in female college students

The purpose was to compare self-report and psychophysiological assessment techniques in the measurement of emotional response to body image cues. Female college students (n=53; % Caucasian=53.6; M body mass index=26.1 kg/m2) completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-3) and viewed photos of themselves both unaltered and morphed to simulate weight gain. Response to the photos was assessed by self-report and the affect modulated startle paradigm. EDI-3 Drive for Thinness (DT) and Body Dissatisfaction (BD) scale scores were correlated with startled amplitude for the largest simulated weight gain photo. Startle eye blink amplitude predicted more variance in DT and BD subscales than self-reported response to the image. The affect modulated startle paradigm may provide unique information in the assessment of eating disorder symptomatology that cannot be captured via self-report techniques, and has potential to inform evaluation of treatment outcomes of eating and body image disorders.     

The effect of study time distribution on learning and retention: a Goldilocks principle for presentation rate

In 2 experiments, we investigated the effect of presentation rate on both immediate (5 min) and delayed (2 days) cued recall of paired associates. Word pairs were presented for a total of 16 s per pair, with presentation duration of individual presentations varying from 1 to 16 s. In Experiment 1, participants studied word pairs with presentation rates of 16 × 1 s, 8 × 2 s, 4 × 4 s, 2 × 8 s, or 1 × 16 s. A nonmonotonic relationship was found between presentation rate and cued recall performance. Both short (e.g., 1 s) and long (e.g., 16 s) presentation durations resulted in poor immediate and delayed recall, compared with intermediate presentation durations. In Experiment 2, we replicated these general findings. Moreover, we showed that the 4 s condition resulted in less proportional forgetting than the 1 s and the 16 s conditions.     

Family members' unique perspectives of the family: examining their scope, size, and relations to individual adjustment

Using the McMaster Family Assessment Device (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983) and incorporating the perspectives of adolescent, mother, and father, this study examined each family member's "unique perspective" or nonshared, idiosyncratic view of the family. We used a modified multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis that (a) isolated for each family member's 6 reports of family dysfunction the nonshared variance (a combination of variance idiosyncratic to the individual and measurement error) from variance shared by 1 or more family members and (b) extracted common variance across each family member's set of nonshared variances. The sample included 128 families from a U.S. East Coast metropolitan area. Each family member's unique perspective generalized across his or her different reports of family dysfunction and accounted for a sizable proportion of his or her own variance in reports of family dysfunction. In addition, after holding level of dysfunction constant across families and controlling for a family's shared variance (agreement regarding family dysfunction), each family member's unique perspective was associated with his or her own adjustment. Future applications and competing alternatives for what these "unique perspectives" reflect about the family are discussed.     

Pediatrician Identification of Child Behavior Problems: The Roles of Parenting Factors and Cross-Practice Differences

While most primary care pediatricians acknowledge the importance of identifying child behavior problems, fewer than 2% of children with a diagnosable psychological disorder are referred for mental health care in any given year. The present study examined the potential role of parental characteristics (parental affect, parenting style, and parenting self-efficacy) in pediatrician identification of child behavior problems, and determined whether these relationships differed across practices. Parents of 831 children between 2 and 16 years completed questionnaires regarding demographic information, their child’s behavior, their affect, their parenting style, and their parenting self-efficacy. Pediatricians completed a brief questionnaire following visits in four community-based primary care practices in the Midwest. Logistic regressions controlling for child behavior and demographic predictors of pediatrician identification found that an authoritarian parenting style, in which parents yell or strongly negatively react to problem behavior, was negatively associated with likelihood of identification in the overall sample. However, the variables that were predictive of pediatrician identification differed depending on the specific practice. Parental characteristics can aid in understanding which children are likely to be identified by their pediatrician as having behavioral problems. The finding that practices differed on which variables were associated with pediatrician identification suggests the need to potentially individualize interventions to certain physicians and practices to improve identification of child behavior problems in primary care.     

Perceived physical competence and body image as predictors of perceived peer acceptance in adolescents

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among perceived physical competence, body image, and peer acceptance. Body image was considered as a possible mediator of the relationships between perceived physical competence and peer acceptance. Adolescents (N = 838) completed questionnaires. Direct and indirect effects of perceived physical competence and body image on perceived peer acceptance were explored using structural equation modelling. Gender differences were found and the structural mediation model was a reasonable fit to the data; the pattern of relationships in the model was different for adolescent males and females.     

Four‐year‐olds' beliefs about how others regard males and females

Children's awareness of how others evaluate their gender could influence their behaviours and well‐being, yet little is known about when this awareness develops and what influences its emergence. The current study investigated culturally diverse 4‐year‐olds' (N = 240) public regard for gender groups and whether exposure to factors that convey status and highlight gender influenced it. Children were asked whether most people thought (i) girls or boys, and (ii) women or men, were better. Overall, children thought others more positively evaluated their own gender. However more TV exposure and, among girls only, more traditional parental division of housework predicted children stating that others thought boys were better, suggesting more awareness of greater male status. Children's public regard was distinct from their personal attitudes.