Feedback specificity, exploration, and learning

Greater feedback specificity is generally considered to be beneficial for performance and learning, but the evidence for this generalization is limited. The authors argue that increasing the specificity of feedback is beneficial for initial performance but discourages exploration and undermines the learning needed for later, more independent performance. The results of their transfer experiment demonstrate that increasing the specificity of feedback positively affected practice performance, but its benefits did not endure over time or modification of the task. In addition, feedback specificity negatively affected levels of exploration during practice and interacted with exploration strategies to affect learning. The results suggest that those who received feedback of varying specificity may have learned through different but equally beneficial mechanisms.     

The long‐term effect of social comparison on academic performance

The present study was part of a large‐scale cohort study among several thousand students in the Netherlands. The purpose of the study was to investigate the long‐term effects of comparison choice, i.e., comparison with a target performing better or worse than oneself, and academic comparative evaluation, i.e., the extent to which one thinks one's performance is better or worse than that of others, on scores on standardized tests for reading comprehension and mathematics. While controlling for earlier performance, the results showed that both comparison choice and academic comparative evaluation positively predicted test scores over a period of 2 years. Moreover, it was found that the positive effect of comparison choice only applied to students with a favorable comparative evaluation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boys' and girls' perceptions of parental discipline in transgression situations

Children's perceptions of parental discipline methods and their perceptions of child gender differences in their parents' choices of discipline methods were assessed. One hundred and seventy 8‐year‐old children (78 boys, 92 girls) in two‐parent families were asked about disciplinary behaviour in five transgression situations. The results pointed to gender differences when the children were talking about themselves. Boys believed that they would receive more physical punishment, milder requests and less induction than girls. Children also indicated that their parents would choose a different response if they (themselves) were of the other sex. Both boys and girls reported that their parents would treat boys more severely than they would girls. The results showed that the responses of those children with a sibling of the other sex did not reveal any gender‐differentiated experience of their parents' discipline strategies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Contextual Themes in Career Decision Making of Female Clients Who Indicate Depression

Difficulties concerning female counseling center clients' career decision making were explored in this qualitative study. The authors reviewed counseling intake and progress notes of 18 female students who sought counseling services at a university counseling center and who presented career concerns and reported feeling depressed. Most women in this study described their career decision‐making difficulties in the context of relationships with their parents or significant others. Both external (i.e., family relationships, family and culture, and relationships with significant others) and internal (i.e., developmental, developmental and mental health issues, and skill deficits) conditions emerged as significantly affecting these women's career decision‐making process.     

THE EFFECTS OF TRAINING IN CRAWLING ON THE MOTOR AND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS

LAGERSPETZ, K., NYGÅHD, M. & STRANDVIK, C. The effects of training in crawling on the motor and mental development of infants. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971 12, 192–197.–Eleven infants under the age of 1 year were trained in creeping for 15 minutes daily for 3 weeks, while 11 children, who served as controls, spent the corresponding times with the experimenters without training. The experimental group learned to creep significantly earlier, and transfer effects on other locomotor development were observed. Even effects on factors other than motor developmental were obtained. A training experiment with a pair of monozygotic twins is also reported.     

Temporal factors in resource dilemmas

The conflict between present and future consumption lies at the heart of resource dilemmas (RDs), yet the role of time has received little attention in this research area. Emphasis was on factors related to the social rather than the temporal conflict inherent in an RD. We propose a model that deals explicitly with the temporal distribution of outcomes. The model combines three basic elements: a simple algebraic model, representing the RD's payoff structure; a growth function, reflecting the autonomous growth of the resource pool; and a discount function, describing how the temporal distance of outcomes affects their perceived value. The model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the role of temporal factors in RD situations. It enables us to identify four relevant temporal RD characteristics (people's discount rates, their time horizon, the inter-trial delay, and the pool's growth rate) and to describe how these would be expected to affect people's tendency to cooperate. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the work are briefly discussed.     

Embodied self-awareness among South African social services therapist-practitioners: An exploratory study

We explored South African social service therapist-practitioners’ experiences of their own lived body in the context of practice. The participants consisted of a convenience sample of 13 therapist-practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the South African Council for Social Service Professions, in private practice (n?=?9) or government departments (n?=?4) in the Western Cape and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. They provided data on their embodied self-awareness by means of naïve sketches and/or drawings, experiential body awareness activities, and in-depth one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Findings from the thematic analysis of the data indicated bodily self-awareness; including experiences of bodily felt sensations while doing therapy, intuitive knowing, a sense of warning/ danger, and a sense of the body-schema-in-relation. Most of the therapist-practitioners reported a tendency to deny, suppress, or control their sensory cues or to rationalise them. Embodied self-awareness appears to be a true phenomenon among South African therapist-practitioners.     

The cortisol awakening response: Associations with trait anxiety and stress reactivity

This study investigated the extent to which trait anxiety and state anxiety in response to stress are associated with the cortisol awakening response (CAR).Fifty-one healthy participants were recruited. State anxiety measures were taken in anticipation of and during a laboratory stressor. Salivary cortisol levels were measured immediately upon awakening (at 0, 15, 30, and 45 min) on two consecutive mornings. Cortisol awakening response was assessed by the area under the curve with respect to zero (AUC_G).The magnitude of the CAR was found to be negatively associated with both trait anxiety and anticipatory anxiety. Moreover, regression analysis showed that the effects of trait anxiety on the AUC_G were mediated by anticipatory anxiety.These results suggest that the CAR is influenced by trait anxiety. Moreover, the effect of trait anxiety on the CAR seems to operate by impacting on psychological stress reactivity (i.e., anticipatory anxiety).     

Personality and personal network type

The association between personality and personal relationships is mostly studied within dyadic relationships. We examined these variables within the context of personal network types. We used Latent Class Analysis to identify groups of students with similar role relationships with three focal figures. We performed Latent Class Logistic Regression to explore the relationships of the latent classes with the Big Five personality factors. Personality was assessed with the Five Factor Personality Inventory. We found three personal network types: a primarily family oriented network, a primarily peer oriented network, and a mixed family/peer oriented network. We found significant associations between personality and personal network type. Extraverted students were more likely to have a primarily peer oriented network relative to a primarily family oriented network. Autonomous students were more likely to have a primarily family oriented network relative to a primarily peer oriented network. Autonomous students were also more likely to have a mixed family/peer oriented network relative to a primarily peer oriented network. Conscientious students were more likely to have a primarily family oriented network relative to a mixed family/peer oriented network.