Physique Attitudes and Self-Presentational Concerns: Exploratory Interviews with Female Group Aerobic Exercisers and Instructors

The purpose of this study was to explore physique attitudes and self-presentational concerns among women who regularly participate in or instruct group aerobic classes. We were interested in conceptualizations of the ideal body, self-presentational concerns, and the influence of instructors in the group aerobics context. Five instructors and 6 exercisers participated in semi-structured interviews. Two higher order themes were identified from the interview data: (a) perceived body ideals and (b) body image experiences in the group aerobics context. Participants described the ideal body as lean and toned and attainable, but cautioned that being too muscular was unattractive and should be avoided. Exercisers experienced heightened self-presentation during aerobics more than the instructors did. Both exercisers and instructors thought that instructors should serve as body role models.     

Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli

In an attempt to investigate the impact of positive emotions on visual attention within the context of Fredrickson’s (1998) broaden-and-build model, eye tracking was used in two studies to measure visual attentional preferences of college students (n=58, n=26) to emotional pictures. Half of each sample experienced induced positive mood immediately before viewing slides of three similarly-valenced images, in varying central-peripheral arrays. Attentional breadth was determined by measuring the percentage viewing time to peripheral images as well as by the number of visual saccades participants made per slide. Consistent with Fredrickson’s theory, the first study showed that individuals induced into positive mood fixated more on peripheral stimuli than did control participants; however, this only held true for highly-valenced positive stimuli. Participants under induced positive mood also made more frequent saccades for slides of neutral and positive valence. A second study showed that these effects were not simply due to differences in emotional arousal between stimuli. Selective attentional broadening to positive stimuli may act both to facilitate later building of resources as well as to maintain current positive affective states.     

Camping Programs for Children with Chronic Illness as a Modality for Recreation, Treatment, and Evaluation: An Example of a Mission-Based Program Evaluation of a Diabetes Camp

Summer camps have been recognized as a valuable means of delivering services to children with chronic illnesses. Although these camps exist in abundance across the United States, they have been largely underrepresented in the clinical psychology literature. Particularly, there is a staggering discrepancy between the number of camps in existence and the number of published articles pertaining to the systematic evaluation of these camps. We outline the potential benefits of camping programs for children who are chronically ill, describe the importance of systematically evaluating them, and provide a model for this evaluative process. We describe an evaluation of a diabetes summer camp and present implications of this study for camp decision makers and clinical psychologists working in pediatric medical settings.     

Hope I Die before I Get Old: Mispredicting Happiness Across the Adult Lifespan

The tendency to overestimate the influence of circumstances on well-being has been demonstrated for a range of life events, but the perceived impact of aging on well-being has been largely overlooked. People seem to dread growing old, despite evidence that well-being improves with age. We compared the self-reported happiness of younger adults (mean age = 31) and older adults (mean age = 68) with their estimates of happiness at different ages. Self-reports confirmed increasing happiness with age, yet both younger and older participants believed that happiness declines. Both groups estimated declining happiness for the average person, but only older adults estimated this decline for themselves.     

Sorry is the Hardest Word to Say: The Role of Self-Control in Apologizing

Apologizing is an effective strategy for reconciling relationships after transgressions. However, transgressors often resist or refuse to apologize. The current research investigated the role of self-control in apologizing. In Study 1, self-control was associated with participants’ proclivity to apologize and apologetic and nonapologetic behavior. In Studies 2 and 3, self-control was manipulated to test the causal relationship. Both studies found participants with high self-control were more apologetic and less nonapologetic and were more likely to use apologetic statements in e-mails to their victims. Overall, these studies suggest that transgressors with high self-control are more apologetic than those with low self-control.     

Survivors' Stories: Navigating Parenthood After Surviving Child Sexual Abuse

Survivors of child sexual abuse may have strained relational functioning in adulthood, which may affect their parenting practices. Understanding that stories indicate personal meanings attributed to a phenomenon, the authors utilized narratology to learn the parenting stories of 9 survivors. Findings include the following themes: negotiating a balance of protecting and letting go, using relational images as guideposts for parenting decisions, and exploring functioning in relational contexts.     

Enhancing the language development of toddlers in foster care by promoting foster parents’ sensitivity: Results from a randomized controlled trial

Young children in foster care are at increased risk for problematic language development, making early intervention a critical tool in enhancing these children's foundational language abilities. This study examined the efficacy of an early preventative intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up for Toddlers (ABC‐T), in improving the receptive vocabulary abilities of toddlers placed in foster care. All the children had been removed from their biological parents’ care and placed into foster care. When children were between 24 and 36 months old, foster parents were contacted by research staff and consented to participate. Parents were randomly assigned using a random number generator to receive either ABC‐T (n = 45), which aimed to promote sensitive parenting for children who have experienced early adversity, or a control intervention (n = 43). Foster children's receptive vocabulary skills were assessed post‐intervention using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Third Edition, when children were between 36 and 60 months old. Children whose foster parents received ABC‐T demonstrated more advanced receptive vocabulary abilities than children whose foster parents received the control intervention. The positive effect of ABC‐T on foster children's receptive vocabulary was mediated by increases in foster parents’ sensitivity during parent–child interactions. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01261806.     

The Standard Meter by Any Name is Still a Meter Long

In §50 of Philosophical Investigations Wittgenstein wrote the sentence, "There is one thing of which one can say neither that it is one metre long, nor that it is not one metre long, and that is the standard metre in Paris." Although some interpreters have claimed that Wittgenstein's statement is mistaken, while others have proposed various explanations showing that this must be correct, none have questioned the fact that he intended to assert that it is impossible to describe the standard meter as being a meter long. Given that Wittgenstein introduces this sentence as analogous to the claim that "existence cannot be attributed to an element," and that the preceding passages discuss a language-game the simples of which can be described by their own names, there is good reason to think that Wittgenstein did not intend to assert this infamous sentence.