Perceptual-Motor Contributions to Static and Dynamic Balance Control in Children

The authors addressed balance control in children from the perspective of skill development and examined the relationship between specific perceptual and motor skills and static and dynamic balance performance. Fifty 11- to 13-year-old children performed a series of 1-legged balance tasks while standing on a force platform. Postural control was reflected in the maximum displacement of the center of mass in anterior-posterior and mediolateral directions. Simple visual, discrimination, and choice reaction times; sustained attention; visuomotor coordination; kinesthesis; and depth perception were also assessed in a series of perceptual and motor tests. The correlation analysis revealed that balancing under static conditions was strongly associated with the ability to perceive and process visual information, which is important for feedback-based control of balance. On the other hand, when greater task demands were imposed on the system under dynamic balancing conditions, the ability to respond to the destabilizing hip abductions-adductions in order to maintain equilibrium was associated with motor response speed, suggesting the use of a descending, feedforward control strategy. Therefore, like adults, 11- to 13-year-old children have the ability to select varying balance strategies (feedback, feedforward, or both), depending on the constraints of a particular task.     

Understanding the psychological processes of the racial match effect in Asian Americans

Some studies on mental health outcomes research have found that when clients and therapists are ethnically or racially matched, this tends to be related to greater satisfaction and better outcomes. However, the precise underlying mechanism for the match effect has not been extensively examined. In this experimental study, we tested the effect of racial match on critical counseling processes (i.e., therapist credibility and the working alliance) using a sample of 171 Asian American respondents. We also examined Asian ethnic identification as a potential moderator of the racial match effect. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that racially matched individuals perceived greater experiential similarity with the therapist than nonmatched individuals, and experiential similarity was positively associated with therapist credibility. Although racial match did not predict attitudinal similarity, attitudinal similarity was strongly related to the working alliance and therapist credibility. Counseling implications are discussed.     

Perceptual-motor contributions to static and dynamic balance control in children

The authors addressed balance control in children from the perspective of skill development and examined the relationship between specific perceptual and motor skills and static and dynamic balance performance. Fifty 11- to 13-year-old children performed a series of 1-legged balance tasks while standing on a force platform. Postural control was reflected in the maximum displacement of the center of mass in anterior-posterior and mediolateral directions. Simple visual, discrimination, and choice reaction times; sustained attention; visuomotor coordination; kinesthesis; and depth perception were also assessed in a series of perceptual and motor tests. The correlation analysis revealed that balancing under static conditions was strongly associated with the ability to perceive and process visual information, which is important for feedback-based control of balance. On the other hand, when greater task demands were imposed on the system under dynamic balancing conditions, the ability to respond to the destabilizing hip abductions-adductions in order to maintain equilibrium was associated with motor response speed, suggesting the use of a descending, feedforward control strategy. Therefore, like adults, 11- to 13-year-old children have the ability to select varying balance strategies (feedback, feedforward, or both), depending on the constraints of a particular task.     

Is the Third‐Person Effect Real? A Critical Examination of Rationales,Testing Methods,and Previous Findings of the Third‐Person Effect on Censorship Attitudes

Regarding the effect of the third‐person perception on censorship attitudes, the present study first highlighted logical weaknesses of previously proposed rationales and limitations of previously used statistical models to test the effect. This study reanalyzed data from past research on the effect of the third‐person perception. In Study 1, the average effects of the other‐self perceptual gap in the media influence on censorship attitudes were estimated based on reports from 13 previous studies (total N = 6,414). Study 2 reanalyzed Schmierbach, Boyle, Xu, and McLeod's (2011) correlational data (N = 692). The results of these two studies showed that the presumed effect on others is a stronger predictor of censorship attitudes than the other‐self differential in perceived media effect.     

Preservice Teachers' Personality Traits and Engagement in Creative Activities as Predictors of Their Support for Children's Creativity

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among preservice teachers' personality traits, their own engagement in creative activities, and their beliefs about the teaching practices that have been shown to support children's creativity. A total of 302 early childhood and elementary preservice teachers participated in this study. The Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), the Creative Behavior Inventory (CBI), and the Creativity-Fostering Teacher Behavior Index (CFTI) were used to measure the preservice teachers' personality traits (Five-Factor Model), creativity-related experiences, and their creativity-fostering teaching practices. A conceptual model was hypothesized, tested, and supported by the results using multiple regression analyses and Sobel mediator tests. Findings indicate that preservice teachers who had higher scores on the openness to experience personality trait had more engagement in creativity-related experiences; those who had higher scores on the openness trait and who had more creativity-related experiences were more likely to espouse creativity-fostering teaching styles; and preservice teachers' own creativity-related experiences fully/partially mediated the relationship between the openness trait and their beliefs about specific creativity-fostering teaching practices. Implications for teacher education are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research on the relationships between teacher attributes and the use of teaching behaviors, which support children's creative development.     

Excess of mixed-footedness among professional soccer players

This study concerns the distribution of footedness among professional soccer players (n=415) and nonsporting university students (n=430). Chi-squared showed that there were statistically significant differences between the proportion of mixed-footedness in the two groups (p<.0001). It appears that mixed-footedness or the ability to use both feet with an almost equal consistency is an important factor in the potential of individuals to reach high skill in soccer play. The mixed-footedness of these professional soccer players can be understood best in terms of both the nature of the game and genetic predisposition. This result is of direct interest in the context of those activities in which structural and functional biases in the lower extremities are important variables in acquisition and performance of motor skill.     

Abnormal diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Substantial evidence suggests that impairment of the hypothalamus?pituitary system can occur following an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Given that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is primarily controlled by the hypothalamus?pituitary system, this study examined whether changes in diurnal cortisol rhythm occurred after aSAH. Cortisol concentrations were measured in the saliva samples collected from patients after aSAH and other types of cerebral hemorrhage (non-aSAH) in the post-awakening period and at night (21:00?h), and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol decline were determined. The area under the cortisol curve from immediately after to 45?min after awakening (CARauc) in the aSAH patient group was comparable to that in the non-aSAH or healthy control groups. However, an obvious cortisol peak was not found after the awakening period, and the morning/nighttime cortisol ratio in the aSAH patient group was significantly lower than that in other examined groups due to higher nighttime cortisol concentrations. In aSAH patients, the CARauc and nighttime cortisol concentrations were negatively correlated with the Fisher CT grade. These results indicate that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is not regulated normally after aSAH, and cortisol secretory activity decreases as the volume of subarachnoid bleeding increases. Our findings will be helpful to understand altered hypothalamus?pituitary?adrenal axis function after aSAH.