The goal of the present study was to determine whether exposure to complex meters in one musical culture facilitates the detection of metrical changes in a foreign musical culture. Adults with exclusive exposure to Western music, and adults with exposure to non-Western as well as Western music were tested on their perception of metrical changes in foreign (Turkish) music with simple and complex meters. Those whose exposure was limited to the simple meters of Western music were only able to detect the metrical changes in Turkish music with simple meter. By contrast, adults with exposure to non-Western music with complex meters detected the metrical changes in Turkish music with complex as well as simple meter. The superiority of the bi-musical listeners on complex meters and the equivalence of bi-musical and mono-musical listeners on simple meters suggest that exposure to complex meters rather than bi-musicality was responsible for the performance differences.

Seventy seven mothers and their 12-14 year old children participated in a study exploring the role of maternal disclosure on children's disclosure and on positive child outcomes. Disclosure was examined in two domains: protection (referring to worries and distressing situations) and control (referring to values and proper behavior), and two child outcomes were assessed for each domain: empathy and prosocial behavior (protection), and compliance and conduct problems (control). Maternal disclosure facilitated children’s protection disclosure only if children liked this disclosure. Maternal control disclosure predicted compliance only for children who liked this form of disclosure, and maternal protection disclosure predicted compliance only for children who disclosed about their own worries and concerns. Motivations behind disclosure were also assessed, revealing that mothers disclose to their child as a means of teaching behaviors and to encouraging disclosure, whereas children disclose to seek advice and comfort.

Materialism, or the orientation towards viewing material goods and money as important for personal happiness, is detrimental in several ways: it is associated with psychological maladjustment and lowered well-being and also conflicts with pursuits of caring for and relating to others. Although research has found that materialism is associated with fewer and lower-quality relationships with others, no research to date has explored the effects of materialism on the parent-child relationship, and the resulting impact on the child’s orientation towards others. These associations were explored in the present research. One hundred and five mothers and 76 fathers were assessed on measures of materialism (self-enhancement values and extrinsic aspirations) and parenting. Three domains of parenting were considered: control parenting (disciplinary strategies), protection parenting (responsiveness to child distress), and guided learning parenting (guidance through parent-child discussion). The 105 adolescents of these parents were assessed on indicators of moral development: prosocial and antisocial behavior, value internalization, prosocial moral reasoning, and empathy. It was hypothesized that parent materialism would predict lower levels of adolescent moral development and that this association would be mediated by parenting behaviors. This hypothesis was partially supported, but only for mothers. One measure of mother materialism - self-enhancement - related to adolescent prosocial behavior, while the other measure of mother materialism - extrinsic aspirations - related to adolescent approval orientation. Two mediators were identified for the mother self-enhancement/adolescent prosocial behavior link: mother operational-interfering style during moral discussions (guided learning parenting) and mother use of non-reasoning and punitive disciplinary strategies (control parenting). Beyond these links to adolescent moral development, both mother and father materialism were linked to negative parenting behaviors, including low responsiveness to adolescent distress, low empathy (in mothers), and high use of scolding and criticisms (in fathers). The results of this research indicate that when parents place high value on demonstrating power over others and achievement according to social standards at the expense of more prosocial values, adolescent moral development suffers, as mediated by the effect of materialism on parenting behaviors.

Seventy seven mothers and their 12-14 year old children participated in a study exploring the role of maternal disclosure on children's disclosure and on positive child outcomes. Disclosure was examined in two domains: protection (referring to worries and distressing situations) and control (referring to values and proper behavior), and two child outcomes were assessed for each domain: empathy and prosocial behavior (protection), and compliance and conduct problems (control). Maternal disclosure facilitated children’s protection disclosure only if children liked this disclosure. Maternal control disclosure predicted compliance only for children who liked this form of disclosure, and maternal protection disclosure predicted compliance only for children who disclosed about their own worries and concerns. Motivations behind disclosure were also assessed, revealing that mothers disclose to their child as a means of teaching behaviors and to encouraging disclosure, whereas children disclose to seek advice and comfort.

In this study the relation between parenting and the development of prosocial reasoning in children ages 9-13 years was examined. Domains of socialization (Grusec & Davidov, 2010) were used as the framework to categorize parent/child interactions and as the foundation to create two new measures, one to organize mothers’ endorsement of specific kinds of parent/child interactions, the other to organize the kinds of reasons children provide for prosocial behavior. Maternal and child Openness (John & Srivastava, 1999) were associated with parent/child interactions that are characterized by perspective taking and therefore likely to contribute to the development of a child’s internalized reasoning. There was a negative relation found between mother/child interactions that are likely to promote the development of internalized-reasoning (Deci & Ryan, 1989) and a child’s externally based prosocial motivation (Ryan & Connell, 1989). This suggests that specific types of interactions will lead to the development of internalized prosocial reasoning.

The present study was designed to investigate developmental effects on cortical oscillations during response inhibition. EEG data were collected from 42 normally developing children (8 - 18 years old) while they performed Go/No-go tasks. We examined EEG power in alpha (8 - 12Hz) and theta (4 - 7Hz) frequency bands during No-go trials. Results showed that alpha and theta power decreased during baseline, and theta power enhancement during response inhibition (200 – 400ms post-stimulus) increased, with age. Also, baseline power was found to be negatively, and theta power enhancement during inhibition positively, correlated with behavioral performance. Importantly, when the effects of brain measures on behavioral performance were considered, age effects on performance became non-significant, suggesting a mediator role for brain activation. These findings indicate that, as children age, the brain cortex becomes less activated before inhibitory tasks but more activated during tasks, suggesting a more efficient allocation of neural resources.

The current study was designed to investigate the effect of concussion on verbal learning and memory performance in youth hockey players. Concussed participants completed the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) prior to the start of the hockey season. Following recovery from concussion, six males (10-12 years), with one sustaining two concussions, completed a follow-up assessment. A difference score was calculated for five RAVLT index scores. Each instance of concussion was matched to two controls on age, gender, and testing protocol in order to control for the confounding influences of repeated testing sessions. Independent-samples t-tests revealed a trend towards a significant decrease in change scores for the concussed participants on the Delayed Recall Trial of the RAVLT. These results suggest that long-term verbal memory may be negatively affected by concussion; however, future studies are needed with larger sample sizes and additional follow-up points in order to better understand the impact.

This cross-cultural study investigates identity and wisdom in people with Asperger syndrome (AS). The diagnostic characteristics of Asperger syndrome are universal, as they are manifest in particular outward behaviours (DSM-4). One of the aims of this study is to explore whether or not identity and wisdom are also universal in people with AS. Interviews were conducted that asked participants about their own lives, as well as about the acquaintances and historical figures to whom they look to for wisdom. Some self-report measures of identity, values, wisdom, and well-being were also administered to the participants. Forty-six male participants (half diagnosed with Asperger syndrome) were recruited from Karachi, Pakistan, and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada. People with AS were matched with non-autistics according to age. The results of this study showed that the Canadian Asperger group was significantly higher in social identity, and lower in personal integrity, as compared to the Pakistani Asperger group. The value of conservation was significantly higher in the Asperger groups than in the control groups. Mean scores on the 3-dimensional wisdom scale differed significantly between the Asperger and control groups, but remained the same between the two Asperger groups. People with AS were equally satisfied with their lives as compared to non-autistics. There was a greater emphasis on the theme of communion for the Pakistani Asperger group than for the Canadian Asperger group. Results also found a greater emphasis on the theme of personal agency in both the Asperger groups, as compared to the control groups. The Pakistani Asperger group mainly considered religious figures to be the wisest in history, whereas the Canadian Asperger group primarily nominated scientists as the wisest figures in history. Both the Asperger groups considered family members to be the wisest among their acquaintances. The concept of wisdom centered on the theme of cognition for both Asperger groups. The study was limited to male participants only, and future research should study both genders.

The present study was designed to investigate developmental effects on cortical oscillations during response inhibition. EEG data were collected from 42 normally developing children (8 - 18 years old) while they performed Go/No-go tasks. We examined EEG power in alpha (8 - 12Hz) and theta (4 - 7Hz) frequency bands during No-go trials. Results showed that alpha and theta power decreased during baseline, and theta power enhancement during response inhibition (200 – 400ms post-stimulus) increased, with age. Also, baseline power was found to be negatively, and theta power enhancement during inhibition positively, correlated with behavioral performance. Importantly, when the effects of brain measures on behavioral performance were considered, age effects on performance became non-significant, suggesting a mediator role for brain activation. These findings indicate that, as children age, the brain cortex becomes less activated before inhibitory tasks but more activated during tasks, suggesting a more efficient allocation of neural resources.

The current study was designed to investigate the effect of concussion on verbal learning and memory performance in youth hockey players. Concussed participants completed the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) prior to the start of the hockey season. Following recovery from concussion, six males (10-12 years), with one sustaining two concussions, completed a follow-up assessment. A difference score was calculated for five RAVLT index scores. Each instance of concussion was matched to two controls on age, gender, and testing protocol in order to control for the confounding influences of repeated testing sessions. Independent-samples t-tests revealed a trend towards a significant decrease in change scores for the concussed participants on the Delayed Recall Trial of the RAVLT. These results suggest that long-term verbal memory may be negatively affected by concussion; however, future studies are needed with larger sample sizes and additional follow-up points in order to better understand the impact.