On the parity of structural persistence in language production and comprehension

Structural priming creates structural persistence. That is, differences in experience with syntax can change subsequent language performance, and the changes can be observed in both language production and comprehension. However, the effects in comprehension and production appear to differ. In comprehension, persistence is typically found when the verbs are the same in primes and targets; in production, persistence occurs without verb overlap. The contrast suggests a theoretically important hypothesis: parsing in comprehension is lexically driven while formulation in production is structurally driven. A major weakness in this hypothesis about comprehension-production differences is that its empirical motivation rests on the outcomes of experiments in which the priming manipulations differ, the primed sentence structures differ, and the measures of priming differ. To sharpen the comparison, we examined structural persistence with and without verb overlap in both reading comprehension and spoken production, using the same prime presentation procedure, the same syntactic structures, the same sentences, and the same participants. These methods yielded abstract structural persistence in comprehension as well as production. A measure of the strength of persistence revealed significant effects of priming and verb overlap without significant comprehension—production differences. This argues for uniformity in the structural mechanisms of language processing.     

The influence of family routines on the resilience of low-income preschoolers

Using data from the Birth to Three Phase (1996–2001) of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, we investigated whether family routines at 14, 24, and 36 months play a role in the development of children's self-regulation and cognitive ability at 36 months. The moderating effects of child sex and race/ethnicity were also examined. Analyses revealed that routines do matter for child outcomes; concurrent routines appear to be critical for fostering self-regulation at 36 months, whereas early routines may be important for children's later cognitive ability. Second, the effects differed by child sex, with early routines having a stronger association for girls and concurrent routines having a stronger association for boys. Associations also varied by race/ethnicity such that routines appear to matter slightly more for African–American children than European–American and Hispanic children. Implications of these findings with respect to strength-based interventions for low-income preschoolers and their families are discussed.     

Testing the Internal Consent Scale for Measurement Invariance Across Women and Men

The Internal Consent Scale (ICS) was created to measure feelings associated with a person’s willingness to engage in partnered sexual activity. Although previous studies using the ICS have assessed gender differences, evidence has not been provided to suggest that the ICS functions similarly for women and men. Using data from an online cross-sectional survey of adults (N = 874; 53.1% women), we subjected the 25-item ICS to tests of measurement invariance across gender. We found that only partial measurement invariance was tenable, which indicated that direct comparisons across gender should be interpreted with caution when using the ICS. Therefore, we created a gender-invariant short form. In support of construct validity, we found that this 15-item ICS–Short Form demonstrated similar associations with measures of sexual consent communication as the full 25-item ICS. If researchers aim to compare women and men on internal sexual consent, we recommend using the 15-item ICS–Short Form. Cognitive interviews should be conducted to further understand how women and men might differentially interpret ICS items.

     

The Development and Initial Validation of the Adult Coping Inventory

There are few psychometrically sound measures of coping in adults. Widely used measures of coping have highly unstable sub-scale analyses, were developed on homogenous samples, and are outdated. The scarcity of empirically derived instruments is concerning given that coping skills are linked to a variety of positive and negative physical and mental health outcomes (e.g., substance use, depression). Thus, the aim of the current study was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of coping in adults: the Adult Coping Inventory (ACI). The study consisted of three phases: The aim of Phase 1 was to generate an initial item pool. After eliminating redundant items, 124 items remained. The purpose of Phase 2 was to eliminate items based on item frequency and factor loadings. A diverse sample of 526 adults participated in the study. Following item generation and elimination, an exploratory factor analysis produced a 57-item, five-factor model of coping which included the following subscales: Problem Solving, Mindfulness, Maladaptive Coping, Social Support, and Avoidance. Overall, reliability of the ACI was excellent and the internal consistency of the factors ranged from adequate to excellent. Evidence of convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity of the questionnaire was also established. Results provide initial support for the psychometric properties of the ACI.

     

Future meetings related to stress management

Future meetings related to stress management     

Adherence, body mass index, and depression in adults with type 2 diabetes: the mediational role of diabetes symptoms and self-efficacy.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence indicates that depression is linked to the development and worsening of diabetes, but the mechanisms underlying this link are not well understood. The authors examined the hypothesis that diabetes-related symptoms mediate the effect of both behavioral adherence and body mass index (BMI) on depression. In addition, they examined whether a prior finding that self-efficacy mediates the effect of behavioral adherence and BMI on depression would replicate with a larger sample size (W. P. Sacco, K. J. Wells, C. A. Vaughan, A. Friedman, S. Perez, & R. Morales, 2005). Also, the relative contributions of diabetes-related symptoms and self-efficacy to depression were evaluated. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional design involving adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (N = 99). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was depression (Patient Health Questionnaire: Nine Symptom Depression Checklist). Predictors of depression were diet and exercise adherence (Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Questionnaire), diet and exercise self-efficacy (Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire), diabetes symptoms (Diabetes Symptom Checklist), and BMI (based on height and weight data from medical records). RESULTS: Path and mediation analyses indicated that adherence and BMI each contributed to depression indirectly, via their effects on self-efficacy and diabetes-related medical symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results provide evidence consistent with two independent pathways by which BMI and adherence could increase depression in people with Type 2 diabetes. The first pathway indicates that the effects of higher BMI and poor adherence on depression are mediated by lower self-efficacy perceptions. The second pathway indicates that the effect of higher BMI on depression is mediated by increased diabetes symptoms.     

Commitment to the environment: the role of subjective norms in college and community samples

We tested a model of antecedents and outcomes of commitment to the environment, defined as psychological attachment and long‐term orientation to the natural world, hypothesizing that satisfaction with, investments in, and subjective norms about the environment would predict commitment, which, in turn, would predict willingness to sacrifice for the environment. In two studies, the model was supported in undergraduate and community samples, and for general commitment to the environment as well as commitment to specific proenvironmental behaviors. Individuals who are satisfied with and invested in the natural world, and who believe that those close to them value it as well, are likely to be committed to the environment and be willing to forego selfish interests to behave proenvironmentally.     

Learning to “See” Less Than Nothing: Putting Perceptual Skills to Work for Learning Numerical Structure

How can children's natural perceptuo-motor skills be harnessed for teaching and learning mathematical structure? We address this question in the case of the integers. Existing research suggests that adult mental representations of integers recruit perceptuo-motor functionalities involving symmetry. Building on these findings, we designed a hands-on curriculum that emphasizes symmetry to teach integer concepts to fourth graders. Compared to two control conditions, children who went through the experimental curriculum showed evidence of incorporating symmetry into their mental representations of integers and performed higher on problems beyond the scope of instruction, including negative fractions and algebra-readiness problems. Gains did not come at the expense of basic integer computation skill. This study has direct practical implications, as current integers curricula generally omit symmetry. The research demonstrates an approach to designing instruction that involves identifying perceptuo-motor functionalities underlying numerical cognition and creating learning activities to recruit them.     

Mindfulness,Christian Devotion Meditation,surrender, and worry

This article will present an approach for accommodating the benefits of mindfulness into therapy with Christians struggling with worry. Given the psychological benefits of mindfulness and its connection to spirituality, it is not surprising that both therapists and Christian clients are attempting to incorporate it into counselling. Centering prayer, which is a form of Christian Devotion Meditation, provides an accommodative approach to managing worry for Christian clients. The results of this study indicate that surrender, a key component of centering prayer, provides an empirical link for incorporating the benefits of mindfulness for Christians.