Reconceptualizing relative deprivation in the context of dramatic social change: the challenge confronting the people of Kyrgyzstan

The present study investigated the relationship between Temporal Collective Relative Deprivation and collective well‐being in the context of dramatic social change in Kyrgyzstan. Traditional research has evaluated Temporal Collective Relative Deprivation by comparing a group's present situation to a point in the recent past or future. We argue that a reconceptualization of Temporal Collective Relative Deprivation is needed. We hypothesized, first, that examining several, as opposed to a single, points of comparison will better predict collective well‐being. Secondly, we hypothesized that the points of comparison that will best predict collective well‐being will not necessarily correspond to the most recent past or future. Third, we hypothesized that the overall trajectory of Temporal Collective Relative Deprivation perceived across time will influence the level of collective well‐being. A sample of 565 Kyrgyz participants completed a questionnaire. Hierarchical regressions and group‐based trajectory modeling confirmed our three hypotheses. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ambivalent Sexism and Attitudes Toward Wife Abuse in Turkey and Brazil

Men and women in Turkey and Brazil completed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 1996) and measures of attitudes about wife abuse. In both nations hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) positively correlated with attitudes that legitimize abuse. Regression analyses revealed that HS accounted for unique variance, but BS (once HS was controlled) was unrelated to wife abuse attitudes. These results: (a) add to the evidence for the cross–cultural validity of ambivalent sexism, (b) suggest that HS supports the justification of violence against wives, and (c) imply that the ostensible protectiveness of BS is contingent, failing to shield women from abuse if they are deemed to have challenged a husband's authority or violated conventional gender roles.     

Young children's psychological explanations and their relationship to perception‐ and intention‐understanding

The present study examined two key aspects of young children's ability to explain human behaviour in a mentalistic way. First, we explored desires that are of a level of difficulty comparable with that of false beliefs. For this purpose, the so‐called ‘alternative desires’ were created. Second, we examined how children's psychological explanations are related to their understanding of perception and intention. A perception‐understanding task, an intention‐understanding task and a psychological‐explanation task were administered to 80 three‐year‐olds. Results offer support for the thesis that the level of difficulty of belief and desire explanations is comparable. Moreover, children's psychological explanations are related to their understanding of perception and intention. The results lend support to the idea that mentalistic explanations are an explicit manifestation of children's level of theory of mind. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Screening for motor coordination challenges in children using teacher ratings of physical ability and activity

We examined the effectiveness of a teacher-based rating scale called the teacher estimation of activity form (TEAF) to screen for developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in children. A random selection of 15 of 75 schools from the District School Board of Niagara in Ontario, Canada was chosen for this study. Every consented child in Grade 4 (n=502) was evaluated for probable DCD (pDCD) in school using the short form Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency (BOTMP-SF). Each student also completed the children's self perceptions of adequacy in and predilection toward physical activity (CSAPPA) scale, participation questionnaire, and Léger 20-meter shuttle run, and had their height and weight measured. The 27 children (5.1%) who scored below the 5th percentile on BOTMP-SF were designated as pDCD cases and the 475 children who scored above the 5th percentile served as controls. Results showed that mean TEAF scores were significantly lower for pDCD children than controls (p<.001). Total TEAF scores ranging from 28 to 32 were preferred in maintaining good sensitivity (.74, 95% CI=.55-.87 to .85, 95% CI=.68-.94). The area under the ROC curve was .77 (95% CI, .68-.86) for the TEAF total score, and some individual items performed approximately as well as the full scale. The TEAF was positively correlated with measures of physical activity and fitness. The TEAF appears to be an effective tool in screening for DCD, particularly in a population setting. Considering the brevity of the TEAF and the discriminative power of individual items, this instrument would be effective in an abbreviated version.     

Speech perception development in children with dyslexia

Several studies have indicated that dyslexics show a deficit in speech perception (SP). The main purpose of this research is to determine the development of SP in dyslexics and normal readers paired by grades from 2nd to 6th grade of primary school and to know whether the phonetic contrasts that are relevant for SP change during development, taking into account the individual differences. The achievement of both groups was compared in the phonetic tasks: voicing contrast, place of articulation contrast and manner of articulation contrast. The results showed that the dyslexic performed poorer than the normal readers in SP. In place of articulation contrast, the developmental pattern is similar in both groups but not in voicing and manner of articulation. Manner of articulation has more influence on SP, and its development is higher than the other contrast tasks in both groups.     

Development of a scale to measure leadership capacity of players in sports teams

This study describes the process of developing a scale to measure the leadership capacity of players in sports teams. Research into sports leadership has focused almost exclusively on the formal leadership of the coach, in which the studies by Chelladurai, with his five-factor model, have become an essential point of reference. Nevertheless, hardly any research has been carried out into the leadership that certain players exercise over the other team members. For this purpose, a sample of 143 male basketball players was used; these participants were asked to evaluate the characteristics of the sports leader over a total of 54 indicators. Firstly, explanatory factor analysis was performed with participants' responses, using principal axis and oblique rotation methods. The factor structure obtained was then subjected to confirmatory factorial analysis, enabling us to propose a Sports Leader Evaluation Scale (EELD, in Spanish) with 18 items grouped into 3 factors, denominated empathy and responsibility, assertiveness, and impulsiveness. Satisfactory fit indices were obtained for the model, for the reliability of items and for the internal consistency of factors.     

Learning social attitudes: children's sensitivity to the nonverbal behaviors of adult models during interracial interactions

White children show marked ingroup race preferences and a relative devaluation of Black people. The origin of these early interracial attitudes is to a large extent still unclear. The studies here test the possibility that preschool-aged children are particularly sensitive to the nonverbal behaviors performed by White adults during interracial interactions. In Study 1, children were shown a video displaying an interaction between a White and a Black adult. Across conditions, the White adult's verbal behaviors were either friendly or neutral, whereas his nonverbal behaviors showed either easiness (e.g., closeness, high eye contact) or uneasiness (e.g., distance, avoidance of eye contact). Results revealed that participants shaped their attitudes toward the Black target accordingly, independently from the White adults' verbal behaviors. Study 2 replicated the basic findings and demonstrated that the observed effects generalized to other Black targets. Results are discussed in relation to current approaches to understanding the formation of racial attitudes among children.     

Lexical access in Catalan Signed Language (LSC) production

This paper investigates whether the semantic and phonological levels in speech production are specific to spoken languages or universal across modalities. We examined semantic and phonological effects during Catalan Signed Language (LSC: Llengua de Signes Catalana) production using an adaptation of the picture-word interference task: native and non-native signers were asked to sign picture names while ignoring signs produced in the background. The results showed semantic interference effects for semantically related distractor signs and phonological facilitation effects when target signs and distractor signs shared either Handshape or Movement but phonological interference effects when target and distractor shared Location. The results suggest that the general distinction between semantic and phonological levels seems to hold across modalities. However, differences in sign language and spoken production become evident in the mechanisms underlying phonological encoding, shown by the different role that Location, Handshape, and Movement play during phonological encoding in sign language.     

What to do and how to do it: sequence learning of action effects and transformation rules

Many goal-oriented actions, for example in tool use, can be characterized by the involvement of two components: The effect that the acting person wants to achieve and the transformation rule that defines the relationship between a bodily movement and the associated action effect. Both in conjunction specify the concrete action that has to be executed. In our experiments, we utilized a sequence learning paradigm to investigate whether these components are represented separately or are bound together to form a more holistic representation of the action. Participants switched between different transformation rules to achieve certain action effects. In one group, there was a fixed sequence of action effects, with randomly varying transformation rules. In the other group, the sequence of transformation rules was fixed, whereas the action effects were randomly varying. Results indicate that both kinds of sequences can be learned and provide evidence for the notion that transformation rules and action effects are represented separately.     

The role of protein synthesis during the labile phases of memory: revisiting the skepticism

Despite the fact that extensive evidence supports the view that phases of de novo protein synthesis are necessary for memory formation and maintenance, doubts are still raised. Skeptics generally argue that amnesia and the disruption of long-term synaptic plasticity are caused by "non-specific effects" of the reagents or approaches used to disrupt protein synthesis. This paper attempts to clarify some of these issues by reviewing, discussing and providing results addressing some of the major critiques that argue against the idea that de novo protein synthesis is necessary for the stabilization of long-term memory.