FreeForAll: Free Articles to Those in Need

FreeForAll is an international collaboration of libraries whose mission is to provide underserved nations with health science journal articles for free and to foster lending between nations through the creation of a database of international libraries’ (non–North American) holdings.     

The Effects of Instructor Credibility,Grade Incentives,and Framing of a Technology Policy on Students’ Intent to Comply and Motivation to Learn

This experiment assessed whether instructor credibility (low or high) moderated the effects of grade incentives (rewards or punishment) and advantage framing (gain or loss) of technology policies on students’ intent to comply and motivation to learn. Results indicate that credibility increased motivation to learn. Significant moderated moderated mediation was found: a three-way interaction affected both intent to comply, and motivation to learn as mediated by attitude toward the policy. Specifically, credibility positively influenced learning outcomes via attitude when the syllabus used opposing frame-incentive structure (i.e., gain-framed punishment and loss-framed reward).     

Frontal asymmetry assessed in infancy using functional near-infrared spectroscopy is associated with emotional and behavioral problems in early childhood

Frontal asymmetry (FA), the difference in brain activity between the left versus right frontal areas, is thought to reflect approach versus avoidance motivation. This study (2012–2021) used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate if infant (M_age = 7.63 months; N = 90; n = 48 male; n = 75 White) FA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex relates to psychopathology in later childhood (M_age = 62.05 months). Greater right FA to happy faces was associated with increased internalizing (η² = .09) and externalizing (η² = .06) problems at age 5 years. Greater right FA to both happy and fearful faces was associated with an increased likelihood of a lifetime anxiety diagnosis (R² > .13). FA may be an informative and early-emerging marker for psychopathology.     

Pediatric health assessments of young children in child welfare by placement type

Objectives

To describe health-related problems across placement types (unrelated foster, kin foster, in-home with birth parent); to examine the association of placement and demographic/child welfare variables (child gender, age, race/ethnicity; caregiver language; type of maltreatment, and length of time receiving services from child welfare) with health-related problems.

Methods

This study utilized a retrospective medical chart review of children less than 6 years old (n = 449) seen at an outpatient child welfare pediatric clinic. Logistic regression modeling was used to estimate odds of having a weight, medical, or provisional developmental delay problem by placement and demographic/child welfare characteristics.

Results

Almost 13% of children in the sample were obese (≥95% age-gender specific percentile) and more than a quarter were overweight/obese (≥85%) while only 7% were underweight (≤5%). Most children (78%) had a physical health diagnosis and 25% were provisionally identified with a developmental delay. No differences between weight diagnoses, type of medical diagnoses, and provisional developmental delay by placement type were found, although children with 3 or more medical diagnoses were more likely to be with kin (p < .05). Children 2 years old or older were more likely to be overweight/obese than children under 2 years old (p < .05) and Hispanic children were more likely to be overweight/obese than non-Hispanic children (p < .01). Length of stay in child welfare was positively related with a medical diagnosis or provisional developmental delay (p < .01).

Conclusions

Results argue for careful assessment of weight, medical, and developmental problems in children active to child welfare, whether residing in their home of origin, with kin, or with unrelated foster parents. The increasing problem of obesity among young children in child welfare warrants further investigation and intervention.

Practice implications

The comprehensive health examination and enhanced health maintenance schedule for children in foster care should be extended to children who remain at home with child welfare services as child welfare involvement rather than placement is related to health-related problems.     

Further evidence that Norway rats do not socially transmit learned aversions to toxic baits

Three experiments were undertaken to examine the effects of interactions with demonstrator rats made ill by injection of lithium chloride (LiCl) on the later food choices of their observers. We found that (1) observer rats that had been taught an aversion to an unfamiliar diet exhibited a substantial reduction of that aversion after interacting with poisoned demonstrators that had eaten the diet to which the observers had learned an aversion, (2) exposure of an observer rat to poisoned demonstrator rats that had eaten a diet interfered with later acquisition by the observer of an aversion to the diet that the poisoned demonstrators had eaten, and (3) after interacting with poisoned demonstrators that had eaten one of two diets, observers that ate both diets and were then made ill formed an aversion to whichever diet their respective, poisoned demonstrators had not eaten. The present experiments, like previous studies both in our laboratory and elsewhere, failed to provide any evidence that naive observer rats will learn to avoid a food as a result of interacting with demonstrator rats that had eaten the food and exhibit symptoms of toxicosis. To the contrary, observer rats in the present experiments exhibited an enhanced preference for foods eaten by sick demonstrators.     

Educational placements of students with emotional and behavioral disorders served by probation,mental health,public health,and social services

This study examined child and family risk factors and behavioral indices of youths with emotional and behavioral disorders to determine critical factors that predicted the restrictiveness of their educational placements. Placements were defined on a broad continuum which ranged from general education classrooms to residential treatment and incarceration facilities. Results indicated that a discriminant function model which incorporated age, Caucasian identification, juvenile justice involvement, CAFAS score, family history of mental illness, substance use and school attendance indices correctly classified the placement of 53% of the students. Variables of student behavior, severity of behavior, and risk factors such as abuse and out-of-home care were not reliable predictors of placement. These findings are discussed in the context of system of care efforts to reform service system response to youths with special education and mental health needs and their families. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Grading and the Ethos of Effort

Using quantitative and qualitative data from a project to improve middle-school girls' engagement with science, mathematics and technology, this study examined the ways in which grading practices worked to augment the messages about achievement and compliance conveyed in more and less troubled schools. In particular, the study revealed differences in the extent to which different kinds of schools embedded achievement and non-achievement factors in the grades awarded to middle school girls. The study linked these differences to school-level differences in teachers' overall orientation toward grading. Grading in the more troubled schools - those with a more custodial orientation toward control - appeared to reflect teachers' tendency to subscribe to an 'ethos of effort'. Acting on the basis of this 'ethos', teachers in the troubled schools tended to confound achievement and non-achievement factors in the determination of report-card grades. In the less troubled school, by contrast, teachers did not rely as heavily on non-achievement factors when they determined students' grades. Given limitations associated with sampling, however, findings from the study were viewed cautiously. Nevertheless, the research appeared to support the claim that there could be systematic associations between school-level climate characteristics and particular instructional practices. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Decoupling Policy and Practice: How Life Scientists Respond to Ethics Education

Many graduate programmes in science now require courses in ethics. However, little is known about their reception or use. Using websites and interviews, this essay examines ethics requirements in the field of biosciences in three countries (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Italy) between 2000 and 2005. Evidence suggests that current policies may be ineffective, and that scientists who take ethical issues seriously are seen as exceptional.

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Infant Motor Development in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Synthesis and Meta-analysis

Studies of infant motor development in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased in recent years. This article synthesized this literature through meta-analysis to assess (a) whether infant motor ability differs in ASD relative to neurotypical controls; and (b) whether motor ability and communication are related in infants with ASD. Study 1 aggregated data from 1,953 infants with ASD (ages 3.0–42.0 months), and Study 2 included 890 infants with ASD (age 6.0–42.9 months). Study 1 revealed that infant motor ability differed significantly in ASD compared with neurotypical infants—this difference was robust to variation in measurement and design. Furthermore, this group difference amplified as age increased. Study 2 indicated that within ASD, infant motor ability and communication are related.     

4Ps: A purposeful introduction

The 4Ps activity provides a unique approach to first-day class introductions and creates a positive classroom climate that encourages student engagement. The assignment generates initial self-disclosure that facilitates interpersonal and group communication throughout the semester. Additionally, the activity can be used as a unit activity with a follow-up assignment that introduces foundational public speaking concepts.

Courses: Public Speaking, Interpersonal, and other communication courses.

Objectives:

• To promote connectedness within the class from the first meeting forward

• To extend the usual “icebreaker” in a meaningful way by incorporating a public-speaking assignment

• To provide a basis for discussion of key communication concepts such as self-disclosure, relational development, and stereotyping.

  Materials: 4×6 note cards