Books in review

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

The relationship between out-of-school activities and positive youth development: an investigation of the influences of communities and family

There is growing evidence that participation in constructive leisure activities facilitates positive youth development. Empirical evidence also supports the influence of families and communities on positive developmental outcomes for adolescents. This study examined the relationship among attitudes toward family and community, participation in structured out-of-school activities, and pro-social behavior. As predicted, community aspects such as opportunities available and the attitudes the youth held toward the community, as well as their attitude toward family were predictive of activity involvement. Activity involvement, in turn, was predictive of pro-social behavior. Attitude toward family was also predictive of attitude toward the community. Attitude toward community was a direct predictor of the positive developmental outcome of pro-social behavior, although contrary to the original hypothesis, family influences did not have a direct effect on pro-social behavior. Implications for continued practice and change for a variety of sectors in the positive youth development field such as educators and educational institutions, youth-serving organizations, families, and policy makers are discussed, along with recommendations for continued research in this field.     

Price sensitivity and innovativeness for fashion among Korean consumers

Price sensitivity is how consumers react to price levels and to price changes. Consumer innovativeness is a tendency to welcome and to adopt new products. Researchers (e.g., R. E. Goldsmith & S. J. Newell, 1997) consider innovative consumers relatively more price insensitive than other consumers, so there should be a negative correlation between measures of these constructs. The results of the present study supported the psychometric soundness of a self-report measure of price sensitivity among 860 Korean consumers and replicated earlier findings of the negative correlation between the 2 constructs.     

Action comprehension: deriving spatial and functional relations

A perceived action can be understood only when information about the action carried out and the objects used are taken into account. It was investigated how spatial and functional information contributes to establishing these relations. Participants observed static frames showing a hand wielding an instrument and a potential target object of the action. The 2 elements could either match or mismatch, spatially or functionally. Participants were required to judge only 1 of the 2 relations while ignoring the other. Both irrelevant spatial and functional mismatches affected judgments of the relevant relation. Moreover, the functional relation provided a context for the judgment of the spatial relation but not vice versa. The results are discussed in respect to recent accounts of action understanding.     

Reliability and validity of the revised experiences in close relationships (ECR-R) self-report measure of adult romantic attachment

Three studies examine the psychometric properties (i.e., the test-retest reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity) of Fraley, Waller, and Brennan's Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R) self-report measure of romantic attachment anxiety (model of self) and avoidance (model of others). Longitudinal analyses suggest that the ECR-R provided highly stable indicators of latent attachment during a 3-week period (85% shared variance). Hierarchical linear modeling analyses further validated the ECR-R, suggesting that it explained between 30% to 40% of the between-person variation in social interaction diary ratings of attachment-related emotions experienced during interactions with a romantic partner and only 5% to 15% of that in interactions with family and friends. Guidelines are offered regarding the conditions where highly reliable and precise measures of romantic attachment, such as the ECR-R, are deemed necessary and where shorter, albeit slightly less reliable measures, such as Bartholomew and Horowitz's Relationship Questionnaire, may also be viable.     

How do giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) respond to varying properties of enrichments? A comparison of behavioral profiles among five enrichment items

This study investigated the responses of 14 giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to 5 enrichment items (3 manipulable objects, 2 feeding devices) that possess different properties affording varying behavioral opportunities. Enrichment items were quantitatively described by using 12 properties. Pandas displayed no preferences among the 5 enrichment treatments, all of which had similar positive effects on behavioral measures of well-being (behavioral diversity, stereotypy). However, each item promoted a distinct behavioral profile, readily mapped onto the enrichment's properties. These results suggest that it may be important to stimulate behavioral diversity but that specific behaviors or enrichment properties are not required. The unique behavioral topography seen with these enrichments also suggests that providing multiple enrichments with varying properties will maximize overall behavioral diversity.     

Last word: imagining the future

H.G. Wells warned, in 1895, not to allow economic injustices to become so acute that they ultimately transform human biology. Wells's warning is all the more pertinent today as society contemplates the use of biotechnologies to manipulate or "enhance" the human genome.     

Applying a psychoeducational perspective to ADHD

This article examines whether various cognitive abilities are associated with symptoms of ADHD. Cognitive ability is conceptualized using Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory as measured using the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (3rd ed.). This article also examines whether test session behavior mediates the association between cognitive ability and ADHD. Participants are children ages 6 to 12 with (n= 33) and without (n= 19) ADHD. Results show that inattentive symptoms of ADHD are significantly related to the CHC ability of processing speed above and beyond the effect of test session behavior. Symptoms of ADHD (both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity) are also significantly associated with visual spatial processing, but this is completely mediated by test session behavior. It is concluded that inattentive symptoms of ADHD are associated with slower processing speed and that this relationship is not explained by test session behavior.     

Structural brain variation,age, and response time

Response time (RT) generally slows with aging, but the contribution of structural brain changes to this slowing is unknown. We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to determine gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) brain volumes in 9 middle-aged adults (38–58 years old) and 9 seniors (66–82 years old). We correlated brain volumes with RT assessed in both a simple visual stimulus-response task and a visual continuous recognition memory task. No GM correlations with simple RT were significant; there was one WM correlation in the right fusiform gyrus. In the memory task, faster RT was correlated (p<.05, corrected) with less GM in the globus pallidus, the parahippocampus, and the thalamus for both groups. Several Brodmann areas (BA) differed between the groups such that in each area, less GM was correlated with slower RTs in the middle-aged group but with faster RTs in the senior group (BAs 19, 37, 46, 9, 8, 6, 13, 10, 41, and 7). The results suggest that individual differences in specific brain structure volumes should be considered as potential moderating factors in cognitive brain imaging studies.