A diathesis-stress model of engagement in risky behaviors in Chinese adolescents

The current study examined whether the association between the occurrence of negative events and increased engagement in risky behavior is moderated by maladaptive and/or adaptive coping strategies. At time 1, 411 adolescents (ages 14–19) from Yue Yang, Hunan, completed self-report measures assessing coping strategies, engagement in risky behaviors, and the occurrence of negative events. Once a month for the subsequent 6 months, adolescents completed measures assessing engagement in risky behaviors and the occurrence of negative events. In line with our hypotheses, results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that adolescents possessing high levels of maladaptive coping strategies reported greater engagement in risky behaviors following the occurrence of negative events than adolescents possessing low levels. In contrast to our hypotheses, the association between the occurrence of negative events and increased engagement in risky behavior was not moderated by adaptive coping strategies.     

Unfair treatment and self-regulatory focus

Ample correlational evidence exists that perceived unfair treatment is negatively related to well-being, health, and goal striving but the underlying process is unclear. We hypothesized that effects are due in part to contextual priming of prevention focus and the negative consequences of chronic prevention-focused vigilance. Indeed, reasonable responses to unfair treatment—to avoid situations in which it occurs or if this is not possible, confront it head on—fit prevention self-regulatory focus response patterns. Results from three experiments support this notion. Priming stigmatized social category membership heightened students’ prevention (not promotion) focus (n = 117). Priming non-stigmatized social category membership (i.e., white) did not change prevention focus (n = 46). Priming prevention (not promotion) increased perceptions of unfair treatment (and aroused prevention-relevant fight or flight responses) in response to a negative ambiguous job situation among low and moderate income adults (n = 112).     

Beyond HERA: Contributions of specific prefrontal brain areas to long-term memory retrieval

Recent neuroimaging studies have provided a wealth of information about areas within prefrontal cortex involved in long-term memory. These studies prompted a proposal by Tulving and colleagues (Tulving, Kapur, Craik, Habib, & Houle, 1994) that prefrontal contributions to memory function are related to laterality differences (the hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry model). This review goes beyond a general characterization of prefrontal lobes to a more specific analysis of distinct areas within the prefrontal cortex. Separate prefrontal areas, sometimes within the same hemisphere, are discussed in terms of selective contributions that they might make to memory retrieval. In the end, it is concluded that a framework which tries to understand prefrontal function in terms of specific areas is a useful complement to models, like HERA, which attempt to find unifying principles across multiple areas.     

USE OF ASSISTED READING TO INCREASE CORRECT READING RATES AND DECREASE ERROR RATES OF STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

The effects of assisted reading on 3 elementary students with learning disabilities were evaluated using a multiple baseline design. Data were collected from the students' oral reading from their basal texts. The results indicated an increase in number of words read correctly as well as a decrease in the number of words read incorrectly when assisted reading was used in the classroom.     

Effects of semantic and nonsemantic cued orienting tasks on associative clustering in free recall

Memory & Cognition - During presentation of a randomized list of nonadjacent associative pairs, Ss heard a cue after each word designating the task to be performed. All Ss performed two tasks....     

Feature analyzers for the phonetic dimensionstop vs. continuant

Perception of sounds along the phonetic dimensionstop vs. continuant was studied by means of a selective adaptation procedure. Subjects first identified a series of synthetic consonant-vowel syllables whose formant transitions varied in duration, slope, and amplitude characteristics. They were perceived as either [ba] or [wa]. After the initial identification test, an adapting stimulus was presented repeatedly, and then the subjects again identified the original test series. Adapting with a stop (either [ba] or [da]) led to a decrease in the number of test stimuli identified as [ba], whereas adapting with the continuant sound [wa] led to an increase in the number of [ba] identification responses. Removing the vowel portion of an adapting stimulus greatly reduced the identification shift only when the resulting stimulus was no longer perceived as speech-like. A reduction in the number of [ba] identifications occurred even when a nonspeech “stop” (the sound of a plucked string) was used as the adapting stimulus, suggesting that phonetic processing is not a necessary condition for an adaptation effect.     

On the partitioning of squared Euclidean distance and its applications in cluster analysis

The partitioning of squared Eucliean distance between two vectors in M-dimensional space into the sum of squared lengths of vectors in mutually orthogonal subspaces is discussed and applications given to specific cluster analysis problems. Examples of how the partitioning idea can be used to help describe and interpret derived clusters, derive similarity measures for use in cluster analysis, and to design Monte Carlo studies with carefully specified types and magnitudes of differences between the underlying population mean vectors are presented. Most of the example applications presented in this paper involve the clustering of longitudinal data, but their use in cluster analysis need not be limited to this arena.     

Development and psychometric properties of the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale

The purpose of this paper is to present the psychometric properties and individual items comprising the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale (CABS). The CABS is a behaviorally designed self-report instrument for children which measures general and specific social skills and covers many socially relevant situations which are problematic for children. Acceptable psychometric properties of the 27-item test were obtained in several independent investigations across both geographical regions and grade levels. The CABS showed significant concurrent validity with peer, parent, and teacher measures of social competency. The CABS also discriminated trained versus untrained children participating in social skills versus a placebo discussion group. The instrument is presented, along with recommendations for future applications and research.Both authors share equal responsibility for the development and evaluation of the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale.