A reappraisal of the relation between performances of quantitative identity and quantitative equivalence conservation tasks

Previous studies of children's performance on quantitative identity and equivalence conservation problems in the number domain are suggested to be flawed because of the low numbers of items in the arrays. In Experiment 1, children were tested on three different number versions of identity and equivalence conservation tasks. Their performance varied with the number of items and no child was found to pass a large number version of an equivalence conservation task and fail the corresponding version of an identity conservation task. In Experiment 2 the notion that the contextual effect of asking two similar questions might underlie the difference in performance on the two tasks was tested and rejected. The results are discussed in relation to recent analyses of conservation problems.     

The effects of exposure to political and domestic violence on preschool children and their mothers

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exposure to political violence on preschool children and their mothers. We explored whether these dyads are different from dyads with no known history of exposure to violence and from mother–child dyads with known exposure to domestic violence. Specifically, we explored differences in mothers' psychological status (depression and anxiety), dyadic emotional availability (EA), children's social information processing, and children's social behaviour, in a sample of 216 dyads divided into three groups (exposure to political violence, no exposure to violence, and exposure to domestic violence). We found evidence to support our hypotheses that children exposed to domestic violence exhibit the highest levels of social maladjustment with smaller but still significant differences between children exposed to political violence and children in the comparison group. As expected, the lowest EA scores were found in the exposure to domestic violence group, followed by dyads in the exposure to political violence group. Dyads belonging to the comparison group (no exposure) exhibited the highest levels of EA. These findings contribute to our understanding of the meaning of exposure to political violence, as well as sharpen the difference between exposure to political and domestic violence.     

Australian attitudes towards stuttering: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundNegative reactions experienced by people who stutter often stem from unfounded attitudes and beliefs in the community.PurposeThere is a need to better understand current public attitudes towards stuttering in Australia. The purpose of this study was to: (a) explore the attitudes and knowledge of a large sample of the Australian public using the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attitudes-Stuttering [POSHA-S], (b) identify how the reported attitudes towards, and knowledge of, stuttering compare to existing data, and (c) identify differences between groups for variables identified.MethodsA cross-sectional population study using the POSHA-S was conducted in Melbourne, Australia. Comparisons of the attitudes towards stuttering of this sample were made with data from other worldwide samples on the POSHA-S database. The influence on attitudes to stuttering of variables including age, gender, education level, country of birth, employment status and number of languages spoken was explored.ResultsThe Overall Stuttering Score (OSS) of the Australian sample was higher than the median score on the POSHA-S database. This suggests that the Australian public holds more positive attitudes than those other countries represented in the database. Being younger, more educated, employed, female, monolingual, born in Australia and not familiar with people who stutter were related to more positive attitudes for this sample. Some negative stereotypes towards stuttering were noted; people who stutter were identified as ‘shy and fearful’, and ‘nervous and excitable’.ConclusionsWhile the Australian public has generally positive attitudes towards stuttering, these attitudes still reflect some ‘stuttering stereotypes’.     

Psychological distance as a means of evaluation

The psychological distance of objects (e.g., things, places, other people) affects how we think about them. Research suggests that psychological proximity and distance might be also related to positive and negative evaluations, respectively. In this study, we examined whether we can infer how children aged 13–16 years evaluate objects based on their statements regarding the psychological distance between themselves and these objects. Using a mixed-methods design, we verified the relationship between evaluations of objects and whether they are perceived as psychologically close or distant, in a sample of secondary school students. School subjects were predominantly used as evaluation objects. Students used a worksheet that allowed them to visually demonstrate perceived psychological distance between themselves and objects, and then they were asked to explain their choice. Results suggested a strong association between psychological distance and positive or negative evaluation. Thus, the implications of our findings may be relevant for psychodiagnostics.     

The Politics of Choice: Political Ideology and Intolerance of Ambiguity

The authors examine how political ideology impacts consumer preferences for hedonic and utilitarian choices and the underlying reasons for these differences. Five studies indicate that conservatives are less tolerant of ambiguity than liberals, leading to a preference for utilitarian options, whereas liberals are more tolerant of ambiguity leading to a preference for hedonic options. However, these preferences were reversed when utilitarian options were framed as ambiguous and hedonic options were framed as explicit and clear.     

Traffic safety competencies in Peruvian high school students

This study aims to comprehend traffic safety competencies in high school students from two specific regions of Peru, as well as to analyze the differences between both groups. For this purpose, a qualitative study was carried out which consisted of eight focus groups in high schools, three of them in the metropolitan area of Lima (Lima region) and five in the province of Rodríguez de Mendoza (the Amazonas region). The focus groups were constituted by 73 students enrolled in the last three years of high school, named 3rd, 4th and 5th grade of secondary education, whose ages ranged from 14 to 18 years. The collected data were analyzed employing elements of Grounded Theory and Axiomatic Set Theory. The main findings reveal that most participants have a general understanding of traffic rules and the proper use of the components of traffic safety. Thus, they understand the traffic rules as road signs that regulate the behavior of drivers and pedestrians. In addition, participants know the proper procedure to follow at traffic lights, pedestrian walkways and how to use seat belts. They also identify the driver’s tiredness/drowsiness, and the consumption of alcohol and drugs as potential factors that cause traffic accidents. No causes that are linked to pedestrian behavior were identified, and only participants from the Amazonas region mentioned speeding as a contributing factor. On the other hand, participants report that in practical situations they engage in risky behavior and fail to comply with transit rules. They justify this behavior by citing poor infrastructure, vehicle malfunctions, and the need get around quickly in order to get things done. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed and compared to the content and implementation of the Peruvian Road Safety Educational Program (PENSV, for its acronym in Spanish), providing recommendations that can aid evidence‐based policy making in Peru.     

Attitudes toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis among a group of individuals with physical disabilities

Few studies have been published on the attitudes of people with physical disabilities toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Articles in the lay press and social science literature on this topic, mainly written by disability rights activists and advocates, imply opposition to prenatal diagnosis and the field of clinical genetics by the physically disabled population. In this study, 15 adults with physical disabilities were interviewed regarding their attitudes toward genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis were generally viewed favorably by this sample of the disability community. Only a small percentage of the sample perceived genetics to be eugenic. Implications for genetic counseling and future research are discussed.     

Acceptance of cosmetic surgery: scale development and validation

We conducted a set of four studies with a total of 1288 adult and undergraduate women and men to develop the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale. These studies provide evidence of this scale's reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Initial explorations using this 15-item scale indicate that acceptance of cosmetic surgery is negatively related to satisfaction with physical appearance and positively related to attitudes about make-up use. The acceptance of cosmetic surgery may be more related to fears about becoming unattractive than to hopes of becoming more attractive. Cosmetic surgery attitudes were positively related to age for women but not for men. The study's limitations and implications are discussed.     

Living with Contradictions: The Taken-for-Granted in Israeli Political Discourse

Two apparently contradictory ideas are closely linked in Israeli political discourse: Israel is powerful and independent and Israel is vulnerable and dependent. This study used content analysis and focus groups, as well as existing survey data analyzed by others, to explore how this paradox has been reflected in newspapers and conversations during six different time periods from 1948 to 1996. The goal was not to explain the paradox but to examine its consequences for Israeli perceptions of U.S. policy in the Middle East—and, in the process, to explore Israeli self-images. The nature of U.S. strategic interests was originally treated as problematic and in need of political discussion, but in the past 25 years these interests have become taken for granted. Surprisingly, even after the end of the Cold War, a critical discourse moment in which a reexamination of U.S. interests in the Middle East would seem inevitable, the U.S. role remains taken for granted and largely unexamined. The strong/vulnerable paradox explains this absence of discussion: Examining U.S. interests too closely upsets the delicate balance that keeps the sense of vulnerability in check.     

Does Differential Cohort Socialization Matter? The “Age Invariance” Hypothesis and Political Socialization

In classical and contemporary social theory alike, the key to understanding how cultural change comes about has been thought to lie in the long-term effect of differential cohort socialization. Cultural change is thought to proceed as differently socialized cohorts replace each other in the course of time. Moreover, distinct generations have been claimed to emerge. Thisarticle addresses the impact of cohort replacement and the presence of generations, including discussions of the theoretical framework underlying these concepts and the problem of disentangling age, period, and cohort effects. Analyses of Dutch survey data substantiate that cohort membership matters. Yet the impact of cohort replacement on cultural change turns out to be limited, and little evidence is found in support of the idea that specific generations arediscernible.