An object's categorizability impacts whether infants encode surface features into their object representations

Infants encode the surface features of simple, unfamiliar objects (e.g., red triangle) and the categorical identities of familiar, categorizable objects (e.g., car) into their representations of these objects. We asked whether 16–18-month-olds ignore non-diagnostic surface features (e.g., color) in favor of encoding an object's categorical identity (e.g., car) when objects are from familiar categories. In Experiment 1 (n = 18), we hid a categorizable object inside an opaque box. In No Switch trials, infants retrieved the object that was hidden. In Switch trials, infants retrieved a different object: an object from a different category (Between-Category-Switch trials) or a different object from the same category (Within-Category-Switch trials). We measured infants' subsequent searching in the box. Infants' pattern of searching suggested that only infants who completed a Within-Category-Switch trial as their first Switch trial encoded objects' surface features, and an exploratory analysis suggested that infants who completed a Between-Category-Switch trial as their first Switch trial only encoded objects' categories. In Experiment 2 (n = 18), we confirmed that these results were due to objects' categorizability. These results suggest infants may tailor the way they encode categorizable objects depending on which object dimensions are perceived to be task relevant.     

“I'm still raring to go”: Successful aging among lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender older adults

While we know that minority status differentiates the experience of aging, little research has been done to examine the ways in which patterns of successful aging may differ in diverse subgroups of older adults. In this exploratory study, we investigated and described experiences of successful aging in a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults. Directed by a community-based participatory research process, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 22 LGBT adults, age 60 and older. We took an inductive, grounded theory approach to analyze the taped and transcribed interviews. We coded respondent experiences in four domains: physical health, mental health, emotional state and social engagement. Four gradations of successful aging emerged. Very few in our sample met the bar for “traditional success” characterized by the absence of problems in all four domains of health. Most of the sample was coping to a degree with problems and was categorized in one of two gradations on a continuum of successful aging: “surviving and thriving” and “working at it.” A small number was “ailing”: not coping well with problems. Some of the experiences that respondents described were related to LGBT status; others were related to more general processes of aging. The research suggests that a successful aging framework that is modified to include coping can better describe the experiences of LGBT older adults. The modified conceptual model outlined here may be useful in future research on this population, as well as more broadly for diverse populations of adults, and may be adapted for use in practice to assess and improve health and well-being.     

Depressive Symptoms and Mental Health Treatment in an Ethnoracially Diverse College Student Sample

Abstract

Objectives: To study (a) the prevalence of depressive symptoms and (b) the utilization of mental health treatment in an ethnoracially diverse sample consisting primarily of Asian Americans, European Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Participants: Five hundred eighty-nine college students. Method: A questionnaire packet that included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to students in introductory psychology courses. Results: (a) There were no differences among ethnoracial groups in levels of depressive symptoms as measured by the CES-D; (b) 71% of participants with high levels of depressive symptoms had not received any mental health treatment in the previous 12 months; and (c) European Americans were 3.7 times more likely to have received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months than other students. Conclusion: Outreach efforts designed to improve utilization of mental health treatment services by depressed college students, especially by members of ethnoracial minority groups, should be increased.     

Toddlers Assert and Acknowledge Ownership Rights

Two studies compared toddler owners and non‐owners of toys. Children of 24 and 30 months were supplied with toys and told that they were owners. In play with friends, owners were more likely than non‐owners to maintain possession, claim toys verbally (‘mine’), and non‐verbally, by attempting to regain their own toys in their friends' possession. Children communicated their ownership early in each episode and in preference to other information about the toys. Toddlers in both studies identified toys belonging to their friends and acknowledged their friends' ownership with possessive statements (‘yours’), and in Study 2, recognized the relationship between owners and their property by offering toys that their friends owned. In these ways, toddlers' actions were consistent with accepted ownership rights.     

A Note on the Effect of Wavelet Choice on the Estimation of the Evolutionary Wavelet Spectrum

The locally stationary wavelet process model assumes some underlying wavelet family in order to generate the process. Analyses of such processes also assume that the same wavelet family is used to obtain unbiased estimates of the wavelet spectrum. In practice this would not typically be possible since, a priori, the underlying wavelet family is not known. This article considers the effect of wavelet choice within this setting. A particular focus is given to the estimation of the evolutionary wavelet spectrum due to its importance in many reported applications.     

A Procedural Evaluation of an Analytic-Deliberative Process: The Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment

The U.S. Department of Energy's Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA) was an ambitious attempt to direct its cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation toward the most significant risks to the Columbia River resulting from past plutonium production. DOE's approach was uncommonly open, including tribal, regulatory agency, and other Hanford interest group representatives on the board that was to develop the assessment approach. The CRCIA process had attributes of the "analytic-deliberative" process for risk assessment recommended by the National Research Council. Nevertheless, differences between the DOE and other participants over what was meant by the term "comprehensive" in the group's charge, coupled with differing perceptions of the likely effectiveness of remediation efforts in reducing risks, were never resolved. The CRCIA effort became increasingly fragmented and the role its products were to play in influencing future clean-up decisions increasingly ambiguous. A procedural evaluation of the CRCIA process, based on Thomas Webler's procedural normative model of public participation, reveals numerous instances in which theoretical-normative discourse disconnects occurred. These had negative implications for both the basic procedural dimensions of Webler's model-fairness and competence. Tribal and other interest group representatives lacked the technical resources necessary to make or challenge what philosopher Jurgens Habermas terms cognitive validity claims, while DOE and its contractors did not challenge normative claims made by tribal representatives. The results are cautionary for implementation of the analytic-deliberative process. They highlight the importance of bringing rigor to the evaluation of the quality of the deliberation component of risk characterization via the analytic-deliberative process, as well as to the analytic component.     

Mother-infant interactive play: theory and practical application

Mother-infant interactive play during the first 18 months of life is discussed in terms of its genesis, development, character, and function. Interactive play is considered as an “organizer” which reflects four interrelated lines of development. It is further regarded as a prototype for the infant's negotiations with the world at large, a precursor of representational play, and a foundation for developing a sense of mastery and competence as well as ego strength and self-esteem. Specific interactive play patterns (including father-infant play) are described within the context of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. The mother's multifaceted role in interactive play is described in accordance with the developmental stages, as the infant moves from a dependent, receptive mode to an active, initiating position. Interactive play is also considered as a window through which one can observe maladaptive as well as adaptive patterns. The conceptual framework for understanding interactive play suggests a number of practical applications.