Acquiring information from simple weather maps: Influences of domain-specific knowledge and general visual–spatial abilities

The influences of domain-specific meteorological knowledge and general visual–spatial abilities on the comprehension of simple weather maps were examined in a regression-based study involving a sample of participants with relatively low meteorological knowledge and in an experiment involving a contrast between samples of higher- and lower-knowledge participants. Results from the first study indicated that the roles of domain-specific knowledge and visual–spatial abilities for lower-knowledge individuals were strongly influenced by the presence of supporting geographic information (i.e., city locations) in the weather maps being interpreted. Results from the second study underscored the importance of domain-specific meteorological knowledge and map familiarity and, surprisingly, pointed to a single visual–spatial ability (speed of closure) that mediated both of these influences.     

Caught Between Parents: Adolescents'' Experience in Divorced Homes

This study examined adolescents' feelings of being caught between parents to see whether this construct helps to explain (1) variability in their postdivorce adjustment and (2) associations between family/child characteristics and adolescent adjustment. Adolescents 10 to 18 years old (N = 522) were interviewed by telephone 4 1/2 years after their parents' separation. Feeling caught between parents was related to high parental conflict and hostility and low parental cooperation. Being close to both parents was associated with low feelings of being caught. The relation between time spent with each parent and feeling caught depended on the coparenting relationship. Adolescents in dual residence were especially likely to feel caught when parents were in high conflict, and especially unlikely to feel caught when parents cooperated. Feeling caught was related to poor adjustment outcomes. Parental conflict was only related to adjustment outcomes indirectly, through adolescents' feelings of being caught.     

Non-organic failure to thrive: Implications of placement through analysis of videotaped interactions

This paper presents 6-month follow-up on a group of 16 infants hospitalized during the first months of life for non-organic failure to thrive (N-O FTT) and their mothers. Eight of these infants were placed in foster care and eight were returned home with their parents following hospitalization. The effects of placement on infant outcomes were examined through comparison of developmental scores and weight percentile changes, and the implications of foster care placements for mother-infant interactions were examined through analysis of patterns of interaction in videotaped sessions of feeding and play six months after hospital discharge. This analysis snowed that (1) mothers in both groups failed to make significant progress in resolving their own emotional or psychological conficts through treatment available; (2) weight and developmental status of the infants did not improve as expected in either group, and finally that (3) the patterns of interaction between mother and infant showed little change over time, and, regardless of placement at home or in foster care, remained concerning.     

The “Educated” Consumer: The Formation of Memory,Attention, and Imagination in Consumer Culture

This article offers a critique of consumer culture that draws on Augustine’s vision of human consciousness, exploring consumerism’s formative effects on the memory, attention, and imagination of consumers. Drawing on William Cavanaugh’s analysis of consumers’ disposition of detachment, it explains how consumer culture distorts memory, attention, and imagination in consumers. It addresses the effects of consumerism on declarative, episodic, and procedural memory, on open awareness and concentration, and on intellectual, fantasy, empathy, and strategic imagination. The author suggests that religious educators should consider their work a form of reattachment therapy.     

Listening to People Listening to Music: Lessons for Museums

The language people use to talk about something can constrain as well as facilitate understanding. This essay explores the lessons learned through a study of how people talked about music to examine what it can mean for museums and museum experiences. The study itself had people talk about their interest, background, and ways of engaging with music, then listen to random cuts of preselected music to talk about what they were hearing. Several themes emerged from the study, suggesting there are clusters to ways in which people frame their experiences of music, which extend to how people might understand the museum experience and what museums might do to make that experience more relevant.     

Examining the moderating effect of inconsistent reviews and its gender differences on consumers’ online shopping decision

The prevalence of social media has provided consumers with many opportunities to post online reviews on a wide range of products on the Internet. In this study, we attempt to investigate the moderating effect of inconsistent reviews (i.e., a mix of positive and negative reviews) on consumers’ purchase decision. We further examine whether the effect will differ from female to male consumers.     

Ecologically minded teaching

This study builds upon ongoing research of ecological mindedness by exploring how teachers appraise and incorporate ecological care, interconnectedness, and ecological integrity into lesson planning, as well as how teachers reconcile these qualities with their current professional responsibilities. These topics are explored through educational connoisseurship and criticism, using think alouds to learn from teachers as they plan lessons with the qualities of ecological mindedness as a framework. Findings indicate that teachers view ecological mindedness as relevant for schools in terms of content, engagement, and students’ lives; as compatible with standards and other external mandates; and as a form of character education.     

Learning about sex and relationships among migrant and refugee young people in Sydney,Australia: ‘I never got the talk about the birds and the bees’

In a multicultural nation such as Australia, it is important for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds to have access to quality relationships and sexuality education, as they are known to be less well engaged with mainstream services. A study was undertaken to explore the complexities and opportunities for engaging this group with sexual and reproductive health information and care in Sydney, Australia. Interviews were undertaken with 27 migrant and refugee young people (aged 16–24 years), and 34 expert informants. Relationships and sexuality education was a dominant theme throughout both data sets. Nearly all young people reported that they were unable to discuss sexuality or sexual health with their parents, and most identified secondary school as the place where they first learned about these issues. Other sources of information were identified as the Internet, friends, health professionals and pornography. Participants appeared to have limited awareness of the different services available to them. Schools, as well as other education settings such as universities, private colleges and intensive English centres, are well placed to deliver relationships and sexuality education, and for migrant and refugee young people these may be valuable settings in which to access information rarely discussed in family or community environments.