Learning in a task of complex auditory streaming and identification

Adult humans were studied for improvements in their ability to segregate natural whole speech in background noise, in 6 test sessions spaced with a very wide range of inter-session interval (ISI) ranging from minutes to weeks apart so as to examine the effect of this parameter on initial (early) and late components of perceptual learning. Improvements were found even with spacings of 3 weeks between the punctate task sessions. All subjects showed similar total learning amounts but there were sex- and ISI-dependent differences in learning patterns, which we indexed by dividing the overall exponentially-decreasing learning pattern into an early phase between the first two sessions and a later phase between the second and sixth sessions. Males tested at all ISIs and females tested at short (2, 5 and 15 min) and long (1–21 days) ISIs showed small amounts of early-phase learning and large amounts of late-phase learning. However, females tested at intermediate (30 min and 1 h) ISIs showed only early learning, i.e., faster learning given that the total learning was the same. This sex- and ISI-specific deviant pattern could be changed to the standard pattern by interposing an overnight interruption that included sleep amongst test sessions. Thus, improvement in this complex auditory streaming and identification task can occur even with very brief and widely-spaced exposure, generally through a standard pattern of slower overall learning, but also through a sex- and ISI-specific deviant pattern of very rapid early learning which can be modulated by interposed delay unlike the standard pattern.     

Five Dimensions of Faith and Spiritually of Older African American Women Transitioning Out of Homelessness

Background Homelessness among older African American women is emerging as a serious social problem. The increasing cost of living, diminishing community resources, and shrinking retirement benefits, as well as reduced social services are resulting in greater numbers of older minority women becoming homeless. Aims This investigation explores the relevance of faith and spirituality to an advocacy assessment designed to help participants resolve issues that operate as barriers to their leaving and staying out of homelessness. Methods A substudy of a larger research and development project was undertaken, in which qualitative interview methods were used to illuminate the role of faith and spirituality resources in the lives of 84 older homeless African American women. Comparative thematic analysis of illustrative cases was undertaken to better understand the role of faith and spirituality in the women’s lives and in how they used faith and spirituality in coping with homelessness. Findings Five dimensions of faith and spirituality, (a) identity and beliefs; (b) affiliation and membership; (c) involvement; (d) practices; and (e) benefits, served as promising resources in understanding life spaces of homeless minority women and identified promising advocacy strategies. Two cases describe the realities of homelessness for older minority women endeavoring to transition out of homelessness and illustrate how faith and spirituality can buffer stress, facilitate coping, and sustain motivation. Conclusions How older homeless African American women use their faith and spiritual resources to cope with demands of homelessness, challenges of transition, and recovery from the multiple traumas resulting from being homeless makes the assessment of faith and spirituality an important part of the advocacy process.     

Human biological and nonbiological point-light movements: Creation and validation of the dataset

Human action perception is so powerful that people can identify movement efficiently in the absence of pictorial information, such as in point-light displays. Interest is growing in this type of stimulus for research in neuroscience. This interest stems from the advantage of separating the component of pure human action kinematics from other pictorial information, such as facial expression and muscle contraction. Although several groups have previously developed datasets of human point-light actions, due to the lack of datasets composed of daily actions with short durations, we developed 20 biological and 40 control (scrambled) point-light movements by using the technique of recording people wearing reflector patches. The videos are about 1 s long. Subsequently, we performed a judgment task in which 100 participants (50 male and 50 female) evaluated each video according to three categories: human action resemblance, performed action, and gender of actor. We present the mean scores of each evaluation for each video, and further propose a selection of the most suitable videos to be used as human point-light action displays and scrambled point-light displays for control. Finally, we discuss our findings on the gender attributions of the point-light displays.     

Reform of statistical inference in psychology: The case of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Memory &; Cognition</Emphasis>

Geoffrey Loftus, Editor ofMemory & Cognition from 1994 to 1997, strongly encouraged presentation of figures with error bars and avoidance of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). The authors examined 696Memory & Cognition articles published before, during, and after the Loftus editorship. Use of figures with bars increased to 47% under Loftus’s editorship and then declined. Bars were rarely used for interpretation, and NHST remained almost universal. Analysis of 309 articles in other psychology journals confirmed that Loftus’s influence was most evident in the articles he accepted for publication, but was otherwise limited. An e-mail survey of authors of papers accepted by Loftus revealed some support for his policy, but allegiance to traditional practices as well. Reform of psychologists’ statistical practices would require more than editorial encouragement.     

Is personal growth initiative associated with later life satisfaction in Chinese college students? A 15‐week prospective analysis

Personal growth initiative (PGI) is presumed to foster positive change leading to positive psychological adjustment. Accordingly, in this study we examined PGI as a predictor of life satisfaction 15 weeks later in a sample of 152 Chinese college students. Time 1 PGI was found to explain a significant amount of unique variance in Time 2 life satisfaction, even after controlling for Time 1 life satisfaction and Time 2 PGI. Specifically, (lower) intentional behavior and planfulness at baseline emerged as significant predictors of later life satisfaction. No evidence was found indicating that life satisfaction at Time 1 accounted for any significant amount of unique variance in PGI processes at Time 2, after controlling for baseline PGI processes and concurrent life satisfaction. Overall, the present findings are the first to demonstrate the importance of PGI as a prospective predictor of positive psychological adjustment in adults.     

Online shopping orientations of Latino millennial generational cohorts

Latino consumers in the United States reached a collective buying power of nearly $1.72 trillion in 2020 with over 22% between the ages of 18 and 37, and 80% of the population on the internet. Although Latino Millennials represent a significant consumer group in the United States, scarce literature has examined their online shopping orientations. Furthermore, despite having indications that Millennials are not a homogenous consumer group, and differ in their shopping preferences, studies fell short in examining the online shopping orientations of the Millennial subgroup. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the shopping orientations of Latino consumers by segmenting the Millennial generation into three groups: younger Millennial (18–23), middle Millennial (24–30), and older Millennial (31–37). The study administered a web-based questionnaire survey to a convenience sample of 378 participants. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted, and findings revealed that shopping orientations of Latino consumers differ significantly based on Millennial generational cohorts (MGCs) and ethnicity. Among Latino MGCs, younger Millennials were more brand-and fashion-conscious, impulsive, and confused by over choice. Furthermore, Latino Millennials were more brand conscious than Caucasian Millennials. Therefore, companies and marketers that target Latino Millennial consumers should create shopping experiences that meet the needs of the different generational cohorts.     

Posttraumatic Growth in Trauma Recollections of 9/11 Survivors: A Narrative Approach

The relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and adaptation is unclear. This study is the first to examine PTG in trauma narratives of survivors of the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks. Participants recalled their experiences 7 and 18 months post 9/11, and content analysis was conducted to detect PTG. Posttraumatic stress was also measured. PTG was commonly reported. Relating to others and positivity were frequent in the PTSD and non-PTSD group, although less frequent over time in the PTSD. Greater appreciation for life was reported by the non-PTSD group but relatively absent in the PTSD group. Women but not men reported relating to others across time. It appears that there are distinct profiles of growth implicated in distress and adaptation.     

Can music lessons increase the performance of preschool children in IQ tests?

The impact of music on human cognition has a distinguished history as a research topic in psychology. The focus of the present study was on investigating the effects of music instruction on the cognitive development of preschool children. From a sample of 154 preschool children of Tehran kindergartens, 60 children aged between 5 and 6 were randomly assigned to two groups, one receiving music lessons and the other (matched for sex, age and mother’s educational level) not taking part in any music classes. Children were tested before the start of the course of music lessons and at its end with 4 subtests of the Tehran-Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (TSB). The experimental group participated in twelve 75-min weekly music lessons. Statistical analysis showed significant IQ increase in participants receiving music lessons, specifically on the TSB verbal reasoning and short-term memory subtests. The numerical and visual/abstract reasoning abilities did not differ for the two groups after lessons. These data support studies that found similar skills enhancements in preschool children, despite vast differences in the setting in which the instruction occurred. These findings appear to be consistent with some neuroimaging and neurological observations which are discussed in the paper.     

Identification of Oppositional Defiant Disorder in Young Adult College Students

Long-considered a disorder restricted to children and adolescents, more research is needed to understand how oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) affects adults. Recent research suggests that symptoms of ODD persist into adulthood and are associated with specific negative functional outcomes. This current study seeks to investigate the prevalence and associated impairments of ODD symptoms in young adults. Two large samples of college students between the ages of 18–24 years old (N =?1792; N =?1497) completed self-report measures of ODD symptoms, ADHD symptoms, psychiatric diagnoses, and functional impairments. Rates and internal consistency of ODD symptoms were calculated, and multiple regression was used to estimate the association between high levels of ODD severity scores and social and authority-related impairments, as well as online antagonistic behavior. In the two samples, the proportion of individuals reporting four or more symptoms of ODD was estimated to be 3.39 and 4.12% respectively, and did not vary significantly by gender. Higher ODD severity was associated with social impairment, online antagonistic behavior, and greater conflict with authority figures, even after controlling for ADHD symptoms and self-reported depression or anxiety diagnoses. ODD symptoms measured in college students demonstrate acceptable reliability and are uniquely associated with specific impairments. The findings from this study support greater consideration of ODD symptoms in adult populations.