Can Virtual Reality Increase the Realism of Role Plays Used to Teach College Women Sexual Coercion and Rape-Resistance Skills?

The present study evaluated whether virtual reality (VR) can enhance the realism of role plays designed to help college women resist sexual attacks. Sixty-two female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the Role Play (RP) or Virtual Role Play (VRP) conditions, which were differentiated only by the use of VR technology in the VRP condition. A multimethod assessment strategy was used to evaluate the effects of VR on the experienced realism of sexually threatening role plays. Realism was assessed by participant self-reports of negative affect and perceptions of realism, direct observation of participants' verbal displays of negative affect during the role plays, and measurements of participant heart rate during the role plays. Results indicated that VR can indeed heighten the realism of sexually threatening role plays. Discussion focuses on issues regarding the use of VR-enhanced role plays for helping college women resist sexual attacks.     

Determinants of following headway in congested traffic

This paper reports on results of a study undertaken in the UK aimed at investigating factors affecting the car following process. An understanding of the factors affecting this complex decision making process is essential to a wide range of theoretical issues including driver workload, capacity and the modeling of freeway flow, as well as practical applications such as the design of in-vehicle driver aids and assistance systems, many of which have direct relevance to increasing driver safety. The study used an instrumented vehicle to collect time dependent following data for a group of test drivers. Data was collected on two differing types of high speed road, using six primary subjects who drove a test vehicle, supplemented by data on 123 drivers that were observed following the test vehicle. Examination was made of how the time headway chosen by a driver is influenced by a range of situational variables commonly believed to effect behavior, with four main findings. Firstly, headway was found to change according to the type of vehicle being followed (i.e. subjects followed closer to trucks than to cars), secondly, little variation was found with changes in overall traffic flow, thirdly, little correlation was found with road type, and lastly a distinct day-to-day variation in individual behavior was observed.     

Examining the core: Relations among reading curricula, poverty, and first through third grade reading achievement

Policy changes at the federal and state level are endeavoring to improve student achievement at schools serving children from lower-SES homes. One important strategy is the focus on using evidence-based core reading curricula to provide a consistent framework for instruction across schools. However, rarely have these curricula undergone rigorous comparative testing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six core reading curricula on oral reading fluency growth, while appraising whether these effects differ by grade level and for children living in lower socioeconomic (SES) households. Over 30,000 students in first through third grade Florida Reading First classrooms comprise this academically and economically diverse cross-sectional. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to model latent growth curves for students' reading fluency scores over the school year. Growth curves revealed differences across curricula as well as between students of lower and higher SES, suggesting that reading fluency growth trajectories for curricula varied depending on student SES and grade level. Findings indicate that while there are similarities among curricula, they sometimes differ in their ability to promote reading skill growth. Differences by grade level and SES were also detected. However, many of these differences were small. Implications for the use of curriculum as a conduit for improving reading instruction are discussed.     

Partner aggression and children's externalizing problems: maternal and partner warmth as protective factors.

This research examined maternal and partner warmth as moderators of the relation between men's intimate partner aggression and children's externalizing problems. Participants were 157 mothers and their children (ages 7-9 years). Results indicate that maternal and partner warmth each moderated the relation between men's intimate partner aggression and children's externalizing problems. Partner-to-mother aggression was positively associated with child reports of externalizing problems at lower, but not higher, levels of maternal warmth. Similarly, partner-to-mother aggression was positively associated with mother reports of girls', but not boys', externalizing problems at lower, but not higher, levels of maternal warmth. On the other hand, the moderating effect of partner warmth was in the opposite direction and was found only with child-reported externalizing problems. Increased levels of partner-to-mother aggression related positively to child-reported externalizing problems when partners were higher, but not lower, in warmth.     

The Accuracy of Self-Reports of Condom Use and Sexual Behavior

In a study of the accuracy of self-reports of sexual behavior and condom use, 285 single, young adults in a large metropolitan area were interviewed once a week for 52 weeks, reporting on their sexual behavior each week. At 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month intervals, the individuals also provided self-reports of the number of times they had engaged in sex and the number of times they had used condoms since they began participating in the study. These self-reports were compared with aggregates of the weekly data, which served as a comparison standard for accuracy evaluation. The results indicate a fairly high level of accuracy in self-reports, but with 2% to 5% outliers who are highly inaccurate. The results tend to favor the assessment of sexual behavior over moderate time durations (3 or 6 months) rather than short or long durations (1 month or 12 months) when trying to maximize self-report accuracy. Accuracy was attenuated for individuals who tended to engage in sex frequently, especially at the 12-month time durations.     

Effects of classroom organization on letter-word reading in first grade

Teacher organization is a crucial part of classroom functioning; however, its relation to student achievement has not been investigated as extensively as that of instruction. In this study, organization is defined as the amount of time teachers spend explaining the purpose and procedures of learning activities and daily routines. Data from first-grade classrooms (N = 44) observed three times during the school year (fall, winter, and spring) are analyzed, along with students' (N = 108) literacy skills at fall and spring. Hierarchical Linear Modeling reveals that, controlling for students' fall word reading and vocabulary skills, as well as amount of language arts instruction they receive, both amount and change in amount over time in classroom organization significantly predicts spring word reading skills. Specifically, children in classrooms observed in higher amounts of classroom time in organization at the beginning of the school year, followed by sharp decreases over the school year, demonstrated stronger letter and word reading skills by spring, and this was a main effect (p < .05). Practical and research implications are discussed.     

The child in time: the influence of parent-child discussion about a future experience on how it is remembered

We investigated the influence of preparation provided by parents on preschoolers' recall. One day before children participated in a staged novel event, parents discussed the event with their child either with (verbal+photos) or without (verbal) photographs. Parents and children in a control condition read an unrelated story. Then 8-10 days later the children were interviewed about the event. Children in the verbal+photos condition recalled significantly more than those in the control condition. Parental preparation style (e.g., evaluations, hypothetical language) was associated with the child's contributions to the preparatory discussion, but no aspect of parent or child style or content was associated with children's verbal recall. Similarly, there were no significant associations between children's performance on a task of episodic future thinking, and their preparatory discussion or recall, although episodic future thinking was strongly associated with language ability. The potential underlying mechanisms and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Persistent impairments in hippocampal function following a brief series of photoperiod shifts in rats

The impact of an acute circadian disruption on learning and memory in male and female rats was examined. Circadian disruption was elicited using a brief series of photoperiod shifts. Previous research using male rats showed that acute circadian disruption during acquisition of a spatial navigation task impaired long-term retention and that chronic circadian disruption impaired acquisition of the same task. However, the long-term effects of acute circadian disruption following circadian re-entrainment and whether sex differences in response to circadian disruption exist are still unknown. For the present study, rats were trained on the standard, spatial version of the Morris water task (MWT) and a visual discrimination task developed for the eight-arm radial maze. After reaching asymptotic performance, behavioural training was terminated and the experimental group experienced a series of photoperiod shifts followed by circadian re-entrainment. Following circadian re-entrainment, the subjects were given retention tests on the MWT and visual discrimination task. Following retention testing, an extra-dimensional shift using the eight-arm radial maze was also performed. An acute episode of circadian disruption elicited via photoperiod shifts negatively impacted retention of spatial memory in male and female rats. Retention of the visual discrimination task and the ability to detect extra-dimensional shifts were not impaired. The observed impairments on the MWT indicate that hippocampal representations are susceptible to a small number of photoperiod shifts even if the association is acquired prior to rhythm manipulation and retention is assessed following rhythm stabilization. Effects were limited to a hippocampus-dependent task, indicating that impairments are specific, not global.