A meta-analytic review of prospective memory and aging

A meta-analysis of prospective memory (PM) studies revealed that in laboratory settings younger participants outperform older participants on tests of both time- and event-based PM (rs=-.39 and -.34, respectively). Event-based PM tasks that impose higher levels of controlled strategic demand are associated with significantly larger age effects than event-based PM tasks that are supported by relatively more automatic processes (rs=-.40 vs. -.14, respectively). However, contrary to the prevailing view in the literature, retrospective memory as measured by free recall is associated with significantly greater age-related decline (r=-.52) than PM, and older participants perform substantially better than their younger counterparts in naturalistic PM studies (rs=.35 and.52 for event- and time-based PM, respectively).     

Minority adolescents and substance use risk/protective factors: a focus on inhalant use

Despite the fact that inhalant use is a growing problem among youth in the United States, relatively little attention has been paid to the demographic and social factors related to its use. This study used data from a household survey of adolescents in Washington state, and found that race/ethnicity was a strong predictor of lifetime prevalence of inhalant use, with Native-American youth being particularly likely to use inhalants. Comparing the age at initiation of inhalant use to other legal and illegal substances, we found that cigarettes and inhalants showed the lowest age at initiation. We conducted logistic regressions on lifetime prevalence of inhalant use, and compared these models to other substances. In general, we found that attachment to parents. parents' drug use, and school attachment were strong predictors of lifetime use of marijuana, alcohol, and inhalants. However, while peer drug use was a strong predictor of marijuana and alcohol use, it was not a significant predictor of adolescents' use of inhalants. Our final set of analyses included inhalant use in regression models predicting other problem behaviors: these analyses demonstrated that inhalant use was a strong predictor of involvement in problem behavior.     

The role of memory in the Tower of London task

The Tower of London (TOL) task is widely used as a neuropsychological test of planning. Relatively little is known of the cognitive components of the task, and in particular the role of memory in performance. The current studies on normal adults looked at the role of verbal and spatial working memory in the TOL. The effects of verbal and visuospatial dual-task manipulations on TOL performance were examined in an experiment with 36 participants. Both verbal and visuospatial executive secondary tasks caused poorer performance on the TOL; however, concurrent articulatory suppression enhanced performance. The results suggest that executive and spatial components are important in the task, and raise questions about the role of preplanning in the TOL.     

Constancy scaling and conflict when the Zöllner illusion is seen in three dimensions

If a standard Z?llner illusion is seen as a staircase in depth, pairs of long lines flanking convex stair edges appear to diverge as usual, but divergence in pairs flanking concave edges can appear reduced. If the stair is reversed perceptually in the manner of the Schr?der staircase, convex and concave shapes exchange and the extent of apparent divergence in the long line pairs exchanges with them. The effect is enhanced if explicit stair edges are added, and reduced if the standard Z?llner pattern is replaced by one in which segments of the long lines are offset in the direction of the usual illusory effect. The observations suggest that the three-dimensional potential of the pattern cannot be excluded from explanations of the illusion, and are compatible with the view of Gregory and Harris that inappropriate constancy scaling is its primary cause, triggered 'bottom-up' by pattern properties or 'top-down' by cognitive inference. However, these two mechanisms would have to be acting in conflict to generate suppression of divergence in the concave steps. Pattern processing for properties, such as orientation, that are not associated with the potential of the Z?llner illusion as a three-dimensional configuration, but that have been suggested as sources of the illusion in recent studies, could also be acting in opposition to hypothesis scaling in the concave steps.     

Ageing and bilingualism: absence of a "bilingual advantage" in stroop interference in a nonimmigrant sample

Previous research has found an advantage for bilinguals relative to monolinguals on tasks of attentional control. This advantage has been found to be larger in older adults than in young adults, suggesting that bilingualism provides a buffer against age-related declines in executive functioning. Using a computerized Stroop task in a nonimmigrant sample of young and older monolinguals and bilinguals, the current investigation tried to replicate previous findings of a bilingual advantage. A bilingual advantage would have been demonstrated by smaller Stroop interference (i.e., smaller increases in response time for incongruent than for neutral trials) for bilinguals than for monolinguals. The results showed that bilingual young adults showed a general speed advantage relative to their monolingual counterparts, but this was not associated with smaller Stroop interference. Older adults showed no effect of bilingualism. Thus, the present investigation does not find evidence of a bilingual advantage in young or older adults and suggests limits to the robustness and/or specificity of previous findings.     

The Effect of Religious‐Based Mentoring on Educational Attainment: More than Just a Spiritual High?

Although research has found a positive relationship between various forms of adolescent religious involvement and educational outcomes, little research has examined connections to educational attainment. Using a nationally representative sample of youth (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health—Add Health), we examine the extent to which adolescent religiosity facilitates educational attainment (i.e., high school completion and college enrollment) and whether informal mentorships formed during adolescence with religious and nonreligious adults can help explain the link between adolescent religious involvement and educational attainment. The findings confirm that, like academic outcomes, religious youth are more likely to complete high school and enroll in college even when controlling for other individual and interpersonal factors that affect educational attainment. Furthermore, informal mentorships, particularly those with adults who have official religious positions (e.g., priest, minister, rabbi) play an important role in college enrollment.     

Validation of a Buddhist Coping Measure Among Primarily Non‐Asian Buddhists in the United States

Researchers have developed scales to measure religious coping among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. However, there is no quantitative measure of religious coping for Buddhists. The present study describes the development and initial validation of a scale of Buddhist coping (BCOPE). Eight hundred sixty participants in the United States completed the BCOPE along with demographic information and scales of adjustment to stress. Construct validity of the BCOPE is demonstrated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which reveals 14 types of Buddhist coping. BCOPE subscales exhibited criterion validity through significant correlations with outcome measures. The BCOPE has incremental validity, predicting adjustment over and above demographic and global religious measures. The research and practical implications of the BCOPE are discussed.