The cheating and intention of a partner as determinants of evaluative decisions among juvenile offenders

Male juvenile offenders were asked to evaluate the work of an experimental partner (confederate) who completed a work task four times. The work partner cheated on two trials and did not cheat on two trials while working for a charity (one cheat and one noncheat trial) or for selfish gain (one cheat and one noncheat trial). It was found that subjects rated the work done on cheating trials lower than work done on noncheating trials. In addition, subjects shared less reward money on cheating trials relative to noncheating trials. However, the intentions of the confederate, defined as the reward recipient, failed to affect subjects' judgments. These results were described as supporting previous studies which have indicated that delinquents fail to take account of others' intentions when making moral judgments.     

G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A centennial reappraisal introduction

This article is an overview of the special issue "G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A Centennial Reappraisal." First, a brief biography of Hall is presented. Then each of the six articles in the special issue is summarized. Three of the articles are by historians and three are by psychologists, but all six articles integrate history and psychology.     

Sickle cell disease as a neurodevelopmental disorder

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disorder; however, the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the organs frequently affected by the disease. Brain disease can begin early in life and often leads to neurocognitive dysfunction. Approximately one-fourth to one-third of children with SCD have some form of CNS effects from the disease, which typically manifest as deficits in specific cognitive domains and academic difficulties. We discuss SCD as a neurodevelopmental disorder by reviewing the mechanisms of neurological morbidity in SCD, the timing of these mechanisms, the types of cognitive and behavioral morbidity that is typical, and the interaction of social-environmental context with disease processes. The impact of the disease on families shares many features similar to other neurodevelopmental disorders; however, social-environmental factors related to low socioeconomic status, worry and concerns about social stigma, and recurrent, unpredictable medical complications can be sources of relatively higher stress in SCD. Greater public awareness of the neurocognitive effects of SCD and their impact on child outcomes is a critical step toward improved treatment, adaptation to illness, and quality of life.     

Ethical clinical practice and sport psychology: when two worlds collide

From their own practices, the authors offer insight into potential ethical dilemmas that may frequently develop in an applied psychology setting in which sport psychology is also being practiced. Specific ethical situations offered for the reader's consideration include confidentiality with coaches, administration, parents, and athlete-clients; accountability in ethical billing practices and accurate diagnosing; identification of ethical boundaries in nontraditional practice settings (locker room, field, rink, etc.); and establishment of professional competence as it relates to professional practice and marketing.     

Fluency, familiarity, aging, and the illusion of truth

Research has shown that repeated statements are rated as more credible than new statements. However, little research has examined whether such "illusions of truth" can be produced by contextual (nonmnemonic) influences, or compared to the magnitude of these illusions in younger and older adults. In two experiments, we examined how manipulations of perceptual and conceptual fluency influenced truth and familiarity ratings made by young and older adults. Stimuli were claims about companies or products varying in normative familiarity. Results showed only small effects of perceptual fluency on rated truth or familiarity. In contrast, manipulating conceptual fluency via semantic/textual context had much larger effects on rated truth and familiarity, with the effects modulated by normative company familiarity such that fluency biases were larger for lesser-known companies. In both experiments, young and older adults were equally susceptible to fluency-based biases.