Evaluation of two physical guidance procedures in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorder

Children with pediatric feeding disorder may refuse to consume an adequate variety and/or volume of food to maintain expected growth. They can consume food but may actively or passively refuse, resulting in escape or avoidance of eating. Behavioral interventions like positive reinforcement with escape extinction can increase consumption. However, sometimes these interventions are insufficient, especially in treating passive refusal. In these cases, physical guidance may be used to prompt an open mouth to deposit food. Research indicates open-mouth prompts are effective and rated as acceptable. This study replicated an existing physical guidance procedure, the finger prompt, and compared its efficacy and acceptability with that of a spoon prompt. This study extended research by defining and measuring passive refusal as a dependent variable and assessing social validity among different stakeholders and times. Both prompts were effective in treating food refusal, and caregivers rated the finger prompt as more preferred.     

Compositionality of the Constituent Characters in Chinese Two-Character-Word Recognition by Adult Readers of High and Low Chinese Proficiency

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - In Chinese, the graphic units are Chinese characters, most of which are compound characters. Since a compound character can be different from another one in...     

Testing the myth of the encoding–retrieval match

The view that successful memory performance depends importantly on the extent to which there is a match between the encoding and retrieval conditions is commonplace in memory research. However, Nairne (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) proposed that this idea about trace–cue compatibility being the driving force behind memory retention is a myth, because one cannot make unequivocal predictions about performance by appealing to the encoding–retrieval match. What matters instead is the relative diagnostic value of the match, and not the absolute match. Three experiments were carried out in which participants memorised word pairs and tried to recall target words when given retrieval cues. The diagnostic value of the cue was varied by manipulating the extent to which the cues subsumed other memorised words and the level of the encoding–retrieval match. The results supported Nairne’s (Memory, 10, 389–395, 2002) assertion that the diagnostic value of retrieval cues is a better predictor of memory performance than the absolute encoding–retrieval match.     

‘Women are Bad at Math,but I'm Not,am I?’ Fragile Mathematical Self‐concept Predicts Vulnerability to a Stereotype Threat Effect on Mathematical Performance

The present research reports the results of three studies showing that individuals with a fragile self‐concept in the domain of performance are particularly vulnerable to stereotype threat effects. Specifically, women who explicitly described themselves as rather mathematical but whose implicit self‐concepts contradicted these claims were vulnerable to stereotype threat effects on mathematical performance. This effect was robust across three studies, independent of the subtleness or content of the stereotype threat manipulation. Additionally, it was shown that the effect was mediated by anxious worrying (Study 3). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Greater exposure to sexual content in popular movies predicts earlier sexual debut and increased sexual risk taking

Early sexual debut is associated with risky sexual behavior and an increased risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections later in life. The relations among early movie sexual exposure (MSE), sexual debut, and risky sexual behavior in adulthood (i.e., multiple sexual partners and inconsistent condom use) were examined in a longitudinal study of U.S. adolescents. MSE was measured using the Beach method, a comprehensive procedure for media content coding. Controlling for characteristics of adolescents and their families, analyses showed that MSE predicted age of sexual debut, both directly and indirectly through changes in sensation seeking. MSE also predicted engagement in risky sexual behaviors both directly and indirectly via early sexual debut. These results suggest that MSE may promote sexual risk taking both by modifying sexual behavior and by accelerating the normal rise in sensation seeking during adolescence.     

Psychometric properties of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) in seven countries

Objectives

In the sport context, the coach-athlete relationship has been viewed and studied as a universal phenomenon. It is thus important to assess the universality of the psychometric scale that is used to measure the quality of coach-athlete relationships. The present study examined the cultural equivalence or measurement invariance of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (11-item, athlete version CART-Q).

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

A total of 1363 athletes from Belgium (N = 200), Britain (N = 382), China (N = 200), Greece (N = 115), Spain (N = 120), Sweden (N = 169), and United States of America (N = 177) completed the CART-Q.

Results

Multi-group mean and covariance structure (MACS) analyses supported the factorial validity of the CART-Q in a three-first-order factor model across the seven countries. An examination of the latent mean differences of the CART-Q revealed some variation in terms of the intensity that athletes perceive in the quality of the relationship with their coach across the different countries.

Conclusions

Overall, these results supply additional evidence of the psychometric properties of the CART-Q and highlight that it is a sound instrument that can be applied cross-culturally.     

Improving the efficacy of appearance-based sun exposure interventions with the terror management health model

The terror management health model (TMHM) suggests that when thoughts of death are accessible people become increasingly motivated to bolster their self-esteem relative to their health, because doing so offers psychological protection against mortality concerns. Two studies examined sun protection intentions as a function of mortality reminders and an appearance-based intervention. In Study 1, participants given a sun protection message that primed mortality and shown a UV-filtered photo of their face reported greater intentions to use sun protection on their face, and took more sunscreen samples than participants shown a regular photo of their face. In Study 2, reminders of mortality increased participants’ intentions to use facial sun protection when the UV photo was specifically framed as revealing appearance consequences of tanning, compared to when the photo was framed as revealing health consequences or when no photo was shown. These findings extend the TMHM, and provide preliminary evidence that appearance-based tanning interventions have a greater influence on sun protection intentions under conditions that prime thoughts of death. We discuss implications of the findings, and highlight the need for additional research examining the applicability to long-term tanning behaviour.     

Racial disparities in smoking knowledge among current smokers: Data from the health information national trends surveys

Although African-Americans (Blacks) smoke fewer cigarettes per day than European-Americans (Whites), there is ample evidence that Blacks are more susceptible to smoking-related health consequences. A variety of behavioural, social and biological factors have been linked to this increased risk. There has been little research, however, on racial differences in smoking-related knowledge and perceived risk of lung cancer. The primary goal of the current study was to evaluate beliefs and knowledge that contribute to race disparities in lung cancer risk among current smokers. Data from two separate nationally representative surveys (the Health Information National Trends surveys 2003 and 2005) were analysed. Logistic and hierarchical regressions were conducted; gender, age, education level, annual household income and amount of smoking were included as covariates. In both studies, Black smokers were significantly more likely to endorse inaccurate statements than were White smokers, and did not estimate their lung cancer risk to be significantly higher than Whites. Results highlight an important racial disparity in public health knowledge among current smokers.     

The fatigue limits of copper single crystals cyclically deformed at constant plastic strain amplitudes

Based on systematic surface observations, experimental measurements on the fatigue limits of differently oriented copper single crystals cyclically deformed at constant plastic strain amplitudes are summarized, and an orientation dependence of the fatigue limit is sketched. It was found that the fatigue limits of crystals depend mainly upon the low-strain-amplitude dislocation structures, which are characteristic of the particular crystal orientations. When multiple-slip deformation is the main mode of deformation and ultimately produces stable lowenergy dislocation structures such as labyrinth and cell structures, the fatigue limit can be improved notably.     

Unusual stress behaviour of CeO2-doped diamond-like carbon nanofilms

CeO₂-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) films with thicknesses of 180–200 nm were deposited by unbalanced magnetron sputtering. When the CeO₂ concentration is in the range 5–8%, the residual compressive stress of the deposited films is reduced by 90%, e.g. from about 4.1 GPa to 0.5 GPa, whereas their adhesion strength increases. These effects are attributed to the dissolution of CeO₂ within the DLC amorphous matrix and a widening interface between the DLC film and the Si substrate, respectively.