When do stereotypes come to mind and when do they color judgment? A goal-based theoretical framework for stereotype activation and application

The authors describe a theoretical framework for understanding when people interacting with a member of a stereotyped group activate that group's stereotype and apply it to that person. It is proposed that both stereotype activation and stereotype application during interaction depend on the strength of comprehension and self-enhancement goals that can be satisfied by stereotyping one's interaction partner and on the strength of one's motivation to avoid prejudice. The authors explain how these goals can promote and inhibit stereotype activation and application, and describe diverse chronic and situational factors that can influence the intensity of these goals during interaction and, thereby, influence stereotype activation and application. This approach permits integration of a broad range of findings on stereotype activation and application.     

The association of physical maturation with family hassles among African American adolescent males

This research examined associations between physical maturation and adolescent-perceived family hassles within a sample of urban African American families who resided in high-risk communities. The purpose of the study was to examine the relations between physical maturation and youths' perceptions of their family context and the associated daily stresses experienced. The participants were 251 parent-son dyads who were interviewed separately. The combination of quantitative and qualitative results extends the literature on physical development and urban African American populations by indicating that parents are most aware of pubertal changes during early puberty. The findings suggested that adolescent-perceived hassles are indications of parental monitoring and more adaptive parenting strategies are needed for high-risk neighborhoods.     

Acute exposure to a novel stressor further reduces the habituated corticosterone response to restraint in rats

The present study sought to identify dishabituation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis response to different psychological stressors. Young adult male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to five, 1 h sessions of restraint stress on five consecutive days. On the sixth day, and 2 h before additional exposure to restraint, animals were subjected to 30 min of a small (27cm square), elevated open field stressor (pedestal), which served as the dishabituating stimulus. We predicted HPA axis response dishabituation in chronically restrained rats exposed to the novel pedestal. Rats which underwent five days of restraint stress showed significantly blunted plasma corticosterone levels to restraint (habituation) as compared to restraint-nai've rats. However, rats which underwent five sessions of restraint responded with an enhanced habituation response when confronted with restraint shortly after exposure to the novel pedestal. Instead of HPA axis response dishabituation, we observed enhanced habituation. Subsequent experiments determined that a 1.25 mgkg corticosterone injection could substitute for pedestal exposure to produce enhanced restraint habituation.Combined treatment with both the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU40555 (30 mgkg)and the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist RU283 18 (50 mgkg) blocked the expression of enhanced habituation after pedestal exposure. Thus, the delayed corticosterone negative feedback produced by novel stress led to enhanced expression of corticosterone response habituation.     

Political Conviction and Epistemic Injustice

Philosophia - Epistemic injustice occurs when we fail to appropriately respect others as epistemic agents. Philosophers building on the work of Miranda Fricker, who introduced the concept, have...     

Adopted Individuals’ Views on the Utility and Value of Expanded Carrier Screening

Adoptees may not have family medical history and ethnicity information. Carrier screening assesses reproductive risk. Expanded carrier screening (ECS) screens for many genetic conditions regardless of a patient’s knowledge of family history and ethnicity. This study aimed to better understand the opinions and attitudes of adopted individuals on the use of ECS in determining a patient’s reproductive genetic risks. Specifically, the study assessed how adopted individuals feel that results of ECS may be useful to them and whether adoptees feel that meeting with a genetics professional in the process of undergoing ECS would be useful. Adult adoptees (N?=?124) were recruited online. Their opinions on ECS were explored. The majority reported they had never been offered carrier screening (92%). The majority of adoptees wanted ECS (76%). Neither the amount of contact with biological relatives nor having medical knowledge about biological relatives was significantly associated with adoptees’ desire to pursue ECS. There was a significant positive correlation between adoptees of higher education levels and the amount they would pay for ECS (p?=?0.004). The majority of participants (95%) indicated a genetics professional would be helpful when undergoing ECS. The findings suggest this population may want ECS and support from genetics healthcare professionals. Advocacy for genetic counseling and testing for adoptees appears justifiable.     

Examining How Romantic Relationship Quality Influences Individual Psychological Distress Over Time for Men and Women

Poor relationship quality can increase an individual’s psychological distress. There is substantial debate regarding the influence of relationship quality for men and women. Some have found that women’s psychological distress is affected more by poor relationship quality compared to men. Others have found that psychological distress is equally affected for men and women, but it may look different—depressive symptoms for women and total alcohol consumption for men. In this study we examined how men and women differed in changes in relationship quality and changes in psychological distress. Then, we examined how changes in one manifestation of psychological distress and changes in relationship quality were related and how this association differed for men and women. Women reported lower initial relationship quality and total alcohol consumption but higher initial depressive symptoms. Men and women only differed on changes in total alcohol consumption, with women decreasing less than men over 25 years. Finally, both changes in total alcohol consumption and changes in depressive symptoms were related to changes in relationship quality for women, but not men. The reverse direction did not differ by gender, although change in depressive symptoms was related to change in relationship quality. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Representational coexistence in the God concept: Core knowledge intuitions of God as a person are not revised by Christian theology despite lifelong experience

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Previous research has shown that in the minds of young adult religious adherents, acquired theology about the extraordinary characteristics of God (e.g.,...     

Who Do You Think You Are? Evolving Ethical Meaning Making

People must develop ways to determine and manage acceptable and unacceptable behaviors within their communities, although not all communities create the same ethical systems. Understanding differences in ethical systems, including between constructivists and their critics, might benefit from considering constructive-developmental theory, which views ethics as related to evolving individual self-identities in a context of accompanying cultural evolution. By considering that people's ethical frameworks evolve over the life span and that current society consists of people at various levels within that evolutionary process, we may arrive at a better understanding of ethical differences and include a wider range of perspectives in our discourse.     

Changes in frontal and posterior cortical activity underlie the early emergence of executive function

Executive function (EF) is a key cognitive process that emerges in early childhood and facilitates children's ability to control their own behavior. Individual differences in EF skills early in life are predictive of quality‐of‐life outcomes 30 years later (Moffitt et al., 2011). What changes in the brain give rise to this critical cognitive ability? Traditionally, frontal cortex growth is thought to underlie changes in cognitive control (Bunge & Zelazo, 2006; Moriguchi & Hiraki, 2009). However, more recent data highlight the importance of long‐range cortical interactions between frontal and posterior brain regions. Here, we test the hypothesis that developmental changes in EF skills reflect changes in how posterior and frontal brain regions work together. Results show that children who fail a “hard” version of an EF task and who are thought to have an immature frontal cortex, show robust frontal activity in an “easy” version of the task. We show how this effect can arise via posterior brain regions that provide on‐the‐job training for the frontal cortex, effectively teaching the frontal cortex adaptive patterns of brain activity on “easy” EF tasks. In this case, frontal cortex activation can be seen as both the cause and the consequence of rule switching. Results also show that older children have differential posterior cortical activation on “easy” and “hard” tasks that reflects continued refinement of brain networks even in skilled children. These data set the stage for new training programs to foster the development of EF skills in at‐risk children.