Testing joint attention, imitation, and play as infancy precursors to language and theory of mind

Various theoretical accounts propose that an important developmental relation exists between joint attention, play, and imitation abilities, and later theory of mind ability. However, very little direct empirical evidence supports these claims for putative “precursor” theory of mind status. A small sample (N=13) of infants, for whom measures of play, joint attention, and imitation had been collected at 20 months of age, was followed-up longitudinally at 44 months and a battery of theory of mind measures was conducted. Language and IQ were measured at both timepoints. Imitation ability at 20 months was longitudinally associated with expressive, but not receptive, language ability at 44 months. In contrast, only the joint attention behaviours of gaze switches between an adult and an active toy and looking to an adult during an ambiguous goal detection task at 20 months were longitudinally associated with theory of mind ability at 44 months. It is argued that joint attention, play, and imitation, and language and theory of mind, might form part of a shared social–communicative representational system in infancy that becomes increasingly specialised and differentiated as development progresses.     

大学生学习体验与学习结果的关系：学生投入的中介作用

选取3063名大学二年级本科生（平均年龄19.76 ± 0.73岁）为被试,考察大学生投入在学习体验（课堂学习体验和课外学习体验）和学习结果（学业成就、共通能力和学习满意度）间的中介作用。结果发现：（1）大学生投入在学习体验和学业成就间起部分中介作用;（2）大学生投入在学习体验和共通能力间起完全中介作用;（3）大学生投入在学习体验和满意度间起部分中介作用。     

Openness to Experience Enhances Creativity: The Mediating Role of Intrinsic Motivation and the Creative Process Engagement

Studies indicate that there is a positive relationship between openness to experience and creativity. However, relatively little attention has been given to the mechanism of this relationship. On the basis of previous findings, we hypothesized a conceptual model and tested the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and the creative process engagement in the relationship between openness to experience and creativity. One hundred and ninety‐eight undergraduates in Malaysia participated in the study and completed an online measure of openness to new experience, creativity, intrinsic motivation, and the creative process engagement. Consistent with the hypothesis, people who scored high on openness reported high intrinsic motivation. The high motivation enhanced engagement in creativity‐related activities, which in turn, improved self‐rated creativity. The findings not only shed light on mechanisms that underlie in the openness‐creativity linkage but they also highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation and creative process engagement in the linkage. Together, the study extends the effect of personality trait on creativity and offers a new direction for future studies.     

The Mediating Role of Creative Process Engagement in the Relationship between Shyness and Self‐Rated Creativity

Shyness has been found to have a negative impact on creativity. However, little attention has been given to the underlying process of the relationship between shyness and creativity. On the basis of literature, we hypothesize that shyness has an indirect impact on creativity through creative process engagement. Two studies were conducted on undergraduate students (Study 1) and working adults (Study 2) to test the hypothetical relationship. Analysis on participants self‐report showed that shyness was negatively associated with self‐reported creativity as well as creative process engagement. There was a positive relationship between creative process engagement and creativity. More importantly, mediation analysis supported that shyness was indirectly linked to creativity via creative process engagement. Specifically, shy people are found to be less involved in creativity‐relevant processes such as information searching and idea generation. The low level of creative process engagement, in turn, hinders their creativity. The findings not only lend support to the detrimental effect of shyness on creativity but also shed light on the underlying mechanism of the relationship.     

Teacher's Encouragement on Creativity,Intrinsic Motivation,and Creativity: The Mediating Role of Creative Process Engagement

Drawing on Dewey's pragmatic perspective on talent cultivation and previous research on promoting employee creativity in industry, this study investigates student creativity performance in relation to teacher's encouragement, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Based on survey data collected from 140 vocational high school students who participated in a nation‐wide contest in Taiwan, path analyses were performed using structure equation modeling techniques. The results indicate that both teacher's encouragement and intrinsic motivation have a significant, although indirect, effect on student creativity, and that creative process engagement, as opposed to teacher encouragement or intrinsic motivation, has a direct and significant mediating effect on student creativity. This finding is in partial agreement with prior research which reports student creativity is positively associated with teacher encouragement and intrinsic motivation, highlighting the mediating role of creative process engagement in facilitating student creative performance.     

Positive youth development,thriving and social engagement: An analysis of gender differences in Spanish youth

The framework of Positive Youth Development (PYD) arose from a strength‐based conception of the transition to adulthood. Although previous literature has provided evidence for some PYD correlates, little is known about gender differences in PYD and its outcomes in thriving and social engagement, which could improve interventions” effectiveness. Thus, this study aimed to examine gender differences in PYD dimensions (i.e., competence, confidence, connection, caring, and character), individual thriving (i.e., psychological adjustment, academic adjustment, and healthy lifestyles) and social engagement, and to examine the associations between them. Data from the ‘PYD in a Cross‐National Perspective Project” in Spain were collected by administering a paper‐based self‐report to students from high school and university. Results showed greater scores in connection, caring, and character in women, as well as greater social engagement and academic adjustment. Men presented higher competence and confidence, more frequent physical activity and better psychological adjustment. In addition, more PYD was related to greater social engagement, better psychological and academic adjustment, and healthier lifestyles. Some practical implications for program design may be derived, which underscore the need to promote the five PYD dimensions equally in female and male youths in order to improve their individual thriving and social engagement.     

Minimizing inequality versus maximizing joint gains: On the relation between personality traits and different prosocial motivations

The Social Value Orientation (SVO) Slider Measure allows a differentiation between two prosocial motivations: minimizing inequality versus maximizing joint gains. In two studies (N = 1202), we investigated the relation between this suggested continuum from Inequality Aversion (IA) to Joint Gain Maximization (JGM), the HEXACO personality dimensions, and SVO. To account for differences in fairness perception, we also considered whether inequality favored oneself or the other. As hypothesized, Honesty-Humility was the best basic trait predictor of IA, showing a slightly stronger positive link when inequality was self-advantageous. SVO, in turn, showed a stronger (negative) link when inequality was disadvantageous for the self. Overall, the results show that IA is related to (basic) personality traits in a theoretically meaningful way.     

Rowing together: Interpersonal coordination dynamics with and without mechanical coupling

Although most research on interpersonal coordination focuses on perceptual forms of interaction, many interpersonal actions also involve interactions of mechanical nature. We examined the effect of mechanical coupling in a rowing task from a coupled oscillator perspective: 16 pairs of rowers rowed on ergometers that were physically connected through slides (mechanical coupling condition) or on separate ergometers (no mechanical coupling condition). They rowed in two patterns (in- and antiphase) and at two movement frequencies (20 and 30 strokes per minute). Seven out of sixteen pairs showed one or more coordinative breakdowns, which only occurred in the antiphase condition. The occurrence of these breakdowns was not affected by mechanical coupling, nor by movement frequency. For the other nine pairs, variability of steady state coordination was substantially lower in the mechanical coupling condition. Together, these results show that the increase in coupling strength through mechanical coupling stabilizes coordination, even more so for antiphase coordination.     

Central fatigue mechanisms are responsible for decreases in hand proprioceptive acuity following shoulder muscle fatigue

Muscle fatigue is a complex phenomenon, consisting of central and peripheral mechanisms which contribute to local and systemic changes in motor performance. In particular, it has been demonstrated that afferent processing in the fatigued muscle (e.g., shoulder), as well as in surrounding or distal muscles (e.g., hand) can be altered by fatigue. Currently, it is unclear how proximal muscle fatigue affects proprioceptive acuity of the distal limb. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of shoulder muscle fatigue on participants’ ability to judge the location of their hand using only proprioceptive cues. Participants’ (N = 16) limbs were moved outwards by a robot manipulandum and they were instructed to estimate the position of their hand relative to one of four visual reference targets (two near, two far). This estimation task was completed before and after a repetitive pointing task was performed to fatigue the shoulder muscles. To assess central versus peripheral effects of fatigue on the distal limb, the right shoulder was fatigued and proprioceptive acuity of the left and right hands were tested. Results showed that there was a significant decrease in the accuracy of proprioceptive estimates for both hands after the right shoulder was fatigued, with no change in the precision of proprioceptive estimates. A control experiment (N = 8), in which participants completed the proprioceptive estimation task before and after a period of quiet sitting, ruled out the possibility that the bilateral changes in proprioceptive accuracy were due to a practice effect. Together, these results indicate that shoulder muscle fatigue decreases proprioceptive acuity in both hands, suggesting that central fatigue mechanisms are primarily responsible for changes in afferent feedback processing of the distal upper limb.     

Motivating Political Participation Among Youth: An Analysis of Factors Related to Adolescents’ Political Engagement

Prior research has identified political efficacy and political interest as strong predictors of political participation, but few studies have examined these two attitudes in tandem or compared their relative importance vis‐à‐vis political participation. Drawing on the expectancy‐value model of motivation, we begin to address this research gap while also considering several related issues. Our sample includes a diverse group of high school students in grades 10, 11, and 12 (N = 422) from the midwestern United States. Through quantitative analyses of participants’ survey data, we found that political interest (a central aspect of value) and political efficacy (closely related to expectancy) predicted participants’ expected future political participation, controlling for background characteristics—and that political interest was a particularly strong predictor. In addition, we identified political‐engagement differences on various demographic measures, such as grade level. We also found a significant interaction between political interest and internal political efficacy, suggesting that high levels of both attitudes can have an especially positive effect on adolescents’ political participation. We discuss the implications of these findings for researchers and educators interested in fostering political engagement among youth.