Intimate partner violence and preschoolers' explicit memory functioning.

This research examines whether parents' intimate partner physical violence (IPV) relates to their preschoolers' explicit memory functioning, whether children's symptoms of hyperarousal mediate this relation, and whether mothers' positive parenting moderates this relation. Participants were 69 mothers and their 4- or 5-year-old child (34 girls). Mothers completed measures of IPV, children's hyperarousal symptoms, parent-child aggression, and positive parenting. Measures of explicit memory functioning were administered to preschoolers. As expected, IPV correlated negatively with preschoolers' performance on explicit memory tasks, even after controlling for parent-child aggression and demographic variables related to preschoolers' memory functioning. Preschoolers' hyperarousal symptoms did not mediate the relation between IPV and explicit memory functioning, but mothers' positive parenting moderated this relation. Specifically, the negative relation between IPV and preschoolers' performance on 2 of the 3 explicit memory tasks was weaker when mothers engaged in higher levels of positive parenting. These findings extend research on IPV and children's adjustment difficulties to explicit memory functioning in preschoolers and suggest that mothers can ameliorate the influence of IPV on preschoolers' memory functioning via their parenting.     

Implementing and Expanding on Carkhuff's Training Technology

This article describes the implementation and expansion of Robert Carkhuff's Training Technology to maximize trainees' skill transfer to applied settings and to maximize their ability to integrate various theoretical orientations into their counseling repertoire. The article summarizes training outcomes and invites counselor educators to demonstrate the effectiveness of their training program by measuring their students' skill levels with actual clients in the field.     

Matching of visual input to only one item at any one time

When we perform a visual search we know what we are looking for and determine where it is. A representation of the object in our working memory, the ‘search-template’, is compared to the items in the scene until a match is found. So far it is unknown whether observers can search for multiple items at the same time. Here we compare the performance of subjects between a task in which they search for one of two target-items in a stream of visual objects and a task with only a single target. We find that search is effectively limited to one item at a time. This limitation occurs for simple and complex objects and even if the subjects have to look for two features from different domains. We conclude that matching has a fundamental capacity-limitation as the visual input can be matched to only one search-template at a time.     

Prey-dependent effects of fluprazine hydrochloride on predatory aggression in northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster) and rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Treatment with the phenylpiperazine DU 27716 (fluprazine hydrochloride) inhibited the predatory killing of albino mice by northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster) and of frogs by rats. This treatment had no effect on cricket predation by grasshopper mice or worm predation by rats. The prey-specific effect of fluprazine did not seem to result from a decreased tendency to attack nor was its effect restricted to prey showing characteristic rodent defensive responses. Rather, the drug seemed to increase fearfulness when the prey exhibited vigorous defensive behavior. It is possible that increased fearfulness induced by treatment with this drug may also contribute to its antioffensive effect during conspecific encounters.