Infants' neural processing of facial attractiveness

textThe relationship between infants’ neural processing of and visual preferences for attractive and unattractive faces was investigated through the integration of event-related potential and preferential looking methods. Six-month-olds viewed color images of female faces previously rated by adults for attractiveness. The faces were presented in contrasting pairs of attractiveness (attractive/unattractive) for 1.5-second durations. The results showed that compared to attractive faces, unattractive faces elicited larger N290 amplitudes at left hemisphere electrode sites (PO9) and smaller P400 amplitudes at electrode sites across both hemispheres (PO9 and PO10). There were no significant differences between infants’ overall looking times based on attractiveness, however, a significant relationship was found between amplitude and trial looking time; larger N290 amplitudes were associated with longer trial looking times. The results suggest that compared to attractive faces, unattractive faces require greater cognitive resources and longer initial attention for visual processing.Psycholog

Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolecents' Field Behavior

We study risk attitudes, ambiguity attitudes, and time preferences of 661 children and adolescents, aged ten to eighteen years, in an incentivized experiment. We relate experimental choices to field behavior. Experimental measures of impatience are found to be significant predictors of health related field behavior and saving decisions. In particular, more impatient children and adolescents are more likely to spend money on alcohol and cigarettes, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and are less likely to save money. Experimental measures for risk and ambiguity attitudes are only weak predictors of field behavior

Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolescents' Field Behavior

We study risk attitudes, ambiguity attitudes, and time preferences of 661 children and adolescents, aged ten to eighteen years, in an incentivized experiment. We relate experimental choices to field behavior. Experimental measures of impatience are found to be significant predictors of health related field behavior and saving decisions. In particular, more impatient children and adolescents are more likely to spend money on alcohol and cigarettes, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and are less likely to save money. Experimental measures for risk and ambiguity attitudes are only weak predictors of field behavior.experiments with children and adolescents, risk, ambiguity, time preferences, health status, savings, external validity, field behavior

Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolecents' Field Behavior

We study risk attitudes, ambiguity attitudes, and time preferences of 661 children and adolescents, aged ten to eighteen years, in an incentivized experiment. We relate experimental choices to field behavior. Experimental measures of impatience are found to be significant predictors of health related field behavior and saving decisions. In particular, more impatient children and adolescents are more likely to spend money on alcohol and cigarettes, have a higher body mass index (BMI) and are less likely to save money. Experimental measures for risk and ambiguity attitudes are only weak predictors of field behavior.experiments with children and adolescents; risk; ambiguity; time preferences; health status; savings; external validity; field behavior

Impatience and Uncertainty: Experimental Decisions Predict Adolescents' Field Behavior

We study risk attitudes, ambiguity attitudes, and time preferences of 661 children and adolescents, aged ten to eighteen years, in an incentivized experiment and relate experimental choices to field behavior. Experimental measures of impatience are found to be significant predictors of health-related field behavior, saving decisions and conduct at school. In particular, more impatient children and adolescents are more likely to spend money on alcohol and cigarettes, have a higher body mass index, are less likely to save money and show worse conduct at school. Experimental measures for risk and ambiguity attitudes are only weak predictors of field behavior.experiments with children and adolescents, risk, ambiguity, time preferences, health status, savings, conduct at school, external validity

A small scale study into the effect that text & background colour has on processing and self-correction rates for childrens’ on-screen reading

Pedagogical practices in formal educational settings together with the nature of communication technologies in the media and elsewhere mean that children will encounter on-screen typography and screen-based learning opportunities in both formal school settings and during their daily recreational pursuits. Internationally, there is a lack of research informing what good reading practice might look like when teachers use reading material in a screen-based environment. More specifically, there is a lack of research around best practices for the design of this material for children. Greater understanding of how the colour of text and the colour of background influences the “readability” of these reading materials is required. This research sets out to determine the readability of text and background colours in on-screen books for young readers through discussion of the literature to date, as well as discussion of a small scale study which includes a rate-of-error experiment as well as qualitative feedback to provide greater knowledge of the most positive reading environments for children

Migration signatures across the decades: Net migration by age in U.S. counties, 1950−2010

Background: Migration is the primary population redistribution process in the United States. Selective migration by age, race/ethnic group, and spatial location governs population integration, affects community and economic development, contributes to land use change, and structures service needs. Objective: Delineate historical net migration patterns by age, race/ethnic, and rural-urban dimensions for United States counties. Methods: Net migration rates by age for all US counties are aggregated from 1950−2010, summarized by rural-urban location and compared to explore differential race/ethnic patterns of age-specific net migration over time. Results: We identify distinct age-specific net migration ‘signatures’ that are consistent over time within county types, but different by rural-urban location and race/ethnic group. There is evidence of moderate population deconcentration and diminished racial segregation between 1990 and 2010. This includes a net outflow of Blacks from large urban core counties to suburban and smaller metropolitan counties, continued Hispanic deconcentration, and a slowdown in White counterurbanization. Conclusions: This paper contributes to a fuller understanding of the complex patterns of migration that have redistributed the U.S. population over the past six decades. It documents the variability in county age-specific net migration patterns both temporally and spatially, as well as the longitudinal consistency in migration signatures among county types and race/ethnic groups