Continuity and change in social and physical aggression from middle childhood through early adolescence

For a sample followed from age 9–13 (N=281), this investigation examined developmental trajectories for social and physical aggression as measured by teacher ratings. Trajectories for both forms of aggression were estimated first separately, then jointly. Mean levels of both social and physical aggression decreased over time for the overall sample, but with high variability of individual trajectories. Subgroups followed high trajectories for both social and physical aggression. Joint estimation yielded six trajectories: low stable, low increasers, medium increasers, medium desisters, high desisters, and high increasers. Membership in the high increaser group was predicted by male gender, unmarried parents, African American ethnicity, and maternal authoritarian and permissive parenting. Permissive parenting also predicted membership in the medium increaser group. This is one of the first studies to examine social aggression longitudinally across this developmental period. Though the results challenge the claim that social aggression is at its peak in early adolescence, the findings emphasize the importance of considering different developmental trajectories in trying to understand origins and outcomes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 35:357–375, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Sociosexuality and face perception: Unrestricted sexual orientation facilitates sensitivity to female facial cues

Across two studies, sexually unrestricted men and women showed heightened sensitivity to female facial symmetry (a signal of genetic fitness) and female sexual receptivity (happy facial expressions). In Study 1, individuals assessed the attractiveness of male and female targets of varying facial symmetry. Sexually unrestricted men and women, compared to their sexually restricted counterparts, showed a stronger symmetry advantage in attractiveness ratings for female targets, an indication of greater sensitivity to facial symmetry. Study 2 asked participants to discriminate between genuine (Duchenne) and deceptive smiles on both male and female faces. Results indicated that sexually unrestricted men and women, compared to sexually restricted individuals, were better able to discriminate between these actual and deceptive signals of receptivity for female targets. Neither study found any relationship between sociosexual orientation and the perception of male targets. These results suggest that sexually unrestricted individuals are attuned to reproductively-relevant cues in female faces.     

Culture and Gender Sensitive AIDS Prevention With Mexican Migrant Laborers: A Primer for Counselors

The purpose of this article is to explicate research-informed culture and gender sensitive AIDS prevention strategies aimed at Mexican migrant laborers living and working in the United States for extended time. This unique and extremely marginalized Latino population is yet another emerging high risk group for contracting the HIV virus. Counselors interested in applying their knowledge of psychology and minority groups to preventing such an AIDS epidemic will be challenged by the complex factors that frame this problem.     

A double-response paradigm to study stimulus intensity effects upon the motor system in simple reaction time experiments

A double response paradigm is utilized to study stimulus intensity effects upon the motor system in simple visual and auditory reaction times (RT). Subjects had to respond with both hands simultaneously upon detection of a stimulus. The RT difference of both hands is thereby of special interest, because it is considered that this variable does not contain any sensory latency and therefore allows one to study those processes that follow stimulus detection. It was found that the RT-difference distribution varies with stimulus intensity, which questions the general view that stimulus intensity affects only very early sensory stages in the processing chain. In particular, it was found that the variance of RT difference diminished with increasing stimulus intensity. This finding supports the notion of speeding up the motor process by increasing stimulus intensity. A generalization of a stochastic model by Meijers and Eijkman (1974) and Meijers, Teulings, and Eijkman (1976) is advanced to account for the findings. The central assumption is that more units (e.g., motoneurons) are activated if stimulus intensity is increased. The model’s qualitative predictions are confirmed.     

GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT GENERALIZATION: HOW A THEORY OF SKILL DEVELOPMENT EXPLAINS BOTH GENERALITY AND SPECIFICITY*

Within a skill-theory framework, the traditional opposition between generalization and specificity is resolved. Neither generalization nor specificity is considered the normal state. Instead, they are both phenomena that can be predicted and explained in terms of skill structures and functional mechanisms of development or learning. A person acquires a skill in a specific context and must work to gradually extend it to other contexts. Within a task domain and across related domains, a set of structural transformations predict the order of generalization of the skill. Range of generalization of a given skill at a point in time varies widely across people and situations as a function of specified functional mechanisms. Generalization is maximized when (a) tasks are similar and familiar, (b) the environment provides opportunities for practice and support, (c) the person has had time to consolidate skills at the relevant developmental level, and (d) he or she is intelligent and in an emotional state facilitative of the particular skill. True generalization must be distinguished from optimal-level synchrony, where new capacities emerge across domains as a new developmental level emerges.     

Discriminant validity of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - revised

Four groups of patients (depressives, schizophrenics, substance dependents and abusers), a miscellaneous group of other patients, and a group of matched normals from a general population sample were compared on the scales of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - Revised (MAACL-R). All scales showed highly significant differentiation among the groups. An index consisting of Depression minus Positive Affect scales was particularly effective in discriminating between depressive and other groups. A discriminant function analysis showed that the depressive could be distinguished from other patient groups and normals with an accuracy of 72% correct. The normals could be distinguished from all of the patient groups with a 60% accuracy, and 87% if the substance abuser group is ignored. The discriminant validity among the nondepressive patient groups was not nearly as good.