DNA Testing for Family Reunification in Canada: Points to Consider

Countries have adopted different laws, policies, and practices that allow immigration officers to request in certain cases DNA tests to confirm biological relationships in the context of family reunification. In Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has adopted a policy of suggesting DNA testing only as a last resort in cases where no documentary evidence has been submitted or where the evidence provided is deemed unsatisfactory. However, in practice, there have been concerns on the increasing use of DNA tests in family reunification processes of nationals from certain regions including Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Moreover, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) presents a biological definition of family as a determinant of parenthood in the context of family reunification that is inconsistent with the psychosocial definition used in provincial family laws. Although there are cases that can justify the request for DNA tests, there are also significant social, legal, and ethical issues, including discrimination and unfair practices, raised by this increasing use of genetic information in immigration. This policy brief identifies points to consider for policymakers regarding the use of DNA testing in Canadian family reunification procedures. These include (1) the need to refine the policy of “using DNA testing as a last resort” and its implementation, (2) the need to modify the definition of “dependent child” under the IRPR to reflect the intrinsic reality of psychosocial family ties, and (3) the importance of conducting more research on the use of DNA testing in other immigration contexts.     

Age differences in memory control: evidence from updating and retrieval-practice tasks

Some contemporary approaches suggest that inhibitory mechanisms play an important role in cognitive development. In addition, several authors distinguish between intentional and unintentional inhibitory processes in cognition. We report two experiments aimed at exploring possible developmental changes in these two types of inhibitory mechanisms. In Experiment 1, an updating task was used. This task requires that participants intentionally suppress irrelevant information from working memory. In Experiment 2, the retrieval-practice task was used. Retrieval practice of a subset of studied items is thought to involve unintentional inhibitory processes to overcome interference from competing memories. As a result, suppressed items become forgotten in a later memory test. Results of the experiments indicated that younger children (8) were less efficient than older children (12) and adults at intentionally suppressing information (updating task). However, when the task required unintentional inhibition of competing items (retrieval-practice task), this developmental trend was not found and children and adults showed similar levels of retrieval-induced forgetting. The results are discussed in terms of the development of efficient inhibition and the distinction between intentional and unintentional inhibitions.     

Visual search strategies of experienced and nonexperienced swimming coaches

The aim of this study consists of the application of an experimental protocol that allows information to be obtained about the visual search strategies elaborated by swimming coaches. 16 swimming coaches participated. The Experienced group (n=8) had 16.1 yr. (SD=8.2) of coaching experience and at least five years of experience in underwater vision. The Nonexperienced group in underwater vision (n= 8) had 4.2 yr. (SD= 4.0) of coaching experience. Participants were tested in a laboratory environment using a video-projected sample of the crawl stroke of an elite swimmer. This work discusses the main areas of the swimmer's body used by coaches to identify and analyse errors in technique from overhead and underwater perspectives. In front-underwater videos, body roll and mid-water were the locations of the display with higher percentages of fixation time. In the side-underwater slow videos, the upper body was the location with higher percentages of visual fixation time and was used to detect the low elbow fault. Side-overhead takes were not the best perspectives to pick up information directly about performance of the arms; coaches attended to the head as a reference for their visual search. The observation and technical analysis of the hands and arms were facilitated by an underwater perspective. Visual fixation on the elbow served as a reference to identify errors in the upper body. The side-underwater perspective may be an adequate way to identify correct knee angles in leg kicking and the alignment of a swimmer's body and leg actions.     

Contextual interference in learning precision skills

This research studied the effect of different organisations of practice (blocked and random) on the learning of three different types of throwing. 35 male students practiced three precise throws for 3 wk. Initially the subjects were separated into two groups who trained under different conditions of practice (blocked and random). All subjects improved significantly from initial performance, with both blocked practice and random practice. At the end of acquisition no differences were found between the groups. No significant differences were found on retention tests carried out 48 hr., 4 wk., and 8 wk. after the training period.     

How Women’s Nonconscious Association of Sex with Submission Relates to Their Subjective Sexual Arousability and Ability to Reach Orgasm

Common cultural stereotypes promote women’s submission to men, especially within intimate heterosexual relationships. Mirroring these stereotypes, women possess nonconscious associations between sex and submission (Sanchez, Kiefer & Ybarra, 2006). Moreover, women’s sex-submission associations predict greater reports of engagement in submissive sexual behavior (Sanchez et al., 2006). In the present research, we again found that women associate sex with submission at a nonconscious level. Study 1 showed that women’s nonconscious sex-submission associations predict reduced subjective arousability. Study 2 further demonstrated that these associations predict impaired ability to reach orgasm among women. These findings suggest that sex-submission associations may adversely affect women’s sexual functioning.     

Hardy personality as moderator variable of burnout syndrome in firefighters

In last years, theorists and researchers have pointed to the relevance of personal factors in resilience and vulnerability on burnout. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of hardy personality as moderator of the relationship between job stressors and burnout. A total of 405 firefighters of the Community of Madrid participated in the study. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that the challenge component of hardy personality buffer the influence of job stressors on the occurrence of burnout. Results support the hypothesis that hardy personality may have moderator effects on burnout. Furthermore, commitment appeared as a mediator of the relationships between burnout and its associated symptomatology. Finally, discussion emphasized the need to focus on the interaction between personal and contextual factors in order to make advances in understanding the burnout process.     

Is David Lykken's theory of crime likely?

Lykken proposed a model of antisocial behaviour based on the criminal's temperamental difficulties. Personality traits stressed by this model are impulsivity, fearlessness, and sensation seeking. The present study compares one sample taken from the general population with a sample of prison inmates on these traits. The results indicate that prison inmates score higher than the general population on sensation seeking and fearlessness, whereas their scores on impulsivity are lower. Some implications are discussed.     

Visual behavior and perception of trajectories of moving objects with visual occlusion

Experienced athletes in sports with moving objects have shown greater skill when using visual information to anticipate the direction of a moving object than nonexperienced athletes of those sports. Studies have shown that expert athletes are more effective than novices in occlusion situations in the first stages of the sports sequence. In this study, 12 athletes with different competitive experience in sports with moving objects viewed a sequence of tennis ball launches with and without visual occlusion, launched by a ball-shooting machine toward different areas with respect to the participant's position. The relation among visual behavior, occlusion time, and the precision of the task is reviewed. The spot where the balls bounced was analysed by a digital camera and visual behavior by an Eye Tracking System. Analysis showed that the nonexperienced athletes made significantly more errors and were more variable in visual occlusion conditions. Participants had a stable visual search strategy.