Risk perception as a function of risk exposure amongst rock climbers

ObjectivesThe first objective was to examine the extent to which climbers' climbing safety perceived competence (CSPC) and perceived own absolute (POAR) and comparative (PCR) risk of getting seriously injured whilst climbing is related to risk exposure. The second objective was to examine which variables influence POAR and PCR.MethodTwo hundred and thirty-five climbers (M = 32, SD = 10.2 years of age) completed the following questionnaires: a CSPC scale specifically developed to assess perceived ability to practice climbing safely; indirect measures of PCR, consisting in the subtraction of the participants' assessment of their own risks from their assessment of other climbing referents' risks; and the Life Orientation Test-Revised, measuring dispositional optimism (DO). Participants were approached in their practices sites from Mediterranean regions, and were divided into groups based on their climbing practice's risk exposure; that is, high risk: traditional climbing (TRAD; n = 42); moderate risk: leading (LEAD; n = 89); and low risk: either top-roping (TOP; n = 51) or indoor bouldering (IND; n = 53).ResultsAnalyses of variance showed that TRAD expressed higher CSPC and higher POAR than the other groups. PCR also differed amongst the groups. More specifically, TRAD expressed comparative pessimism and LEAD expressed comparative optimism, as their POAR was, respectively, higher and lower than their perceived average climber's risk. TOP and IND perceived their own risk in a similar way to that of the average climber. Regression analyses showed that DO did not influence POAR or PCR. Past injury episode was positively related to POAR and negatively related to the propensity to express comparative optimism, though only amongst TRAD and LEAD.ConclusionsClimbers' risk perception accurately reflected their risk exposure. Climbers whose climbing modality involves higher risks acknowledged so when evaluating their own absolute and comparative risks of getting seriously injured whilst climbing.     

Adaptation of central pitch-specific mechanisms

Three previous psychophysical studies have demonstrated that interaural time difference (ITD) coding mechanisms can undergo frequency-specific, selective adaptation. We sought to determine whether this phenomenon extends to the pitch domain, by employing the same psycho-physical paradigm as one used previously, but with harmonic tone complexes lacking energy at the fundamental frequency. Ten normal listeners participated in experiment 1. Psychometric functions for ITDs were obtained for harmonic tone complexes with fundamental frequencies of 110 Hz and 185 Hz, before and after selective adaptation with complexes of the same fundamental frequencies lateralised to opposite sides. In experiment 1, each subject was tested twice. On separate days, subjects were tested with 110 Hz and 185 Hz stimuli that were either partially resolvable complexes or unresolvable ones. Both partially resolved and unresolved stimuli supported adaptation, and at both fundamental frequencies. In experiment 2, which employed nine listeners, the adaptor tone complexes were presented in conjunction with a diotic noise background designed to mask difference tones generated by the adaptor stimuli. The use of the masker had little effect on the mean strength of the adaptation effected by the unresolved adaptor stimuli, and only slightly weakened the adaptation effect found with the partially resolved adaptor stimuli. Taken together, these data constitute the first demonstration of selective adaptation exerted on a central mechanism in the pitch domain.     

Can infants map meaning to newly segmented words? Statistical segmentation and word learning

The present experiments investigated how the process of statistically segmenting words from fluent speech is linked to the process of mapping meanings to words. Seventeen-month-old infants first participated in a statistical word segmentation task, which was immediately followed by an object-label-learning task. Infants presented with labels that were words in the fluent speech used in the segmentation task were able to learn the object labels. However, infants presented with labels consisting of novel syllable sequences (nonwords; Experiment 1) or familiar sequences with low internal probabilities (part-words; Experiment 2) did not learn the labels. Thus, prior segmentation opportunities, but not mere frequency of exposure, facilitated infants' learning of object labels. This work provides the first demonstration that exposure to word forms in a statistical word segmentation task facilitates subsequent word learning.     

Overt and Relational Aggression and Victimization: Multiple Perspectives within the School Setting

The current study involved a comprehensive comparative examination of overt and relational aggression and victimization across multiple perspectives in the school setting (peers, teachers, observers in the lunchroom, self-report). Patterns of results involving sociometic status, ethnicity and gender were explored among 4th graders, with particular emphasis on girls. Controversial and rejected children were perceived as higher on both forms of aggression than other status groups, but only rejected children were reported as victims. Both European American and African American girls showed a greater tendency toward relational aggression and victimization than overt aggression or victimization. Results indicated negative outcomes associated with both relational and overt victimization and especially overt aggression for the target girl sample. Poorer adjustment and a socially unskillful behavioral profile were found to be associated with these three behaviors. However, relational aggression did not evidence a similar negative relation to adjustment nor was it related to many of the behaviors examined in the current study. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Nasal consonant production in Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics: speech deficits and neuroanatomical correlates

The present study investigated the articulatory implementation deficits of Broca's and Wernicke's aphasics and their potential neuroanatomical correlates. Five Broca's aphasics, two Wernicke's aphasics, and four age-matched normal speakers produced consonant-vowel-(consonant) real word tokens consisting of [m, n] followed by [i, e, a, o, u]. Three acoustic measures were analyzed corresponding to different properties of articulatory implementation: murmur duration (a measure of timing), amplitude of the first harmonic at consonantal release (a measure of articulatory coordination), and murmur amplitude over time (a measure of laryngeal control). Results showed that Broca's aphasics displayed impairments in all of these parameters, whereas Wernicke's aphasics only exhibited greater variability in the production of two of the parameters. The lesion extent data showed that damage in either Broca's area or the insula cortex was not predictive of the severity of the speech output impairment. Instead, lesions in the upper and lower motor face areas and the supplementary motor area resulted in the most severe implementation impairments. For the Wernicke's aphasics, the posterior areas (superior marginal gyrus, parietal, and sensory) appear to be involved in the retrieval and encoding of lexical forms for speech production, resulting in increased variability in speech production.     

Unemployment and civil commitment: a test of the intolerance hypothesis

We theorize that the reported association between economic indicators and the incidence of civil commitment for mental illness may result, at least in part, from reduced tolerance in the community for impaired behavior among minorities. Earlier work suggests that economically induced intolerance will be focused primarily on minority males. Based on this literature, we hypothesize that the median level of functioning among African-American males subjected to civil commitment will vary positively with earlier changes in the unemployment rate. The test applies Box-Jenkins methods to 156 months (August 1985-July 1998) of data from California. Consistent with theory, results support the hypothesis.     

Forgiving the September 11th terrorists: associations with coping, psychological distress, and religiosity

Two studies examined how non-interpersonal forgiveness (when there is no social relationship between the transgressor and forgiver) related to coping and involuntary responses to stress, psychological distress, and religiosity. Three to six weeks after September 11th, 2001, forgiveness had non-linear associations with other responses to the terrorist attacks. Among college students (N=488), those who were trying or had forgiven (pro-forgiveness) the terrorists reported less involuntary engagement, more primary and secondary control coping, and more meaning finding than those who were unsure about forgiveness (ambivalent) and those who did not believe the perpetrators should be forgiven (anti-forgiveness). Ambivalent students reported the most distress, even after controlling for religion. Anti-forgiveness students reported less religiosity than ambivalent and pro-forgiveness students. Most findings were consistent among middle schoolers (N=154), particularly regarding psychological distress and responses to stress. Also, forgiveness of strangers for acts against one's community functioned separately from religion.     

Stereotype change and prejudice reduction: short‐ and long‐term evaluation of a cross–cultural awareness programme

The present study reports an evaluation of an applied prejudice reduction intervention. Previous research has indicated that such programmes achieve limited success. The programme evaluated was an in‐house anti‐racist education programme aimed at reducing prejudice towards Aboriginal Australians. The target audience were employees of a large public service organization. Knowledge of, prejudice towards, and stereotyping of Aboriginal Australians were assessed before commencing the programme to establish a baseline. Changes in these variables were assessed immediately after completing the programme, and again 3 months after completing the programme. The programme had pronounced effects immediately after completion: there was a significant increase in knowledge and significant decrease in prejudice and negative stereotyping. However, 3 months later, there was no significant difference to baseline levels of prejudice and stereotyping. Knowledge remained significantly higher than at baseline 3 months after completing the programme. High prejudice participants alone experienced a significant, long‐term decrease in old‐fashioned racism. It is concluded that further research must be done to develop more successful strategies of prejudice reduction and stereotype change that are also applicable to ‘real world’ contexts. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal Depression and Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Symptomatology: Severity and Chronicity of Past Maternal Depression and Current Maternal Depressive Symptoms

Maternal depression is a well-documented risk factor for youth depression, and taking into account its severity and chronicity may provide important insight into the degree of risk conferred. This study explored the degree to which the severity/chronicity of maternal depression history explained variance in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms above and beyond current maternal depressive symptoms among 171 youth (58 % male) ages 8 to 12 over a span of 3 years. Severity and chronicity of past maternal depression and current maternal depressive symptoms were examined as predictors of parent-reported youth internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, as well as youth self-reported depressive symptoms. Severity and chronicity of past maternal depression did not account for additional variance in youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms at Time 1 beyond what was accounted for by maternal depressive symptoms at Time 1. Longitudinal growth curve modeling indicated that prior severity/chronicity of maternal depression predicted levels of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms at each time point when controlling for current maternal depressive symptoms at each time point. Chronicity of maternal depression, apart from severity, also predicted rate of change in youth externalizing symptoms over time. These findings highlight the importance of screening and assessing for current maternal depressive symptoms, as well as the nature of past depressive episodes. Possible mechanisms underlying the association between severity/chronicity of maternal depression and youth outcomes, such as residual effects from depressive history on mother–child interactions, are discussed.