Children's academic attainment is linked to the global organization of the white matter connectome

Literacy and numeracy are important skills that are typically learned during childhood, a time that coincides with considerable shifts in large‐scale brain organization. However, most studies emphasize focal brain contributions to literacy and numeracy development by employing case‐control designs and voxel‐by‐voxel statistical comparisons. This approach has been valuable, but may underestimate the contribution of overall brain network organization. The current study includes children (N = 133 children; 86 male; mean age = 9.42, SD = 1.715; age range = 5.92–13.75y) with a broad range of abilities, and uses whole‐brain structural connectomics based on diffusion‐weighted MRI data. The results indicate that academic attainment is associated with differences in structural brain organization, something not seen when focusing on the integrity of specific regions. Furthermore, simulated disruption of highly‐connected brain regions known as hubs suggests that the role of these regions for maintaining the architecture of the network may be more important than specific aspects of processing. Our findings indicate that distributed brain systems contribute to the etiology of difficulties with academic learning, which cannot be captured using a more traditional voxel‐wise statistical approach.     

Teachers’ reactions to experiences of violence: an attributional analysis

Violence perpetrated against teachers is prevalent and has the potential to adversely affect teachers’ well-being, efficacy, and longevity in the profession. In this study, we examined teachers’ reactions after having experienced violence, specifically examining the roles of attributional processes. In collaboration with the American Psychological Association, National Education Association, and American Federation of Teachers, data were collected via a survey instrument from teachers across the United States. We examined responses from 2505 participants who described the most upsetting incident of violence that had been perpetrated against them in their roles as teachers. We examined predictors of (1) communicating with others after the incident and (2) implementing intervention strategies with the perpetrators of violence. Emotions were tested as mediators of the relations between attributions and outcomes. Results indicated that characterological and behavioral self-blame were predictive of negative affect, which in turn predicted the majority of outcomes. Study limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Video installation as a creative means of representing temporality in visual data

This paper describes the use of video installation as a creative means of engaging audiences in visual research. A detailed image-based overview of the project, 1247 Days on Whymark Avenue, is also presented. This interactive video installation offered viewers a level of phenomenological immersion in the compressed temporality and asynchronous dialogue captured by this visual research project. This film is part of a larger research project on the longitudinal photo-documentation of urban life (Hansen & Flynn 2015a). The project uses repeat photography to study street art and graffiti as visual dialogue.     

Reciprocal relations among motivational frameworks,math anxiety,and math achievement in early elementary school

School-entry math achievement is a strong predictor of math achievement through high school. We asked whether reciprocal relations among math achievement, math anxiety, and entity motivational frameworks (believing that ability is fixed and a focus on performance) can help explain these persistent individual differences. We assessed 1st and 2nd graders’ (N = 634) math achievement, motivational frameworks, and math anxiety 2 times, 6 months apart. Cross-lagged path analyses showed reciprocal relations between math anxiety and math achievement and between motivational frameworks and math achievement. Entity motivational frameworks predicted higher math anxiety. High math achievement was a particularly strong predictor of lower math anxiety and less entity-oriented motivational frameworks. We concluded that reciprocal effects are already present in the first 2 years of formal schooling, with math achievement and attitudes feeding off one another to produce either a vicious or virtuous cycle. Improving both math performance and math attitudes may set children onto a long-lasting, positive trajectory in math.     

The City Infant Faces Database: A validated set of infant facial expressions

Adults need to be able to process infants’ emotional expressions accurately to respond appropriately and care for infants. However, research on processing of the emotional expressions of infant faces is hampered by the lack of validated stimuli. Although many sets of photographs of adult faces are available to researchers, there are no corresponding sets of photographs of infant faces. We therefore developed and validated a database of infant faces, which is available via e-mail request. Parents were recruited via social media and asked to send photographs of their infant (0–12 months of age) showing positive, negative, and neutral facial expressions. A total of 195 infant faces were obtained and validated. To validate the images, student midwives and nurses (n = 53) and members of the general public (n = 18) rated each image with respect to its facial expression, intensity of expression, clarity of expression, genuineness of expression, and valence. On the basis of these ratings, a total of 154 images with rating agreements of at least 75% were included in the final database. These comprise 60 photographs of positive infant faces, 54 photographs of negative infant faces, and 40 photographs of neutral infant faces. The images have high criterion validity and good test–retest reliability. This database is therefore a useful and valid tool for researchers.     

Representational momentum and anisotropies in nearby visual space

The possibility of anisotropies in visual space in and near the final location of a moving target was examined. Experiments 1 and 2 presented a moving target, and after the target vanished, participants indicated the final location of the leading or trailing edge of the target. Memory for both edges was displaced forward from the actual final locations, and the magnitude of displacement was smaller for the leading edge. Experiments 3 and 4 also presented stationary objects in front of and behind the final location of the target, and participants indicated the location of the nearest or farthest edge of one of the stationary objects. Memory for the near or far edge of an object in front of the target was displaced backward, and memory for the near or far edge of an object behind the target was displaced forward; the magnitude of displacement was larger for objects in front of the target and when the edge was farther away. The findings (a) suggest representational momentum is associated with an anisotropy of visual space that extends across and outward from the moving target and (b) are consistent with previous findings regarding estimation of time-to-contact, anorthoscopic perception, and memory psychophysics.     

Contextualizing the History of Yoga in Geoffrey Samuel’s The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: A Review Symposium

International Journal of Hindu Studies -     

A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Stigmatization of Children of Incarcerated Parents

Stigmatization is often listed as one of the adverse consequences of parental incarceration; yet, there is very little research on this phenomenon. We address this knowledge deficit by providing a conceptual model of stigmatization and describing how it may apply to children with parents in jail or prison. This model helps to explain why families conceal the fact that a child’s parent is incarcerated; the potentially protective function of social withdrawal; possible links between stigmatization and childhood emotional and behavioral problems; how fear of stigmatization may impede help seeking; and the possibility for research and advocacy to contribute to the stigmatization of children who experience parental incarceration. It also helps to define specific aspects of stigmatization requiring further study.     

Maternal Depressive Symptoms When Caring for a Child with Mental Health Problems

As primary caregivers of children with mental health problems, mothers face challenges that put them at risk for depression, which is rarely identified or addressed. The aims of this paper were to (a) identify mean differences among demographic, stressor, threat, and resource variables specified in a theoretical model and thought to be associated with maternal depressive symptoms and (b) determine how much variability in depressive symptoms is explained by these variables. High levels and prevalence of depressive symptoms were found within a quality of life study that these data were drawn from. Of 139 mothers participating in this study, 58% had a score of 16 or greater on the CES-D indicating moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms. Significant differences were found between mothers with higher versus lower levels of depressive symptoms for 11 of the 18 variables. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the variance explained in depressive symptoms based upon the conceptual model with 4 composite variables. Income (step 1), behavioral problems (step 2), threat appraisal (step 3), and resource appraisal (step 4) combined explained 42% of the variance.