Quality at the Point of Service: Profiles of Practice in After-School Settings

A unique observational data set was used to explore quality at the point of service in after-school programs. Staff practices in after-school settings were represented on a series of unidimensional scales closely indexed to staff behavior. In order to account for heterogeneity of staff performances, pattern-centered methods were used to construct profiles of common staff practices. Results revealed six pedagogy profiles that were classified in terms of three broad types of performances delivered by after-school staff: (1) positive youth development, (2) staff-centered, and (3) low-quality. Staff membership in these profiles was not related to youth-staff ratio. However, results revealed significant differences between the profiles on the content of the offering and the age of youth in the setting.     

Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence

This longitudinal study examined bidirectional paths between perceived parent-adolescent relationship quality and depressive symptoms, as well as the moderating role of sex, age, and personality type. 1313 Dutch adolescents (51% girls) from two cohorts (923 12-year olds and 390 16-year olds at Wave 1) reported on their personality, depressive symptoms, and perceived relationship quality to parents in four waves. Consistent with a relationship erosion perspective, depressive symptoms negatively predicted perceived relationship quality with parents. Relationship quality to mothers predicted depressive symptoms for boys and girls, but relationship quality to fathers predicted depressive symptoms only for boys. Personality type only moderated initial associations between relationship quality with mothers and depressive symptoms, which were stronger for Overcontrollers and Undercontrollers than for Resilients. Results thus reveal a pattern of mutual influence between perceived relationship quality and depressive symptoms that is moderated by the interplay among parent and adolescent sex and adolescent personality type.     

Career trajectories of Dutch pop musicians: A longitudinal study

Systematic studies of artistic careers are scarce and this is the first large-scale study on the career development of pop musicians. Using a prospective longitudinal approach we followed a sample of aspiring pop musicians in the Netherlands (N = 369) over a three-year period. First we identified four groups of pop musicians with different career patterns, that is, upward careers, downward careers, stable successful careers and stable unsuccessful careers. By means of a multigroup growth mixture model we examined how career success was influenced by social support, professional attitude and professional network. Results showed that successful pop musicians experience more social support, have a stronger professional attitude and a more extensive professional network. Moreover, our study shows that these findings were consistent both between and within the different career pattern groups.     

Perceived responsibility to act: An investigation with respect to registering willingness to become a posthumous organ donor

Two questionnaire studies (Ns=238 and 497) were guided by the original theoretical specification of the triangle model of responsibility. These investigated the relationship between perceived responsibility to register willingness to posthumously donate one's organs and people's self‐reported actual and intended registration behaviour. Exploratory factor analyses suggested that various responsibility‐related constructs could be differentiated, several of which explained unique variance in participants' registration status. Although predominantly derived from it, these constructs provided little support for the specific manner in which the triangle model has previously been conceptualized and operationalized. Implications for theoretical development, future empirical research, and organ procurement are discussed.     

Beyond the mental number line: A neural network model of number–space interactions

It is commonly assumed that there is an interaction between the representations of number and space (e.g., Dehaene et al., 1993, Walsh, 2003), typically ascribed to a mental number line. The exact nature of this interaction has remained elusive, however. Here we propose that spatial aspects are not inherent to number representations, but that instead spatial and numerical representations are separate. However, cultural factors establish ties between them. By extending earlier models (Gevers et al., 2006, Verguts et al., 2005) based on this hypothesis, the authors present computer simulations showing that a model incorporating this idea can account for data from a series of studies. These results suggest that number–space interactions are emergent properties resulting from the interaction between different brain areas.     

A meta-analytic investigation of the structure of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

Converging lines of evidence have called into question the validity of conceptualizations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and suggested alternative structural models of PTSD symptomatology. We conducted a meta-analysis of 40 PTSD studies (N = 14,827 participants across studies) that used a DSM-based measure to assess PTSD severity. We aggregated correlation matrices across studies and then applied confirmatory factor analysis to the aggregated matrices to test the fit of competing models of PTSD symptomatology that have gained support in the literature. Results indicated that both prominent 4-factor models of PTSD symptomatology yielded good model fit across subsamples of studies; however, the model comprising Intrusions, Avoidance, Hyperarousal, and Dysphoria factors appeared to fit better across studies. Results also indicated that the best fitting models were not moderated by measure or sample type. Results are discussed in the context of structural models of PTSD and implications for the diagnostic nosology.     

When animals attack: The effects of mortality salience, infrahumanization of violence, and authoritarianism on support for war

Terror management theory (TMT) suggests that people are motivated to elevate themselves above other animals as a way of denying their creatureliness and mortality. Based on this reasoning, the present study assessed whether infrahumanizing violence by emphasizing its similarities to animal aggression would lead to reduced support for war, especially when mortality is salient. This hypothesis was supported among participants high in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), who are especially prone to infrahumanize outgroup members and are generally more supportive of military action against outgroups. RWA was associated with greater support for war against Iran, except when primed with thoughts of death and violence as an infrahuman behavior. These data suggest that by portraying violence as something instinctual and creaturely, it may be possible to reduce inter-group hostility and aggression among individuals who tend to be more dispositionally aggressive, particularly in the context of the death awareness that often exacerbates inter-group conflict.     

Female Scarcity Reduces Women's Marital Ages and Increases Variance in Men's Marital Ages

When women are scarce in a population relative to men, they have greater bargaining power in romantic relationships and thus may be able to secure male commitment at earlier ages. Male motivation for long-term relationship commitment may also be higher, in conjunction with the motivation to secure a prospective partner before another male retains her. However, men may also need to acquire greater social status and resources to be considered marriageable. This could increase the variance in male marital age, as well as the average male marital age. We calculated the Operational Sex Ratio, and means, medians, and standard deviations in marital ages for women and men for the 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States with 2000 U.S Census data. As predicted, where women are scarce they marry earlier on average. However, there was no significant relationship with mean male marital ages. The variance in male marital age increased with higher female scarcity, contrasting with a non-significant inverse trend for female marital age variation. These findings advance the understanding of the relationship between the OSR and marital patterns. We believe that these results are best accounted for by sex specific attributes of reproductive value and associated mate selection criteria, demonstrating the power of an evolutionary framework for understanding human relationships and demographic patterns.     

The effect of embodied emotive states on cognitive categorization

Research has uncovered that positive affect broadens cognitive categorization. The motivational dimensional model, however, posits that positive affect is not a unitary construct with only one cognitive consequence. Instead, this model puts forth that there are different positive affects varying in approach motivational intensity. According to this model, only positive affects lower in motivational intensity should broaden cognitive processes, whereas positive affects higher in motivational intensity should narrow cognitive processes. Consistent with these predictions, high approach positive affect has been shown to narrow attention, whereas low approach positive affect has been shown to broaden it (Gable & Harmon-Jones, 2008). High approach positive affect, therefore, might narrow categorization. Two experiments investigated this possibility by having participants respond to cognitive categorization tasks in 3 body postures designed to elicit different levels of approach motivation: reclining backward, which should evoke low approach motivation; sitting upright, which should evoke moderate approach motivation; and leaning forward, which should evoke high approach motivation. Participants smiled while in each posture in order to experience positive affect. Experiment 1 provided initial support for the idea that high approach positive affect narrows categorization and low approach positive affect broadens categorization. Experiment 2 replicated these findings with improved smiling instructions. These results extend previous work by showing that the motivational model's predictions hold for basic attentional processes as well as higher level cognitive processes such as categorization.     

A review of error correction procedures during instruction for children with developmental disabilities

Error correction procedures are remedial strategies presented following an incorrect response that increases the probability that a correct response will occur in the future. Error correction is commonly used during skill acquisition programs for children with developmental disabilities; however, the specific strategy used may differ considerably. Recent comparative studies have examined the effect of numerous error correction procedures on the efficiency of acquisition for children with developmental disabilities. Despite considerable merit, minor procedural differences and unique terms for similar procedures likely affect comparisons across studies. Here, we clarify the procedures and findings of these studies and suggest areas of future research.