Similarity on Sports Sidelines: How Mentor–Protégé Sex Similarity Affects Mentoring

This study examined the effects of mentor–protégé similarity (sex and attitudinal) and relationship duration on the quantity of mentoring (psychosocial and career) received. Survey data collected from 97 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women’s basketball head coaches in the USA indicated both types of similarity were associated with the receipt of more psychosocial and career mentoring as assistant coaches. Those who had White male mentors also reported receiving more career mentoring than those with sex dissimilar mentors. Finally, the effects of sex similarity were significantly weaker in longer than in shorter mentoring relationships.     

Age-Related Differences in Identity Style: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The Identity Style Inventory–Revised for a Sixth-Grade Reading Level (ISI-6G) was administered to samples of community college students (N = 99) and middle school and high school students (N = 320). Tests of between-groups differences indicated that the college sample had a significantly lower mean diffuse-avoidant score on the ISI-6G than the middle and high school sample. In terms of actual assignment to identity styles, college students were significantly more likely to be classified as informational or normative, while the younger students were more likely to be diffuse-avoidant. The mean ages of participants for each of the three identity styles were compared, and it was found that diffuse-avoidant participants had the lowest mean age (15.54 years), while individuals with an informational orientation had the highest mean age (17.20 years). Results suggest that, in general, identity style evolves with age and maturity and the general trajectory or progression involves movement away from a diffuse-avoidant orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of current knowledge of neurocognitive development during adolescence and early adulthood.     

Functional analysis skills training for residential caregivers

Functional analysis is the most effective assessment for identifying the maintaining contingencies of aberrant behavior. However, it is suggested that functional analyses are not conducted regularly due to the level of skill required. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to assess if four residential caregivers, with limited experience with applied behavior analysis, could be trained to implement the standard analog functional analysis conditions. The training consisted of a lecture, written information, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed that all participants attained percentage correct responding scores above 95% on three consecutive trials following training. One caregiver showed positive generalization of skills to the assessment of another behavioral topography. The result of this study provides further evidence that lay individuals can be trained to assist in conducting functional analyses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experiences of transgender prisoners and their knowledge,attitudes, and practices regarding sexual behaviors and HIV/STIs: A systematic review

Background: Despite transgender people being more visible in prison systems, research suggests they are at higher risk of experiencing sexual violence compared to other prisoners. Research also suggests that transgender prisoners experience harassment, and physical and sexual assault by fellow prisoners, and prison officers who lack transgender-specific health knowledge. There exist no systematic reviews on the experiences of transgender people in prisons. This review aims to fill this research gap. The following question developed in consultation with transgender, sexual health/HIV and corrective services stakeholders has guided the systematic review: What are transgender and gender-diverse prisoners’ experiences in various prison settings and what are their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding sexual behaviors and HIV/STIs?

Methods: The review followed the PRISMA guidelines and searches were conducted in four databases for the period of January 2007 to August 2017. Studies were assessed against predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included studies were peer-reviewed, written in English with online full-text availability and reported data on transgender and gender-diverse prisoner experiences relevant to the research question.

Results: Eleven studies (nine qualitative, one quantitative, one mixed-methods; nine in USA, two in Australia) met the criteria for review. Four studies were of high quality, six were of good/acceptable quality, and one study was of modest quality. Transgender and gender-diverse prisoners reported a range of challenges which included sexual assault, discrimination, stigma, harassment, and mistreatment. Information on their sexual health and HIV/STIs knowledge, attitudes, practices is in short supply. Also, their lack of access to gender-affirming, sexual health/STIs and mental health services is commonplace.

Conclusions: The experiences of transgender prisoners as reported in this review are almost uniformly more difficult than other prisoners. Their “otherness” is used as a weapon against them by fellow prisoners through intimidation and violence (including sexual) and by prison officers through neglect and ignorance.     

The effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on multitasking performance and oculometrics

Multitasking is the ability to perform more than one task simultaneously. The need to multitask is common in many industries especially within the military with tasks such as air traffic controllers, cyber defense operators and image analysts. However, as the time on task increases, information throughput can become overwhelming resulting in a performance decrement. Through task prioritizing, the operator is able to maintain performance on specific subtasks in which they selected as high importance while other subtasks experience a decrement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (ldLPFC) on information processing capabilities to improve individual and overall multitasking performance while performing the multi-attribute task battery (MATB). Two groups of 8 participants each received either 2 mA of anodal or sham tDCS while performing MATB. In addition, eye tracking was implemented to record eye movement patterns. In doing so, we were able to determine how much time the operator allocated to each of the subtasks within MATB and how their task priorities changed as workload demands increased. The findings provided evidence that 2 mA of anodal tDCS during MATB significantly improved overall information throughput compared to the sham group. With respect to the individual subtasks, communication and system monitoring displayed the greatest enhancement with anodal tDCS. Our data suggests that tDCS could be a useful tool to enhance information processing capabilities during a multitasking paradigm resulting in improved processing capabilities and information throughput.     

Memory fragments as components of autobiographical knowledge

Adults described and dated two kinds of personal remembrances: a fragment—a memory moment that is largely bereft of context—and an episodic, personal event memory—a narrative that consists of a number of related events. In Experiment 1 subjects reported memories from when they were 0–8 years of age and in Experiment 2, from when they were 0–16 years of age. Fragments were judged to be older than event memories, especially in Experiment 2 where the estimated ages of most fragments were from 0 to 8 years and of most episodic memories, from 8 to 16 years. Ratings of various features of the two kinds of memories also differed. We conclude that isolated memory moments possess validity and that although they are most likely to arise when the autobiographical memory system is not fully developed, they can also originate during a time when it is. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alcohol consumption and computer blackjack

The authors considered compliance with a decision aid that E. Thorp (1966) designed to minimize loss in a gambling paradigm under different levels of risk or impairment. Twenty adult men (aged 18-46) completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS; H.R. Lesieur & S. B. Blume, 1987) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; J. P. Allen, D. E Reinert, & R. J. Volk, 2001) and then played a computer blackjack program before and after ingesting alcohol. The decision aid (online Basic advice) increased players' compliance with optimal play and also increased players willingness to wager more at high stakes. Participants attained a mean peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.048%. Alcohol increased the rate of play. After consuming alcohol, participants appeared to spend less time on their decisions and were more reliant on support. The authors explained these results in terms of an alcohol-induced myopia that enhances responses to salient cues.     

Adaptation of central pitch-specific mechanisms

Three previous psychophysical studies have demonstrated that interaural time difference (ITD) coding mechanisms can undergo frequency-specific, selective adaptation. We sought to determine whether this phenomenon extends to the pitch domain, by employing the same psycho-physical paradigm as one used previously, but with harmonic tone complexes lacking energy at the fundamental frequency. Ten normal listeners participated in experiment 1. Psychometric functions for ITDs were obtained for harmonic tone complexes with fundamental frequencies of 110 Hz and 185 Hz, before and after selective adaptation with complexes of the same fundamental frequencies lateralised to opposite sides. In experiment 1, each subject was tested twice. On separate days, subjects were tested with 110 Hz and 185 Hz stimuli that were either partially resolvable complexes or unresolvable ones. Both partially resolved and unresolved stimuli supported adaptation, and at both fundamental frequencies. In experiment 2, which employed nine listeners, the adaptor tone complexes were presented in conjunction with a diotic noise background designed to mask difference tones generated by the adaptor stimuli. The use of the masker had little effect on the mean strength of the adaptation effected by the unresolved adaptor stimuli, and only slightly weakened the adaptation effect found with the partially resolved adaptor stimuli. Taken together, these data constitute the first demonstration of selective adaptation exerted on a central mechanism in the pitch domain.