Infant Contingency Learning in Different Cultural Contexts

Three‐month‐old Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle‐class infants were compared regarding learning and retention in a computerized mobile task. Infants achieving a preset learning criterion during reinforcement were tested for immediate and long‐term retention measured in terms of an increased response rate after reinforcement and after a 24‐h delay compared with baseline. It was hypothesized that infants from both cultural communities would acquire the contingency between own motion and mobile movement, as they similarly experience contingent responses in social interactions. Nso infants were assumed to show a higher learning rate related to their advanced gross motor development, whereas German infants were expected to show a higher baseline because of culture‐typical motor handling promoting a high level of activity (i.e. lying supine). Results showed immediate and long‐term retention in infants from both cultural contexts, as well as a higher baseline for German infants. Although the learning rate was higher for Cameroonian infants, logistic regression revealed that learning was not related to gross motor development but depended on the level of baseline response. Thus, contingency learning was shown in different cultural environments, and the level of baseline activity coined by culture‐specific motor handling turned out to influence learning within the mobile task. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does initial behavior predict our physical fitness and health 18 years later?

ObjectivesThe aim of the present paper was, first, to analyze a four level biopsychosocial model to examine the interaction of various initial health behaviors and, second, their consequences with respect to the course of physical fitness (PF) and health of adults over the course of 18 years.DesignLongitudinal study based on medical examinations and self-ratings.MethodPath analysis along with latent growth curve analysis was based on the German study about the relationship of physical activity, fitness and health (1992–2010). Data were collected from 495 adults (243 women) with an average age of 45.03 years in 1992 (SD = 7.45). Participants were randomly selected from the official registers of local residents' registration offices in the community of Bad Schönborn.ResultsFor the mean PF and health levels in 1992, direct and indirect influences were shown on four levels including socioeconomic status and immigration on the first level, outcome expectations and stress coping strategies on the second level as well as eating patterns and physical activity on the third level; furthermore, the course of PF and the course of health (from 1992 until 2010) were affected by the initial behaviors (physical activity and eating patterns in 1992); finally PF and health were not related.ConclusionsInfluences on four levels provided evidence for the complexity of PF and health (outcome level). Initial behaviors predicted current PF and health status, as well as their course. Thus, preventive measures should ensure that healthy behaviors are adopted early in adulthood.     

Contraintes temporelles et qualité du travail dans l’activité des soignants

This article investigates the relationships between care activity and temporal constrains. The main objective is to understand the constrain effects on care givers activity. It is aimed at understanding the effects of the requirements on care givers activity. A research-action of eighteen month was conducted within a residential establishment for older dependent people and studied the activity of thirty four care givers. Our theoretical frame associates both work clinic and ergonomics. Investigations method combined both observation and interviews. The analysis of the care givers activity shows the effects of the organizational constrains on the activity. The care givers activity focuses on time organization rather than care. Finally, the quality of work is impaired, the work looses its sense and misses its primary objectives.     

Planning and preparatory actions facilitate physical activity maintenance

ObjectiveMany people do not behave in line with their self-imposed goal to be more physically active. To bridge this intention–behavior gap, detailed planning is regarded as being instrumental. Moreover, preparatory actions are supposed to facilitate physical activity in conjunction with planning. Thus, preparatory actions are seen as mediators between intention and behaviors. The present study examines whether intention is translated into physical activity stepwise via planning as well as via preparatory actions.DesignAt three points in time, physical activity, planning, preparatory actions, and the intention to be physically active were assessed in 338 participants.MethodsBy means of structural equation modeling, it was examined whether the pathway from intention to physical activity includes a mediating sequence of planning as well as preparatory actions.ResultsThe sequential mediation model confirmed pathways from intention to planning, from planning to preparatory behaviors, and from preparatory behaviors to follow-up physical activity, while controlling for baseline indicators. Furthermore, there was an indirect effect of intention on preparatory actions via planning, an indirect effect of planning on physical activity via preparatory actions, and an indirect effect of intention on physical activity via planning and preparatory actions thus, confirming the hypothesized sequence.ConclusionsIndividuals who are motivated to be physically active are likely to make a plan, and if they do so, they are more likely to take preparatory actions, resulting in a higher chance to perform the target behavior.     

The effects of aerobic- versus strength-training on body image among young women with pre-existing body image concerns

This experiment compared the effects of aerobic-training (AT) versus strength-training (ST) on body image among young women with pre-existing body image concerns. Theory-based correlates of body image change were also examined. Participants were 46 women (M age = 21.5 years), randomly assigned to an 8-week AT or ST intervention consisting of supervised exercise 3 days/week. Multidimensional measures of body image were administered pre- and post-intervention, along with measures of physical fitness, perceived fitness, and exercise self-efficacy. Women in the AT condition reported greater reductions in social physique anxiety (p = .001) and tended to report greater improvements in appearance evaluation (p = .06) than women in the ST condition. Changes in perceived fatness, perceived aerobic endurance and aerobic self-efficacy were significantly correlated with body image change (ps < .003). Results provide direction for prescribing exercise to improve body image and advancing theory to account for the effects of exercise.     

Seeing ghosts: Negative body evaluation predicts overestimation of negative social feedback

The current study investigated whether negative body evaluation predicts women's overestimation of negative social feedback related to their own body (i.e., covariation bias). Sixty-five female university students completed a computer task where photos of their own body, of a control woman's body, and of a neutral object, were followed by nonverbal social feedback (i.e., facial crowds with equal numbers of negative, positive, and neutral faces). Afterward, women estimated the percentage of negative, positive, and neutral social feedback that followed their own body, the control woman's body, and the neutral object. The findings provided evidence for a covariation bias: negative body evaluation predicted higher estimates of negative social feedback for women's own body, but not for the other stimuli. Additionally, the covariation bias was not explained by differences in how women interpreted the social feedback (the facial stimuli). Clinical implications of the covariation bias to body image are discussed.     

“Here we're all in the same boat” – a qualitative study of group based rehabilitation for sick‐listed citizens with chronic pain

Musculoskeletal pain impacts upon everyday life. A degree of chronicity may pose an increased risk of sickness absence. One of two rehabilitative interventions, “Tailored Physical Activity” or “Chronic Pain Self‐Management Program”, was offered to sick‐listed citizens who experienced pain. The objectives of this paper were to: (1) Assess what factors are experienced as problematic for sick‐listed citizens in everyday life with chronic pain, and (2) Evaluate the significance of two distinct rehabilitative interventions on the future everyday lives of sick‐listed citizens. Seven semi‐structured interviews with sick‐listed citizens were analyzed using a phenomenological‐hermeneutical approach. Results were discussed by applying the theoretical framework of Antonovsky's salutogenetic model and Yaloms principles for group psychology. The potential for development of citizen's coping is evaluated based on Roessler's notion of progression. The analysis revealed four main themes: (1) Living with pain and unemployment; (2) “Putting my foot down” and “asking for help”; (3) Significance of the group, including instructors, and; (4) Aspects significant to progression. Unemployment is a major life event that promotes stress and can be accompanied by problems related to depressed mood, acceptance of the life situation, feelings of not being useful, feelings of losing control and identity conflicts. Group characteristics that gave a significant basis for progression in the self‐management program are both emotional and instrumental, while the physical training program offers a “here‐and‐now”‐experience and motivation to participate. This study indicates that the self‐management program could potentially improve coping while the physical activity program revealed one example of a means of progression.