Motivational antecedent beliefs of endurance, strength, and flexibility activities

Research into the correlates of physical activity has focused almost exclusively on physical activity as an omnibus construct. Health Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine, however, advocate physical activity in terms of performing regular endurance, strength, and flexibility activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the absolute and relative contributions of behavioral, normative, and control beliefs associated with endurance, strength, and flexibility activities within a theory of planned behavior (TPB) structure. Participants were 185 undergraduates who completed measures of the TPB and a 2-week follow-up of endurance, strength, and flexibility behavior. Results using structural equation modeling and Hotelling's t-tests for dependent correlations identified different motivational antecedents for each type of physical activity (p < .05). Endurance behavior was influenced exclusively by behavioral beliefs, flexibility behavior was influenced by normative and control beliefs, and strength behavior was influenced by key behavioral, normative, and control beliefs. The different motivational profiles for each physical activity allude to the importance of tailoring interventions by physical activity type.     

Perinatal positive parenting: Three case reviews

Important insights into the nature of the Perinatal Positive Parenting program can be gained through case reviews by the volunteer parents regarding their experiences with the program. Some information about the impact of the program on the new parent involved can only be captured in this way. This is also true of the considerable positive impact the program has had on the volunteers themselves. In this article three of the Perinatal Positive Parenting program volunteers outline these dimensions in brief case reviews. Bibliographic vignettes of the three volunteers are also provided.     

On the Gender-Typed Nature of Dominant and Submissive Acts

Two studies were conducted to determine whether dominant and submissive acts could be considered gender-typed behaviors. These studies were designed to test three key assumptions stemming from contemporary views of gender role socialization: that self-reported dominant and submissive acts are bidimensional (as opposed to bipolar), that dominant and submissive acts are perceived to be equally desirable for men and women to perform, and that dominant acts are perceived to be more stereotypic of men whereas submissive acts are seen as more stereotypic of women. Each of these assumptions was supported. Discussion focuses on the development of shorter versions of the dominant and submissive act reports, as well as possible directions for determining construct validity.     

Developmental changes in the engagement of episodic retrieval processes and their relationship with working memory during the period of middle childhood

We examined the development of children's engagement of the episodic retrieval processes of recollection and familiarity and their relationship with working memory (WM). Ninety‐six children (24 in four groups aged 8, 9, 10, and 11 years) and 24 adults performed an episodic memory (EM) task involving old/new, remember/know (R/K), and source memory judgements and numerous WM tasks that assessed verbal and spatial components of WM and delayed short‐term memory (STM). Developmental changes were observed in EM with younger children (8‐, 9‐, 10‐year‐olds) making fewer remember responses than 11‐year‐olds and adults while 11‐year‐olds did not differ from adults. Only children aged 10 years plus showed a relationship between EM and WM. EM was related to verbal executive WM in 10‐ and 11‐year‐old children suggesting that children at this stage use verbal strategies to aid EM. In contrast, EM was related to spatial executive WM in adults. The engagement of episodic retrieval processes appears to be selectively related to executive components of verbal and spatial WM, the pattern of which differs in children and adults.     

Book reviews

SCHIFF, W. AND FOULKE, E. (Eds.). Tactual Perception: A Source Book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. Pp. 464. ISBN 0 521 24095 6. £25.00.

GILHOOLY, K. J. Thinking: Directed, Undirected and Creative. London: Academic Press. 1982. Pp. 178. ISBN 0 12283482 8. £5.50.

DEUTSCH, D. The Psychology of Music. New York: Academic Press, 1982. Pp. 542. $49.50. ISBN 0 12 2135601.

SHEPARD, R. N. and COOPER, L. A. Mental Irnuges and Their Transfomutions. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. 1982. Pp. 364. ISBN 0 262 19200 4. £17.50

WADE, N. The Art and Science of Visual Illusions. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1982. Pp. 293. E1y. 95 ISBN 0 7100 0868 6.

REED, S.K. Cognition: Theory and Applications. Montery, Calif.; BrooksiCole Publishing Co. 1982. Pp. 394. $19.95 ISBN 0 8185 0462 5.

CAELLI, T. Visual Perception Theonl and Practice. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 1981Pp. 197. £8.50 (paper) ISBN 0 08 oz4419/0~4420.

A. M. UTTLEY. Infomation Transmission in the Nervous System. London: Academic Press. 1979.Pp. 111 £7.50 ISBN 0 12709750 3.

ANDERSON, J. R. (Ed.). Cognitive Skills and their-Acquisition. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum. 1981. Pp. 386. 00.00. ISBN 0 89859 093 0.

KUCZAC, S. (Ed.). Language Development. Volume I: Syntux and Semantics. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum. 1982. Pp. 492. ISBN 0 89859 1OO 7.

DEUTSCH, W. (Ed.). The Child's Construction of Languuge. London: Academic Press. 1981. Pp. 393. ISBN 0 12213580 6. £19.20.

BAKER, C. L. and MCCARTHY, J. J. (Eds). The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 1981. Pp. 358. ISBN 0 262 02159 5. £19.25.

DIXON, N. F. Preconscious Processing Chichester: Wiley 1981. Pp. 313. ISBN 0 471 27982 X. £14.95.     

Children’s attention to sample composition in learning,teaching and discovery

Two studies compared children’s attention to sample composition – whether a sample provides a diverse representation of a category of interest – during teacher‐led and learner‐driven learning contexts. In Study 1 (n = 48), 5‐year‐olds attended to sample composition to make inferences about biological properties only when samples were presented by a knowledgeable teacher. In contrast, adults attended to sample composition in both teacher‐led and learner‐driven contexts. In Study 2 (n = 51), 6‐year‐olds chose to create diverse samples to teach information about biological kinds to another child, but not to discover new information for themselves, whereas adults chose to create diverse samples for both teaching and information discovery. Results suggest that how children approach the interpretation and selection of evidence varies depending on whether learning occurs in a pedagogical or a non‐pedagogical context.     

Rethinking research ethics

Contemporary research ethics policies started with reflection on the atrocities perpetrated upon concentration camp inmates by Nazi doctors. Apparently, as a consequence of that experience, the policies that now guide human subject research focus on the protection of human subjects by making informed consent the centerpiece of regulatory attention. I take the choice of context for policy design, the initial prioritization of informed consent, and several associated conceptual missteps, to have set research ethics off in the wrong direction. The aim of this paper is to sort out these confusions and their implications and to offer instead a straightforward framework for considering the ethical conduct of human subject research. In the course of this discussion I clarify different senses of autonomy that have been confounded and present more intelligible justifications for informed consent. I also take issue with several of the now accepted dogmas that govern research ethics. These include: the primacy of informed consent, the protection of the vulnerable, the substitution of beneficence for research's social purpose, and the introduction of an untenable distinction between innovation and research.     

The effect of product type on value linkages in the means‐end chain: implications for theory and method

Means‐end chain (MEC) theory proposes that consumer motivation can only be understood in terms of the hierarchical linkages between attributes, consequences and values. Other researchers have suggested a much more immediate impact of values on motivation. Seeking to explain these conflicting views, this research suggests and empirically tests the proposition that the role of values in consumer motivation differs by product type and also tests that the linkages are not affected by individual differences in the need for cognition. A sample of 191 consumers indicated their motivation to consume utilitarian and non‐utilitarian products using an adapted association pattern matrix technique. Responses were analysed using mixed‐design ANOVAs with planned comparisons. Results indicate significant differences related to product type in the role of values in consumer motivation. Limitations, implications for MEC theory and future research are discussed. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

Understanding the Trusted Doctor and Constructing a Theory of Bioethics

This paper offers a constructivist account of bioethics as an alternative to previous discussions that explained the ethics of medicine by an extrapolation of principles or virtues from ordinary morality. Taking medicine as a higher and special calling, I argue that the practice of medicine would be impossible without the trust of patients. Because trust is a necessary condition for medical practice, the ethics of the profession must provide the principles for guiding physician behavior and the profession toward promoting trust and being trustworthy. In a phrase, that principle is “seek trust and deserve it.” I sketch out how the concept of trust provides a different justification for common sense principles of bioethics and explain how the concept of trust provides reasonable guidance for resolving moral conflicts within medicine. The trust-seeking approach provides a new and unexpected ordering of some traditional medical values, it reveals the weightiness of previously undervalued bioethical precepts, and illuminates the centrality of some largely ignored obligations of medicine. It also has the power to guide clinical practice and to inform the profession about standards for medical institutions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.