Gist-based memory for prices and “better buys” in younger and older adults

Ageing typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults’ tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the “better buy”). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the “better buy” and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the “better buy” in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive ageing.     

Impact of Postural Stability and Modality on the Perception of Passage and Surface Climbing

The foundation for this study is the belief that an accurate understanding of affordance perception requires consideration of the observer-ground surface interface. More specifically, it is argued that variations in the organism-environment interface will affect postural stability that, in turn, will affect affordance judgments. It is further expected that the impact of variations in postural stability should be independent of the perceptual system employed by the perceiver. Participants in this study wore shoes meant to create varying degrees of postural stability and used either vision or sound to determine whether a gap afforded passage or a surface could be stepped upon. The results revealed that the manipulation of postural stability significantly affected judgments of passage and climbability. Although modality alone did not influence affordance judgments, it did so in combination with postural stability. Discussion is given to the notion that an accurate understanding of perception requires consideration of the perceiver and the environment as a single unit.     

A Rapid Systematic Review of Outcomes Studies in Genetic Counseling

As healthcare reimbursement is increasingly tied to value-of-service, it is critical for the genetic counselor (GC) profession to demonstrate the value added by GCs through outcomes research. We conducted a rapid systematic literature review to identify outcomes of genetic counseling. Web of Science (including PubMed) and CINAHL databases were systematically searched to identify articles meeting the following criteria: 1) measures were assessed before and after genetic counseling (pre-post design) or comparisons were made between a GC group vs. a non-GC group (comparative cohort design); 2) genetic counseling outcomes could be assessed independently of genetic testing outcomes, and 3) genetic counseling was conducted by masters-level genetic counselors, or non-physician providers. Twenty-three papers met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were in the cancer genetic setting and the most commonly measured outcomes included knowledge, anxiety or distress, satisfaction, perceived risk, genetic testing (intentions or receipt), health behaviors, and decisional conflict. Results suggest that genetic counseling can lead to increased knowledge, perceived personal control, positive health behaviors, and improved risk perception accuracy as well as decreases in anxiety, cancer-related worry, and decisional conflict. However, further studies are needed to evaluate a wider array of outcomes in more diverse genetic counseling settings.     

Behavioral interventions to improve performance in collegiate football

Using a multitreatment withdrawal design, this study evaluated the differential effects of publicly posted plus verbal feedback, goal setting plus verbal feedback, and publicly posted feedback, verbal feedback, and goal setting together on the performance of 3 collegiate football players in practice scrimmages. Also assessed was whether the changes in practice behavior generalized to games. The dependent variables were performances on three wide receiver skills. The results show that public posting with verbal feedback, goal setting, and public posting with verbal feedback and goal setting were effective in improving player performance to a 90% criterion level during practice, and these changes generalized to game performance.     

The ethical ideologies of psychologists and physicians: a preliminary comparison

The ethical ideologies of psychologists (who provide health services) and physicians were compared using the Ethics Position Questionnaire. The findings reveal that psychologists tend to be less relativistic than physicians. Further, we explored the degree to which physicians and psychologists report being influenced by a variety of factors (e.g., family views) in their ethical decision making. Psychologists were more influenced by their code of ethics and less influenced by family views, religious background, and peer attitudes than were physicians. We argue that these differences reflect the varied professional cultures in which practitioners are trained and socialized.     

Rapid development of feature binding in visual short-term memory

The binding of object identity (color) and location in visual short-term memory (VSTM) was examined in 6.5- to 12.5-month-old infants (N= 144). Although we previously found that by age 6.5 months, infants can represent both color and location in VSTM, in the present study we observed that 6.5-month-old infants could not remember trivially simple color-location combinations across a 300-ms delay. However, 7.5-month-old infants could bind color and location as effectively as 12.5-month-old infants. Control conditions confirmed that the failure of 6.5-month-old infants was not a result of perceptual or attentional limitations. This rapid development of VSTM binding between 6.5 and 7.5 months occurs during a period of rapid increase in VSTM storage capacity and just after a period of dramatic neuroanatomical changes in parietal cortex. Thus, the ability to bind features and the ability to store multiple objects may both depend on a process that is mediated by posterior parietal cortex and is perhaps related to focused attention.     

A developmental perspective on the ideal of reason in American constitutional law

The ideal of reason is central to contemporary accounts of citizenship in American constitutional law. The individual capacity for reasoned choice lies closely aligned with the constitutional values of personal liberty and democratic self-government as they have evolved in Supreme Court decisions over the past century. Yet as presently conceived, the ideal of reason in constitutional law overlooks the process by which individuals actually acquire the capacity to choose their own values and commitments or to engage in reasoned thinking about collective ends. This paper argues that we cannot hope to sustain and foster a constitutional polity committed to the principles of individual liberty and democratic self-government without knowing something about how individual citizens come to possess this requisite skill of mind. A developmental perspective on reason in constitutional law provides a framework for examining the source and contours of the psychological skills that make it possible to lead an autonomous, self-directed life and to participate meaningfully in the processes of democratic self-government. Developmental psychology, together with research in related fields, provides empirical support for the proposition that the psychological capacity for reasoned thinking has its roots in the early caregiving relationship. Thus, a comprehensive and integrated constitutional family law must recognize the role of early caregiving in the political socialization of children. This developmental approach offers a substantial reworking of constitutional doctrine in the areas of family privacy, parental rights, congressional power, and affirmative welfare rights.