Aging,Agency, and Activism: Older Women as Social Change Agents

Current cohorts of older women are potential social activists, and their potential to contribute to social change is examined. It is argued that engagement in social action is positive and empowering for aging women. Older women both contribute to and benefit from social capital, connections among individuals in social networks, and norms of reciprocity (Putnam, 2000 Putnam , R. ( 2000 ). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community . New York : Simon & Schuster .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Recommendations are offered for organizations that wish to recruit and engage older women as members. A feminist therapy perspective is consistent with the empowerment of older women as social agents.     

Teaching General Safety and Body Safety Training Skills to a Latino Preschool Male with Autism

This case study describes the implementation of a safety training program with a 5-year-old Latino boy diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The program focused on teaching him general safety rules and body safety in an effort to reduce his likelihood of sexual victimization and injury. The boy was treated in conjunction with another child by two therapists, while his caretakers participated in a caretaker group. Both groups consisted of 10 h of safety education instruction. Results show that the boy was able to learn a few safety concepts as well as increase his knowledge of personal safety. Caregiver data revealed a minor increase in knowledge of general safety and an increase in family communication regarding safety issues. However, upon a 3-month follow-up, the boy appeared to lose some knowledge. Recommendations for implementing the Body Safety Training program with children with disabilities and providing their caretakers with information regarding the risk of child sexual abuse is provided.     

Dyadic Versus Individual Storytelling by Preschool Children

A constructive model of recall and communication (D. Edwards & D. Middleton, 1986) and certain whole-word approaches to learning (C. Pontecorvo & C. Zucchermaglio, 1989) were evaluated in conjunction with an investigation of the benefits of joint storytelling on children's cognitive processes. Preschoolers (N = 36, aged 30-62 months) were prompted to compose a story, working with a classmate (during which they talked together freely and generated a mutual narrative) or individually. Findings revealed that, although dyadically generated stones were longer, containing significantly more words, propositions, and additive conjunctions, stories told by individuals contained proportionally more logically connected statements and greater use of the past tense. Moreover, compared with dyadic stories, individually generated narratives contained fewer alterations of the protagonist.     

Representational momentum when attention is divided

Observers tend to misremember a transforming object's final appearance as further along in the direction of continued transformation. This forward bias, termed representational momentum (RM), suggests that the dynamics associated with an object cannot be ignored in the effort to remember a particular instance of the object. Two experiments tested how attentional focus affects this memory bias. Observers attended to one object, divided attention across more than one object, or performed a secondary task simultaneously with the RM task. For objects translating in space, diminished attention increased the forward memory shift, suggesting that under distraction, motion can be represented but the stopping point is less effectively represented. We propose that object dynamics are well represented when attention is distracted, but that representing a change—including stopping—in the dynamics requires attention. We suggest some experiments to examine this proposal further.     

Integrated Schooling and Religious Tolerance in Northern Ireland

The design of educational institutions has long been seen as a key element in determining social divisions. This article examines the long-term impact of separate and integrated education on relations between the two religious communities (Catholics and Protestants) in Northern Ireland. Using a large-scale survey, the results suggest that in comparison to their previously separate counterparts, individuals who attended an integrated school are more likely to be understanding and respectful of the culture and traditions of others. The finding holds even after a range of background characteristics are taken into account. The results have implications for the role of segregated educational institutions in ameliorating religious, ethnic or racial division in other post-conflict societies. The Northern Ireland evidence suggests that a segregated school system rather than ameliorating intolerance and division may end up exacerbating and reinforcing it.     

Two Concepts or Two Approaches? A Bifactor Analysis of Psychological and Subjective Well-Being

Researchers often debate about whether there is a meaningful differentiation between psychological well-being and subjective well-being. One view argues that psychological and subjective well-being are distinct dimensions, whereas another view proposes that they are different perspectives on the same general construct and thus are more similar than different. The purpose of this investigation was to examine these two competing views by using a statistical approach, the bifactor model, that allows for an examination of the common variance shared by the two types of well-being and the unique variance specific to each. In one college sample and one nationally representative sample, the bifactor model revealed a strong general factor, which captures the common ground shared by the measures of psychological well-being and subjective well-being. The bifactor model also revealed four specific factors of psychological well-being and three specific factors of subjective well-being, after partialling out the general well-being factor. We further examined the relations of the specific factors of psychological and subjective well-being to external measures. The specific factors demonstrated incremental predictive power, independent of the general well-being factor. These results suggest that psychological well-being and subjective well-being are strongly related at the general construct level, but their individual components are distinct once their overlap with the general construct of well-being is partialled out. The findings thus indicate that both perspectives have merit, depending on the level of analysis.     

Casting a spell with witches and broomsticks: Direct and associative influences on nonword orthography

Abstract

This study investigated direct and associative lexical priming of nonword spelling in adults and children. Two possible alternative orthographies of each nonword were targeted under both direct and associative priming conditions. It was found that both direct and associative priming manipulations were effective in influencing the choice of spelling pattern of nonwords, with both children and adults showing the effect. Levels of priming in children were lower, though not significantly lower, than those in adults. Direct priming was significantly stronger than associative priming for both subject groups, with the size of this differential being reduced in children. The differences between the types of priming are seen as speaking to a multiple-activation model of the orthographic lexicon, whereas those between age groups as pointing to a differential functional organisation of the lexicon.     

Sources of Variability in Sequelae of Very Low Birth Weight

Few investigations have examined the specificity of sequelae of very low birth weight (VLBW, <1500 g) or sources of variability in outcome. To better understand the nature and determinants of outcome, we assessed neuropsychological and achievement skills at mean age 11 years in 62 children with <750 g birth weight, 54 with 750-1499 g birth weight, and 66 term-born controls. Distinct cognitive constructs were identified by factor analysis, and the three birthweight groups were compared on these constructs and on composite measures of achievement. Although the group with <750 g birth weight performed less well on all tests than term-born controls, group differences in a perceptual planning factor and in mathematics remained even when IQ was controlled, and deficits were more pronounced in mathematics than in reading. Results from structural equation modeling were consistent with the hypothesis that neuropsychological skills mediated the relationship between birth weight and achievement. The findings confirm the differential deficit hypothesis, support the need to consider multiple sources of variability in VLBW outcomes, and highlight the importance of neuropsychological constructs in developing an explanatory framework.