Confrontation and Beyond: Examining a Stigmatized Target's Use of a Prejudice Reduction Strategy

What can stigmatized individuals do to reduce stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination when they interact with a biased individual? This paper reviews the social psychological literature that examines how targets can be active agents of prejudice reduction for themselves and their group. The extant literature indicates that a target's direct confrontation of bias can reduce prejudice and discrimination against the target's group but that this strategy can also backlash in the form of increased prejudice and discrimination against the target. Other research indicates that presenting a common‐identity, self‐enhancing feedback, and a self‐affirmation can reduce bias against the target but that they may not reliably change bias against the target's group. We conclude by discussing the need for research on the processes by which stigmatized targets decide to use a given bias‐reduction strategy and on the processes by which specific strategies are effective, either alone or in combination, when delivered by a stigmatized target.     

Using an Example Statement Increases Information but Does Not Increase Accuracy of CBCA,RM, and SCAN

Verbal credibility assessment methods are frequently used in the criminal justice system to investigate the truthfulness of statements. Three of these methods are Criteria Based Content Analysis (CBCA), Reality Monitoring (RM), and Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN). The aim of this study is twofold. First, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of CBCA, RM, and especially SCAN. Second, we tested whether giving the interviewee an example of a detailed statement can enhance the diagnostic accuracy of these verbal credibility methods. To test the latter, two groups of participants were requested to write down one true and one fabricated statement about a negative event. Prior to this request, one group received a detailed example statement, whereas the other group received no additional information. Results showed that CBCA and RM scores differed between true and fabricated statements, whereas SCAN scores did not. Giving a detailed example statement did not lead to better discrimination between truth tellers and liars for any of the methods but did lead to the participants producing significantly longer statements. The implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing an understanding of the literature relating to the moral development of people with intellectual disabilities

Recent reviews of moral development theory (Gibbs, Basinger, Grime, & Snarey, 2007) demonstrate that revisionist theoretical perspectives have cross cultural validity, but moral development in relation to people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) has not been considered within this literature. A structured review of the published literature relating to children, adolescents and adults with IDs, and moral development was carried out. Twenty studies meeting the inclusion criteria were found. The review indicated that people with IDs may not progress through the developmental stages of moral reasoning as quickly as typically developing peers, or reach the more advanced stages. This difference from non-disabled peers tends to disappear if groups are matched on some measure of cognitive ability. However, the studies are fraught with methodological problems and there is a need for further research, given the theoretical developments within the area of moral development, including the evidence of a relationship between moral development and anti-social behaviour amongst typically developing children and adolescents.     

People with intellectual disabilities on probation: an initial study

The two studies in this paper aim to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities in the probation service in England. Study one screened the abilities of a sample of 70 probationers in one single probation service. Study two compares a sub‐set of these to an equal number of control participants in order to further investigate the characteristics of those with intellectual disability on probation. Nearly 6% of service users appeared to have an intellectual disability, and 11% fell into the bottom 5% of the general population in terms of their intellectual and social functioning. We conclude that a significant minority of those in the probation service have an intellectual disability or similar needs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moving Beyond the Gym: Exploring Life Skill Transfer Within a Female Physical Activity-Based Life Skills Program

Physical activity programs are viable contexts to foster life skills. Researchers contend that programs must be structured to deliberately teach life skills and teach how such skills can be transferred. The purpose of this study is to understand female youths’ perceptions of life skills transfer from participation in a physical activity-based life skills program. Interviews were conducted with eight youth. Results indicated that youth learned intrapersonal (i.e., emotional regulation, focus, goal setting), interpersonal (i.e., respect, responsibility, social skills), and physical activity skills and applied these skills in other life domains. Leaders’ practical strategies used to explicitly teach transferable skills are discussed.     

Low-level visual attention and its relation to joint attention in autism spectrum disorder

Visual attention is integral to social interaction and is a critical building block for development in other domains (e.g., language). Furthermore, atypical attention (especially joint attention) is one of the earliest markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study assesses low-level visual attention and its relation to social attentional processing in youth with ASD and typically developing (TD) youth, aged 7 to 18 years. The findings indicate difficulty overriding incorrect attentional cues in ASD, particularly with non-social (arrow) cues relative to social (face) cues. The findings also show reduced competition in ASD from cues that remain on-screen. Furthermore, social attention, autism severity, and age were all predictors of competing cue processing. The results suggest that individuals with ASD may be biased towards speeded rather than accurate responding, and further, that reduced engagement with visual information may impede responses to visual attentional cues. Once attention is engaged, individuals with ASD appear to interpret directional cues as meaningful. These findings from a controlled, experimental paradigm were mirrored in results from an ecologically valid measure of social attention. Attentional difficulties may be exacerbated during the complex and dynamic experience of actual social interaction. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

Assessing Differences in Athlete-Reported Outcomes Between High and Low-Quality Youth Sport Programs

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in athlete-reported outcomes based on sport program quality. Twenty-four sport programs were observed using the Program Quality Assessment in Youth Sport (PQAYS) observation tool. A two-step cluster analysis based on total PQAYS scores revealed two groups (low quality = 16, high quality = 8). Athletes (N = 324) completed 3 questionnaires related to basic needs support, needs satisfaction, and developmental experiences. Results indicated that athletes in high-quality programs perceived significantly greater opportunities for autonomy, relatedness, and choice, as well as higher perceptions of goal setting and lower negative experiences compared to youth in lower quality programs.     

70-kHz vocalizations by male mice do not inhibit aggression in lactating mice

Two experiments investigated the relationship between adult male 70-kHz vocalizations and aggression by lactating female mice (Mus domesticus). Intact, vocalizing males, surgically devocalized males, and naturally nonvocalizing males were used to assess the effects of high frequency vocalizations on maternal aggression. The emission of high frequency vocalizations promoted aggressive behavior by the females. In both experiments, lactating females attacked the vocalizing males more rapidly and showed a higher incidence of aggressive behaviors toward these males than they did to the nonvocalizing male. We suggest that these vocalizations are only one of many situational cues that the female uses to determine her final behavioral response.