Volunteering Among Latter‐Day Saints

In this article, we shed light on the volunteering behaviors of Latter‐Day Saints (Mormons). While some information was known about this group and its volunteering practices, detailed and reliable data were not available. This is the first study by a secular research institution to be given permission by the church to collect data within Latter‐Day Saint congregations. We found a high rate of volunteering by almost all members, which was mostly, but not only, for religious purposes. About half the volunteering comes from fulfilling “callings,” while members initiate the other half. We found variations in volunteering based on the studied regions, age, income, education, gender, and generational membership. These findings provide the first reliable and detailed information regarding Latter‐Day Saint volunteering and may serve as a springboard for future research on the pro‐social behaviors of various religious groups.     

Culture and Community Psychology: Toward a Renewed and Reimagined Vision

Interest is growing in community psychology to look more closely at culture. Culture has resided in community psychology in its emphasis on context, ecology, and diversity, however we believe that the field will benefit from a more explicit focus on culture. We suggest a cultural approach that values the community's points of view and an understanding of shared and divergent meanings, goals, and norms within a theory of empowerment. Furthermore, we posit the importance of pluralistic, multi-method programs of research and action encompassing both idiographic and nomothetic approaches, and critical reflexivity of our roles and agendas. Culture can be further incorporated into all the branches and fibers of community psychology.     

Developmental change and intraindividual variability: relating cognitive aging to cognitive plasticity, cardiovascular lability, and emotional diversity

Repeated assessments obtained over years can be used to measure individuals' developmental change, whereas repeated assessments obtained over a few weeks can be used to measure individuals' dynamic characteristics. Using data from a burst of measurement embedded in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE; Baltes & Mayer, 1999), we illustrate and examine how long-term changes in cognitive ability are related to short-term changes in cognitive performance, cardiovascular function, and emotional experience. Our findings suggest that "better" cognitive aging over approximately 13 years was associated with greater cognitive plasticity, less cardiovascular lability, and less emotional diversity over approximately 2 weeks at age 90 years. The study highlights the potential benefits of multi-time scale longitudinal designs for the study of individual function and development.     

Influence of social models on alcohol use among adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and that of their close model figures. The sample was made up of 536 secondary students from rural areas. Predictive models of alcohol consumption were established by means of logistic regression analysis and the criterion used was the consumption by parents, siblings, and the adolescent's best friend. It was observed that alcohol use of these models conditioned the adolescents' consumption; their attitude towards the drug, their intention to consume, their normative perception and perception of risk. The analysis revealed that the main predictor of alcohol use is the consumption by the best friend (OR = 13.04, IC 95% = 8.14-20.91), followed by the consumption by siblings (OR = 1.85, IC 95% = 1.12-3.04). The intention of consumption increases when the father is an alcohol user (OR = 2.70, IC 95% = 1.68-4.36), sibling (OR = 2.83, IC 95% = 1.56-5.15), and mainly best friend (OR = 4.33, IC 95% = 2.55-7.36).     

Incorporating randomness in the Fisher information for improving item‐exposure control in CATs

The most commonly employed item selection rule in a computerized adaptive test (CAT) is that of selecting the item with the maximum Fisher information for the estimated trait level. This means a highly unbalanced distribution of item‐exposure rates, a high overlap rate among examinees and, for item bank management, strong pressure to replace items with a high discrimination parameter in the bank. An alternative for mitigating these problems involves, at the beginning of the test, basing item selection mainly on randomness. As the test progresses, the weight of information in the selection increases. In the present work we study, for two selection rules, the progressive methods ( Revuelta & Ponsoda, 1998 ) and the proportional method ( Segall, 2004a ), different functions that define the weight of the random component according to the position in the test of the item to be administered. The functions were tested in simulated item banks and in an operative bank. We found that both the progressive and the proportional methods tolerate a high weight of the random component with minimal or zero loss of accuracy, while bank security and maintenance are improved.     

Touchscreen-enhanced visual learning in rats.

The efficiency of traditional levers and of modern touchscreen technology for training rats on a computerized visual discrimination was studied in a series of observations. When compared with a lever-based discrimination procedure, the use of touchscreens supported the faster development of signal tracking behavior and acquisition of a two-stimulus simultaneous visual discrimination. It did not affect the final level of accuracy. Factors related to spatial proximity of the responses with the stimuli, sign-tracking, and increased ease of touchscreen motor responses were suggested as possible reasons for the touchscreen training advantage. This increased efficiency allows large numbers of animals to be tested quickly, a necessary requirement for studies involving genetic and physiological interventions.