The Varieties of Wonder

Although wonder is a response to what is extraordinary or regarded as such, this covers a variety of things. Hence, wonder covers a spectrum from mere surprise or puzzlement to stronger responses like dread or amazement; moreover, it is often linked to other powerful responses like fear or admiration, and it can lead people into many pursuits and areas of reflection. I look at the variety of the objects of wonder, and of the neighbouring responses and conceptual connections found here, then I discuss the response of wonder itself, and its causes and effects. Finally, I ask why the sense of wonder can atrophy, and whether it can be suppressed deliberately.     

Latent self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Tests of factorial,convergent, and discriminant validity using self- and informant reports

Using latent variables for self-oriented perfectionism (i.e., demanding perfection of oneself) and socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceiving others are demanding perfection of oneself) has advantages. However, few studies have specifically examined the psychometric properties of these latent variables. The present study addresses this shortcoming by testing the factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism latent variables using self- and informant reports. It was hypothesized that (a) the factor structure of the self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism latent variables would be supported, (b) self- and informant reports would moderately converge, and (c) the self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism latent variables would be discriminable. A sample of 242 undergraduate women and 378 informants (218 mothers, 160 fathers) was recruited. Undergraduate women completed self-reports, and mothers and fathers completed informant reports. Results were consistent with hypotheses, thereby supporting (a) the factorial validity of the self-oriented and socially prescribed latent variables using self- and informant reports, (b) the convergent validity of the self-oriented and socially prescribed latent variables via moderately to strongly correlated self- and informant reports, and (c) the discriminant validity of the self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism latent variables. Findings suggest research using these latent variables is warranted.     

“I Tried to Make it not Confusing by Fixing it”: Describing Six First Graders’ Use of Strategies to Understand Text

This study describes six first-grade students’ use of metacognitive strategies. The students (4 boys and 2 girls) represented low, average, and above-average readers and were enrolled in a rural Midwestern elementary school. A variety of data were collected throughout the year: (a) an informal reading inventory and metacognitive awareness interview were conducted at the beginning and end of the year; and (b) during the school year, think-aloud interview protocols, running records, anecdotal notes, and retellings were conducted. The analysis revealed that these first graders were reporting and using a variety of strategies to read.     

Cosmetic Surgery: Feminist Perspectives

Cosmetic surgery is gaining popularity not only in the U.S., but worldwide. The sheer number of procedures being performed makes it seem “normal,” and in the statistical sense it is. Feminist therapists are likely to have clients who are contemplating undergoing one or more of these procedures. Therapists ought to help their clients to understand the motivations underlying a decision to undergo surgery for the sake of improving on nature. In the final analysis, the decision belongs to the woman who may be placing her life at risk to achieve some desired end. The therapist can play a role in helping her to weigh the risks and what will be accomplished in the end.     

Risk drinking and contraception effectiveness among college women

Risk drinking, especially binge drinking, and unprotected sex may co-occur in college women and increase the risks of STI exposure and pregnancy, but the relationships among these behaviors are incompletely understood. A survey was administered to 2012 women of ages 18–24 enrolled in a public urban university. One-quarter of the college women (23%) drank eight or more drinks per week on average, and 63% binged in the past 90 days, with 64% meeting criteria for risk drinking. Nearly all sexually active women used some form of contraception (94%), but 18% used their method ineffectively and were potentially at risk for pregnancy. Forty-four percent were potentially at risk for STIs due to ineffective or absent condom usage. Ineffective contraception odds were increased by the use of barrier methods of contraception, reliance on a partner's decision to use contraception, and risk drinking, but were decreased by the use of barrier with hormonal contraception, being White, and later age to initiate contraception. In contrast, ineffective condom use was increased by reliance on a partner's decision to use condoms, the use of condoms for STI prevention only, and by risk drinking. Thirteen percent of university women were risk drinkers and using ineffective contraception, and 31% were risk drinkers and failing to use condoms consistently. Risk drinking is related to ineffective contraception and condom use. Colleges should promote effective contraception and condom use for STI prevention and consider coordinating their programs to reduce drinking with programs for reproductive health. Emphasizing the use of condoms for both pregnancy prevention and STI prevention may maximize women's interest in using them.     

Very high temperature creep behavior of a single crystal Ni-based superalloy under complex thermal cycling conditions

Very high temperature thermal cycling has been performed on the single crystal superalloy MC2 to evaluate the effect of periodic overheating on creep behavior. The experiments consist of alternately performing 1 min dwell time at 1100°C and 1150°C for every 15 min during creep test at 1050°C/120 MPa. Both thermal cycling and prior γ′-rafting appear to be deleterious to the cyclic creep properties. The observed non-isothermal creep behavior is correlated with γ′-dissolution/coalescence processes, especially during overheatings where γ′ micro-rafts seem to play a significant role.     

Do You See What I See? The Influence of Gender Stereotypes on Student and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Perceptions of Violent Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Relationships

ABSTRACT

Forty-one men and 67 women undergraduate students, as well as 35 men and 27 women Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers, rated the abusiveness of intimate partner violence (IPV) vignettes portraying each possible gender combination of victim and perpetrator (Harris &; Cook, 1994 Harris, R. J. and Cook, C. A. 1994. Attributions about spouse abuse: It matters who the batterers and victims are. Sex Roles, 30: 553–565. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Rating differences according to victim and perpetrator gender, occupation (student or RCMP officer), and participant gender were anticipated. Analyses found that student and RCMP ratings of abuse severity were both highest for the male-female scenario. However, the RCMP considered the female-male, male-male, and female-female scenarios to be more abusive than did the students. Our findings suggest that, while the RCMP appeared to be more sensitive to male and same-sex victims than students, both groups remain somewhat biased.     

Intraindividual models of employee well-being: What have we learned and where do we go from here?

As societal concern shifts from financial survival towards quality of life issues, both in and outside of the workplace, scholarly interest in employee well-being too has risen greatly in recent years. This greater attention to the antecedents and outcomes of employee well-being, such as job satisfaction, work engagement, and job burnout amongst others, is reflected in the proliferation of theories, constructs, and studies seeking to describe and explain why employees flourish or become exhausted at work, and the effect of employee well-being on individual behaviours and the organization at large. In this article, we provide a selective review of the current state of research in employee well-being, as well as key theories that have been employed in its study, with the aim of providing a critical assessment of the current state of employee well-being research as well as suggest future directions for the field. In particular, we discuss how research adopting intraindividual perspectives in the study of employee well-being can not only add value to our understanding of well-being but also complement the findings from between-individual studies, and offer suggestions for the development of a comprehensive theoretical model that integrates the two perspectives.     

Strategy Use in Reasoning Training With Older Adults

The relationship between strategy use and cognitive training gains on reasoning ability is examined in a sample of 393 older participants in the Seattle Longitudinal Training Study. Pre- and posttest gains on the use of strategies specific to reasoning ability were compared for the elderly trained on reasoning versus spatial orientation ability. The present study involves an objective behavioral method of measuring strategy use on tests of inductive reasoning. Results showed that participants trained on reasoning significantly increased strategy use from pre- to posttest on two reasoning outcome measures compared to participants trained on spatial orientation. Higher strategy use by inductive reasoning trainees was also associated with greater training gain on reasoning outcome measures, suggesting strategy use as a possible mechanism of training gain. In addition, young–old participants and those with higher education, irrespective of training condition, exhibited greater pre- to posttest gain in strategy use.     

Aging and automaticity: Evaluation of instance-based and strength-based mechanisms

Abstract

Experiments evaluated instance-based learning as a possible sole mechanism underlying development of automaticity. Age differences in extended practice lexical decision and factors that could effect age-related performance on lexical decision tasks were also examined. the first experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of stimulus-specific and strategic, task-specific learning underlying performance improvement in a trained lexical decision task. the first experiment consisted of a training and a transfer phase. the training phase assessed age-related differences on a lexical decision task where an attention response could, in principle, be developed (Search condition) and where an attention response could not develop (Nonsearch condition). the transfer phase was conducted to evaluate the role of strategic, task-specific factors on performance improvement observed in the training phase. Age-related differences in word-nonword response time differences were eliminated with practice in the nonsearch, but not the search, version of the task. Transfer tests also implicate strategic differences as a partial source of age differences in lexical decision performance. Experiment 2 was a 10-session (two-week) extended practice study which was conducted to provide a strong test of instance-based learning as a sole mechanism for automaticity. Contrary to predictions of instance theory, the Search and Nonsearch conditions converged for the young adults. Consistent with a strength-based theory of automaticity applied to cognitive aging, the conditions did not converge for older adults. the results provide further support for age differences in automaticity-as-attention training. Based on these and other results, the importance of considering varieties of automaticity in theories of cognitive aging is discussed.