Comprehension of Sexual Consent as a Key Factor in the Perpetration of Sexual Aggression Among College Men

The comprehension of sexual consent is a crucial factor in healthy sexual relationships. This study examined the connection between the understanding of sexual consent and perpetration of sexual aggression. We surveyed 217 heterosexual male college students (M age = 20.9 years) using measures of sexual aggression, comprehension of sexual consent, rape myth acceptance, conformity to masculine norms, peer support of abuse, and attachment to abusive peers. We tested models examining factors related to comprehension of consent and the extent to which comprehension of consent was related to perpetration of sexual aggression. Rape myth acceptance, peer support of abuse, and conformity to masculine norms were found to predict comprehension of consent, which mediated the relationship between the social and cognitive variables and sexual aggression.     

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: An Overview

When fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was initially described, diagnosis was based upon physical parameters including facial anomalies and growth retardation, with evidence of developmental delay or mental deficiency. Forty years of research has shown that FAS lies towards the extreme end of what are now termed fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The most profound effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are on the developing brain and the cognitive and behavioral effects that ensue. Alcohol exposure affects brain development via numerous pathways at all stages from neurogenesis to myelination. For example, the same processes that give rise to the facial characteristics of FAS also cause abnormal brain development. Behaviors as diverse as executive functioning to motor control are affected. This special issue of Neuropsychology Review addresses these changes in brain and behavior highlighting the relationship between the two. A diagnostic goal is to recognize FAS as a disorder of brain rather than one of physical characteristics.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Toward Diversity and Cultural Competence in Genetic Counseling

This introduction provides an overview of the professional issues and original research papers in this special issue. The articles address workforce challenges and/or cross-cultural education and communication with culturally and religiously diverse clients. Additional suggestions are made for moving the profession of genetic counseling toward diversity and cultural competence.     

Parental Use of Time Out Revisited: A Useful or Harmful Parenting Strategy?

Time out has been widely advocated as an effective parental discipline practice to reduce disruptive and oppositional child behaviour in young children. Despite evidence showing that the procedure is effective when used as part of a comprehensive positive parenting strategy it has not been uniformly accepted and critics have questioned its effectiveness and potentially adverse effects on the parent–child relationship. This paper examines the controversy surrounding the use of time out, discusses the criticisms levelled against it, and concludes that its judicious use in parent training programs is justified and is of benefit to many children with conduct problems. Factors that influence the effectiveness of time out and some contraindications are also discussed.     

The role of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus in olfactory working memory

Olfactory working memory and pattern separation for odor information was assessed in male rats using a matching-to-sample for odors paradigm. The odor set consisted of a five aliphatic acids with unbranched carbon chains that varied from two- to six-carbons in length. Each trial consisted of a sample phase followed by a choice phase. During the sample phase, rats would receive one of five different odors. Fifteen seconds later during the choice phase one of the previous odors was presented simultaneously side by side with a different odor that was based on the number of aliphatic acids that varied in the carbon chains from two- to six-carbons in length and rats were allowed to choose between the two odors. The rule to be learned in order to receive a food reward was to always choose the odor that occurred during the study phase. Odor separations of 1, 2, 3 or 4 were selected for each choice phase and represented the carbon chain difference between the study phase odor and the test phase odor. Once an animal reached a criterion of 80–90% correct across all temporal separations based on 40 trials, rats received a control, dorsal hippocampal, or ventral hippocampal lesion and were retested on the task. On postoperative trials, only the ventral hippocampal lesion group was impaired relative to both control and dorsal hippocampal groups groups. There were no effects on odor pattern separation. All groups of rats could discriminate between the odors. The data suggest that the ventral hippocampus, but not dorsal hippocampus, supports working memory for odor information.     

Doing and Being: Mindfulness,Health, and Quiet Ego Characteristics Among Buddhist Practitioners

We examined the relationship between meditation experience, psychological mindfulness, quiet ego characteristics, and self-reported physical health in a diverse sample of adults with a range of Buddhist experience (N = 117) gathered from a web-based survey administered to Buddhist practitioners around the world between August 1, 2007 and January 31, 2008. Practicing meditation on a regular basis and greater experience with Buddhism was related to higher psychological mindfulness scores. Psychological mindfulness was correlated with a latent variable called “quiet ego characteristics” that reflected measures based on Bauer and Wayment’s (Transcending self-interest: psychological explorations of the quiet ego. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 7–19, 2008) conceptual and multidimensional definition of a “quiet ego”: wisdom, altruism, sense of interdependence with all living things, need for structure (reversed), anger/verbal aggression (reversed), and negative affectivity (reversed). In turn, quiet ego characteristics were positively related to self-reported health. Our findings provide continuing support for the key role psychological mindfulness may play in psychological and physical well-being.