Porn,Peers, and Performing Oral Sex: The Mediating Role of Peer Norms on Pornography’s Influence Regarding Oral Sex

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to offer insights into how pornography use might be linked to young adults’ sexual experiences via the mediating role of peer norms (i.e., their perceptions of what same-sex peers do sexually). We focused on oral sex behavior, as it is common in pornography and among young people. Young adults (N = 349; ages 19–30; 54% female) were recruited through a crowdsourcing website. Participants completed an anonymous online survey about the frequency that they observed various sexual behaviors in online pornography, the frequency that they engaged in these behaviors, and their perceptions of the frequency that their peers engaged in these behaviors. Frequency of viewing cunnilingus (men) or fellatio (women) in pornography predicted how often they engaged in oral sex, and this association was mediated by their perceptions of how frequently their peers engaged in oral sex. Peer norms did not mediate how frequently they received oral sex. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding how pornography may relate to young people’s social norms surrounding oral sex and their performance of sexual behaviors, as well as for understanding generally how media consumption relates to adoption of media behaviors through suggesting a social norm.     

Phonological and working memory mechanisms involved in written spelling

Recent theories of spelling based on neuropsychological data and on computational modelling (Caramazza & Miceli, 1990; Caramazza, Miceli, Villa, & Romani, 1987; Glasspool & Houghton, 2005; Glasspool, Shallice, & Cipolotti, 2006; Miceli & Capasso, 2006; Rapp & Kong, 2002) assume that a working memory system is used to store identity and order of the graphemes, and propose that an impairment of this system, called Graphemic Buffer (GB), is marked by the presence of a number of typical effects. Recently, this disorder has been simulated by different versions of the Competitive Queuing model (Glasspool & Houghton, 2005; Glasspool et al., 2006). The effect of the disruption of this mechanism in written spelling was investigated by means of a dual task in the present study. Three-syllable and four-syllable words were presented to normal adults for aural presentation (Experiment 1) and spelling by copying (Experiment 2). In order to investigate the effects of dual tasks, and the possible involvement of phonological codes, three conditions were used: simple dictation, concurrent articulation, and foot tapping. The results showed strong effects of concurrent articulation, and were consistent with the hypothesis that this task disrupted the serial operations of readout and sequential planning of the GB. They were also consistent with the simulations of the Competitive Queuing model, suggesting possible loci of the effects.     

Una struttura algebrica per l’ontologia

Conclusioni La struttura a livelli modella il tutto e le sue parti con grande generalità. Lo dimostrano le argomentazioni teoriche (4.3), (4.4) e (4.5), e lo comprova la casistica che è stata aggiunta. Una tale struttura non presenta affatto i problemi a), b) e c) che sono tipici della struttura ad albero. Essa corregge inoltre deviazioni concettuali che sono diffuse nel settore informatico. L’immediatezza deviazioni concettuali che sono diffuse nel settore informatico. L’immediatezza visiva, infine, ne facilita la diffusione sul piano professionale e tecnico. Per concludere, ritengo che la struttura a livelli possa fornire un contributo anche alle ricerche di ontologia e in particolare possa favorire i tentativi di unificazione condotti sia sul piano teorico, sia su quello applicativo [Uschold 1996]. Le difficoltà ed i limiti che la teoria degli insiemi oppone ad un formalismo generale (ad esempio quando riduce la casistica della relazione concetto di livello possiede una valenza estremamente ampia e ciò lo predispone per gli auspicati sviluppi ontologici.     

The relative lability of mobile and stationary components in a visual-motor adaptation task

The results of previous studies of intermanual transfer of prism adaptation may have been biased because the arm was mobile during training, rather than for instance the head. It was hypothesized that adaptation will be more associated with a joint when it is mobile rather than stationary. Intermanual transfer when arm was mobile and head stationary was compared with that when head was mobile and arm stationary. Also measured was the adaptation persisting when the mobile part in training was stationary in testing. The results showed, against the original hypothesis, that adaptation tends to be associated with a stationary joint. This fits in with evidence that there is greater position uncertainty in a stationary joint and that this is associated with adaptability.     

Clinical Trial Application in Europe: What Will Change with the New Regulation?

The European framework surrounding clinical trials on medicinal products for human use is going to change as demonstrated by the large debate at European institutional level. One of the major challenges is to overcome the lack of harmonisation of clinical trial procedures among countries. This aspect is gaining more and more importance, considering the increasing number of multicentre and multinational studies. In this work, the actual European rules governing the Clinical Trial Application have been analysed throughout the different steps including the registration of the trial in the European database; the preparation of documents to be submitted and their contents; the preparation of documents related to the information and consent process; the submission to competent bodies. Specific issues related to paediatric research and trials involving non EU/EEA countries have been addressed as well. Results reveal that the European legislation offers a well defined set of European rules covering different aspects of a Clinical Trial Application. However, these are not suitable to meet the challenges from multicentre and multinational clinical studies. A stronger set of rules, such as is available in a composite European Regulation has been adopted and is expected to harmonise practices and enable sponsors to carry out well conducted trials. But will the new regulation overcome the existing criticisms of Directive 2001/20/EC?     

The Relationship Between Parenting Style and Children's Adjustment: The Parents' Perspective

We examined the relationship between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and socio-emotional adjustment in elementary school children as reported from the parents' perspective. Mothers of first through fifth graders provided information about parenting style as well as children's competencies and problem behaviors. Teachers provided ratings of children's adjustment for a subset of the participants. Results indicated that authoritative parenting was associated negatively with parent- and teacher-rated maladaptive behavior, and positively with indicators of healthy adjustment. Correlations between authoritarian parenting and adjustment were either small or non-significant. Regression analyses indicated that authoritative parenting was more predictive of children's competence than maladaptation (22% versus 10% of variance). The effects of parenting style on adjustment were not moderated by demographic variables, such as the child's gender, grade level, ethnicity, and family income.     

Remembering the Grocery Shopping List: a Study on Metacognitive Biases

Three experiments examined the influence on memory monitoring and memory control of typicality and frequency of purchase of grocery items. On the basis of normative data, food items were divided into three categories: T+F+ (items typically bought in an Italian food store, and of frequent purchase for university students), T+F− (items typical but not frequently purchased) and T−F− (items low in both characteristics). Experiment 1 revealed that despite an equal recall of the three categories of items, ease of learning judgments were significantly lower for T−F− items. In Experiments 2 and 3, T−F− items were also treated differently than the two other types, when subjects had to decide which items to select for an additional check, and when they had to apportion their study time. Overall, data show that biases independent of the memory state of an item can influence memory monitoring. In addition, the same biases appear to influence the cognitive behaviour, suggesting that monitoring can have an impact on subsequent cognitive behaviour independent of the memorization processes. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.