Neuroanatomical correlates of performance in a state‐wide test of math achievement

The development of math skills is a critical component of early education and a strong indicator of later school and economic success. Recent research utilizing population‐normed, standardized measures of math achievement suggest that structural and functional integrity of parietal regions, especially the intraparietal sulcus, are closely related to the development of math skills. However, it is unknown how these findings relate to in‐school math learning. The present study is the first to address this issue by investigating the relationship between regional differences in grey matter (GM) volume and performance in grade‐level mathematics as measured by a state‐wide, school‐based test of math achievement (TCAP math) in children from 3rd to 8th grade. Results show that increased GM volume in the bilateral hippocampal formation and the right inferior frontal gyrus, regions associated with learning and memory, is associated with higher TCAP math scores. Secondary analyses revealed that GM volume in the left angular gyrus had a stronger relationship to TCAP math in grades 3–4 than in grades 5–8 while the relationship between GM volume in the left inferior frontal gyrus and TCAP math was stronger for grades 5–8. These results suggest that the neuroanatomical architecture related to in‐school math achievement differs from that related to math achievement measured by standardized tests, and that the most related neural structures differ as a function of grade level. We suggest, therefore, that the use of school‐relevant outcome measures is critical if neuroscience is to bridge the gap to education.     

Contextualizing the History of Yoga in Geoffrey Samuel’s The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: A Review Symposium

International Journal of Hindu Studies -     

System-justifying ideologies and academic outcomes among first-year Latino college students

The present study examines the relationship between system-justifying ideologies and academic outcomes among 78 first-year Latino college students (21 men, 57 women, mean age = 18.1 years) attending a moderately selective West Coast university. Endorsement of system-justifying ideologies was negatively associated with grade point average (GPA); however it was positively associated with feelings of belonging at the university. In addition, system-justifying ideologies were negatively associated with perceptions of personal discrimination. In contrast, ethnic identity centrality was unrelated to GPA, feelings of belonging, and perceptions of personal discrimination once the relationship between system-justifying ideologies and these outcomes was statistically taken into account. The results of the present study suggest that endorsement of system-justifying ideologies may be a double-edged sword for Latino college students, involving trade-offs between academic success and feelings of belonging.     

Is cleanliness next to abstinence? The effect of cleanliness priming on attitudes towards harm reduction strategies for people with substance use disorders

Can exposure to a cleanliness prime affect moral judgements towards harm reduction strategies (HRS) for individuals with substance use disorders? Our research examined (a) the effect of a cleanliness prime on attitudes towards HRS and (b) whether this effect would be attenuated by a brief educational presentation. Participants were randomly assigned to a priming condition and an educational presentation condition. Results demonstrated that (a) the cleanliness prime did not shift attitudes towards HRS, however, (b) the educational presentations significantly shifted attitudes to be more positive after the Harm Reduction presentation and more negative after the Healthy Living presentation. The literature on priming is mixed and our results support a growing body of research challenging the robustness of cleanliness priming and also demonstrates that brief presentations can change attitudes. Our research has implications for education on the benefits of HRS in reducing disease transmission, refuse in the community, and overdose deaths.     

Maximizing the impact of exposure to scientific role models: Testing an intervention to increase science identity among adolescent girls

A field experiment tested an intervention to maximize the impact of a science outreach program by encouraging early adolescent girls (N = 240, M_age =12) to adopt female role models. Girls participated in workshops led by female role models who were scientific experts in their field. Afterward, they were randomly assigned to choose and write about their favorite workshop leader or to write about the first workshop leader. We hypothesized that the intervention would benefit girls who chose and wrote about a favorite leader. However, girls in both conditions experienced significant increases in science identity. Girls demonstrated strong role model identification with the workshop leaders; moreover, role model identification was associated with increases in science identity. Girls in the chosen leader condition focused on her competence and supportiveness more than girls in the assigned leader condition. There was no difference in science identity between girls from well-represented and underrepresented minority (URM) ethnic groups in scientific fields. URM girls, surprisingly, identified more with the workshop leader than well-represented girls. Science workshops led by female role models with relevant expertise may facilitate science identification among early adolescent girls from diverse ethnic backgrounds.     

Parental Self-Efficacy and Practices in Physical Activity of Young Children with and without Disabilities

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine and compare levels of parental self-efficacy (PSE) and parenting practices (PP) between parents of young...     

FEMINISM AND WOMEN'S FRIENDSHIPS

The ideology of sisterhood within the feminist movement suggests that feminists' and nonfeminists' same–sex friendships would differ profoundly. This assumption was tested by examining the friendships of 45 heterosexual nonfeminists, 43 heterosexual feminists, and 38 lesbian feminists from a large midwestern city. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 46. Using objective measures, differences were found between feminists and nonfeminists for some structural dimensions of friendship, including number of cross–generational friendships, degree of equality, and amount of privacy preferred with a best friend. Lesbian feminists preferred more privacy with their friends than nonfeminists, but rated their friends as lower on relationship quality and degree of equality than heterosexual feminists and nonfeminists. The three groups did not differ on the affective content of friendship, including liking, loving, satisfaction and commitment. However, feminists subjectively perceived their feminism as having contributed to both structural and affective changes in their friendships.     

Construct validity of parent ratings of inhibitory control.

Recent literature has emphasized the need to examine executive functions (EF) in children using multiple sources, including both parent rating and performance-based measures. Computerized Go/No-Go tests, including commercially available continuous performance tests (CPTs), represent one of the most commonly used methods of assessing inhibitory control - a variable central to the executive function construct. We examined the relationship between parent ratings of inhibitory control and CPT performance in two mixed clinical samples. Experiment 1 examined 109 children ages 6-18 using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) and the Conners' CPT-II (Conners, 2000). In this sample, ratings on the BRIEF Inhibit scale (mean T-score = 62.3) were significantly higher than the CPT-II commissions score (mean T-score = 50.7; p < .0001); and the BRIEF and CPT-II scores were not highly correlated (r = - .12). Experiment 2 examined a sample of 131 children ages 7-18 using the BRIEF and the Tests of Variables of Attention (TOVA; Greenberg, 1996). In this sample, parent ratings on the BRIEF Inhibit scale (mean T-score = 56.8) were similar to TOVA commissions scores (mean T-score = 58.6; p = .33), although still poorly correlated (r = -.02). Factor analyses exploring covariance between BRIEF scales CPT-II variables (Experiment 1) and between BRIEF and TOVA (Experiment 2) yielded similar findings. In both experiments, all eight BRIEF scales loaded on a single factor, with no overlap with either the CPT-II or the TOVA. In mixed outpatient clinical samples, the BRIEF appears to measure different elements of inhibitory control than those assessed by computerized continuous performance tests.     

Dissociating word stem completion and cued recall as a function of divided attention at retrieval

The aim of this study was to investigate the widely held, but largely untested, view that implicit memory (repetition priming) reflects an automatic form of retrieval. Specifically, in Experiment 1 we explored whether a secondary task (syllable monitoring), performed during retrieval, would disrupt performance on explicit (cued recall) and implicit (stem completion) memory tasks equally. Surprisingly, despite substantial memory and secondary costs to cued recall when performed with a syllable-monitoring task, the same manipulation had no effect on stem completion priming or on secondary task performance. In Experiment 2 we demonstrated that even when using a particularly demanding version of the stem completion task that incurred secondary task costs, the corresponding disruption to implicit memory performance was minimal. Collectively, the results are consistent with the view that implicit memory retrieval requires little or no processing capacity and is not seemingly susceptible to the effects of dividing attention at retrieval.     

Statistical classification of black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadee (Poecile gambeli) call notes

Both black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) produce a chick-a-dee call that consists of several distinct note types. In some regions, these 2 species live sympatrically, and it has been shown that 1 species will respond weakly to songs of the other. This suggests that chickadee song, and potentially other of their vocalizations, contains species-specific information. We tested the possibility that call notes were acoustically sufficient for species identification. Black-capped and mountain non-D notes were summarized as a set of 9 features and then analyzed by linear discriminant analysis. Linear discriminant analysis was able to use these notes to identify species with 100% accuracy. We repeated this approach, but with black-capped and mountain D notes that were summarized as a set of 4 features. Linear discriminant analysis was able to use these notes to identify species with 94% accuracy. This demonstrates that any of the note types in these chickadee calls possesses sufficient information for species classification.