Peter A. Frensch

A prospective study of disordered eating among college students

The prevalence of disordered eating among college students was assessed at the beginning and the end of the freshman year. The study aimed to identify factors related to worsening of disordered eating during the year. Questionnaires were completed by 590 males and 450 females at baseline and 546 males and 403 females at follow-up. At baseline, the prevalence of bulimia nervosa was 3.8% for females and 0.2% for males. The prevalence of disordered eating symptoms was considerably higher. The prevalence of bulimia nervosa at follow-up was virtually unchanged. However, many students experienced an onset of disordered eating during the year. Analyses of changes during the year revealed that worsening of disordered eating among females was associated with increasingly dysphoric feelings about weight, decreased ratings of their attractiveness, high perceived stress, increased weight dissatisfaction, and increased ineffectiveness.

Parenting and Children’s School Achievement: A Multiethnic Perspective:

The present study is an examination of the relations between parenting and the school performance of fourth- and fifth-grade children (mean age = 10 years, 2 months) in 75 Asian-American, 109 Latino, and 91 European-American families. Five aspects of parenting were studied: (a) expectations for children’s educational attainment, (b) grade expectations, (c) basic childrearing beliefs (i.e., development of autonomy, development of conformity to external standards, and importance of monitoring children’s activities), (d) self-reported behaviors (i.e., creating an academically enriching environment and helping with homework), and (e) perceptions of parental efficacy. School performance was measured by school grades and achievement test scores. Ethnic group differences emerged in parents’ expectations for children’s educational attainment, grade expectations, childrearing beliefs, perceptions of parental efficacy, and in the relations between these beliefs and children’s school achievement. These results provide further evidence of the importance of considering the constellation of parents’ beliefs, goals for their children, and the type of help parents can offer children when working with parents to facilitate their children’s school experiences.

Effects of presentation rate and individual differences in short-term memory capacity on an indirect measure of serial learning.

In three experiments, we studied the relation between degree of implicit learning and two aspects of short-term memory: (l) the activation level of the to-be-learned information, and (2) individual differences in short-term memory capacity. In all the experiments, we used the Nissen and Bullemer (1987) serial reaction time paradigm or a modification thereof. The effects of activation level were assessed by experimentally manipulating the rate of presentation. Individual differences in short-term memory capacity were assessed via traditional span measures. The experiments demonstrated that the rate of presentation reliably affected an indirect measure of learning (i.e., response time) under both incidental and intentional task instructions and under both single-task and dual-task conditions. Short-term memory span was reliably related to the indirect measure of learning only in some experimental conditions. The findings represent important constraints for models of implicit serial learning and are discussed within a general framework for understanding implicit learning and memory.

Implicit learning of unique and ambiguous serial transitions in the presence and absence of a distractor task

Three experiments investigated the effects of task load, time of secondary task onset, and response-stimulus time interval on direct and indirect measures of learning in the M. J. Nissen and P. Bullemer (1987) task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that both unique and ambiguous serial transitions can be learned in the absence and presence of an attentional distractor task. Experiment 2 showed that the time of secondary task onset affects the degree to which unique and ambiguous serial transitions are learned. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the learning of a sequential transition is affected by the length of the time interval between the response to a stimulus and the presentation of the next stimulus

Video game practice optimizes executive control skills in dual-task and task switching situations

We examined the relation of action video game practice and the optimization of executive control skills that are needed to coordinate two different tasks. As action video games are similar to real life situations and complex in nature, and include numerous concurrent actions, they may generate an ideal environment for practicing these skills (Green & Bavelier, 2008). For two types of experimental paradigms, dual-task and task switching respectively; we obtained performance advantages for experienced video gamers compared to non-gamers in situations in which two different tasks were processed simultaneously or sequentially. This advantage was absent in single-task situations. These findings indicate optimized executive control skills in video gamers. Similar findings in non-gamers after 15 h of action video game practice when compared to non-gamers with practice on a puzzle game clarified the causal relation between video game practice and the optimization of executive control skills.

Aerobic exercise and mood : a brief review, 1985-1990

ConclusionsThe major reviews of research on aerobic exercise and mood published in the past 10 years and the well-controlled empirical studies in the last 5 years yield a number of consistent conclusions. First, researchers unanimously concluded that aerobic exercise and depression and anxiety are related in a inverse and consistent manner. Yet they consistently refrained from suggesting that this relationship involves causality. Second, studies consistently reported that aerobic exercise is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate forms of depression and anxiety. In fact, it was the conclusion of several researchers that aerobic exercise was as effective as more traditional methods of psychotherapy. Third, it consistently was reported that the increased benefits were greatest in those who were more depressed and more anxious. Fourth, it was reported consistently that an increase in cardiovascular fitness was not necessary for mood enhancement. Finally, because the few existing longitudinal studies predominantly involve pre-experimental and quasi-experimental designs, the hypothesis that exercise leads to mood changes cannot be accepted nor refuted at this time.

Improved intertask coordination after extensive dual-task practice

This study examines whether an improved intertask coordination skill is acquired during extensive dual-task training and whether it can be transferred to a new dual-task situation. Participants practised a visual–manual task and an auditory–vocal task. These tasks were trained in two groups matched in dual-task performance measures before practice: a single-task practice group and a hybrid practice group (including single-task and dual-task practice). After practice, the single-task practice group was transferred to the same dual-task situation as that for the hybrid practice group (Experiment 1), both groups were transferred to a dual-task situation with a new visual task (Experiment 2), and both groups were transferred to a dual-task situation with a new auditory task matched in task difficulty (Experiment 3). The results show a dual-task performance advantage in the hybrid practice group over the single-task practice group in the practised dual-task situation (Experiment 1), the manipulated visual-task situation (Experiment 2), and the manipulated auditory-task situation (Experiment 3). In all experiments, the dual-task performance advantage was consistently found for the auditory task only. These findings suggest that extended dual-task practice improves the skill to coordinate two tasks, which may be defined as an accelerated switching operation between both tasks. This skill is relatively robust against changes of the component visual and auditory tasks. We discuss how the finding of task coordination could be integrated in present models of dual-task research.

On being an expert: a cost-benefit analysis

Everyone knows, or at least believes, that it is a good thing to be an expert. Experts within a given field are the ones who are respected, cited, and sought out. They can attain money as well as renown for their expertise, and some experts bask almost indefinitely in the fame and fortune their expertise brings them.

Encouraging School Achievement in Mexican American Children

Parents of 33 high-achieving and 49 low-achieving Mexican American fourth-and fifth-grade children completed questionnaires on beliefs and values related to education and childrearing. On questions about the value of education in general, the importance of a high school diploma for enabling their children to get good jobs, the amount of education they expect their children to attain, whether or not parents should help children with homework, and the frequency at which they helped their children with schoolwork, parents of high and low achievers did not differ Parents of high achievers were more likely to be upset with grades of Cs and Ds, were more likely tofeel that there were many things they could do to help their children do well in school, and modeled reading skills morefrequently than parents of low achievers. Results are discussedfrom two theoretical perspectives-cultural/ecological theory and primary cultural discontinuities theory.

Investigation on the improvement and transfer of dual-task coordination skills

Recent research has demonstrated that dual-task performance in situations with two simultaneously presented tasks can be substantially improved with extensive practice. This improvement was related to the acquisition of task coordination skills. Earlier studies provided evidence that these skills result from hybrid practice, including dual and single tasks, but not from single-task practice. It is an open question, however, whether task coordination skills are independent from the specific practice situation and are transferable to new situations or whether they are non-transferable and task-specific. The present study, therefore, tested skill transfer in (1) a dual-task situation with identical tasks in practice and transfer, (2) a dual-task situation with two tasks changed from practice to transfer, and (3) a task switching situation with two sequentially presented tasks. Our findings are largely consistent with the assumption that task coordination skills are non-transferable and task-specific. We cannot, however, definitively reject the assumption of transferable skills when measuring error rates in the dual-task situation with two changed tasks after practice. In the task switching situation, single-task and hybrid practice both led to a transfer effect on mixing costs.