Will infants search when ‘no toy’ is hidden? A study of implicit assumptions about the development of object permanence

In the Piagetian tradition, presence or absence of a sense of object permanence is inferred from whether an infant does or does not search when an object is occluded. This line of reasoning entails an implicit assumption, i.e. an infant will not search if no object is seen to disappear. This assumption was evaluated in three studies of 9- and 12-month-old infants' responses to ‘hiding’ toy and ‘no toy’ in different orders in one and two positions. The infants did not search for ‘no toy’ when it preceded toy hiding, but they did search for ‘no toy’ when it followed ‘toy’ under some conditions.     

Awareness Effects of a Youth Suicide Prevention Media Campaign in Louisiana

Research on the efficacy of mediated suicide awareness campaigns is limited. The impacts of a state‐wide media campaign on call volumes to a national hotline were analyzed to determine if the advertisements have raised awareness of the hotline. We use a quasi‐experimental design to compare call volumes from ZIP codes where and when the campaign is active with those where and when the campaign is not active. Multilevel model estimates suggest that the campaign appears to have significantly and substantially increased calls to the hotline. Results from this study add evidence to the growing public health literature that suggests that mediated campaigns can be an effective tool for raising audience awareness.     

"Outsider Within" the Firehouse: African American and White Women Firefighters

Prior findings regarding (a) the subordination of African American women firefighters through imposed exclusion, (b) expanded definitions of tokenism and workgroup composition, and (c) the omnirelevance of race/ethnicity in Black women's perceptions of work experiences are extended to White women firefighters. A nationwide sample of 24 White women firefighters completed a 20-page survey and 1 hr interview developed from these previous findings. Both groups experienced insufficient instruction, hostility, silence, hyper-supervision, lack of support, and stereotyping and supportive as well as strained relationships with coworkers. Specific enactments of these global commonalties often varied along racial/ethnic lines. The present data, which start with the experiences of Black women then examine the experiences of White women, model an important methodological approach for understanding difference.     

Suicide Risk by Military Occupation in the DoD Active Component Population

Suicide risk based on occupational cohorts within the U.S. military was investigated. Rates of suicide based on military occupational categories were computed for the Department of Defense (DoD) active component population between 2001 and 2010. The combined infantry, gun crews, and seamanship specialist group was at increased risk of suicide compared to the overall military population even when adjusted for gender, age, and deployment history. The results provide useful information that can help inform the DoD's suicide prevention mission. Data limitations and recommended areas for future research are discussed.     

Reviews,expectations, and the experience of stories

ABSTRACT

Theory suggests that information encountered prior to a story affects the actual experience of the story due to elicited expectations. In two experiments (N = 100; N = 167) short movies that were introduced with a positive review yielded higher transportation scores than the same movies introduced with a more negative (or neutral) review. Mediation analyses indicate that the reviews had an influence on recipients’ expectations, which in turn predicted the experience of the movie. Using the more fine-grained narrative engagement scale, we found evidence for a consistent effect on narrative presence, whereas the influence on emotional engagement, narrative understanding, and attentional focus varied between experiments. Moderation analyses (moderated mediation) showed that recipient’s opinion seeking and need for cognitive closure were unrelated to the influence of reviews on expectations and the link between expectations and narrative experience. Our findings add to the theory of story processing and they are of practical relevance for everyone who intends to influence recipients’ experience of narrative worlds.