What college students do not know: where are the gaps in sexual health knowledge?

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to understand the gaps in college students' knowledge regarding sexual health information. Participants: A sample of 242 participants enrolled in an introductory college course participated in this study in the Fall 2009 semester. Methods: Students participated in 1 of 2 brief interventions and wrote a response paper about their experience. The papers were analyzed using conventional content analysis for information that was new to participants by looking for key words that suggested learning took place. Results: The findings indicated that the majority of participants learned new information. Most learning occurred regarding sexually transmitted infections (ie, types, symptoms, prevalence, treatment, testing) and correct condom use. There were also demographic differences regarding reported new information. Conclusions: Findings can be used to develop future sex education programs for college students by providing college educators with an understanding of where students lack knowledge of sexual health.     

A study of the kinematics of ingress and egress of upright and recumbent seats

Research has been done on the maximum reach and ingress/egress of upright seats. However, research on recumbent seats and comparisons between recumbent and upright seats is limited. By using an eight-camera Vicon motion capture system and C-motion Visual 3D modeling software, this research compared the ingress/egress joint kinematics and maximal planar reach of an upright seat with a recumbent seat. Mean range of motion and mean peak angle for each ingress/egress task were determined and the values for the upright seat were compared to the values for the recumbent seat. For each reach task, three extreme points were extracted and compared between the upright and recumbent seat. Seat orientation was found to have a statistically significant effect on the range of motion of several joints during the ingress/egress tasks, as well as one of the extreme points during the reaching tasks.     

The Development of Gaze Following in a Third‐Party Context

Infants follow the gaze of an individual with whom they are directly interacting by the end of the first year. By 18 months infants are capable of learning novel words in observational (or third‐party) contexts (Floor & Akhtar, 2006). To examine third‐party gaze following in 12‐ and 18‐month‐olds, the parent and experimenter engaged in a conversation while the infant was present. For 8 trials approximately every 30 sec the experimenter would turn her head to the right or left to fixate on a toy placed on either side of the room with the parent following suit. In the first experiment, the parent was seated next to the infant and the experimenter opposite, whereas in the second experiment the positions of the adults were switched. In Experiment 1, 18‐month‐olds but not 12‐month‐olds followed gaze. In Experiment 2, 12‐month‐olds acquired a tendency to follow gaze during the experimental session. These results suggest that an incipient ability to follow third‐party gaze is present by 12 months and that infants acquire a more reliable and general ability to follow the gaze of noninteractive others between 12 and 18 months.     

Parenting services for families affected by substance abuse

This article describes the development, implementation, and replication of a group-based parenting program for families affected by substance abuse. The Nurturing Program for Families in Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery improves parenting, as measured on objective scales; enhances parents' satisfaction and competence, as measured by participant reports; and is based on principles demonstrated to be effective in reducing risk of both child abuse and neglect and substance abuse for both parents and children.     

Intolerance of "Others" among Palestinian and Jewish Students in Israel

This study analyzes intolerance against diverse sociopolitical groups and compares the social and political attitudes of two distinct and highly differentiated groups: Jewish and Palestinian high-school students in Israel. It examines their perceptions of the political context that structurates their "reality," and aims to find the factors that influence the extremity of their intolerance. The proposed model is more applicable to Jewish students than it is to Palestinians and shows that intolerance toward out-groups is influenced by religiosity, the salience of national and civic identity, national security issues, and political ideology.