The effect of educational environment on identity recognition and perceptions of within-person variability

Individuals from small communities show impoverished face recognition relative to those from large communities, suggesting that the number of faces to which one is exposed has a measurable effect on face processing abilities. We sought to extend these findings by examining a second factor that influences the population of faces to which one is exposed during childhood: educational setting. In particular, we examined whether formerly home-schooled participants show reduced performance relative to non-homeschoolers on the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and on a sorting task in which participants sort photographs of two unfamiliar identities into piles representing the number of identities they believe are present. On the CFMT, there was no effect of educational setting. However, formerly home-schooled participants showed significant deficits on the sorting task. Such results suggest that reduced exposure to faces early in life as a function of home-schooling may have lasting effects on the face processing system.     

So what do you think of the organization? A contextual priming explanation for recruitment Web site characteristics as antecedents of job seekers’ organizational image perceptions

Although job seekers’ organizational image perceptions can influence attraction to recruiting organizations, little is known about how these perceptions are formed or modified. To address this research gap, the authors drew from research in social cognition theory and demonstrated that recruitment Web site characteristics influenced the development and modification of organizational image perceptions via a priming mechanism. Results of two studies showed that having technologically advanced Web site features and depicting racially diverse organizational members served as contextual primers and influenced participants’ organizational image perceptions. Results also revealed that participants’ familiarity with recruiting organizations moderated the effects of these Web site characteristics on several dimensions of organizational image such that effects were weaker for more familiar organizations. These findings suggest that organizations can manage job seekers’ organizational image perceptions through strategic recruitment Web site design; however, such attempts may be tempered by job seekers’ familiarity with the organization.     

Further Operationalization of Intra‐Team Communication in Sports: An Updated Version of the Scale of Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS‐2)

Sullivan & Feltz (2003 ) offered a preliminary multidimensional measure of communication in team sports, the Scale for Effective Communication in Team Sports (SECTS). The current research attempted to further the development and support for the psychometric properties and validity of the measure. In one study, 350 athletes completed an updated version of the SECTS. Confirmatory factor analyses showed good support for the 4‐factor structure. Correlations to team cohesion offer construct validity for the scale. A second study, with an independent sample (N = 79), revealed that team performance was negatively related to the communication of Distinctiveness at the team level. This updated version of the SECTS represents a parsimonious, valid, and reliable operational definition of sports‐specific effective team communication.     

The ABCs of CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy): Evidence‐Based Approaches to Child Anxiety in Public School Settings

This study evaluated a locally developed cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) intervention program in a public elementary school. In the prevention approach, 118 children were randomly assigned either to an 8‐week intervention or to a waitlist control. Results of statistical analysis indicated that the manualized CBT intervention did not reduce symptoms of anxiety on either self‐reports or parent reports of anxiety symptoms in the general school population. Challenges to translational efforts to public school settings are discussed.     

Development and validation of the Affect in Play Scale-brief rating version (APS-BR)

The Affect in Play Scale (APS; Russ, 1987, 2004) is one of few reliable, standardized measures of pretend play, yet the fact that it requires videotaping and extensive training to score compromises its clinical utility. In this study, we developed and validated a brief rating version (APS-BR) that does not require videotaping. Construct validity was established by comparing scores from the original APS and the APS-BR using an existing data set of videotaped play (n = 46). We examined associations between scores on the APS-BR and theoretically relevant measures of divergent thinking and emotional memories. Scores on the APS-BR related strongly to those on the APS, and the pattern of correlations for each scale and relevant criterion measures was similar in strength and direction, supporting the APS-BR as an alternate form of the APS. In addition, we completed a pilot study to examine the efficacy of using the APS-BR in its intended in vivo format (n = 28). Results from both studies suggest that the APS-BR is a promising brief measure of children's pretend play that can be substituted for the APS in clinical and research settings.     

Cinematographical Analysis of Movement Pathway Constraints in Rapid Target-Striking Tasks

Several features of the actual movement pathway in two rapid target-striking tasks were quantified by using high-speed cinematography, and whether the movement pathway is constrained as a function of the accuracy demands imposed by the size of the subtended angle was determined. Subjects (N = 16) first hit an 8-cm-diameter target located 10 cm to the left of a start position and then, depending on the condition, moved another 10 cm to hit either a 6-cm- or 1.5-cm-diameter target. Subtended angles were 17.1 and 4.3 degrees for the large and small second-target conditions, respectively. Fifty trials per condition were performed, the last 3 of which were filmed at 120 Hz. The vertical dimension of movement (peak height along the z-axis) was captured directly from the camera view, whereas the horizontal (y-axis) dimension, that is, the dimension orthogonal to the principal direction of motion, was captured through a mirror positioned above the target board. Reaction times and movement times were significantly longer in the small second-target condition, thus replicating the well-known response complexity effect. Kinematic analyses revealed that when the subtended angle was smaller, there was significantly less horizontal pathway deviation as well as significantly higher peak vertical displacement in the movement. Therefore, the accuracy demands imposed by a smaller subtended angle do constrain the actual movement pathway.     

Counselor Competency in the Courtroom

This article outlines general courtroom procedures and offers systematic practical advice for the counselor testifying as an expert witness. Major topics include the counselor role in court, preparing for testimony, answering questions, and dealing with the cross-examination.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the group environment questionnaire with co-acting sports

To assess whether the Group Environment Questionnaire is applicable to athletes in co-acting sports such as track and field, the factor structure of the Group Environment Questionnaire among a heterogeneous sample of 199 co-acting team sport athletes was investigated. A confirmatory factor analysis did not support the hypothesized four-factor model. A subsequent exploratory factor analysis yielded two independent factors that had no interpretable pattern of the four Group Environment Questionnaire factors within them. While this finding requires replication and confirmation, the four-factor model of the Group Environment Questionnaire does not appear to be as valid for co-acting sports as for interacting sports.     

Political rhetoric,immigration attitudes,and contemporary prejudice: a Mexican American dilemma

The authors examined political candidates' social stereotypes of Mexican immigrants in mainstream media accounts. From those popular themes, they formed semantic differential scales, which they administered to participants (N = 201) with 1 of 4 scenarios describing an illegal immigrant: of Mexican vs. English Canadian descent and with vs. without several parking tickets. Consistent with contemporary theories of prejudice (J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner, 1996), the participants indicated the greatest agreement with the pejorative themes when the immigrant described was of Mexican descent and had accumulated parking tickets. Psychologically, the parking tickets served as a nonethnic rationale for discriminating against that ethnic group. The authors discuss the social and public policy implications of Mexican immigration as a political phenomenon.