Gender‐specific factors associated with the suicidal ideation of children in Taiwan: A large‐scale cross‐sectional study

We examined the relationship between suicidal ideation (SI) and the depressed mood, life stress and parenting styles in children. A large‐scale survey was conducted including 5328 children from 65 elementary schools in Taiwan. SI was measured by asking children if any suicidal thoughts had occurred in the previous month. A series of regression models was analysed separately for male and female students. Compared with boys, girls demonstrated a higher proportion of SI. Among boys, SI was significantly associated with a high level of perceived environmental stress (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.61), a high degree of depressed mood (aOR = 2.39), authoritative (aOR = 1.72) and authoritarian (aOR = 2.53) parenting styles and two or more life‐stress events (aOR = 1.45). A high level of perceived environmental stress (aOR = 2.09), a high degree of depressed mood (aOR = 2.89) and an authoritarian parenting style (aOR = 1.76) were significantly associated with the SI in girls. Gender‐specific interventions aimed at preventing SI must enhance support systems at school and at home, particularly for students who suffer from a high degree of stress and depressed mood, and are subjected to an authoritarian parenting style.     

Criterion‐Related Validity of Dutch Police‐Selection Measures and Differences Between Ethnic Groups

This study investigated the criterion‐related validity of cognitive ability as well as non‐cognitive ability measures and differences between ethnic majority (N=2365) and minority applicants (N=682) in Dutch police officer selection. Findings confirmed the relatively low predictive validity of cognitive ability generally found for police jobs. Previous research reported no differential prediction. The present study, however, found small but systematic evidence for differences in validity for the ethnic majority and minority group of both cognitive and non‐cognitive measures. For the minority group, training performance appeared to be mainly predicted by the cognitive ability test. For the majority group, cognitive ability showed very little predictive power. Non‐cognitive ability variables appeared to be somewhat more predictive in this group.     

Perceptual impulsions and unfamiliar solids: Evidence from a drawing task

Previous work (Dziurawiec & Derȩgowski, 1992) has shown that children's distorted drawings of animal models may be explained by the child's tendency to depict typical contours, the outlines of the surfaces which undergo pronounced change. The present paper investigates whether the typical contours notion can be extended to purely geometric solids. Results from a drawing task by children aged nine and eleven years, using unfamiliar models of varying complexity, indicate that the tendency to draw in perspective increases with the increase in figure complexity for both age groups, but younger children show a greater reliance on typical contours than older children. Recasting the data from previous drawing experiments (Bartel, 1928/1958; Cox, 1986) further confirms the utility of the typical contours approach. Finally, the advantages of such an approach over that of canonicity (cf. Palmer, Rosch & Chase, 1981) for the representation of solids are elaborated.     

Postcategorical filtering in a bar-probe task

Memory &; Cognition - To investigate the causes of errors in partial-report bar-probe tasks, a set of (color) stimuli that allowed the use of a new method of analysis was devised. With these...     

Some evidence for a selfterminating process in simple visual search tasks

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the unsettled question of whether the visual search process is selfterminating or exhaustive. In the experiments three letters were placed on an imaginary circle round the fixation point. Two different letters were used, one of which was defined as the ‘signal’. Ss had to respond ‘yes’ when one or more signals were in the display, ‘no’ otherwise. In both experiments the number of signals in the display was varied from 0 to 3.Decreasing latencies with increasing number of signals were observed in both experiments, indicating a selfterminating visual search. In experiment 1 a significant increase in latencies with increasing visual angle was found, in experiment 2 an increase in latency resulting from neighbouring contours. Both factors probably contribute to the slope of the function relating positive responses to display size and to the slope of the function relating negative responses to display size when stimuli are presented in linear arrays as in the experiment by Atkinson et al. (1969). As a result the slopes become more equal, falsely suggesting an exhaustive visual search process.     

Further evidence for expectation-based illusory correlations

Subjects were presented with 36 opinion statements ostensibly made by residents of two towns (one large, one small) confronted with the building of a new nuclear power station in the vicinity. There were an equal number of pro- and anti-nuclear opinions for both towns (nine for each combination) so that there was no relationship between attitudes and town. The probabilistic belief that small towns would contain a higher proportion of antinuclear residents, was predicted to produce an ‘illusory correlation’ confirming the belief. This was strongly supported. Findings were discussed in terms of the literatures on illusory correlation, stereotyping and attitudes.     

An automated device for measuring locomotor activity in rats

An automated plus maze is described that is capable of recording the locomotor activity of 12 rats simultaneously. The system is built around an 8008 microprocessor chip from INTEL. The base of the system is formed by 12 plus mazes in which the activity of the animals under test can be monitored.