The developmental approach to young children's strategic social cognition and behaviour

This study explores the development of strategic behaviour related to kindness and intelligence dimensions in 3‐ to 8‐year‐old children. Previous research systematically highlighted the affective bias that limited young children's thinking and behaving in strategic terms. We argue that young children are able to grasp specific dimensions of social affordances from personality traits and behaviour exemplifying these traits. The results obtained in the partner choice paradigm revealed a developmental increase in social utility understanding. This supports our hypothesis of early social affordances understanding and provides empirical evidence that affective bias did not drastically influence strategic partner choice in 4‐ to 8‐year‐old children. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of the Positive Environment Program (PEP) on the behaviors of adults with profound cognitive and physical disabilities

This study evaluated the effects of the Positive Environment Program (PEP) on the behaviors of residents and staff in a state‐operated residential facility during a 2½ year period. The participants included 19 adult residents with profound cognitive and physical disabilities and 11 staff members who worked with them. Data were collected on alertness, leisure material availability, engagement, staff interactions, and resident affect during two samples of data collection six months prior to implementation of PEP. Training was then provided to staff on positive interaction skills. Following the training, researchers implemented a monitoring program and a staff incentive program. The results of this project showed improvements in staff interactions, resident interaction with leisure materials, improved levels of alertness, and increases in a ‘happiness index’. The benefits and limitations of this project as well as future research are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing Justice?

This article focuses on the follow question: Are human enhancement technologies likely to be justice impairing or justice promoting? We argue that human enhancement technologies may not be inherently just or unjust, but when situated within obtaining social contexts they are likely to exacerbate rather than alleviate social injustices.     

Who’s in Charge Here?: Reply to Neil Levy

In his response to my essay “Out of Control,” Neil Levy contests my claims that (1) we are often responsible for acts that we do not consciously choose to perform, and that (2) despite the absence of conscious choice, there remains a relevant sense in which these actions are within our control. In this reply to Levy, I concede that claim (2) is linguistically awkward but defend the thought that it expresses, and I clarify my defense of claim (1) by distinguishing my position from attributionism.

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, but . . ." The effects of using disclaimers on person perception

Limited research has examined the effects of using disclaimers on person perception, and none has examined disclaimer effectiveness. Four studies test whether disclaimers effectively ward off negative judgments regarding the specific disclaimed traits. Study 1 finds that using an arrogance disclaimer ("I don't mean to sound arrogant, but . . .") increased judgments of the speaker's arrogance but only when followed by an arrogant comment. Studies 2 and 3 yield similar findings using laziness and selfishness disclaimers. Studies 2, 3, and 4 examine five possible underlying mechanisms regarding why disclaimers can backfire. The most support was obtained for the notion that disclaimers increase an audience's expectations that the speaker will say something consistent with the unwanted trait, which then increases perceptions of that trait in the speaker. We discuss some possible moderating variables as well as some implications of these findings for general impression formation models.     

PREP inside and out: marriage education for inmates

Although research has demonstrated that marriage education has positive effects on relationship quality, little is known about how such services impact relationships where one partner is incarcerated. The current study implemented an adapted version of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP Inside and Out) for inmates in Oklahoma correctional facilities. Inmates, with or without their partners, participated in the 12-hour program. The impact of the program was investigated on a range of relationship variables including satisfaction with relationship, dedication, confidence, communication skills, friendship, and negative interactions as reported by the inmate partner. Participants reported substantial gains in all variables and in overall satisfaction with their relationship after completing the program, regardless of their gender and racial/ethnic background. Implications for future marriage education programs and research in prisons are discussed.     

Pooling data from multiple longitudinal studies: the role of item response theory in integrative data analysis

There are a number of significant challenges researchers encounter when studying development over an extended period of time, including subject attrition, the changing of measurement structures across groups and developmental periods, and the need to invest substantial time and money. Integrative data analysis is an emerging set of methodologies that allows researchers to overcome many of the challenges of single-sample designs through the pooling of data drawn from multiple existing developmental studies. This approach is characterized by a host of advantages, but this also introduces several new complexities that must be addressed prior to broad adoption by developmental researchers. In this article, the authors focus on methods for fitting measurement models and creating scale scores using data drawn from multiple longitudinal studies. The authors present findings from the analysis of repeated measures of internalizing symptomatology that were pooled from three existing developmental studies. The authors describe and demonstrate each step in the analysis and conclude with a discussion of potential limitations and directions for future research.     

Understanding HIV Prevention With College‐Going Black Women: An NIMH‐Funded Pilot Study

Black women are disproportionately affected by HIV. Limited research has examined race and gender as psychological variables of influence. In this National Institute of Mental Health pilot study, the authors used semistructured interviews to explore the heterogeneity of identity within race and gender and possible interactions with sexual risk perceptions and behavior in a sample of Black women attending college in an urban city. The article presents emergent themes, recommendations, and questions for future research. El VIH afecta a las mujeres negras de forma desproporcionada. Un número limitado de investigaciones ha examinado la raza y el sexo como variables psicológicas de influencia. En este estudio piloto del Instituto Nacional de Salud Mental, los autores usaron entrevistas semiestructuradas para explorar la heterogeneidad de la identidad dentro de la raza y el sexo, así como posibles interacciones con las percepciones de riesgo y comportamiento sexual en una muestra de mujeres negras cursando estudios universitarios en una ciudad urbana. El artículo presenta temas emergentes, recomendaciones y preguntas para futuras investigaciones.     

Sleep deprivation in Air National Guard medical personnel responding to simulated disaster-training exercises

National Guard personnel remain largely unstudied within the sleep research community, despite their unique and important role. In response, the purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of sleep deprivation in National Guard medical personnel from two separate Air Force Bases (AFBs) responding to simulated disaster-training exercises. National Guard medical personnel (N = 77) were fitted with wrist activity monitors (actigraphy) to objectively measure their sleep for 4 days of their civilian time (baseline), followed by a 4-day transition period from civilian to military duty, and a 3–5-day disaster-training exercise. Differences in sleep quantity, quality, and “cognitive effectiveness” were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. Participants’ sleep quantity was significantly reduced from civilian to disaster-training periods, and their cognitive effectiveness also dropped significantly. National Guard medical personnel were sleep-deprived during a simulated disaster-training exercise, which, although a valid proxy for real-world disasters, is likely to be a conservative approximation of the stress and fatigue National Guard personnel experience during crisis response. As such, the need for targeted fatigue-related interventions to safeguard our service members during these critical times is clear.     

A pilot investigation of the effects of stress on neuropsychological performance in Asian-Indians in the United States

The present study evaluated the effects of stress and the ethnicity of the examiner on neuropsychological performance in a sample of Asian-Indian males in the United States. Participants were 60 Asian-Indian college students randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 x 2 factorial design. The first factor was level of stress induction and the second was ethnicity of examiners. Results suggested that both stress inducing instructions and examiner ethnicity impacted highly demanding tasks, while moderately difficult tasks were less sensitive to ethnicity of the examiner. Results also indicate that examiners should recognize the potential impact of ethnicity and heightened level of stress when administering and interpreting neuropsychological measures.