Infants Segment Continuous Events Using Transitional Probabilities

Throughout their 1st year, infants adeptly detect statistical structure in their environment. However, little is known about whether statistical learning is a primary mechanism for event segmentation. This study directly tests whether statistical learning alone is sufficient to segment continuous events. Twenty‐eight 7‐ to 9‐month‐old infants viewed a sequence of continuous actions performed by a novel agent in which there were no transitional movements that could have constrained the possible upcoming actions. At test, infants distinguished statistically intact units from less predictable ones. The ability to segment events using statistical structure may help infants discover other cues to event boundaries, such as intentions, and carve up the world of continuous motion in meaningful ways.     

Exploring the Social Integration of Sexual Minority Youth Across High School Contexts

Mental health disparities between sexual minority and other youth have been theorized to result in part from the effects of the stigmatization on social integration. Stochastic actor‐based modeling was applied to complete network data from two high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (M_age = 15 years, N = 2,533). Same‐sex attracted youth were socially marginalized in a smaller predominantly White school but not in a larger, more racially diverse school. For both schools, homophily was a critical network feature, and could represent social support for and social segregation of such youth. These findings emphasize the school context in studying the social lives of sexual minority youth and suggest that youth may be better off socially in larger and more diverse schools.     

Scientific and political orientation of American scientists

The paper presents some findings of a study which surveyed the political attitudes and involvement of American scientists.We found an unambiguous rank ordering based on political orientation among the various subgroups of scientists. The greater the scientists' identification with basic science and the university, the greater the liberalism. However, the claim that scientific elites are more liberal than the rank-and-file and that physicists are the most liberal among natural scientists was not substantiated.The fear that a scientific-technological elite might become a dominant political elite was not reflected in the thinking of a large majority of our 1205 respondents. A majority expressed reservations about the skill and knowledge of the citizenry to understand and resolve the increasingly complex problems of our society, recognize that a separation of science and politics is not attainable or even desireable, but remain somewhat uneasy with the new situation in which their work has become so enmeshed with policy concerns.The traditional norm system of science continues to receive substantial support and takes precedence over either the concern about the social consequences of certain types of “dangerous” knowledge, or the costs that heavy investments in basic science involve. We find that scientists are largely prepared to sacrifice the norm of communality at the altar of nationalism. The clash between an internal ideology of science that values disinterested search for knowledge and an external ideology of society which focuses on utility presents a continuing dilemma.     

Victimization Disparities Between Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Youth From Ages 9 to 15

Mental health disparities between heterosexual and sexual minority youth are partly explained by the higher rates of victimization experienced by sexual minority youth. The onset and progression of these victimization disparities, however, are poorly understood. Using multirater longitudinal data, trajectories of victimization starting at age 9 were compared among youth who did and did not report same-sex attraction at age 15 (N = 310). Self and teacher, but not primary caregivers, reported victimization was significantly higher among sexual minority youth starting at age 9, but did not vary across time. The findings underscore the importance of understanding homophobic experiences of sexual minority youth during late childhood and early adolescence in order to inform prevention programs.     

Opportunities and Efficiencies in Building a New Service Desk Model

In July 2015, the Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), merged its reference and circulation services, creating the Information Services Department and Information Services Desk. Designing the Information Services Desk with a team approach allowed for the re-examination of the HS/HSL’s service model from the ground up. With the creation of a single service point, the HS/HSL was able to create efficiencies, improve the user experience by eliminating handoffs, create a collaborative team environment, and engage information services staff in a variety of new projects.     

Racial Group Membership and Multicultural Training: Examining the Experiences of Counseling and Counseling Psychology Students

This study documents various process elements of multicultural training from the perspective of counseling and counseling psychology students within the United States (US). Using a mixed-methods approach, findings indicate that racial group membership is an important variable that differentially impacts White students and students of Color while undertaking a multicultural counseling course. Results of a principal components analysis revealed four components associated with racial group membership, including negative racial experiences and salience of racial diversity. Findings from a grounded theory analysis identified five overarching themes including intense emotional experiences, representing one’s racial group, and issues of safety impacting course experience. Implications for training and future research are offered.     

Guides to sustainable connections? Exploring human–nature relationships among wilderness travel leaders

This paper explores and critically interprets the role wilderness travel may play in fostering environmental sustainability. The paper draws upon two qualitative studies that sought to understand human–nature relationships as experienced by different groups of wilderness travel leaders in Canada. According to leaders involved in the studies, wilderness experience enhances emotional connections to nature and encourages a desire to foster similar nature connections among others (i.e. the campers/clients of wilderness trips). However, our interpretations show that leaders’ perceptions of wilderness are varied and ambiguous, and that the priority given to ‘experience’ may help to re-inscribe dominant discourses in which nature and culture are dichotomized. The paper discusses these complexities and sheds light on the potential of wilderness experience to contribute to the individual and social transformations that environmental sustainability calls for.     

The Effect of Social Skills Interventions in the Primary School

Social inclusion is currently a priority issue for all in education. Brent Educational Psychology Service implemented two social skills training interventions to promote social inclusion in six primary schools. Educational psychologists in training carried out an independent evaluation of these interventions. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data showed positive effects of intervention on social skills and social inclusion. The effects of pupil gender and intervention type are also reported and discussed. It is concluded that social skills training is a valid approach to promoting social inclusion in diverse and challenging primary schools and that educational psychologists have a vital role to play in its implementation and evaluation.