Is cleanliness next to abstinence? The effect of cleanliness priming on attitudes towards harm reduction strategies for people with substance use disorders

Can exposure to a cleanliness prime affect moral judgements towards harm reduction strategies (HRS) for individuals with substance use disorders? Our research examined (a) the effect of a cleanliness prime on attitudes towards HRS and (b) whether this effect would be attenuated by a brief educational presentation. Participants were randomly assigned to a priming condition and an educational presentation condition. Results demonstrated that (a) the cleanliness prime did not shift attitudes towards HRS, however, (b) the educational presentations significantly shifted attitudes to be more positive after the Harm Reduction presentation and more negative after the Healthy Living presentation. The literature on priming is mixed and our results support a growing body of research challenging the robustness of cleanliness priming and also demonstrates that brief presentations can change attitudes. Our research has implications for education on the benefits of HRS in reducing disease transmission, refuse in the community, and overdose deaths.     

PREDICTORS AND EFFECTS OF SELF-OBJECTIFICATION IN LESBIANS

The majority of research on self-objectification has focused on heterosexual women's experiences. This study sought to examine experiences of self-objectification in lesbian women. A path model was developed to examine the relationships between participants' feminist self-identification, levels of internalized heterosexism, objectified body consciousness, and the clinically relevant variables of negative eating attitudes and depression. As has been found with heterosexual women, body surveillance led to shame, which led to negative clinical outcomes. A direct path was also found between levels of surveillance and negative eating attitudes, consistent with previous research on self-objectification among lesbians. Feminist self-identification was not significantly related to the other variables, in contrast to previous research with heterosexual women. Internalized heterosexism was related to negative clinical outcomes, both indirectly through objectification variables and directly to depressive symptomatology. These results provide evidence that self-objectification and internalized heterosexism have negative impacts on the mental health of lesbian women.     

Cognitive Behavioral Science behind the Value of Play: Leveraging Everyday Experiences to Promote Play,Learning, and Positive Interactions

ABSTRACT

Participating in play affords physical, social, and cognitive benefits. Here, we review the cognitive behavioral science literature highlighting the value of play and describe the different types of play along with the evidence linking play to positive outcomes for children in areas such as social-emotional, cognitive, academic, and social-emotional development. Several case studies demonstrate how educators, caregivers, and community members can integrate low-cost, evidenced-based playful learning interventions into community settings to impact children where they live.     

Working memory predicts subsequent episodic memory decline during healthy cognitive aging: evidence from a cross-lagged panel design

Aging adults experience declines in working memory and episodic memory, however, it is unclear how these declines operate over time. Decreased working memory may be associated with early changes in episodic memory, by reducing older adults’ ability to meaningfully integrate new information into pre-existing schemas and recall information without the assistance of cues. Given the increased prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, and concerns based on subjective memory changes, it is important to understand how these processes interact over time. To assess the relationship between working memory and episodic memory during healthy cognitive aging, we performed neuropsychological assessments at multiple time points in a sample of 310 community-dwelling older adults. Using a cross-lagged panel design, we demonstrated that the lagged associations between working memory and later episodic free recall were 50% larger than the lagged associations between episodic recall and later working memory, suggesting working memory may be a useful metric of future episodic memory decline.     

Pet dogs (Canis familiaris) re-engage humans after joint activity

Animal Cognition - Joint intentionality, the mutual understanding of shared goals or actions to partake in a common task, is considered an essential building block of theory of mind in humans....