Patterns of Aggression in Parents and their Children

In this research, we examined children's awareness of inconsistencies in messages that are meaningful for children, instructions for games. In the first experiment, kindergarten (n = 25) and second- (n = 25) and fourth-grade (n = 26) children were individually read the instructions for two games, each of which included two inconsistent statements. Chi-square analyses yielded a significant effect for grade for one game (p < .05) and a marginally significant effect for a second game (p < .10). In a second experiment, second- (n = 40), fourth- (n = 40), and sixth-grade (n = 40) children were read the instructions for two games, each of which included two statements that were inconsistent. An analysis of variance demonstrated that with an increase in grade, there was a significant increase (p < .001) in awareness that a message contained an inconsistency. The analysis also indicated that the subjects were more willing (p < .08) to question an adult than they were to question a child about an inconsistency. Moreover, a regression analysis indicated that awareness of inconsistencies in the rules for games was significantly related to memory (p < .001) and to one's ability to note inconsistencies in shorter, simpler messages (p < .001).     

Shoulder Joint Position Sense Improves With External Load

Joint position sense (JPS) is important in the maintenance of optimal movement coordination of limb segments in functional activities. Researchers have shown that the sensitivity of musculotendinous mechanoreceptors increases as muscle activation levels increase. In the present study, when 25 participants tried to replicate the same presented position, both vector and elevation angle repositioning errors decreased linearly as the external load increased up to 40% above unloaded shoulder torque. However, external load had no effect on plane repositioning error. The results indicated that JPS increased under conditions of increasing external load but only in the direction of the applied load. That finding indicates that JPS acuity improves as muscle activation levels increase.     

Index for Volume 23

In this study, changes in movement coordination caused by fatigue that developed during repetitive lifting were examined. Five men performed 6 times a 5-min bout of lifting an 8-kg barbell at 15 lifts/min, using two lifting techniques; one minimized trunk rotation (squat lift), and the other minimized rotation in the knee joint (stoop lift). Kinematics and dynamics were studied by means of movement analysis and inverse dynamics, using a two-dimensional linked segment model. Within-subject variation over repetitive lifts of the time course of joint angles was smaller than between-subjects variation on the first analyzed lift. Relative timing between joint rotations did not change significantly across repetitive lifts, except between knee and hip in the squat lift. No change of the lumbosacral torque over repetitive lifts was found. The adaptability of the neural control appeared to be sufficient to accommodate the strong changes of the input-output characteristics of the muscles caused by fatigue so that an essentially constant performance of the movement act was maintained.     

Effects of Electromyostimulation on Knee Extensors and Flexors Strength and Steadiness in Older Adults

It is known that electromyostimulation (EMS) alone or superimposed over voluntary contraction (EV) can effectively improve muscle strength. However, the effect of this type of training on the ability to control force production at submaximal levels is unknown. The authors examined the effects of EV training on steadiness in force production of knee extensors and flexors in older adults. Forty participants, including 20 men and 20 women, 60–77 years of age, were randomly allocated into a control group (CG) and an electromyostimulation superimposed over voluntary contraction (EVG) group. The EVG performed 30 bilateral isometric knee extension and flexion contractions per session, 3 training sessions per week, for 6 weeks. The variations in force production, expressed in absolute (standard deviation [SD]) and relative (coefficient of variation [CV]) terms, were assessed in isometric contractions at 5%, 15% and 25% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) levels. Results indicated that MVC increased in knee extension and flexion in EVG (p < .05) after the training; steadiness CV also improved at 15% MVC in knee flexion (p < .05) but no significant changes were found in knee extension and steadiness SD. The training-induced changes in MVC were not correlated to steadiness CV that might indicate different mechanisms underlying these adaptations.     

A Contemporary View of Applied Relaxation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Applied relaxation (AR), originally developed by Lars-Göran Öst, is a long-standing, efficacious treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). While newer treatments are continuing to be developed, AR remains one of the most efficacious treatments for GAD. However, AR has received less in-depth attention more recently, particularly in terms of potential mechanisms of action. This article is written to honor the development and history of AR and to highlight the ways that it has continued to be adapted. In this article, AR treatment strategies are presented, which include: noticing early signs of anxiety, learning relaxation skills, and applying relaxation at the first sign of anxiety. Then, additional adaptations to AR are presented along with recommendations of how AR may be enhanced by understanding potential mechanisms of change. Finally, recommendations are made for the continued evolution of AR as a powerful and efficacious treatment for GAD.     

Community Engagement as Liberal Performance,as Critical Intellectualism and as Praxis

This article aims to illustrate that engagement is a dynamic and evolutionary process, moulded by contesting ideological, social actor and contextual forces. For purposes of illustration, I draw on a university-affiliated, participatory enactment of community engagement as a case example. The case illustrates that community engagement may assume a form of action, critical intellectualism and praxis. As action, community engagement is oriented towards performance of liberal democracy. Community engagement, as shaped by the critical intellectualism of the Black Consciousness philosophy, reflects community self-affirmation, autonomy and intellectual independence. Community engagement as praxis may be characterised by reflexivity, vision-making and the building of interpersonal relationships. Community engagement is marked by a dynamic interplay between race, power and counter-hegemonic ideology.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Role of Biopsychosocial Factors in Predicting Body Change Strategies Among Adolescent Boys

In this study we examined the role of biopsychosocial factors on adolescent boys' body modification strategies over an 8-month period. Participants were 434 adolescent boys aged between 11 and 16 years. The majority of respondents were from Anglo-Australian backgrounds (83%); the others were from Asian and European non-English-speaking backgrounds. The results indicated a consistent relationship between perceived encouragement to engage in body change strategies and increases in adolescents' body modification strategies, including muscle gain, weight gain, and weight loss. In addition, poor parent relations, being younger, and higher scores on the pubertal development scale predicted increased use of food supplements. However, the stability of the body modification strategies and the examined variables over the 8-month period were low. Further studies are needed to examine the stability of adolescent self-perceptions over both longer and shorter periods. Moreover, researchers need to include other factors that may be more relevant for adolescent boys (e.g., involvement in sports).     

键盘操作的工效学研究回顾

对K键盘、分离键盘、TONY键盘、槽式键盘及和弦键盘等的工效特征 (输入效率、肌肉疲劳、EMG特征和主观舒适感 )进行了比较和总结 ,系统地回顾和分析了键盘启动力和听觉反馈等因素对操作者打字力、肌肉活动水平和主观舒适感的影响效应。在总结近几十年相关研究的基础上 ,提出今后应进一步开展键盘启动力、打字速度和反馈方式等方面的研究。     

Reverse-engineering ‘esotericism': how to prepare a complex cultural concept for the cognitive science of religion

The article introduces a framework for preparing complex cultural concepts for the cognitive science of religion (CSR) and applies it to the field of Western esotericism. The research process (‘reverse engineering') rests on a building block approach that, after problematic categories have been deconstructed, seeks to reconstruct new scholarly objects in generic terms that can be operationalized in interdisciplinary contexts like CSR. A four-step research process is delineated, illustrated by a short discussion of previous work on ‘Gnosticism,' ‘magic,' and ‘religion,' before applying it to ‘esotericism.' It is suggested that the implicit scholarly objects of esotericism scholarship can be reconstituted in generic terms as concerned with processes of creating and disseminating ‘special knowledge.' Five definitional clusters are identified in the literature; these provide a basis for formulating research programs on the psychological and cognitive level, drawing on metarepresentational processes, event cognition, and psychological dispositions for altering experience.