Parental perceptions of play: the influences of parent gender, gender role attitudes, and parenting styles on parent attitudes toward child play

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015The literature overwhelmingly demonstrates that play supports healthy social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Efforts to understand parents' support of child play seek to identify parent attitudes toward play, ways in which parents facilitate play for their children, and how they participate in play. Previous findings indicate parent valuation of play is an important factor for childhood play time and finds differences between mothers and fathers in parent-child play. While much research has been done to understand how mothers and fathers play with their sons and daughters, few studies have investigated what factors influence parent valuation of play or facilitate certain types of play. This study used a moderated mediation model to explore how parental attitudes about gender roles influence perceptions of play through parenting style and how this effect may be different for fathers and mothers. Analyses were also performed to understand the relationships between parent attitudes and parent play behaviors. The findings suggested egalitarian gender role attitudes predicted a higher valuation of play and more permissive mindsets toward cross-gender play for both mothers and fathers. Conversely, traditional gender role attitudes were predictive of less permissive mindsets toward cross-gender play for both mothers and fathers. A moderated mediation was found for fathers with traditional gender role attitudes and a permissive or authoritarian parenting style. Fathers with traditional gender role attitudes and a permissive parenting style were less likely to value play for child development. Fathers with traditional attitudes and an authoritarian parenting style had less permissive mindsets toward cross-gender play. Additionally for both mothers and fathers, authoritative parenting was correlated with increased parent play behaviors, while authoritarian parenting was correlated with decreased parent play behaviors. These findings support previous literature in that parent gender and gender role attitudes do appear to influence parent attitudes toward play. They also contribute to our understanding of parent gender differences and the way that parenting style influence this relationship. In addition, parenting style was found to be a facilitator of parent-child play. These findings contribute to an understanding of what kind of parents value play and can be used to inform family psychotherapy and parent education about play

Set and element-level compatibility of spatial and location-word stimuli paired to eye-movement, vocal, and keypress response modalities

Set-level and element-level compatibility are two ways to differentiate between different components of stimulus-response compatibility. Element-level compatibility (the difference between incongruent and congruent mappings) has been shown in prior studies to be an increasing function of set-level compatibility (differences between pairings of stimulus and response ensembles). When manual and vocal response sets are paired with spatial (physical location) stimuli and verbal (location-word stimuli), the difference between the incongruent and congruent mappings is larger for the spatial-manual and verbal-vocal conditions than for the alternative pairings of lower set-level compatibility. The common use of eye tracking technology in psychological experiments necessitates investigating the set-level compatibility of the oculomotor system through use of various stimulus sets. Saccadic eye movements are known to yield element-level compatibility effects (longer response times for antisaccades in the opposite direction of the stimulus than for prosaccades in the direction of the stimulus). Although the tendency to make a prosaccade is often described as highly automatic, no attempt has been made to evaluate the overall set-level compatibility of eye-movement responses in comparison to vocal location-naming responses or manual responses. Consequently, I conducted two experiments in which eye-movement responses were compared to those two response modalities: vocal responses (Experiment 1) and keypress responses (Experiment 2). Visual stimuli were varied through use of onsets of squares in left and right spatial locations (spatial codes) or centrally presented words ‘left’ and ‘right’ (verbal codes). The relative set-level compatibility of the two response sets was evaluated by comparing performance with a congruent mapping of spatial and verbal location stimuli; the element-level compatibility effects were evaluated by comparing the differences in performance for incongruent and congruent mappings. The results provide evidence of set-level compatibility differences, with eye movements not only being more compatible than vocal responses with spatial stimuli than verbal stimuli, but also relatively more compatible than keypresses. This result pattern implies that eye movements are more extreme than keypress responses on the spatial end of a response spectrum, compared to vocal responses. Despite this difference in set-level compatibility, in Experiment 1 the element-level mapping effect for sets with high set-level compatibility (including eye-movement responses to spatial) was no larger than that for sets with low set-level compatibility (including eye-movement responses to verbal stimuli). A positive relation between relative set-level compatibility and the element-level mapping effect was found in Experiment 2 when eye movements were compared to keypresses, but this was due mainly to the keypress responses. That incompatible, antisaccade eye-movement responses are not slowed by higher set-level compatibility is counter to the view that set-level compatibility increases activation of the spatially congruent response regardless of the stimulus-response mappings. Alternative possible explanations for the influence of set-level compatibility on eye-movement responses are discussed

The Man of La Mancha press release

April 7-11 and 14-18, 1982. University Theatre, Viertes Haus 100. Book by Dale Wasserman. Lyrics by Joe Darion. Music by Mitch Leigh. Based on the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Directed by Therald Todd. Music Director Joseph Rohm. Choreography by Lee Brooke and Sue Steele. Costumes by Jaqueline Easter. Set design by H. Paul Mazer. Starring Kurt E. Payne as Captain of the Inquisition; R. J. Musser as Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Alonso Quijana; J. R. Vega as Sancho Panza.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/theatre_posters/1125/thumbnail.jp

Buoyancy regulation and aggregate formation in Amoebobacter purpureus from Mahoney lake

Abstract The meromictic Mahoney Lake (British Columbia, Canada) contains an extremely dense layer of purple sulfur bacteria (Amoebobacter purpureus). The buoyant density of Amoebobacter cells grown in pure culture at saturating light intensity was significantly higher (1027–1034 kg m−3) than the density of lake water (1015 kg m−3). When stationary cultures were shifted to the dark, the gas-vesicle content increased by a factor of 9 and buoyant density decreased to 1002 kg m−3 within three days. A novel mechanism of cell aggregation was detected for the Mahoney Lake strain. Dense cell aggregates were formed after depletion of sulfide. Formation of aggregates was correlated with an increase in cell surface hydrophobicity. Cell aggregates could be disintegrated within less than 1 s by addition of sulfide or various thiol compounds. Mercaptanes with a branched structure in the vicinity of the terminal thiol group, compounds with esterified thiol groups (methylmercaptanes), reducing compounds lacking thiol groups and detergents did not influence aggregate stability. Cell aggregates disintegrated upon addition of urea or of proteinase K. Addition of various sugars had no effect on aggregation; this points to the absence of lectins. The results indicate that cell-to-cell adhesion in A, purpureus ML1 is mainly caused by a hydrophobic effect and includes a specific mechanism possibly mediated by a surface protein. Extrapolation of laboratory results to field conditions demonstrated that both regulation of buoyant density and formation of cell aggregates result in passive accumulation of cells at the chemocline and contribute to the narrow stratification of A. purpureus in Mahoney Lake

The State of Global Air Quality Funding 2022

The only global snapshot of clean air funding from donor governments and philanthropic foundations. This report highlights funding trends and gaps in 2015-2021, as well as recommendations for smarter investment for people and planet.99% of the world's population breathes air that exceeds World Health Organization air quality guidelines. Cleaning the air is a massive opportunity to improve public health and climate change. Because air pollution and climate change are mainly caused by burning fossil fuels, these problems can be tackled together. By addressing these issues in isolation, funders and policymakers drastically overlook the potential of clean air to realise multiple health, social and sustainable economic benefits.Our fourth annual report is the only global snapshot of projects funded by international development funders and philanthropic foundations to tackle air pollution. We identify gaps in funding, and opportunities for strategic investment and collaboration for systemic change.?As the world prepares for COP27 in Egypt, we call for more joined up policies and funding to address air pollution, climate change and unsustainable economic growth simultaneously. This report provides recommendations for decision makers, policy makers and philanthropic foundations

Clay mineral formation under oxidized conditions and implications for paleoenvironments and organic preservation on Mars

Clay mineral-bearing locations have been targeted for martian exploration as potentially habitable environments and as possible repositories for the preservation of organic matter. Although organic matter has been detected at Gale Crater, Mars, its concentrations are lower than expected from meteoritic and indigenous igneous and hydrothermal reduced carbon. We conducted synthesis experiments motivated by the hypothesis that some clay mineral formation may have occurred under oxidized conditions conducive to the destruction of organics. Previous work has suggested that anoxic and/or reducing conditions are needed to synthesize the Fe-rich clay mineral nontronite at low temperatures. In contrast, our experiments demonstrated the rapid formation of Fe-rich clay minerals of variable crystallinity from aqueous Fe^(3+) with small amounts of aqueous Mg^(2+). Our results suggest that Fe-rich clay minerals such as nontronite can form rapidly under oxidized conditions, which could help explain low concentrations of organics within some smectite-containing rocks or sediments on Mars

User Response to Facebook's Custom Gender Options

Facebook’s recent implementation of “custom” gender options and gender-neutral pronouns provided transgender and gender-non-conforming users with new ways to represent gender identity online. We analyze user response to and use of these affordances. We found that while many transgender and gender non-conforming Facebook users used and appreciated the new options for gender representation, the system still constrained self-presentation for some. Additionally, use of custom gender options complicated gender identity disclosure for many participants. Results highlight tensions around the ability of classification systems to categorize identities.ye

Realities, Perceptions, Challenges and Aspirations of Rural Youth in Dryland Agriculture in the Midelt Province, Morocco

Active involvement of youth in agriculture is necessary for sustainable agricultural systems but is currently a challenge in many areas. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative participatory research methods, this study analyses rural youth’s realities, perspectives and aspirations in dryland Agricultural Livelihood Systems (ALSs) in the Midelt Province, Morocco, with a particular focus on gender. The data collected are an important first step in understanding the target group and working with youth to identify and develop appropriate programmatic interventions to improve their livelihoods and rural futures. Prior to expressing their aspirations for their rural life and career, the youth first raised the issue of unfulfilled primary needs: access to education, potable water, heath care, and lack of infrastructure in their villages. The issue of outmigration from rural areas is controversial and not so widespread. The youth’s dream village is envisioned as a rural place where people have a more comfortable life with their own families, farming better and more sustainably rather than seeking a job in urban areas. To support the youth’s aspirations and their willingness to stay in agriculture, there is a need for infrastructural and regulatory interventions and specific training in agricultural practices targeting and engaging youth

Making a home, finding a job: investigating early housing and employment outcomes for young people leaving care

This paper presents findings from a new study of outcomes for young people leaving care funded by the Department for Education and Skills. It reports findings for a sample of 106 young people in relation to progress made in housing and employment some 12-15 months after leaving care. The generally poor employment outcomes of care leavers are acknowledged, but ingredients that make for success are also highlighted, including the value of settled care and post-care careers, sound career planning and, significantly, the value of delaying young people's transitions from care. Early career paths also interconnect with how young people fare in housing, in developing life skills and with other problems in their lives after leaving care. Housing outcomes were more encouraging and predominantly shaped by events after leaving care, and faring well in housing was the factor most closely associated with positive mental well-being in young people. Some groups that are at risk of faring badly are identified, including young people with mental-health problems, young people with persistent offending or substance misuse problems and, in some respects, young disabled people. The implications of these findings for leaving care services are considered

The Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS): A low‐cost, portable system for standardized empirical assessments of coral thermal limits

Ocean warming is increasingly affecting marine ecosystems across the globe. Reef-building corals are particularly affected by warming, with mass bleaching events increasing in frequency and leading to widespread coral mortality. Yet, some corals can resist or recover from bleaching better than others. Such variability in thermal resilience could be critical to reef persistence; however, the scientific community lacks standardized diagnostic approaches to rapidly and comparatively assess coral thermal vulnerability prior to bleaching events. We present the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS) as a low-cost, open-source, field-portable experimental system for rapid empirical assessment of coral thermal thresholds using standardized temperature stress profiles and diagnostics. The CBASS consists of four or eight flow-through experimental aquaria with independent water masses, lighting, and individual automated temperature controls capable of delivering custom modulating thermal profiles. The CBASS is used to conduct daily thermal stress exposures that typically include 3-h temperature ramps to multiple target temperatures, a 3-h hold period at the target temperatures, and a 1-h ramp back down to ambient temperature, followed by an overnight recovery period. This mimics shallow water temperature profiles observed in coral reefs and prompts a rapid acute heat stress response that can serve as a diagnostic tool to identify putative thermotolerant corals for in-depth assessments of adaptation mechanisms, targeted conservation, and possible use in restoration efforts. The CBASS is deployable within hours and can assay up to 40 coral fragments/aquaria/day, enabling high-throughput, rapid determination of thermal thresholds for individual genotypes, populations, species, and sites using a standardized experimental framework