Association Learning with Own‐ and Other‐race Faces in three‐ and six‐month old infants – A longitudinal study

This longitudinal study assessed 133 Caucasian German infants at 3 and 6 months of age to investigate the influence of own‐race and other‐race faces as visual stimuli on association learning in the visual expectation paradigm (VExP). The study is related to the findings on the other‐race‐effect (ORE) which is said to emerge at 6 months of age. Caucasian faces were used as stimuli of a familiar ethnic category, whereas African faces were used as stimuli of an unfamiliar ethnic category. There was no significant difference between the two stimulus classes in infants' reaction time (RT) to stimulus shifts at 3 months. At 6 months of age, infants' RT decreased significantly in the Caucasian faces condition but not in the African faces condition. These results indicate that the processing of other‐race versus own‐race faces by the age of 6 months, which is also the relevant age for the onset of the ORE, has an important influence on the performance on the VExP. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant Contingency Learning in Different Cultural Contexts

Three‐month‐old Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle‐class infants were compared regarding learning and retention in a computerized mobile task. Infants achieving a preset learning criterion during reinforcement were tested for immediate and long‐term retention measured in terms of an increased response rate after reinforcement and after a 24‐h delay compared with baseline. It was hypothesized that infants from both cultural communities would acquire the contingency between own motion and mobile movement, as they similarly experience contingent responses in social interactions. Nso infants were assumed to show a higher learning rate related to their advanced gross motor development, whereas German infants were expected to show a higher baseline because of culture‐typical motor handling promoting a high level of activity (i.e. lying supine). Results showed immediate and long‐term retention in infants from both cultural contexts, as well as a higher baseline for German infants. Although the learning rate was higher for Cameroonian infants, logistic regression revealed that learning was not related to gross motor development but depended on the level of baseline response. Thus, contingency learning was shown in different cultural environments, and the level of baseline activity coined by culture‐specific motor handling turned out to influence learning within the mobile task. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of High-Anxiety Situations on Conspiracy Thinking

The aim of the present studies was to examine a possible relationship between anxiety and conspiracy thinking about ethnic and national groups. Two hundred university student volunteers participated in 3 studies. Study One (N?=?87; mixed male and female sample) found that state-anxiety and trait-anxiety, measured with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), were positively correlated with conspiracy thinking about Jewish people, Germans and Arabs. Study Two (N?=?46; male sample) and Study Three (N?=?67; female sample) were designed to check whether a high-anxiety situation (connected with waiting for an examination) would increase conspiracy thinking. Findings from Studies Two and Three showed that the pre-exam (high-anxiety) situation increased conspiracy thinking about Jewish people. This effect was not mediated by state-anxiety. Hence, further research should focus on searching for possible mediators of the relationship between a pre-exam situation and conspiracy thinking. The obtained results are consistent with previous findings showing that conspiracy thinking about Jewish people is sensitive to situational factors and with findings on links between anxiety and processing information about threat-related stimuli.     

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: Understanding What Parents Plan to Tell Their Children About Their Conception

Over 10,000 babies have been born by PGD and PGS worldwide (Simpson, Prenatal Diagnosis 30(7): 682–695 2010). The experience of parents who have undergone this procedure and their children’s well-being are documented, but no research to date has explored whether parents intend to tell their children how they were conceived and whether this raises special issues for them. PGD practitioners recommend research in this area as parents of children born by PGD increasingly ask questions pertaining to disclosure. We conducted 30 in-depth interviews with couples who have had a baby conceived by PGD. We explored what couples plan to tell their children about how they were conceived, when they plan to do this, and issues they anticipate may arise. The couples had a family history of a monogenic disorder or chromosome rearrangement. Six themes emerged which highlight key issues: (1) To tell or not to tell? (2) Primary reason for undergoing PGD, (3) The ideal time to tell, (4) Situations which may warrant earlier disclosure, (5) Words which parents might choose, and (6) Issues which parents anticipate may arise. We conclude that parents are likely to inform their children about PGD because there is an affected sibling or relative about whom they ask questions, and/or their children are carriers of a condition their parents feel obliged to tell them about. Parents felt they would benefit from access to a genetic counsellor at the time of disclosure and are optimistic about the future of reproductive technology for their children.     

Construing the Meaning of Authenticity in University Teaching: Comparing Explicit to Implicit Theories

Although recent literature on university teaching highlights “authenticity” as an important concept, the meaning of this complex notion remains elusive. Sternberg (1990 Sternberg, R. 1990. “Wisdom and its relations to intelligence and creativity”. In Wisdom, its nature, origins, and development, Edited by: Sternberg, R. J. 142–159. Cambridge, , UK: Cambridge University Press.  [Google Scholar]) proposed that we gain deeper insight into phenomena that are assumed to be of profound meaning but remain insufficiently understood if, alongside explicit theories of experts, we also consider the implicit theories of nonspecialists. This repertory grid study explored with a sample of lecturers their personal conceptions of authenticity in teaching and how these compare to explicit theories developed by educationalists and philosophers. Implications for theory and professional development, as well as future directions for research, are offered.     

Trauma in Resettled Iraqi Refugees: Differences between Those Seeking Psychological Treatment and Those Not Seeking Psychological Treatment

Psychological distress experienced by resettling refugees has been well documented, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression being prevalent outcomes. This study examined psychological and physiological measures of trauma exposure in 2 groups of Iraqi refugees resettled in Australia, those seeking psychological treatment (n = 25) versus those not seeking treatment (n = 22). Data from a group of healthy sex- and age-matched controls (n = 32) were collected to facilitate norm comparisons for physiological arousal. Continuous recording of electrocardiogram data examined resting heart rate (HR). Refugees seeking treatment had significantly higher levels of PTSD symptomology and depression levels compared to non-treatment-seeking refugees; however, there was no difference in the number of trauma events endorsed. Finally, resting HR was significantly higher in both refugee groups compared with healthy controls; however, there was no difference between the refugee groups. Clinical consideration of this excessive trauma exposure and elevated autonomic arousal is warranted.     

The effect of exercise and childbirth classes on fear of childbirth and locus of labor pain control

This study sought to track changes in intensity of fear of childbirth and locus of labor pain control in women attending an exercise program for pregnant women or traditional childbirth classes and to identify the predictors of these changes. The study was longitudinal/non-experimental in nature and run on 109 healthy primigravidae aged from 22 to 37, including 62 women participating in an exercise program for pregnant women and 47 women attending traditional childbirth classes. The following assessment tools were used: two scales developed by the present authors – the Fear of Childbirth Scale and the Control of Birth Pain Scale, three standardized psychological inventories for the big five personality traits (NEO Five Factors Inventory), trait anxiety (State–Trait Anxiety Inventory) and dispositional optimism (Life Oriented Test–Revised) and a questionnaire concerning socioeconomic status, health status, activities during pregnancy, relations with partners and expectations about childbirth. Fear of childbirth significantly decreased in women participating in the exercise program for pregnant women but not in women attending traditional childbirth classes. Several significant predictors of post-intervention fear of childbirth emerged: dispositional optimism and self-rated health (negative) and strength of the belief that childbirth pain depends on chance (positive).