Effect of a global alteration of running technique on kinematics and economy

In this study, we examined the consequences of a global alteration in running technique on running kinematics and running economy in triathletes. Sixteen sub-elite triathletes were pre and post tested for running economy and running kinematics at 215 and 250?m?·?min^?1. The members of the treatment group (n = 8) were exposed to 12 weeks of instruction in the “pose method” of running, while the members of the control group (n = 8) maintained their usual running technique. After the treatment period, the experimental group demonstrated a significant decrease in mean stride length (from 137.25?±?7.63?cm to 129.19?±?7.43?cm; P <?0.05), a post-treatment difference in vertical oscillation compared with the control group (6.92?±?1.00 vs. 8.44?±?1.00?cm; P <?0.05) and a mean increase in submaximal absolute oxygen cost (from 3.28?±?0.36?l?·?min^?1 to 3.53?±?0.43?l?·?min^?1; P <?0.01). The control group exhibited no significant changes in either running kinematics or oxygen cost. The global change in running mechanics associated with 12 weeks of instruction in the pose method resulted in a decrease in stride length, a reduced vertical oscillation in comparison with the control group and a decrease of running economy in triathletes.     

Identifying Writing Difficulties in First Grade: An Investigation of Writing and Reading Measures

Early identification of students who are at risk for writing difficulties is an important first step in improving writing performance. First grade students (N = 150) were administered a set of early writing measures and reading measures in January. Sentence Writing Quality and Oral Reading Fluency demonstrated strong classification accuracy when a Teacher Rating was used to identify which students had writing difficulties (AUC > .90), and the combined measures yielded sensitivity and specificity indices exceeding 0.90. The combined reading and writing measures yielded AUCs of a higher magnitude than those associated with individual measures when norm‐referenced writing subtests were used to identify which students had writing difficulties (AUC in .80 range). The findings suggest that it may be possible to accurately identify which students may be at risk for writing difficulties within first grade.     

THE CONTRIBUTION OF SLEEP PROBLEMS TO ACADEMIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING

The current study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations among sleep problems with academic and psychosocial functioning in a prospective cohort study, the Tucson Children's Assessment of Sleep Apnea study (TuCASA). Children were assessed between the ages of 6 and 11 years and again approximately 5 years later. Sleep disordered breathing was assessed via polysomnography and sleep duration, sleep consistency, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), and insomnia symptoms were evaluated via parental and self‐report. Although regression models for sleep problems yielded minimum effect sizes in predicting standardized achievement scores, they jointly related to lower parent‐reported grades and adolescent‐reported school problems. Additionally, hierarchical multiple regression revealed that sleep parameters significantly predicted measures of psychosocial functioning with medium (Behavior Assessment Scales [BASC‐2] Parent Report Form [PRF]‐Behavioral Symptoms Index, Internalizing Behaviors Composite; Self‐Report of Personality [SRP] Emotional Symptoms Index, Internalizing Behaviors, Personal Adjustment Composite) to small‐medium effect sizes (BASC‐2 PRF Externalizing Problems, Adaptive Skills Composites, BASC‐2 SRP Inattention/Hyperactivity Composite) above and beyond sociodemographics and IQ. Similar findings occurred for BASC‐2 subscales. Parent‐reported current EDS and youth‐reported insomnia symptoms were the most consistent contributors. School psychologists should screen for and treat or make referrals for sleep problems, taking into account chronicity and multiple informants' perspectives, to maximize academic intervention benefits.     

EFFECTS OF TEACHER–CHILD INTERACTION TRAINING (TCIT) ON TEACHER RATINGS OF BEHAVIOR CHANGE

Problem behaviors in preschool‐aged children negatively affect teacher‐child relationships and children's skill development. In this clinical replication of an initial study, we implemented Teacher–Child Interaction Training (TCIT), a teacher‐delivered, universal intervention designed for early childhood settings. The initial study evaluated the TCIT program in a sample of 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children, whereas the current study focused on 2‐ to 3‐year‐old children. Teacher ratings of children's behavior indicated a significant main effect for time on children's protective factor scores, but not on behavioral concerns. However, for children whose ratings fell in the below‐average range at baseline, significant large effect sizes were obtained for changes over time for both protective factors and behavioral concerns. Higher levels of teacher skill change were significantly associated with overall higher protective factor scores, as well as lower behavioral concern scores for children when baseline levels of behavioral concerns were high. Results provide further support for the effectiveness of TCIT as a universal intervention designed to improve children's behaviors through targeted improvements in teachers’ relationship‐building skills and classroom management strategies.     

Infants' Selective Attention to Reliable Visual Cues in the Presence of Salient Distractors

With many features competing for attention in their visual environment, infants must learn to deploy attention toward informative cues while ignoring distractions. Three eye tracking experiments were conducted to investigate whether 6‐ and 8‐month‐olds (total N = 102) would shift attention away from a distractor stimulus to learn a cue–reward relation. While 8‐month‐olds showed evidence of increasingly selective attention toward the predictive cues, even when the distractors were highly salient, 6‐month‐olds shifted attention toward the predictive cues only when the distractors were equally (not more) engaging. These experiments suggest that attention in infancy is highly dependent on the relative weightings of predictiveness and visual salience, which may differ across development and context.     

Gender differences in inference generation by fourth‐grade students

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are gender differences among elementary school‐aged students in regard to the inferences they generate during reading. Fourth‐grade students (130 females; 126 males) completed think‐aloud tasks while reading one practice and one experimental narrative text. Females generated a larger number and a greater proportion of reinstatement inferences than did males (Cohen's d = .34, p = .01; Cohen's d = .26, p = .04, respectively). In contrast, there was no evidence for gender differences in other types of think‐aloud responses. These findings suggest that males and females differ in their use of cognitive processes that underlie reading comprehension, particularly with respect to the likelihood of retrieval of information from episodic memory.     

CLASS–Infant: An Observational Measure for Assessing Teacher–Infant Interactions in Center-Based Child Care

Research Findings: The growing body of literature demonstrating the importance of quality interactions with caregivers to infant development coupled with the increasing number of infants spending time in classroom settings highlights the need for a measure of interpersonal relationships between infants and caregivers. This article introduces a new measure of quality in infant classrooms based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) framework. This measure focuses on teacher–infant interactions with the goal of understanding how these proximal process features can be assessed in this environment. Results from a small pilot study of 30 infant classrooms indicated that the CLASS–Infant demonstrated adequate variability as well as expected convergent and divergent validity with the most commonly used infant child care quality measure. The dimensions of the measure composed a single construct of classroom quality based on teacher–infant interactions. Practice or Policy: Implications of using this measure as an assessment of center-based infant classroom quality and improving professional development are discussed.     

The Post-Nuclear Family and the Depoliticization of Unplanned Pregnancy in Knocked Up,Juno, and Waitress

This essay explores three films from 2007, Knocked Up, Juno, and Waitress, which foreground young women's unplanned pregnancies. These movies depoliticize women's reproduction and motherhood through narratives that rearticulate the meaning of choice. Bypassing the subject of abortion, the women's decisions revolve around their choice of heterosexual partners and investment in romantic relationships. Although they question the viability of the nuclear family for single pregnant women, these films represent new iterations of post-feminism that ultimately restore conservative ideas that valorize pregnancy and motherhood as women's imperatives. We conclude by addressing how these movies present a distorted and short-sighted depiction of the politics of reproductive agency and the challenges that single mothers face.