Differential Mastication Kinematics of the Rabbit in Response to Food and Water: Implications for Conditioned Movement

Analysis of naturalistic chewing patterns may provide insight into mapping the neural substrates of jaw movement control systems, including their adaptive modification during the classically conditioned jaw movement (CJM) paradigm. Here, New Zealand White rabbits were administered food and water stimuli orally to evaluate the influence of stimulus consistency on masticatory pattern. Chewing patterns were recorded via video camera and movements were analyzed by computerized image analysis. The mandibular kinematics, specifically the extent of dorsal/ventral, medial/lateral, and rostral/caudal movement, were significantly larger in food-evoked than water-evoked chewing. Water-evoked chewing frequency, however, was significantly higher than that of food-evoked movements. In light of known cortical mastication modulatory centers, our findings implicate different neural substrates for the responses to food and water stimuli in the rabbit. A detailed delineation of jaw movement patterns and circuitry is essential to characterize the neural substrates of CJM.     

Reducing Disparities in Cancer Screening and Prevention through Community‐Based Participatory Research Partnerships with Local Libraries: A Comprehensive Dynamic Trial

Reduction of cancer‐related disparities requires strategies that link medically underserved communities to preventive care. In this community‐based participatory research project, a public library system brought together stakeholders to plan and undertake programs to address cancer screening and risk behavior. This study was implemented over 48 months in 20 large urban neighborhoods, selected to reach diverse communities disconnected from care. In each neighborhood, Cancer Action Councils were organized to conduct a comprehensive dynamic trial, an iterative process of program planning, implementation and evaluation. This process was phased into neighborhoods in random, stepped‐wedge sequence. Population‐level outcomes included self‐reported screening adherence and smoking cessation, based on street intercept interviews. Event‐history regressions (n = 9374) demonstrated that adherence outcomes were associated with program implementation, as were mediators such as awareness of screening programs and cancer information seeking. Findings varied by ethnicity, and were strongest among respondents born outside the U.S. or least engaged in care. This intervention impacted health behavior in diverse, underserved and vulnerable neighborhoods. It has been sustained as a routine library system program for several years after conclusion of grant support. In sum, participatory research with the public library system offers a flexible, scalable approach to reduce cancer health disparities.     

Parenting Assessed by Observation versus Parent-report: Moderation by Parent Distress and Family Socioeconomic Status

Assessment of parenting frequently relies on parent self-report despite well-documented discrepancies between this methodology and observational measures. In the current study, we investigated patterns of disagreement between self-reported and observational measures of positive parenting and negative parenting with 102 dyads of parents and 4–6 year-old children. Specifically, we tested whether differences in parent distress and family socioeconomic status (SES) moderated the association between self-reported and observed parenting. Results showed significant interactions with less agreement between self-report and observational measures among parents reporting higher levels of distress and among families from lower SES backgrounds. Effects were more pronounced in models of negative parenting than those of positive parenting. Findings suggest that two factors relevant to parenting quality, emotional distress and SES, predict meaningful differences in manner of parent-report relative to observational measures. We discuss implications for the extant literature and for future efforts regarding effective and efficient parenting measurement.     

Working memory in healthy aging and in Parkinson’s disease: evidence of interference effects

Focusing on relevant information while suppressing the irrelevant one are critical abilities for different cognitive processes. However, their functioning has been scarcely investigated in the working memory (WM) domain, in both healthy and pathological conditions. The present research aimed to study these abilities in aging and Parkinson’s disease (PD), testing three groups of healthy participants (young, older and elderly) and one of PD patients, employing a new experimental paradigm. Results showed that the transient storing of irrelevant information in WM causes substantial interference effects, which were remarkable in elderly individuals on both response latency and accuracy. Interestingly, PD patients responded faster and were equally accurate compared to a matched control group. Taken together, findings confirm the existence of similar mechanisms for orienting attention inwards to WM contents or outwards to perceptual stimuli, and suggest the suitability of our task to assess WM functioning in both healthy aging and PD.     

Conceptions of Plagiarism and Problems in Academic Writing in a Changing Landscape of External Regulation

The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of the use of text-matching software on teachers’ and students’ conceptions of plagiarism and problems in academic writing. An electronic questionnaire included scale items, structured questions, and open-ended questions. The respondents were 85 teachers and 506 students in a large Finnish university. Methods of analysis included exploratory factor analysis, t-test, and inductive content analysis. Both teachers and students reported increased awareness of plagiarism and improvements in writing habits, as well as concerns and limitations related to the system. The results suggest that teachers are inclined to think of plagiarism as part of a learning process rather an issue of morality, which may have consequences for how they understand the role of text matching. The introduction of text-matching software has supported teachers’ work, but at the same time teachers emphasized their own responsibility in detecting problems in student writing. The survey provides a limited sample of “Case Finland,” where implementation of text-matching software nationwide has been remarkably rapid; it offers a glimpse into one institution’s implementation of a newly introduced policy for mandatory plagiarism detection.     

A Developmental–Behavioral Approach to Outpatient Psychotherapy with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Over the course of development, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may present with an array of behavioral symptoms in addition to the primary impairments in language, socialization, and repetitive/restricted interests. These developmental challenges allow outpatient psychotherapists the opportunity to provide helpful clinical services to children and adolescents with ASDs. This can be best accomplished by combining behavioral strategies that are typically effective with children with ASDs with evidence-based approaches helpful for other psychiatric conditions. Four case examples are provided that review how to use both ASDs and general child clinical interventions with children with ASDs and their families.     

A Grounded Theory Study of Spirituality: Using Personal Narratives Suggested by Spiritual Images

This study expanded on traditional concepts of spirituality through an analysis of narratives derived from images with spiritual content. Twenty-five participants were selected based on their being actively involved in spiritual practices. They were requested to tell TAT-type stories to a series of twelve images that revolved around spiritual themes. The resulting 300 stories were coded according to Grounded Theory procedures. A theory of spirituality emerged that centered upon the expression of suffering and the expectation of it being relieved. Results suggest that the personal spiritual process is one that expects and seeks transformation of the suffering through a connection with another, a connection with the transcendent, acquiring wisdom, or transforming the internal state.     

The Affect in Play Scale: confirmatory factor analysis in elementary school children

The aim of this paper was to study the construct validity of the Affect in Play Scale, an empirically based measure of pretend play, in a group of 519 Italian children ages 6 to 10 years. In confirmatory factor analysis, a correlated two-factor structure with a cognitive and an affective factor was identified. Possible differences in factor scores by sex and age were investigated but no significant differences were found.