Learning a procedural task: effectiveness of multimedia presentations

Three experiments investigated the effectiveness of presenting procedural information through different media and their combinations. Experiment 1 examined the effectiveness of text, line drawings, text and line drawings, video. and video stills for learning a first aid task. The results showed an advantage of text and line drawings and of the video presentation over the other three conditions for both bandaging performance and answering questions about the task. Experiment 2 showed that the beneficial effect of the combination of text and pictures could not be accounted for simply in terms of a dual coding explanation. Rather, the effectiveness of the media and their combinations was influenced by the extent to which they conveyed action information. Finally, Experiment 3 showed no evidence of a contiguity effect: text and pictures were as effective when presented together on the same screen as when they were presented separately. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality traits and the development of nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drug disorders: prospective links from adolescence to young adulthood

The personality traits constraint (CN) and negative emotionality (NE) have been more (CN) or less (NE) consistently associated with alcoholism. The authors examined the association of personality at age 17 with timing of onset and with prospective prediction of nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drug disorders 3 years later in a twin sample (569 females; 432 males). Earlier onset of alcohol and drug disorders (by age 17) was related to significantly lower CN compared with later onsets (by age 20); high NE was related to either onset. NE, as well as CN, uniquely predicted new onsets of all 3 types of substance use disorders by follow-up, with preexisting substance disorders taken into account. Personality traits confer generalized risk for developing any substance disorder, though some traits are more strongly linked with some substance disorders than with others.     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENT‐CHILD PLAY SCALE FOR USE IN CHILDREN WITH FEEDING DISORDERS

The Parent‐Child Play Scale was developed as a scale that complements the Parent‐Child Feeding Scale, created by I. Chatoor et al. (1997), to evaluate mother–infant/toddler interactions in two different caregiving contexts of a young child's everyday life, specifically play and feeding. This Play Scale can be used with infants and toddlers ranging in age from 1 month to 3 years and provides reliable global ratings of mother–child interactions during 10 min of videotaped free‐play in a laboratory setting. The scale consists of 32 mother and infant/toddler interactive behaviors which are rated by trained observers from videotaped observations. Four subscales are derived: Dyadic Reciprocity, Maternal Unresponsiveness to Infant's/Toddler's Cues, Dyadic Conflict, and Maternal Intrusiveness. Construct validity and interrater and test‐retest reliability of the Play Scale have been demonstrated. This Play Scale discriminates between children with and without feeding disorders as well as between children with different subtypes of feeding disorders as defined by the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, Revised (DC:0–3R) (Feeding Disorder of State Regulation, Feeding Disorder of Caregiver‐Infant Reciprocity, and Infantile Anorexia). It can be used for research or clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of early feeding problems, to assess the pervasiveness of mother–infant/toddler difficulties and to monitor changes following therapy.     

Contextual and individual influences on antisocial behaviour and psychobiosocial states of youth soccer players

Purpose

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of contextual and individual variables (perceived motivational climate and moral atmosphere, task/ego orientation and perceived competence) on antisocial behaviour and emotion-related psychobiosocial (PBS) states as conceptualised within the individual zones of optimal functioning model.

Participants

The study was conducted on a sample of 382 young male soccer players, aged from 14 to 16 years, drawn from 27 Italian teams.

Method

A cross-sectional design was used. Assessment included measures of reported antisocial behaviour, perceived moral atmosphere, perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, perceived competence, and PBS states. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis of measures and path analysis of the hypothesized relationships.

Results

Results suggest that performance climate and a moral atmosphere, in which aggressive behaviours are encouraged, are likely to determine antisocial behaviour and a range of unpleasant PBS states in young sports participants.

Conclusions

Findings substantiate the importance of the situational factors on ethical aspects and emotional states in youngsters.     

‘My Future Son is Possibly Alive’. Existential Presupposition and Empty Terms in Abelard's Modal Logic

The aim of this paper is to investigate the problem of existential import in Abelard's modal logic, and to ask whether the system of logical relationships that he proposes for modal propositions maintains its validity when some of the terms included in these propositions are empty. In the following, I first argue that, just as in the case of non-modal propositions, Abelard interprets modal propositions as having existential import, so that it is a necessary condition for the truth of propositions like ‘It is possible for my son to be alive’ or ‘it is necessary that all men are animals’ that their subjects’ referents exist. Then, I present the schemata of inferences that Abelard proposes to describe the logical behaviour of de rebus modal propositions. I argue that these systems of relations are valid only as long as all the terms contained in the formulas have an existing referent. I also claim that Abelard was aware of this difficulty (at least in the Logica Ingredientibus), and, accordingly, he explicitly decided to restrict the validity of his modal system to propositions that do not contain empty terms.     

Using online social media,Facebook, in screening for major depressive disorder among college students

This study explored the feasibility of using Internet social networking media in an online program for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) screening and psychoeducation targeting college students. A Facebook advertisement targeted students at five colleges in the United States to complete a mental health research survey that screened for MDD using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Students who screened positive for MDD were offered an eightweek follow-up survey. Of the 259 students who consented to participate in the study, 26.7% screened positive for MDD, while only 14.2% were receiving treatment. The use of Facebook to advertise for online screening for MDD required very little start-up time, and the average cost was $11.45 per subject recruited. It is feasible to use online, commercially available social networking media such as Facebook for online screening for MDD among college students. However, conducting online screening and offering treatment resources alone did not increase treatment rate in this population.     

Visuo-Proprioceptive Matching Errors Are Consistent with Biases in Distance Judgments

People make systematic errors when matching the location of an unseen index finger with that of a visual target. These errors are consistent over time, but idiosyncratic and surprisingly task-specific. The errors that are made when moving the unseen index finger to a visual target are not consistent with the errors when moving a visual target to the unseen index finger. To test whether such inconsistencies arise because a large part of the matching errors originate during movement execution, we compared errors in moving the unseen finger to a target with biases in deciding which of two visual targets was closer to the index finger before the movement. We found that the judgment as to which is the closest target was consistent with the matching errors. This means that inconsistencies in visuo-proprioceptive matching errors are not caused by systematic errors in movement execution, but are likely to be related to biases in sensory transformations.     

Fathers with joint physical custody of young children: A preliminary look

Abstract

Fathers with joint physical custody of children under age 6 report that this custody arrangement is of great benefit to the children, especially in circumstances where mothers have initiated the divorce and have sought less childcare responsibility. Joint physical custody fathers are highly available and provide closeness as the sole parent in charge. However, they also experience role overload and household management problems, and continue to feel hostility toward their former wives who have cut back on family responsibilities.