System-justifying ideologies and academic outcomes among first-year Latino college students

The present study examines the relationship between system-justifying ideologies and academic outcomes among 78 first-year Latino college students (21 men, 57 women, mean age = 18.1 years) attending a moderately selective West Coast university. Endorsement of system-justifying ideologies was negatively associated with grade point average (GPA); however it was positively associated with feelings of belonging at the university. In addition, system-justifying ideologies were negatively associated with perceptions of personal discrimination. In contrast, ethnic identity centrality was unrelated to GPA, feelings of belonging, and perceptions of personal discrimination once the relationship between system-justifying ideologies and these outcomes was statistically taken into account. The results of the present study suggest that endorsement of system-justifying ideologies may be a double-edged sword for Latino college students, involving trade-offs between academic success and feelings of belonging.     

Temporal encoding strategies result in boosts to final free recall performance comparable to spatial ones

The method of loci is a highly effective mnemonic that recruits existing salient memory for spatial locations and uses the information as a scaffold for remembering a list of items (Yates, 1966). One possible account for the effectiveness of the spatial method of loci comes from the perspective that it utilizes evolutionarily preserved mechanisms for spatial navigation within the hippocampus (Maguire et al. in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(8), 4398–4403, 2000; O’Keefe & Nadel, 1978; Rodriguez et al. in Brain Research Bulletin, 57(3), 499–503, 2002). Recently, though, neurons representing temporal information have also been described within the hippocampus (Eichenbaum in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(11), 732–744, 2014; Itskov, Curto, Pastalkova, & Buzsáki in The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(8), 2828–2834, 2011; MacDonald, Lepage, Eden, & Eichenbaum in Neuron, 71(4), 737–749, 2011; Mankin et al. in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(47), 19462–19467, 2012; Meck, Church, & Matell in Behavioral Neuroscience, 127(5), 642, 2013), challenging the primacy of spatial-based functions to hippocampal processing. Given the presence of both spatial and temporal coding mechanisms within the hippocampus, we predicted that primarily temporal encoding strategies might also enhance memory. In two different experiments, we asked participants to learn lists of unrelated nouns using the (spatial) method of loci (i.e., the layout of their home as the organizing feature) or using two novel temporal methods (i.e., autobiographical memories or using the steps to making a sandwich). Participants’ final free recall performance showed comparable boosts to the method of loci for both temporal encoding strategies, with all three scaffolding approaches demonstrating performance well above uninstructed free recall. Our findings suggest that primarily temporal representations can be used effectively to boost memory performance, comparable to spatial methods, with some caveats related to the relative ease with which participants appear to master the spatial versus temporal methods.     

The affective consequences of cognitive inhibition: devaluation or neutralization?

Affective evaluations of previously ignored visual stimuli are more negative than those of novel items or prior targets of attention or response. This has been taken as evidence that inhibition has negative affective consequences. But inhibition could act instead to attenuate or "neutralize" preexisting affective salience, predicting opposite effects for stimuli that were initially positive or negative in valence. We tested this hypothesis by presenting trustworthy and untrustworthy faces (Experiment 1), strongly positive and negative photographs (Experiment 2), and monetary gain- and loss-associated patterns (Experiment 3) in a Go/No-Go task and assessing subsequent affective ratings. Evaluations of prior No-Go (inhibited) stimuli were more negative than of prior Go (noninhibited) stimuli, regardless of a priori affective valence. Ratings of No-Go stimuli also became increasingly negative (vs. increasingly neutral) when preexisting salience was increased via stimulus repetition (Experiment 4). Our results suggest inhibition leads to affective devaluation, not affective neutralization.     

Publication rates of male and female academic clinical psychologists in California

Compared here was the publication rate of men and women surveyed by mail (480 academic clinical psychologists in California) regarding number of publications, self-perception of their role of researcher versus teacher, variables related to research opportunity (grants, time spent in research), and type of institution in which they are employed. The men had 1.6 as many publications per year as did the women, and the semipartial correlation was -.21 for sex in the last step of a multiple regression and accounted for an additional 4% of the variance. Thus, the men published more, even when ostensible opportunities were controlled. For this sample variables of sex and self-perception of role of researcher versus teacher were more highly correlated with number of publications than were the research opportunity variables of grants, time spent in research, and type of academic institution of employment.     

Further Validation for the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire

This study further investigates the validity of the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith (SCSORF) questionnaire. Building and expanding upon prior research, the SCSORF, existing religiosity measures, mood, and personality adjustment scales were administered to three samples. Subjects included 290 university students and 232 recovering substance abusers. The results further validate the SCSORF as being a valid measure of strength of religious faith.     

An implicit technology of generalization

Traditionally, discrimination has been understood as an active process, and a technology of its procedures has been developed and practiced extensively. Generalization, by contrast, has been considered the natural result of failing to practice a discrimination technology adequately, and thus has remained a passive concept almost devoid of a technology. But, generalization is equally deserving of an active conceptualization and technology. This review summarizes the structure of the generalization literature and its implicit embryonic technology, categorizing studies designed to assess or program generalization according to nine general headings: Train and Hope; Sequential Modification; Introduce to Natural Maintaining Contingencies; Train Sufficient Exemplars; Train Loosely; Use Indiscriminable Contingencies; Program Common Stimuli; Mediate Generalization; and Train "To Generalize".     

Review of three tests of motor proficiency in children

The present purpose is to provide clinicians, occupational and physical therapists, and educators with a comparative analysis of three tests of motor proficiency. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Movement Assessment Battery for Children, and Tufts Assessment of Motor Performance were developed to assess the motor skills of children with developmental delays. The selection criteria, interrater reliability, reproducibility, and recommended use of each test are reported here. Recommendations for use of each test include standardization of the sample population to ensure its appropriateness.     

The effect of age and role information on expectations for big five personality traits

In four studies, the authors investigated the extent to which expectations for personality traits in age-graded roles correspond to patterns of personality trait change across the life course. In Studies 1 (N = 43) and 2 (N = 126), the authors examined the age-graded roles of high school student, college student, parent, and grandparent and found that expectations for how people behave in these age-graded roles showed strong parallels to the documented pattern of personality trait development and that this pattern of expectations was largely shared by younger and older participants. In Studies 3 (N = 252) and 4 (N = 123), the authors separated age and role information (e.g., marital, parental, and employment status) and found that people use both sources of information independently in forming expectations of others. The implications for understanding the interplay of expectations and personality trait development are discussed.     

An optimal period for setting sustained variability levels

In two experiments, we investigated how explicit reinforcement of highly variable behavior at different points in training affected performance after the requirement was eliminated. Two versions of a computer game, differing in the number of possible solution paths, were used. In each, an optimal period of training for producing sustained high variability was found. Exposure to a high lag requirement shortly after acquisition sustained variability. Rewarding variability at other times did not have a sustained effect. The implications for learning and problem solving are discussed.