The impact of finger counting habits on arithmetic in adults and children

Here, we explored the impact of finger counting habits on arithmetic in both adults and children. Two groups of participants were examined, those that begin counting with their left hand (left-starters) and those that begin counting with their right hand (right-starters). For the adults, performance on an addition task in which participants added 2 two-digit numbers was compared. The results revealed that left-starters were slower than right-starters when adding and they had lower forward and backward digit-span scores. The children (aged 5–12) showed similar results on a single-digit timed addition task—right-starters outperformed left-starters. However, the children did not reveal differences in working memory or verbal and non-verbal intelligence as a function of finger counting habit. We argue that the motor act of finger counting influences how number is represented and suggest that left-starters may have a more bilateral representation that accounts for the slower processing.     

Anatomically ordered tapping interferes more with one-digit addition than two-digit addition: a dual-task fMRI study

Fingers are used as canonical representations for numbers across cultures. In previous imaging studies, it was shown that arithmetic processing activates neural resources that are known to participate in finger movements. Additionally, in one dual-task study, it was shown that anatomically ordered finger tapping disrupts addition and subtraction more than multiplication, possibly due to a long-lasting effect of early finger counting experiences on the neural correlates and organization of addition and subtraction processes. How arithmetic task difficulty and tapping complexity affect the concurrent performance is still unclear. If early finger counting experiences have bearing on the neural correlates of arithmetic in adults, then one would expect anatomically and non-anatomically ordered tapping to have different interference effects, given that finger counting is usually anatomically ordered. To unravel these issues, we studied how (1) arithmetic task difficulty and (2) the complexity of the finger tapping sequence (anatomical vs. non-anatomical ordering) affect concurrent performance and use of key neural circuits using a mixed block/event-related dual-task fMRI design with adult participants. The results suggest that complexity of the tapping sequence modulates interference on addition, and that one-digit addition (fact retrieval), compared to two-digit addition (calculation), is more affected from anatomically ordered tapping. The region-of-interest analysis showed higher left angular gyrus BOLD response for one-digit compared to two-digit addition, and in no-tapping conditions than dual tapping conditions. The results support a specific association between addition fact retrieval and anatomically ordered finger movements in adults, possibly due to finger counting strategies that deploy anatomically ordered finger movements early in the development.     

Physical and emotional stresses of technology on employees in the workplace

This article presents how today's technology permeates the planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling functions of human resources management. Certain industries or occupations are more reliant on technology and thus impose more physical and emotional stressors on employees. The effects of physical stressors and the physical manifestations of emotional stressors can expose employers to additional liability. The authors make 8 propositions in this study and provide supporting research with additional information. How employers can be proactive by encouraging task‐focused coping with stress is also discussed.     

Impact of Perceived Social Support and Depression on the Parental Attitudes of Mothers of Children Who are Deaf

Literature shows that mothers of children with disabilities report high levels of depression. Social support facilitates the well-being of mothers and it helps to cope with a range of disability related stressors. This study was designed to assess the impact of having a child who is deaf on maternal depression and to test how social support may facilitate coping with the depression caused by deafness as well as the parenting behaviors of those mothers. 103 mothers of children who are deaf, ranging from the 36 months to 72 months of age participated in the study. Parental attitude research instrument, beck depression inventory and multidimensional scale of perceived social support were used for data collection. Results showed that 24.4 % of the mothers showed depression and perceived social support from family and friends were found to be predicting depression. Further analysis showed that depression was found to be affecting authoritarian and hostile parenting styles. Perceived social support from friends and significant other did not have significant effect on parental attitudes. The findings showed that having a child who is deaf causes high levels of depression in mothers which leads to insufficient and/or inappropriate parenting attitudes. On the other hand, social support is a protective source lowering depression levels of mothers as well as indirectly facilitating the maintenance of positive parenting.     

Archery performance level and repeatability of event-related EMG

The purpose of the current study was to compare the repeatability of electromyographic linear envelopes (LE) of archery groups. Surface electromyography (EMG) signals of musculus flexor digitorum superficialis (MFDS) and extensor digitorum (MED) of 23 participants (seven skilled, six beginner archers and ten non-archers) were recorded during archery shooting. Two-second periods (clicker falls at first second) of 12 shots' EMG data were recorded, full-wave rectified and filtered (60 ms moving-average filter) for each participant's drawing arm. Repeatability was investigated by using a statistical criterion, variance ratio (VR). Archers' performances were evaluated in terms of FITA scores. The results showed that FITA scores were significantly correlated to the VRs of MFDS and MED. EMG LEs were more repeatable among archers than non-archers. Therefore, we inferred that VRs of MFDS and MED might be important variables for (a) assessing shooting techniques, (b) evaluation of archers' progress, and (c) selection of talented archers.     

Gendered virtual environments of STEM fields: a cultural-ecological analysis of predominantly white and historically black institutions

Although many studies have examined gender and racial discrepancies in STEM participation, few have considered variation in the gendered construction of STEM across racial spaces. We applied a cultural psychological perspective to investigate whether variation in conceptions of gender identity across African American and European American settings resonates with variation in gendered constructions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains across predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We further examined implications of engagement with virtual STEM departments across these school categories. In Study 1, independent coders rated website images as less masculine, and evaluated website climates more favorably, for physics and biology departments at HBCUs relative to PWIs. In Studies 2 and 3, we used these website images as stimuli in within- and between-subjects experiments. Participants gave more positive ratings for sense of belonging and perceived climate in response to images from physics departments at HBCUs than at PWIs; women rated physics departments at PWIs as higher in masculinity than those at HBCUs. We replicated these patterns in Study 3, and also found that lower sense of belonging due to exposure to images from PWI physics departments predicted less interest in pursuing STEM fields among women only. We discuss implications of our findings for understanding and addressing gender discrepancies in STEM participation.

     

Association between Religious Attitudes and Aggression Levels in Turkish University Students

Journal of Religion and Health - This study aimed to analyze the relationship between university students’ religious attitudes and aggression levels. Stratified sampling method was used for...     

The Gendered Brain: Implications of Exposure to Neuroscience Research for Gender Essentialist Beliefs

Sex Roles - How fundamentally different do people generally think men and women are? Gender essentialism refers to beliefs that women and men have distinct, innate, and fixed biological essences...