Do goal cue and motor activity impact preschoolers’ working memory?

Preschoolers are well known for their poor working memory (WM) performance. This could result from goal neglect, which would hamper the setting of maintenance strategies. Previous studies have shown that preschoolers’ WM performance can be improved in game-like tasks, because they provide cues to support goal maintenance. However, in these studies, it was unclear what features of the task (either the main toy or the motor activity required by the game) provide efficient cues. The aim of the present study was to disentangle the two features to examine cue effects in 5- to 7-year-old children. No improvement of WM performance was observed when the toy was a potential goal cue, whereas the motor activity had a detrimental effect in all age groups. The latter effect could result from a distraction of attention from attention-based maintenance activities. Hence, preschoolers' poor WM performance would not be fundamentally due to goal neglect.     

Behavior,process, and scale: Comments on Shimp (2020), “Molecular (moment-to-moment) and molar (aggregate) analyses of behavior”

If we study the behavior of organisms, we must understand the ontological status of both “organism” and “behavior.” A living organism maintains itself alive by constantly interacting with the environment, taking in energy and discarding waste. Ontologically, an organism is a process. Its interactions with the environment, which constitute its behavior, are processes also, because the parts of any process are themselves processes. Processes serve functions, and the function of a process must be part of its identity. A process, by definition, extends in time. Time is the fundamental and universal measure of behavior. All processes have the property of scale. Activities of an organism have parts that are themselves activities on a smaller time scale. Scale varies continuously, and behavior may be studied on as large or as small a time scale as seems necessary. When researchers refer to the “structure” of behavior, they refer to smaller-scale activities. Attaching a switch to a lever or key is convenient, but one should never confuse operation of a switch with a unit of behavior. Shimp's (2020) “molecular” measures are small-scale measures. The molecular view based on discrete events has outlived its usefulness and should be replaced by a multiscale molar paradigm.     

‘Habitually deciding’ or ‘habitually doing’? A response to Hagger (2019)

Hagger (2019) offers an insightful synthesis of recent theoretical and empirical developments in understanding of habit and its relevance to physical activity. This commentary extends coverage of one such advance, namely the distinction between two manifestations of habit in physical activity: habitually ‘deciding’ to engage in activity (i.e. habitual instigation), and habitually ‘doing’ the activity (habitual execution). We explore the rationale for this distinction and argue that most contemporary theory and evidence around habitual physical activity – and by extension, Hagger’s review – implicitly focuses on instigation and neglects execution. We offer hypotheses around the potential roles that habitual execution may play in physical activity. Broadening the scope of inquiry within the field to more fully encompass habitual performance would achieve a more comprehensive and informative account that incorporates concepts of skill acquisition and mastery.     

A taxonomic foundation for evidence-based research on employee performance management

This study presents a taxonomic foundation for research on employee performance management practices based on a comprehensive review of the literature (198 articles and book chapters). The taxonomy consists of 50 practices organized within seven topic categories, including an evaluation of the amount of research evidence supporting each practice. This taxonomic foundation facilitates the aggregation, integration, interpretation, and explanation of performance management research based on a role-theoretic perspective derived from the behavioural approach to strategic human resource management. The proposed direct-linkage path model shows how this taxonomic foundation ties performance management practices to behaviours and results. We build on this Practice – Behaviour – Results (PBR) critical path model with moderators and mediators based on cognitive and social factors identified in the extensive previous research. This PBR model provides a foundation for orderly and structured growth for future research that will enhance the connection between research and improved organizational practices in performance management, as well as a guide to best practices in performance management.     

Short report: correlates of functional disability with disease activity in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) prevalence increases with age and old people are special patient population. The recognition of functional disability related to RA could be challenging in elderly patients because aging itself and potential co-morbid disease may also cause functional disability. In this study, we aimed to look at the correlation between disease activity and functional disability in elderly RA patients. Elderly RA patients, ≥65 years old at their routine visits were included in the study. The composite ‘disease activity score’ in 28 joints (DAS-28) was used to determine disease activity groups. Health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) scores were calculated to describe the functional disability and compared across the disease activity groups. Two hundred and fifty-eight RA patients with the mean age of 71 ± 5 (65–90) and a total disease duration of 8.4 ± 8.5 (.5–50) years were recruited. The proportion of patients with high and moderate disease activity was 70%. HAQ scores were significantly correlated with disease activity (p < .05). Functional disability estimated by HAQ was correlated with disease activity in elderly patients with RA     

Stress perçu et santé physique des doctorants dans les universités françaises

Few studies have focused on PhD students in France despite the fact that this population appears to be particularly vulnerable to stress and often faces precariousness. This research investigated associations between socio-demographic factors, health behaviours, perceived stress and physical health in a wide sample of PhD students (n = 1923) in order to have a better understanding of this population's specificities. Our results indicated that stress is a critical issue among PhD candidates. Predictors of perceived stress were: gender, age, satisfaction with supervision, sleep quality and sports practice. Findings from this study confirm the relevance of the transactional model to investigate students’ health issues and suggest that physical activity and stress management should be encouraged through health promotion programs.     

Failing safely: Increasing theology and religious studies students’ resilience and academic confidence via risk‐taking in formative assessment

Students increasingly appear anxious, risk‐averse, and worried about getting things “wrong.” They may appear to lack intellectual curiosity, and be unwilling to engage in independent study. This essay explores how teaching and assessment in theology and religious studies might help students learn to take intellectual risks, and increase their resilience. One approach is to encourage students to experiment and “fail safely,” to increase their confidence that they understand what is expected of them, and to help them begin to understand learning as more broadly formational, not always directed toward a grade. I suggest three strategies: more formative assessment; a stronger narrative about the purpose of formative assessment; and an appeal to values, virtue, and the cultivation of character. Via these approaches, students might be encouraged to understand assessment in less utilitarian terms and increase their resilience for a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, prepared both critically and dispositionally to thrive and contribute positively to society.     

Girls’ Perspectives of Barriers to Outdoor Physical Activity Through Photovoice: A Call for Counselor Advocacy

Physical inactivity and limited time spent in nature are major societal concerns that affect the mental and emotional health of youth in the United States. As such, this study explored girls’ perspectives of barriers to outdoor physical activity using a qualitative participatory action research method called photovoice. Six themes emerged from data representing the girls’ perspectives of barriers to outdoor physical activity through photovoice: Very Busy Schedule, Social Media, Health Concerns, Indoor Activity Instead of Outdoor Activity, Electronic Devices, and Way of Life. Researchers address how counselors can use these findings to advocate on this issue, given that counselors are called to advocate at multiple levels to address barriers that inhibit the growth and development of clients.     

Self-reported stress and psychophysiological reactivity in paramedics

Background: As an important group of health care professionals, paramedics accomplish sophisticated and frequently stressful tasks.

Design: The study investigated self-reported stress burden, self-reported health status, coping strategies, personality traits and psychophysiological reactivity in paramedics.

Methods: 30 paramedics were compared with 30 professionals from other disciplines, in terms of self-reported stress, physical complaints, coping strategies, personality traits and psychophysiological reactivity during aversive visual and acoustic stimuli, and cognitive challenge. Regression analyses were performed for the prediction of stress burden and physical complaints in paramedics according to coping and personality factors.

Results: Paramedics reported lower stress and less somatic complaints, and exhibited reduced electrodermal activity and heart rate responses to experimental stimuli, as well as higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia. They indicated less negative coping strategies, reduced empathy, and higher conscientiousness and sensation seeking. Higher self-reported stress burden and more physical symptoms were associated inter alia with more negative coping strategies, less conscientiousness and lower empathy.

Conclusion: The findings support the notion of reduced self-reported stress burden, and improved general health and stress resistance in paramedics. In addition to health benefits, stress tolerance may contribute to the prevention of performance decline during situations in which health and life are at stake.     

Sexual‐perception processes in acquaintance‐targeted sexual aggression

This study analyzes data from seven published studies to examine whether three performance‐based indices of men's misperception of women's sexual interest (MSI), derived from a self‐report questionnaire, are associated with sexual‐aggression history, rape‐supportive attitudes, sociosexuality, problem drinking, and self‐reported MSI. Almost 2000 undergraduate men judged the justifiability of a man's increasingly unwanted advances toward a woman on the Heterosocial Perception Survey‐Revised. Participants self‐reported any sexual‐aggression history, and some completed questionnaires assessing rape‐supportive attitudes, sociosexuality, problem drinking, and self‐reported MSI. A three‐parameter logistic function was fitted to participants’ justifiability ratings within a non‐linear mixed‐effects framework, which provided precise participant‐specific estimates of three sexual‐perception processes (baseline justifiability, bias, and sensitivity). Sexual‐aggression history and rape‐supportive attitudes predicted: (a) reduced sensitivity to women's affect; (b) more liberal biases, such that the woman's affect had to be more negative before justifiability ratings dropped substantially; and (c) greater baseline justifiability of continued advances after a positive response. Sexual‐aggression history and attitudes correlated more strongly with sensitivity than baseline justifiability; remaining variables showed the opposite pattern. This work underscores the role of sexual‐perception processes in sexual aggression and illustrates the derivation of performance‐based estimates of sexual‐perception processes from questionnaire responses.