内隐学习策略的存在及其外显转化

该研究采用＂乘法算式答案正误判断的实验室任务＂,以＂奇偶检查策略＂为具体策略研究对象,探查内隐奇偶检查策略的存在及其自动性特征。实验结果表明：（1）奇偶检查策略可以以内隐方式存在,但经过不断练习可最终上升到意识层面;（2）奇偶检查策略的外显和内隐使用表现出各自独立的优势效应。外显学习策略的优势效应主要表现在正确算式判断任务中,而内隐学习策略则在错误算式判断任务中表现出＂内隐优势效应＂的趋势;（3）内隐奇偶检查策略的人为外显化并不能促使个体增加使用该策略的频率,也不能有效提高策略的执行效率。     

三种压力与创意自我效能感对创造力的影响

以216名初中二年级学生为被试,采用现场实验,探讨个体创意自我效能感在竞争、评价和时间三种压力情境下对创造力的影响。结果发现,三种压力对于总体创造力的影响不同;时间、评价压力分别提高了流畅性和新颖性,竞争压力既提高了流畅性又提高了新颖性,但三种压力情境都降低了变通性;创意自我效能感中间组的学生在压力情境下具有最好的变通表现,而效能感低分组表现最差。     

Escalating schedules of incentives increase physical activity with no differences between deposit and no-deposit groups: A systematic replication

Physical inactivity has increasingly affected public health in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is associated with chronic diseases such as arthritis, cancer, and heart disease. Contingency management has been shown to increase physical activity. Therefore, the present study sought to evaluate the effects of an escalating schedule of monetary reinforcement with a reset contingency on physical activity, as compared between 2 counterbalanced groups in which a monetary deposit of $25 was either required (deposit group) or not (no-deposit group). Twenty-five adults wore Fitbit accelerometers to monitor step counts. An ABA reversal design was used; in the 2 baseline phases, no programmed contingencies were in place for step counts. During intervention, step goals were set using a modified 70^th percentile schedule with a 7-day window: Reaching the first goal would result in $0.25, and incentives increased by $0.25 for each subsequent day in which the goal was met. Failure to reach a goal resulted in a reset of the monetary incentive value to $0.25. Ten out of 12 participants from the deposit group were determined to be responders to intervention, whereas 8 out of 13 participants from the no-deposit group were determined to be responders to intervention. Overall, there were no significant differences between the groups' step counts. However, the deposit group's intervention was cheaper to implement, which suggests that deposit contracts are a viable modification for physical activity interventions.     

Support networks of adolescent mothers: Effects on parenting experience and behavior

The relation between social support and lower-income African-American adolescent mothers' parenting experience, parenting behavior, and psychological symptoms was studied. Larger support networks were associated with better maternal adjustment unless individuals providing support were also providers of conflict. The young women's own mothers were their most prominent providers of support, and the number of different types of support the grandmother provided was related positively to quality of the adolescent's parenting behavior, but negatively to her experience of parenting. Having more friends in the network was related to better parenting behavior, but having more siblings in the network was related to poorer parenting behavior as well as more psychological symptoms. Although most of the young women relied on male partners for support, no variables related to provision of support by male partners were correlated with maternal adjustment.     

The Effects of a Learning Station on the Completion and Accuracy of Math Homework for Middle School Students

We studied the effects of a Learning Station on the completion and accuracy of math homework of middle school students who had chronic homework problems. The Learning Station was a three sided free-standing panel with theoretically and empirically-based components involving (a) stimulation (color, music, activity breaks, and choice) and (b) self-attention (mirror and self-monitoring). Two students who used the Station tripled their accuracy and the amount of homework completed as assessed in a multiple baseline across participants design. One student with high academic abilities elected not to use the intervention, because he worked quickly (albeit carelessly) at school to complete his homework during baseline and during intervention. The practical and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

Increasing parenting self-efficacy: The Fussy Baby Network® intervention

High levels of infant crying place families at risk for disrupted relationships, parenting stress, and even for child maltreatment. We conducted an evaluation of the Fussy Baby Network^® (FBN), a program supporting families struggling with infant crying and related concerns. The study contrasted 29 families who sought help from FBN with 27 families with excessively crying infants who did not seek services. Researchers measured parenting self-efficacy, depression, and stress in each group before and after the intervention. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated greater improvements over time in parenting self-efficacy for parents receiving FBN services. Furthermore, the greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy in the intervention group were not directly attributable to reductions in infant crying. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the FBN approach may be effective at boosting the confidence of parents struggling with caring for their infants. Future research with larger samples with baseline equivalence and stronger research designs should explore this intervention further. This study also suggests that interventions for families with excessively crying infants should move beyond the focus of reducing infant crying to a broader strategy of supporting parents and strengthening relationships between parents and their infants to build parenting capacity.     

The effects of stimulus rotation and familiarity in visual search

Rauschenberger and Yantis (2006) observed that an intersecting circle-line combination enjoyed significantly greater search efficiency when it was oriented to resemble a "Q" than when it was oriented so that the intersecting line was vertical (cf. Treisman and Souther, 1985). Although a control experiment made it unlikely that the obliqueness of the line was responsible for the observed benefit, there was no direct evidence that this benefit was attributable to the "Q-ness" of the stimulus. In the present study, a subset of Rauschenberger and Yantis's experiments was repeated with Chinese subjects, who had never been exposed to the Latin alphabet. For these subjects, there was no benefit for the"Q"-like stimulus, in contrast to the results of Rauschenberger and Yantis's study. These results show that a simple 45 degrees rotation of a stimulus can affect search efficiency significantly--but only when this rotation bestows meaning, or familiarity, to that stimulus.