There is an age-shift in neurotypical children: younger children tend to remember information in a verbatim manner so they store item-specific surface characteristics; between nine and ten children engage in gist recall where they store meanings of presented information. The aim of the present study was to explore false memory in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as some research suggests that they develop gist recall at a later age than neurotypical children. We are also interested in the role of working memory. One approach to understanding false memory creation is activation-monitoring (AM) theory. Working memory can play a role during both the activation (encoding) phase, as well as during the monitoring retrieval phase. When working memory is overloaded or suboptimal, source monitoring is compromised at the encoding phase. In this study, we tested high-functioning children with ASD on working memory capacity. In addition, simple sentences were presented to be recalled, each one followed by a short word list that contained a thematically related distractor item. If a child used gist memory to recall the sentence, they would likely substitute the target (e.g., rabbit) word with the distractor (e.g., bunny). However, if they depended on verbatim recall, the distractor would not affect sentence recall performance. Children with lower working memory scores were more likely to incorrect answers to gist questions than those with high working memory. These findings have important implications for everyday social functioning. Though debatable, working memory impairments may encourage false memories in children with ASD.

Abstract It is estimated that approximately 16-20% of youth will develop a diagnosable behavior disorder. Behavioral parent training is a valuable approach to address disruptive behaviors by teaching parents how to effectively manage their child’s challenging behavior with non-physical disciplinary techniques. While these programs are generally effective, attrition rates have been found to be as high as 60% in some cases. This review provides information about the characteristics commonly associated with these programs, the attrition rates of each program, and the general effectiveness of the programs. Meta-analytic procedures were implemented to identify contributing factors leading to withdrawal from intervention. Keywords: parent training, behavioral parent training, parent management training, parent child interaction therapy

The aim of this study was to explore the effect a coloring condition had on minimizing anxiety and stress experienced daily by veterans. The effect that coloring had on working memory was also explored. A sample of 24 armed forces veterans were split into two coloring conditions, a mandala and a free draw condition, and asked to complete the Primary Care PTSD Screen, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Brief State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Working memory scores were established via a Backward Digit Recall task; pre-and posttest scores were evaluated for significant differences. Our research suggests the act of coloring, not the coloring condition, resulted in significant decreases in stress and anxiety and an increase in working memory. We also found that participants who suffer from PTSD displayed significant decreases in stress and anxiety and significant increases in working memory when compared to individuals without PTSD.

The current research aims to integrate previous research on the host of negative consequences associated with women’s experience of stereotype threat in a science context. Using an expectancy-value framework, the current research explores potential indirect effects of a communal goal affordance intervention on science motivation, via stereotype threat, state anxiety, communal goal affordances, and belonging in science. Building upon the previous literature, the current research attempts to link stereotype threat to science motivation via communal goal affordances and state anxiety’s effect on belonging in science. Additionally, the current research attempts to illustrate the efficacy of a communal goal affordance intervention by increasing perceptions of communal goal affordances and reducing anxiety in a science context. The current study found no evidence of a successful implementation of the communal goal affordance intervention, as evident by non-significant results on parametric and non-parametric tests of central tendencies between interaction type. Additionally, no indirect effects on science motivation were discovered within either tested pathway. However, a significant positive relationship between stereotype threat and state anxiety, communal goal affordances and belonging in science, and belonging in science and science motivation were found. Limitations to the current study and the communal goal affordance intervention, as well as the implications for these findings and future directions for research are discussed.

Abstract This study examined microgenetic changes in mother-child behaviors while they collaborated on a cognitive task that involved planning shopping routes around a table model of a grocery store across 4 trials. Sixty- eight mother-child dyads were randomly assigned to two conditions in which the goals of the task differed. In the experimental condition (n = 32) mothers were encouraged to help their child prepare for a solitary posttest and the dyad was informed they would be timed. In the control condition (n = 36), dyads were simply asked to work together. Research suggests that maternal instruction is most effective when matched to the child’s learning needs. While working with children on a collaborative planning task, it was expected that mothers would change their level or style of instruction as they became more aware of the child’s skill at the task. Specifically, mothers were expected to decrease their level of support behaviors and control across trials. For children, it was expected that they would become more engaged and more responsible for task completion across trials. Results suggested that as mothers and children became familiar with the task, mothers decreased their use of instructional behaviors. Also, that mothers in the experimental condition used more controlling behaviors across trials. Patterns of association emerged between mother’s control behaviors and child uncooperative behaviors, as did mother’s support behaviors and child engagement behaviors. These results suggest that mother-child behaviors may exhibit change due to factors other than the goals of the task itself, such as intersubjectivity (a shared understanding of the task at hand) and shared responsibility, which in turn may be influenced by shared social history (the extensive prior experience that the partners have had with one another in a social- historical context). Keywords: children, dyad, intersubjectivity, mothers, planning, sharing responsibility

Research on the influence of culture on creativity is in its infancy. Organizations world-wide may benefit from such research by implementing work environments that maximize creativity. In this article, the cross-cultural differences in creativity and the cultural values of cognitive uncertainty and desire for change were investigated. Three hundred eighty three undergraduate students from the University of North Florida and the University of Pretoria in South Africa participated in a study where creativity was measured using the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA; Goff & Torrance, 2002) and the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ), particularly the portion of the CAQ identifying domain specific achievements (CAQ; Carson, Peterson, & Higgins, 2005). In addition to measuring creativity levels in both cultures, two cultural values, Cognitive Uncertainty and Desire for Change, were measured. Results indicate a significant positive correlation between Desire for Change and the CAQ in the United States and a significant negative correlation between Cognitive Uncertainty and the CAQ in South Africa. Independent samples t-tests were also conducted, resulting in higher scores from the United States sample on the ATTA and higher scores from the South African sample on Cognitive Uncertainty. It is argued that the results could have implications for developing work environments that foster creativity.

Specific language impairment (SLI), defined as a disproportionate difficulty in learning language despite having normal hearing, intelligence, and no known neurological or emotional impairment, has been shown to share similar cognitive characteristics with individuals with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). However, little research has investigated the dissimilarities in these two different developmental disorders. Children with SLI also show many similar symptoms with individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. The aim of these studies is to get a better understanding of cognitive differences between SLI and ADHD, and the cognitive similarities between SLI and dyslexia. Tests of both verbal and non-verbal measures of working memory, IQ, and academic performance were administered to all groups. It was hypothesized that children with SLI would perform worse on verbal measures due to their language deficits but perform better on non-verbal measures than children with ADHD. It was also predicted that children with SLI will perform similarly, but worse than children with dyslexia. Results from the SLI/ADHD experiment confirm this pattern: children with SLI performed poorer than children with ADHD on all verbal cognitive measures. When looking at the non-verbal measures of abilities, the SLI group outperformed the ADHD group on working memory and IQ scores but not academic performance scores. Results from the SLI/Dyslexia experiment also confirmed what was predicted. Children with dyslexia outperformed their SLI counterparts on all cognitive measures. A possible explanation for these finding is that there are fewer classroom-based programs designed specifically to support children with SLI.

We examined whether individual self-monitoring differences predict what type of relationships people have on Facebook. In the offline world, high self-monitors have large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties, whereas low self-monitors have small homogenous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. In our study, we defined online relationships in terms of bridging and bonding social capital. Bridging social capital refers to large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for social benefits. Bonding social capital refers to small homogeneous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for emotional benefits. We predicted high self-monitors will have more bridging than bonding social capital on Facebook; low self-monitors will have more bonding than bridging social capital on Facebook. We believed attitudes about using Facebook would moderate these relationships. We used Snyder‟s Self-Monitoring Scale, Williams‟ Online Social Capital Scales, and Facebook Intensity Scale to assess our variables of interest. We found support for our hypotheses. For high self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bridging social capital on Facebook; for low self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bonding social capital on Facebook. Keywords: self-monitoring, social capital, social media, Facebook

The mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying is a conceptual model that has been developed to explain the perseverative aspect of worry inherent in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) (Davey, 2006a). The first objective of this study was to provide additional empirical support for the mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying. A second objective of this study was to investigate the association between perseverative worry and GAD symptoms. The final objective of this study was to assist in generating a comprehensive model of worry that incorporated unique predictors of GAD. Results indicated that unique variables, such as ‘as many as can’ stop rules and beliefs about worry, were weak predictors of perseveration, but were significant predictors of worry and GAD symptoms. Therefore, these variables may still contribute to the processes inherent in perseverative worry. Results also indicated that the catastrophic interview was an overall weak predictor of worry and GAD symptoms, suggesting that the catastrophic interview might not be the most suitable measure of perseverative worry. In summary, the current study provides mixed support for the mood-as-input model of perseverative worrying. Future research should further examine the relationship of the catastrophic interview and perseverative worry. In addition, future studies should include measures of GAD symptoms as an outcome variable when studying the mood-as-input model. Keywords: worry, GAD, catastrophic interview, meta-cognition, stop rules

In order to obtain a closer look into the relationships between an at-risk populations’ family stressors and future school problem behaviors, a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) of family stressor variables was performed on at-risk elementary school girls from Health Zone 1. Participants were 308 girls with a mean age of 8.79 years. The dataset was inherited from the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center and analyses were run to uncover latent classes of family stressors. Class membership was then utilized to predict future behavioral referrals and suspensions from school. A total of three classes emerged from the LCA: “Exposure to Trauma”; “Familial Stress”; and “Stable Home.” Chi-square analysis between class membership and future behavioral referrals and suspensions failed to reach significance. However, chi-square analyses between class membership and some future family stressors were significant. It appears that latent classes of stressors can be uncovered, and these classes can be utilized in the meaningful prediction of outcome variables. Implications for researchers and policy makers are discussed.