Tonic immobility in chicks during presentations and withdrawals of an imprinting stimulus

We investigated the effects of presentation and withdrawal of an imprinting stimulus on durations of the tonic immobility reaction in domestic fowl. In Experiment 1, presentation and withdrawal of the imprinting stimulus was compared to similar manipulations with a novel stimulus. Differences in the immobility reaction were due to specific effects of the imprinting stimulus. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated the effect of the presence or withdrawal of only the imprinting stimulus on the duration of the immobility reaction. The presence of the imprinting stimulus shortened the duration of the immobility reaction, while the withdrawal of the same stimulus lengthened the duration of the reaction, relative to a baseline condition. The results are interpreted in terms of central affective states which interact in simple ways.     

Reading skills in early readers: genetic and shared environmental influences

The present study combined parallel data from the Northeast-Northwest Collaborative Adoption Projects (N2CAP) and the Western Reserve Reading Project (WRRP) to examine sibling similarity and quantitative genetic model estimates for measures of reading skills in 272 school-age sibling pairs from three family types (monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, and unrelated adoptive siblings). The study included measures of letter and word identification, phonological awareness, phonological decoding, rapid automatized naming, and general cognitive ability. Estimates of additive genetic effects and shared environmental effects were moderate and significant. Furthermore, shared environmental effects estimated in twins were generally similar in magnitude to adoptive sibling correlations, suggesting highly replicable estimates across different study designs.     

Children's adjustment problems in families characterized by men's severe violence toward women: Does other family violence matter?

ObjectiveThis research examined whether additional forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's intimate partner violence [IPV]) contribute to children's adjustment problems in families characterized by men's severe violence toward women.MethodsParticipants were 258 children and their mothers recruited from domestic violence shelters. Mothers and children completed measures of men's IPV, women's IPV, partner-child aggression, and mother-child aggression. Mothers provided reports of children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems; children provided reports of their appraisals of threat in relation to interparent conflict.ResultsAfter controlling for sociodemographics and men's IPV: (1) each of the additional forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's IPV) was associated with children's externalizing problems; (2) partner-child aggression was associated with internalizing problems; and (3) partner-child aggression was associated with children's threat appraisals. The relation of mother-child aggression to externalizing problems was stronger for boys than for girls; gender differences were not observed for internalizing problems or threat appraisals.ConclusionsMen's severe IPV seldom occurs in the absence of other forms of family violence, and these other forms appear to contribute to children's adjustment problems. Parent-child aggression, and partner-child aggression in particular, are especially important. Systematic efforts to identify shelter children who are victims of parental violence seem warranted.Practice implicationsMen's severe IPV seldom occurs in the absence of other forms of family violence (partner-child aggression, mother-child aggression, and women's IPV), and these different forms of family violence all contribute to children's adjustment problems. Treatment programs for children who come to domestic violence shelters should address these different forms of family violence, especially parent-child aggression.     

Effect of different number of players and training regimes on physiological and technical demands of ball-drills in basketball

This study aimed to analyse the effects of two factors (number of players and training regimes) on players’ physiological and technical demands in basketball ball-drills. Twenty-one young basketball players performed four different ball-drills (two levels for each factor). The number of players involved was 2vs2 and 4vs4, while ball-drill regimes were continuous and intermittent. Physiological demand was assessed using the percentage of maximal heart rate (%HR_max), Edwards’ training load and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Furthermore, the following technical actions were collected: dribbles, steals, rebounds, turnovers, passes (total, correct, wrong and % of correct pass) and shots (total, scored, missed and % of made shot). A 2 × 2 (number of players × regime) two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was applied for physiological parameters and technical actions. The 2vs2 condition showed higher %HR_max (P < 0.001), Edwards’ training load (P < 0.001), RPE (P < 0.001), number of dribbles (P < 0.001), rebounds (P < 0.001), passes [total (P = 0.005) and correct (P = 0.005)] and shots [total (P < 0.001) scored (P < 0.001) and missed (P < 0.001)] than 4vs4. Moreover, the continuous regime revealed higher %HR_max (P < 0.001), Edwards’ training load (P < 0.001), RPE (P = 0.006) and dribbles (P < 0.001) than the intermittent regime. This study showed that both number of players and regime are useful variables able to modify basketball ball-drills workload.     

Middle and high school students’ conceptions of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

Both scientists and policy-makers emphasize the importance of education for influencing pro-environmental behavior and minimizing the effects of climate change on biological and physical systems. Education has the potential to impact students’ system knowledge – their understanding of the variables that affect the climate system – and action knowledge – their understanding of behaviors that can impact the system. Research on climate change education has largely focused on system and action knowledge that address mitigation while overlooking equally necessary adaptive responses. This study used a pre/post-test format to identify aspects of middle and high school students’ climate system knowledge and action knowledge of both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Results indicate that adolescents currently conflate climate change mitigation strategies with unrelated environmental problems far less than in previous surveys. However, students demonstrated limited understanding of adaptive responses to climate change. After engaging in an instructional unit on climate change, students expressed stronger system and action knowledge, but significant misconceptions remained that conflated mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.     

A survey of intrafamilial sexual abuse treatment centers: Implications for intervention

This study was devised to determine the attitudes of treatment professionals regarding desirable therapeutic approaches for intervening in incestuous family systems. A survey of treatment centers currently providing services for the treatment of intrafamilial sexual abuse in the United States was undertaken. A questionnaire was developed to ascertain preferred methods and modalities of treatment of family sexual abuse. Current methods of treatment were identified and inquiries were made regarding what programs presently offer in terms of treatment. An inventory of 30 questions was mailed to 58 treatment professionals and/or treatment programs included in the study. A response rate of 62% was achieved. Treatment centers primarily offered treatment for family sexual abuse on an outpatient basis and staff composition was interdisciplinary in nature (psychology, nursing, marriage and family therapy, social work and psychiatry). An average of 137 cases of family sexual abuse were treated annually per treatment program, with the daughter or the stepdaughter being the family member most often sexually abused. Further findings were the following: (1) treatment programs stressed group treatment for offenders as the most effective therapeutic intervention, yet group treatment of offenders was not offered by treatment programs as frequently as other types of treatment; (2) an interdisciplinary team approach to treatment of incest cases was preferred, suggesting the need for more than one therapist working with each family sexual abuse case: (3) court intervention was seen as necessary to facilitating the treatment process by 79% of the 36 questionnaires returned; (4) family therapy was expressed as a preferred and essential component to the treatment process with incest cases—yet actual implementation of family therapy treatment was clearly not uniform across treatment programs; (5) the most critical finding of this survey is that there was a consensus among clinicians that there is no one sequence of treatment, and that it varies according to the specifics of each family. Regardless of theoretical orientation, the majority of respondents believe that a comprehensive family systems approach is advantageous to the goal of determining whether the family can and wants to rehabilitate itself.     

The role of genetic counseling in the elective termination of pregnancies involving fetuses with disabilities

In this study, 69 women were surveyed who, as a result of a prenatal screening knew they were at risk for carrying a fetus with a disability. Results indicated that most women were referred by their physicians for genetic counseling either because of their age or because of an abnormal blood test. The majority of women indicated they would choose to terminate a pregnancy that tested positive for a disability, but the type of disability of the fetus, either Down syndrome or spina bifida, made no difference in the decision that women believed they would make. The women's intention to terminate a pregnancy appeared to be unrelated to their overall knowledge about disabilities but was negatively related to their knowledge of disability-related services. Although women reported that genetic counseling was helpful, they revealed that they were not given information about future-quality-of-life issues for individuals with disabilities nor provided with the positive as well as the negative aspects of giving birth to a child with disabilities.     

Classroom Management Self-Efficacy and Burnout: A Multivariate Meta-analysis

Like many in the human services professions, teachers are susceptible to the feelings of burnout due to their job demands, as well as interactions with students, colleagues, administrators, and parents. Many studies have identified teacher burnout as one of the crucial components influencing teacher attrition. It has been suggested that self-efficacy is a protective factor against burnout. By way of multivariate meta-analysis, we examined the evidence for classroom management self-efficacy (CMSE) in relation to the three dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and (lowered) personal accomplishment. Results from sixteen studies indicate that there is a significant relationship between classroom management self-efficacy and the three dimensions of burnout, suggesting that teachers with higher levels of CMSE are less likely to experience the feelings of burnout. Practical implications, as well recommendations for future research, are discussed.     

The Teaching Green School Building: a framework for linking architecture and environmental education

The ‘Teaching Green School Building’ is an emergent type of school building that attempts to engage building users with environmental issues in buildings. Architectural interventions in these buildings range from signage to interactive touch screens to gardens and demonstration kitchens that foster educational programmes about sustainable food. The result can be a building that offers informal education, support for formal environmental education, and, overall, a chance for students to embody sustainable living in their daily lives at school. To date, this type of building has been weakly theorized, and the relationship between architectural interventions and environmental education largely unexplored in the literature. This literature review weaves together theories that connect the physical environment with human factors. In particular, research in environmental education, museum studies, conservation psychology and architecture illuminates ways in which buildings can support environmental education and with tactics that go well beyond the convention of informational signage on the wall. The result of the literature review is a framework that points to design patterns that extend from passive to active, individual to collective, and formal to informal. This framework can inform the design, use and evaluation of school buildings designed with pedagogical intent.