Regression Analysis for Prediction: Understanding the Process

Research related to cardiorespiratory fitness often uses regression analysis in order to predict cardiorespiratory status or future outcomes. Reading these studies can be tedious and difficult unless the reader has a thorough understanding of the processes used in the analysis. This feature seeks to “simplify” the process of regression analysis for prediction in order to help readers understand this type of study more easily. Examples of the use of this statistical technique are provided in order to facilitate better understanding.     

Block Talk: Spatial Language During Block Play

Spatial skills are a central component of intellect and show marked individual differences. There is evidence that variations in the spatial language young children hear, which directs their attention to important aspects of the spatial environment, may be one of the mechanisms that contributes to these differences. To investigate how play affects variations in language, parents and children were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: free play with blocks, guided play, or play with preassembled structures (Study 1). Parents in the guided play condition produced significantly higher proportions of spatial talk than parents in the other two conditions, and children in the guided play condition produced significantly more spatial talk than those in the free play condition. Study 2 established baselines of spatial language during activities not involving spatial materials. Proportions of spatial words were lower than those in any of the conditions of Experiment 1. In sum, interaction with blocks naturally elicits elevated levels of spatial language, especially in the context of guided play, suggesting simple‐to‐execute educational interventions.     

Cross-cultural Perspectives of Successful Aging: Young Turks and Europeans

Successful aging (SA) has been conceptualized in a number of ways. Despite increasing research into how laypersons define SA, few studies capturing lay perspectives of SA in younger cohorts and in non-English speaking countries have been undertaken. The current study examines cross-cultural perspectives of SA in young (aged 18–35), lay adults from a variety of continental European countries and Turkey. Participants were recruited via snowball sampling from social network sites and invited to participate in an online survey. Persons between 18–35 years from Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, or Turkey were included. Respondents (total: 390; Belgian: 32; Estonian: 96; German: 76; Romanian: 47; Swiss: 39; Dutch: 30; Turkish: 70), were primarily women (56.4%) and students (66.2%), with an average age of 24.1 years (SD 3.7). Personal resources, social and active engagement all emerged as dominant themes across countries, but were articulated in subtly different ways in the participant countries. Positive perspectives, desirable attributes and satisfaction themes were intertwined within themes of acceptance and engagement. The current study provides a first step in the inclusion of geographic and cultural diversity into the SA literature. These results suggest that layperson conceptualizations of SA have broad-sweeping similarities, but further research is required to articulate the nuance of cultural influences on SA.