Male adolescents' reasons for participating in physical activity, barriers to participation, and suggestions for increasing participation

This study explored male adolescents' reasons for participating in moderate and vigorous physical activity, perceived barriers to moderate and vigorous physical activity, and suggestions as to what can be done to increase participation in physical activity. A total of 26 male 15- and 16-year-old adolescents participated in focus group sessions, which were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim; qualitative software facilitated data analysis. A constant comparison approach was used to inductively develop themes. It was found that participants engaged in physical activity for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Their perceived barriers to physical activity included both internal factors (individual characteristics, lower priority for physical activity, and involvement in technology-related activities) and external factors (the influence of peers and family, lack of time, and inaccessibility and cost of facilities). Participants suggested that physical activity be promoted more in the community and that an environment more supportive of physical activity be developed. Results suggest that a variety of strategies should be used to help male adolescents maintain or increase participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity.     

Traumatic impact predicts long-term memory for documented child sexual abuse

Prospective studies of adults' memories of documented child sexual abuse (CSA) reveal that the majority of individuals remember their victimization. However, the accuracy of these memories has rarely been investigated scientifically. The present study examined predictors of memory accuracy and errors 12 to 21 years after abuse ended for individuals with legal experiences resulting from documented CSA. Severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was positively associated with memory accuracy. However, individuals nominating CSA as their most traumatic life event exhibited relatively accurate memory regardless of indicators of PTSD. Predictors of memory errors were also identified (e.g., less maternal support). These results indicate that, in addition to understanding the role of traditional cognitive factors, understanding an event's traumatic impact is important for predicting the accuracy of long-term memory for reported CSA.     

Face recognition and aging: Effects of target age and memory load

In the present study, we investigated age-related decline in face recognition memory and whether this decline is moderated by the age of the target faces and by the number of faces that the participant must learn (memory load). Thirty-two participants in each of three age groups (18-39 years, 60-75 years, and 76-96 years) completed a face recognition task. Signal detection analyses confirmed that face recognition accuracy declined with age. However, this finding was qualified by an interaction between participant age and target age, which revealed that the age-related decline in face recognition accuracy occurred only for young target faces. Increased memory load was associated with comparable performance decrements across all age groups. However, memory load appears not to be the cause of these decrements. Instead, they appear to be a product of recognition load (the number of stimuli presented in the recognition phase).     

Theoretical perspectives on language and communication problems in mental retardation and developmental disabilities

We argue that researchers interested in language and communication problems in mental retardation or any other developmental disorder should view such problems as emerging within the broader context of the behavioral profile, or phenotype, associated with a particular genetic condition. This will require understanding the direct and indirect effects of genes on the development of language and communication and thereby an understanding of the complex relations that exist between language and other dimensions of psychological and behavioral functioning as well as an understanding of the environments in which the developing person acts and is acted upon. We believe that the dominant model for understanding language and communication problems--the nativist approach, which emphasizes the child's innate capacity for acquiring language and characterizes language as consisting of a set of context-free deterministic rules that operate on abstract representations--is inconsistent with an emphasis on indirect genetic effects. We review recent evidence that undermines the nativist approach--evidence concerning the initial state of the language-learning child, the role of environmental input, the competence-performance distinction, and modularity. In place of nativism, we argue for Emergentism, which is a model in which language is seen to emerge from the interaction between the child's biological abilities to map statistical properties of the language input into a distributed representation and the characteristics of the language learning environment and for the purpose of engaging in real-time, meaningful language use.     

Cognitive and contextual factors in the emergence of diverse belief systems: creation versus evolution

The emergence and distribution of beliefs about the origins of species is investigated in Christian fundamentalist and nonfundamentalist school communities, with participants matched by age, educational level, and locale. Children (n = 185) and mothers (n = 92) were questioned about animate, inanimate, and artifact origins, and children were asked about their interests and natural-history knowledge. Preadolescents, like their mothers, embraced the dominant beliefs of their community, creationist or evolutionist; 8- to 10-year-olds were exclusively creationist, regardless of community of origin; 5- to 7-year-olds in fundamentalist schools endorsed creationism, whereas nonfundamentalists endorsed mixed creationist and spontaneous generationist beliefs. Children's natural-history knowledge and religious interest predicted their evolutionist and creationist beliefs, respectively, independently of parent beliefs. It is argued that this divergent developmental pattern is optimally explained with a model of constructive interactionism: Children generate intuitive beliefs about origins, both natural and intentional, while communities privilege certain beliefs and inhibit others, thus engendering diverse belief systems.     

The environment of childhood poverty

Poor children confront widespread environmental inequities. Compared with their economically advantaged counterparts, they are exposed to more family turmoil, violence, separation from their families, instability, and chaotic households. Poor children experience less social support, and their parents are less responsive and more authoritarian. Low-income children are read to relatively infrequently, watch more TV, and have less access to books and computers. Low-income parents are less involved in their children's school activities. The air and water poor children consume are more polluted. Their homes are more crowded, noisier, and of lower quality. Low-income neighborhoods are more dangerous, offer poorer municipal services, and suffer greater physical deterioration. Predominantly low-income schools and day care are inferior. The accumulation of multiple environmental risks rather than singular risk exposure may be an especially pathogenic aspect of childhood poverty.     

Parent-adolescent conflict in early adolescence

This study explored parent-adolescent conflict during the early years of adolescence (ages 11 to 14). The responses of 357 youths in Grades 6, 7, and 8 to the Issues Checklist (Prinz, Foster, Kent, & O'Leary, 1979) revealed frequent conflicts with parents over a sizable number of issues during this period, peaking in Grade 7 between parents and sons, with exchanges between parents and daughters consistently more than those with sons across the three grades. There was considerable variation in both the frequency and intensity of conflict across specific issues. In addition, a consistent pattern of gender-typing was observed in conflicts between parents and daughters, reflecting traditional gender role stereotypes. The results of this study point to the importance of examining both the frequency and intensity of conflict, the specific issues over which there is conflict, and the gender of the participants in order to more fully understand the nature of parent-adolescent conflict during early adolescence.     

The role of the amygdala in conditioned flavor preference

Long-Evans rats with control or amygdala lesions were tested in a conditioned flavor preference task. Half of the rats in each lesion group received an unsweetened grape-flavored solution on odd-numbered days and a sweetened cherry-flavored solution on even-numbered days. The remaining rats received a sweetened grape-flavored solution on odd-numbered days and an unsweetened cherry-flavored solution on even-numbered days. The appropriate solution was presented once a day for 15 min to each rat in the homecage. After six days of testing, each rat received unsweetened cherry and grape flavored solutions simultaneously for 15 min daily across four days. When the two unsweetened flavored solutions were presented simultaneously control rats showed a significant preference for the flavor that was sweetened during training compared to the unsweetened solution. However, amygdala-lesioned rats did not show a preference. The data suggest that the amygdala may be critically involved in mediating reward-based conditioned flavor preference.     

Self-guide framing and persuasion: responsibly increasing message processing to ideal levels

The current research examines the effect that framing persuasive messages in terms of self-guides (ideal vs. ought) has on the attitudes and cognitive responses of individuals with chronic ideal versus ought self-guides. The strength of participants' ideal and ought self-guides and the magnitude of participants' ideal and ought self-discrepancies were measured using a computerized reaction time program. One week later, participants read a persuasive message about a fictional breakfast product, framed in terms of either ideals or oughts. Matching framing to stronger self-guide led to enhanced message processing activity, especially among individuals who were low in need for cognition. Individuals who read messages framed to match their stronger self-guides paid more attention to argument quality, as reflected in their attitudes and cognitive responses. Messages with self-guide framing that matched individuals' stronger self-discrepancies did not have this effect on processing.