Effects of Self-Recording and Contingent Credit on Balancing Participation Across Students

This study compared the effects of students’ (a) receiving participation credit with and without self-recording their participation and (b) self-recording participation with and without receiving credit for participation on the percentage of students functioning at four participation levels: non-participation, credit-level participation, frequent participation (slightly above credit-level), and dominant participation (2.5+ times above credit-level). Participants came from three sections of a relatively large discussion course (initially 55 students per section). Credit (with and without self-recording participation) decreased the percentage of both non-participants and dominant participants and increased the percentage of credit-level participants, thus creating greater balance in participation across students in each class. In contrast, self-recording versus non-self-recording (with and without credit) did not significantly differentiate the percentages of either non-participants or frequent participants but did differentiate the percentages of credit-level and dominant participants under the recording conditions.     

What Facilitates or Impedes Family Communication Following Genetic Testing for Cancer Risk? A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis of Primary Qualitative Research

To systematically review and meta-synthesise primary qualitative research findings regarding family communication following genetic testing of cancer risk, in order to inform development of effective interventions. Systematic searches of CINAHL, Embase, Medline, British Nursing Index and PsycINFO databases were undertaken and relevant studies identified using strict criteria. The selected primary qualitative studies were appraised for quality and relevance by three independent researchers and then synthesized using a “Framework” approach. Fourteen (4.3%) studies met the inclusion criteria. The following factors influenced family communication following genetic testing for late-onset hereditary cancer: the informant’s feelings about informing relatives about genetic testing; the perceived relevance of the information to other family members and their anticipated reactions; the “closeness” of relationships within the family; family rules and patterns (e.g., who is best placed to share information with whom); finding the right time and level of disclosure; and the supportive role of heath care professionals. The themes identified in this review could provide practitioners with a useful framework for discussing family communication with those undergoing genetic testing. This framework focuses on helping health care professionals to facilitate family communication. The next step will be the development of an intervention to directly support people in talking to their relatives.     

The Stability of Self-Reported Physical Symptoms in African American Mothers and Their Impact on Children

Self-reported physical symptoms are an important marker of health and well-being, particularly among African American women. The stability of African American women’s physical symptoms or the impact of their symptoms on their children, however, has yet to be examined. This longitudinal study examined the stability of maternal self-reported physical symptoms, as well as their role in shaping child-reported physical symptoms, among 137 low-income African American families. Findings revealed that mothers’ self-reported physical symptoms were stable over 2.5 years. Mothers who reported higher levels of physical symptoms were more likely to have children who concurrently reported higher levels of symptoms. Physical symptoms reported by mothers at the first assessment also predicted child-reported physical symptoms 2.5 years later, but only for boys. Physical symptoms appear to be an important, yet understudied, symptom domain that may have significant implications for the health and well-being of African American families.     

Deej‐a Vu: Documentary revisits facilitated communication pseudoscience

Deej is a documentary about a young man named Deej who has autism with complex communication needs (i.e., nonverbal autism). To the uninitiated, Deej might look like a poignant story about people misperceiving Deej until he reveals the intelligence hidden inside him. The documentary uses Deej's story to suggest that other people with complex communication needs are similarly misunderstood. In actuality, the documentary is misleading and concerning. Deej demonstrates his hidden intelligence via facilitated communication. The documentary does not mention the science that discredits facilitated communication or the harm that facilitated communication has enabled. In the present paper, I use the history of facilitated communication to examine Deej. I describe how the documentary promotes facilitated communication by encouraging improper forms of scientific reasoning. Finally, I suggest that skepticism toward facilitated communication is necessary to ameliorate its harmful influence and to encourage genuine acceptance of people with complex communication needs.     

Ethical implications of implantable radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in humans

This article reviews the use of implantable radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags in humans, focusing on the VeriChip (VeriChip Corporation, Delray Beach, FL) and the associated VeriMed patient identification system. In addition, various nonmedical applications for implanted RFID tags in humans have been proposed. The technology offers important health and nonhealth benefits, but raises ethical concerns, including privacy and the potential for coercive implantation of RFID tags in individuals. A national discussion is needed to identify the limits of acceptable use of implantable RFID tags in humans before their use becomes widespread and it becomes too late to prevent misuse of this useful but ethically problematic technology.     

Further Evidence of an Increase in Narcissism Among College Students

ABSTRACT Our meta-analysis also finds no change over time in Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) scores among California college students, most likely due to the cultural and ethnic shifts at the University of California campuses over this time (especially the large increase in Asian-American student enrollment). Students in the rest of the country, from 27 campuses, show an increase of d =0.41 in narcissism over 24 years. The finding that high school students' self-esteem does not change replicates our previous cross-temporal meta-analysis. The self-enhancement measure used by the authors is flawed, as it uses self-reported grades rather than an objective measure. Sampling issues are minor, as the meta-analysis was a representative sampling of college students. Finally, problems with a simplistic "good" and "bad" labeling of NPI factors are discussed.     

New methods for new questions: obstacles and opportunities

Two forces motivate this special section, "New Methods for New Questions in Developmental Psychology." First are recent developments in social science methodology and the increasing availability of those methods in common software packages. Second, at the same time psychologists' understanding of developmental phenomena has continued to grow. At their best, these developments in theory and methods work in tandem, fueling each other. Newer methods make it possible for scientists to better test their ideas; better ideas lead methodologists to techniques that better reflect, capture, and quantify the underlying processes. The articles in this special section represent a sampling of these new methods and new questions. The authors describe common themes in these articles and identify barriers to future progress, such as the lack of data sharing by and analytical training for developmentalists.     

Managers' Reactions to Utility Analysis and Perceptions of What Influences Their Decisions

Recent research on providing utility analysis (UA) information has shown small positive effects on acceptance of selection tests by human resource decision-makers (Carson, Becker, & Henderson, Journal of Applied Psychology, 83 84–96 (1998). In the present study, 218 managers provided reactions to UA information. Not only do our findings replicate the positive effects of UA, we found managers also responded favorably to UA information when asked independently of the decision making process. Specifically, when asked to rank order information in terms of what they perceived to be most influential in helping them make their final decisions, those who received UA information ranked it among the highest.