Kids See Human Too: Adapting an Individual Differences Measure of Anthropomorphism for a Child Sample

The study of anthropomorphism in adults has received considerable interest with the development of the Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism Questionnaire (IDAQ; Waytz, Cacioppo, & Epley, 2010). Anthropomorphism in children—its development, correlates, and consequences—is also of significant interest, yet a comparable measure does not exist. To fill this gap, we developed the IDAQ-Child Form (IDAQ-CF) and report on 2 studies. In Study 1A, adults (N = 304) were administered the IDAQ and IDAQ-CF to directly assess comparability between the measures. In Study 1B, an additional 350 adults were administered the IDAQ-CF to confirm that the new measure had the same underlying structure as the original IDAQ when the measures were not administered together. In Study 2, children (N = 90) in 3 age groups—5, 7, and 9 years old—were administered the IDAQ-CF and an Attribution Interview, which probed their conceptions of a robot and puppet. Results indicated the IDAQ-CF a) is comparable to the original IDAQ in adult (Studies 1A and 1B) and child (Study 2) samples, and b) predicts children’s tendency to attribute animate characteristics to inanimate entities (Study 2). This research provides strong evidence that the IDAQ-CF is an effective adaptation of the original IDAQ for use with children.     

No imagination effect on boundary extension

Boundary extension (BE) occurs when people falsely remember perceiving beyond the edges of a presented scene. Theorists argue that BE occurs because people mistakenly attribute information they have generated to the study stimulus—that is, they make a source memory error. Inspired by this idea, in six experiments we tested whether scene details resulting from explicit imagination would be misremembered as actual visual perceptions, resulting in increased BE as compared with standard instructions. In four experiments, undergraduates completed a BE task with separate study and test blocks; in two further experiments, undergraduates completed a trial-by-trial BE task (N = 290). Half of the participants elaborated on the study pictures (imagined smells and sounds, or what was to the left and right of the scene, or what a photographer would see by zooming in or out). Robust BE was found in all experiments, but none of the elaborations modified the size of BE; therefore, BE is not to be affected by explicit elaboration and may be related to spatial rather than visual imagery ability.     

The Church as an Agent of Help in the Battle Against Late Life Depression

Late life depression has become recognized as a serious mental health problem. Almost 1 in 6 elderly suffer (often in silence) with late life depression. New care delivery agents need to be uncovered and mobilized. Because older Americans' religious habits positively impact their sense of well-being and physical health, the church becomes an ideal medium to offer educational programming focused onprevention and early intervention. This article presents a proposal for how the church could become an agent of help to depressed elderly and their families.     

Gender,Emotional Support,and Well-Being Among the Rural Elderly

The current study sought to clarify the effects of social support on the psychological well-being of rural elders. Data were provided by 180 older men and women (mean age = 73.6 years) living in Northern Appalachia. Similar to the demographic profile of this region, most (97.2%) of the participants were Caucasian. Although mean differences in perceptions of emotional support did not emerge, the relative importance of various sources of support differed for men and women. For men, higher satisfaction with family support was associated with lower negative affect and higher positive affect. For women, although satisfaction with emotional support from family and more years of education were associated with lower levels of negative affect, emotional support from friends enhanced positive affect. The results suggest that new programs may be needed in order to help older rural men and women to maintain well-being in late life.     

Looking and touching: what extant approaches reveal about the structure of early word knowledge

The goal of the current study is to assess the temporal dynamics of vision and action to evaluate the underlying word representations that guide infants' responses. Sixteen‐month‐old infants participated in a two‐alternative forced‐choice word–picture matching task. We conducted a moment‐by‐moment analysis of looking and reaching behaviors as they occurred in tandem to assess the speed with which a prompted word was processed (visual reaction time) as a function of the type of haptic response: Target, Distractor, or No Touch. Visual reaction times (visual RTs) were significantly slower during No Touches compared to Distractor and Target Touches, which were statistically indistinguishable. The finding that visual RTs were significantly faster during Distractor Touches compared to No Touches suggests that incorrect and absent haptic responses appear to index distinct knowledge states: incorrect responses are associated with partial knowledge whereas absent responses appear to reflect a true failure to map lexical items to their target referents. Further, we found that those children who were faster at processing words were also those children who exhibited better haptic performance. This research provides a methodological clarification on knowledge measured by the visual and haptic modalities and new evidence for a continuum of word knowledge in the second year of life.     

Spoon distance fading with and without escape extinction as treatment for food refusal

Little is known about the characteristics of meals that serve as motivating operations (MOs) for escape behavior. In the current investigation, we showed that the distance at which a therapist held a spoon from a child's lips served as an MO for escape behavior. Based on these results, we implemented spoon distance fading, compared fading with and without escape extinction (EE), and compared fading plus EE to EE alone. Initially, inappropriate mealtime behavior decreased during fading, but this effect was not maintained as fading progressed. Inappropriate mealtime behavior was lower initially when we combined fading and EE relative to EE alone, but acceptance increased more rapidly with EE than with fading plus EE. These results suggest that a number of mealtime characteristics might function as MOs for escape behavior and that analyses of MOs may be useful for developing treatments for food refusal.     

The relationship between the Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised (WMS-R) Attention index and putative measures of Attention

Although the Wechsler Memory Scale—Revised (WMS-R; Wechsler, 1987) is one of the more frequently used measures of memory and attention, its Attention/Concentration Index (ACI) has been minimally researched. If the ACI is to be used as a measure of attention, the need exists to determine if it is related to other measures theoretically argued to be sensitive to attention deficits. The present study evaluated the relationship between the WMS-R ACI and other putative measures of attention by comparing individuals labeled as Attention Impaired [ACI at least 15 points < General Memory Index (GMI)] versus those labeled as Memory Impaired (GMI at least 15 points < ACI). Contrary to expectations, the Attention Impaired group scored equal to the Memory Impaired group on all measures theorized to be sensitive to attention deficits (Trails A and B time, Trails B errors, Rey AVLT interference list), except for statistically weaker performance on Trails A errors. In contrast but as expected, the Memory Impaired group scored statistically worse on all memory tests (Rey AVLT, all TPT variables). The groups also did not differ on tests argued not to be differentially affected by either attention or memory (WAIS-R FIQ, Category Test). It is concluded that the WMS-R Attention Index is not related to deficits on other measures sensitive to attention, further emphasizing the need to identify more clearly specific attention constructs.     

Help-Seeking Behaviors in Non-Offending Caregivers of Abused Children in the Philippines

The help-seeking process among non-offending caregivers (NOCs) of abused children particularly in the non-Western context has yet to be elucidated. The objective of the current study was to investigate what proportion of Filipino NOCs of abused children sought professional support services within 12 months following child abuse disclosure (T1) and at 12 months (T2) follow-up in the Philippines. Two further aims were to investigate NOCs’ preferred service providers and settings and to explore barriers to help-seeking. A comparison group of Filipino parents without an abused child were also recruited to compare preferences and potential barriers to help seeking for child and family problems. A total of 47 NOCs and 70 comparison parents/guardians completed questionnaires, which assessed help-seeking preferences and barriers as well as parental stress. The majority of NOCs reported seeking help, which was perceived to be helpful. Almost two thirds of NOCs indicated preference for in-person counseling relative to the comparison group of parents. The majority of NOCs preferred seeking help from social workers and psychologists. Almost one third of both parental samples reported being judged as an unfit parent as a key barrier to seeking help for family problems. The findings have implications for psychological and allied health service providers in facilitating the adjustment for families of recently abused children.     

Longitudinal Effects of Reading Intervention on Below Grade Level,Preadolescent, Title I Students

Some claim that good and poor readers continue their trajectories despite intervention. This quasi-experimental study examined whether the READ 180 program helps general education, below-grade-level, Title I preadolescent readers improve. Participants included 82 students, grades 4–8, in public Title I elementary and middle schools. Results showed that below grade-level readers improved after intervention and attained grade-level status. Differences remained between participants and their nonintervention peers during follow-up testing. However, when examining growth trajectories, a reversal in performance between the two groups was manifested. The below-grade-level students’ mean growth between years 1 and 2 after intervention was actually greater than that of their on-grade-level peers with no intervention. The performance trajectory narrowed over time after successful intervention.