Sense of Community and Academic Engagement in the Seminary

This study examined the associations of sense of community (SOC) and academic engagement in a seminary. The seminarians (N?=?300) completed the Classroom Sense of Community Inventory (CSCI)–School Form, and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale–Student Version. Results showed that a perception that the seminary provided a positive learning community for the young people. For the sense of social community, the participants’ rating of the seminary was low. Regression results showed that SOC significantly predicted academic engagement. Suggestions are included on how to foster community spirit to become more psychologically meaningful for holistic education in the seminary.     

Emotional reactivity and blood pressure elevations: anxiety as a mediator

There is a strong link between emotional reactivity and hypertension, yet little research to date has examined mediators of this relationship. Ourstudy investigated the mediating roleof anxiety on the relationship between emotional reactivity and blood pressure elevations. Participants were226 hypertensive patients (93 men and 133 women, Mean age = 53.09, SD = 13.88 years), purposivelydrawn from the General Outpatient Department in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, , Nigeria. . Measures for data collection were Emotional Reactivity Scale, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Mercury Sphygmomanometer. Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS which uses a regression-based, path-analytical framework, was employed in analysing the data. Results showed that emotional reactivity was positively associated with blood pressure elevations. Anxiety was positively associated with blood pressure elevations. Anxiety also fully mediated the relationship between emotional reactivity and blood pressure elevations, even after adjusting for the control variables (e.g., age, family history of hypertension, and educational status). The finding suggests that being less emotionally reactive is associated with a decrease in disabling influences of anxiety, thereby contributing to lower levels of mean arterial blood pressure. The findings may be helpful in improving prevention, control and management of hypertension in healthcare.     

Comparing Business School Faculty Classification for Perceptions of Student Cheating

Faculty continue to address academic dishonesty in their classes. In this follow-up to an earlier study on general perceived faculty student cheating, using a sample of business school faculty, we compared three levels of faculty classification: full-time non-tenure track (NTT, n?=?86), full-time tenured/tenure-track (TT, n?=?66), and part-time adjuncts (A, n?=?71). Results showed that NTTs perceived higher levels for three different types of student cheating, i.e., paper-based, forbidden teamwork, and hiring someone to take an exam. In addition, NTTs were more likely to report a student for cheating. NTTs reported a higher course load and average class size, and average class size was positively related to all five types of cheating measured. Given the predicted increase in NTTs across all disciplines, making sure that all faculty, (but especially NTTs), have the resources needed to deter student cheating is important. All faculty have an obligation to hold students accountable for their behavior. Individual integrity is paramount; and it is what employers expect. Regardless of the chosen field or discipline, an employer’s expectations, in terms of character, is to hire individuals who possess a level of honesty that is above reproach. Addressing cheating is an obligation that all faculty need to address purposefully. Providing resources to help faculty address cheating is critical. Resources might include conflict resolution training to provide instructors with the necessary guidance so that they can better handle these difficult situations. This is important not only for the student while in school, but also for a university/college’s reputation.     

Developmental changes in inspection time: what a difference a year makes

This paper provides a partial replication and extension of a classic longitudinal study by Nettelbeck and Wilson [J. Exp. Child Psychol. 40 (1985) 1] that compared the relative influence of maturation and task experience on developmental changes in inspection time (IT). In the study reported in this paper 226 children aged between 6 and 9 were tested on an IT task in Year 1 and immediately retested to assess the importance of task familiarity. They were also retested 1 year and 2 years later. Counter to Nettelbeck and Wilson's conclusion, analyses of these data comparing the relative difference made by age maturation and by task experience revealed that task experience has a much bigger effect on children's IT than maturation. The implications of this for wider theoretical interpretations of the relationship between IT and development are discussed.     

Harm,risk, and doping analogies: A counter-response to Kious

Brent Kious has objected to our previous criticism of his views on doping, maintaining that we, by and large, misrepresented his position. In this response, we strengthen our original misgivings, arguing that (1) his views on risk of harm in sport are either uncontroversially true (not inconsistent with the views of many doping opponents) or demonstrably false (attribute to doping opponents an overly simplistic view), (2) his use of analogies (still) indicates an oversimplification of many issues surrounding the question of doping in sports, and (3) his doping analogies are insufficiently precise to support his conclusions.     

Effect of age on dual-task performance in children and adults

Age effects on dual-task costs were examined in healthy adults (Exp. 1) and in typically developing children (Exp. 2). In both experiments, individual differences in performance on the single-task components were titrated so that any age differences in dual-task costs could not be attributed to differences in single-task performance. Dual-task costs were found, but there were no age-related differences in these costs in older relative to younger adults, in 7-year-old relative to 9-year-old children, or across all four age groups. The results from these experiments suggest that previously reported age differences in dual-task costs, in both healthy ageing and child development, may be due to a failure to adequately equate single-task difficulty.     

Direct and indirect measures of spider fear predict unique variance in children's fear-related behaviour

This study investigated whether direct and indirect measures predict unique variance components of fearful behaviour in children. One hundred eighty-nine children aged between 9 and 12 performed a pictorial version of the emotional Stroop task (EST), filled out the Spider Anxiety and Disgust Screening for Children (SADS-C), the Spider Phobia Questionnaire for Children (SPQ-C), and took part in a Behavioural Assessment Test (BAT). The EST did not correlate with self-reports. Correlations of the self-reports and the BAT remained significant after partialling out EST performance. Likewise, the EST and the BAT still correlated significantly with each other when controlling for the self-reports. This indicates that both direct and indirect measures are useful for predicting unique variance components of fearful behaviour in children. Moreover, it may explain why some previous studies have not found a relationship between self-reported fear and EST performance.