Perceptions of Women and Men Leaders Following 360‐Degree Feedback Evaluations

In this study, researchers used a customized 360‐degree method to examine the frequency with which 1,546 men and 721 women leaders perceived themselves and were perceived by colleagues as using 10 relational and 10 task‐oriented leadership behaviors, as addressed in the Management‐Leadership Practices Inventory (MLPI). As hypothesized, men and women leaders, as well as their supervisors, employees, and peers, perceived women leaders to employ nine of the 10 relational leadership behaviors significantly more frequently than men leaders. Additionally, the employees' perceptions of their women leaders' use of task‐oriented behaviors were significantly higher when compared to similar assessments from the employees of men leaders. However, the leaders as well as their supervisors and peers perceived men and women leaders' use of task‐oriented behaviors as approximately equal. Broader implications of these findings are discussed.     

Blocking in autoshaped lever-pressing procedures with rats

Rats will approach and contact a lever whose insertion into the chamber signals response-independent food delivery. This “autoshaping” or “sign-tracking” phenomenon has recently attracted considerable attention as a platform for studying individual differences in impulsivity, drug sensitization, and other traits associated with vulnerability to drug addiction. Here, we examined two basic stimulus selection phenomena—blocking and overshadowing—in the autoshaped lever pressing of rats. Blocking and overshadowing were decidedly asymmetrical. Previously reinforced lever-extension conditioned stimuli (CSs) completely blocked conditioning to auditory cues (Exps. 1 and 2), and previously nonreinforced lever-extension CSs overshadowed conditioning to auditory cues. By contrast, conditioning to lever-extension CSs was not blocked by either auditory (Exp. 3) or lever-insertion (Exp. 4) cues, and was not overshadowed by auditory cues. Conditioning to a lever-insertion cue was somewhat overshadowed by the presence of another lever, especially in terms of food cup behavior displayed after lever withdrawal. We discuss several frameworks in which the apparent immunity of autoshaped lever pressing to blocking might be understood. Given evidence that different brain systems are engaged when different kinds of cues are paired with food delivery, it is worth considering the possibility that interactions among them in learning and performance may follow different rules. In particular, it is intriguing to speculate that the roles of simple cue–reinforcer contiguity, as well as of individual and aggregate reinforcer prediction errors, may differ across stimulus classes.     

Weight changes in children in foster care for 1 year

Objective

The aims of this study of predominately racial/ethnic minority children in foster care (N = 360, birth to 19 years old) in Los Angeles, CA were to examine the (1) prevalence of obesity (≥95 percentile) and overweight/obese (≥85 percentile) upon entrance to foster care (T1) and after 1 year in foster care (T2); (2) comparison of high weight categories to national statistics; (3) relationship of changes in weight status to age, reason for entry into foster care, and placement.

Methods

Chi-square test and McNemar test comparing paired proportions were used to determine whether there were significant changes in the proportion of high weight categories between T1 and T2. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate the association between age, placement, and reason for foster care with the change in weight category. Changes in weight were categorized as (1) decreased in weight, (2) remained at overweight or obese, (3) increased in weight, or (4) remained normal.

Results

The proportion of obese and obese/overweight children between ages 2 and 5 were significantly lower at T2 than T1. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of obesity for the total population at T2. Children age 6 or older had a higher prevalence of obesity and overweight/obesity compared to national statistics. Of children at all ages, 64.7% of children of all ages entered foster care with a normal weight and stayed in the normal range during their first year in foster care, 12.2% decreased their weight, 15.4% remained overweight or obese, and 7.7% increased their weight. Age and parental substance use was related to change in weight category from T1 to T2.

Conclusion

Children did not become more overweight or obese in foster care; however 28% of the children were obese or overweight upon entry into foster care. Children who are 6 years or older and obese upon entering foster care should be targeted for weight reduction. The pediatric community and child welfare system need to work together by including weight percentiles in the foster care file and training/monitoring child welfare caregivers in weight reduction interventions.     

Distracted Walking,Bicycling, and Driving: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Mobile Technology and Youth Crash Risk

This article examined the impact of mobile technology on young pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers. A systematic search yielded 41 articles meeting inclusion criteria: peer‐reviewed, published before February 1, 2016, behavioral outcome related to pedestrian, bicycling, or driving in the presence of mobile technology use, youth sample. Eleven studies were meta‐analyzed to evaluate increased risk for crash/near‐crash while distracted. Risk of bias and quality of research were assessed. Across methodologies, developmental stages, and type of distracting task, mobile technology use impairs youth safety on the road. Quality of evidence was low (pedestrian) to moderate (driving). Findings are discussed from the perspective of cognitive and visual distractions. Policy and behavioral efforts should continue to reduce mobile technology use in transportation settings.     

Individual differences: Either relational learning or item-specific learning in a same/different task

Three pigeons were trained in a three-item simultaneous same/different task. Three of six stimulus combinations were not trained (untrained set) and were tested later. Following acquisition, the subjects were tested with novel stimuli, the untrained set, training-stimulus inversions, and object shape and color manipulations. There was no novel-stimulus transfer—that is, no abstract-concept learning. Two pigeons showed partial transfer to untrained pairs and good transfer to stimulus inversions, suggesting that they had learned the relationship between the stimuli. Lack of transfer by the third pigeon suggests item-specific learning. The somewhat surprising finding of relational learning by 2 pigeons with only six training pairs suggests restricted-domain relational learning that was controlled more by color than by shape features. Individual differences of item-specific learning by 1 pigeon and relational learning by 2 others demonstrate that this task can be learned in different ways and that relational learning can occur in the absence of novel-stimulus transfer.     

Genetic and Environmental Links Between Natural Language Use and Cognitive Ability in Toddlers

Although the phenotypic correlation between language and nonverbal cognitive ability is well‐documented, studies examining the etiology of the covariance between these abilities are scant, particularly in very young children. The goal of this study was to address this gap in the literature by examining the genetic and environmental links between language use, assessed through conversational language samples, and nonverbal cognition in a sample of 3‐year‐old twins (N = 281 pairs). Significant genetic and nonshared environmental influences were found for nonverbal cognitive ability and language measures, including mean length of utterance and number of different words, as well as significant genetic covariance between cognitive ability and both language measures.     

The U.S. Military Veteran in News Photographs: Representation and Stereotypes

Commenters have expressed concern over media content related to military veterans, saying journalists fail to provide the public with an accurate understanding of what it means to be a veteran. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the representation of veterans in news media content. The present study analyzed 740 photographs shared by regional news outlets on the popular social media platform Twitter. Coders documented the representation of veteran groups (gender, race, and service period) and stereotypes concerning veterans (homelessness, charity, and trauma) in the images. Results showed that the photographs rarely communicated stereotypes about veterans. Photographs overrepresented female veterans, although male veterans remained the significant majority. Minority veterans were underrepresented. Photographs most often contained images associated with World War II.     

A Statewide Analysis of North Carolina Public Libraries and Their Response to the Opioid Epidemic

ABSTRACT

This study sought to investigate the opioid epidemic impact on North Carolina public libraries. Libraries in half of all 100 counties were chosen through a random, geographically systematic process, and structured interviews were completed with library directors. Twenty directors were interviewed, representing 28 counties. All reported their communities were affected; nine reported direct impacts on library function. Fifteen directors felt libraries should be involved in response; some felt Narcan administration was beyond library purview. Two libraries reported having Narcan available; five reported providing staff training. Given librarians’ willingness to respond, it is time to provide necessary support for those efforts.