Browsing by Subject "Play and Playthings"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Action video game playing is associated with improved visual sensitivity, but not alterations in visual sensory memory.
    (Atten Percept Psychophys, 2013-08) Appelbaum, L Gregory; Cain, Matthew S; Darling, Elise F; Mitroff, Stephen R
    Action video game playing has been experimentally linked to a number of perceptual and cognitive improvements. These benefits are captured through a wide range of psychometric tasks and have led to the proposition that action video game experience may promote the ability to extract statistical evidence from sensory stimuli. Such an advantage could arise from a number of possible mechanisms: improvements in visual sensitivity, enhancements in the capacity or duration for which information is retained in visual memory, or higher-level strategic use of information for decision making. The present study measured the capacity and time course of visual sensory memory using a partial report performance task as a means to distinguish between these three possible mechanisms. Sensitivity measures and parameter estimates that describe sensory memory capacity and the rate of memory decay were compared between individuals who reported high evels and low levels of action video game experience. Our results revealed a uniform increase in partial report accuracy at all stimulus-to-cue delays for action video game players but no difference in the rate or time course of the memory decay. The present findings suggest that action video game playing may be related to enhancements in the initial sensitivity to visual stimuli, but not to a greater retention of information in iconic memory buffers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Mine or yours? Development of sharing in toddlers in relation to ownership understanding.
    (Child Dev, 2013-05) Brownell, Celia A; Iesue, Stephanie S; Nichols, Sara R; Svetlova, Margarita
    To examine early developments in other-oriented resource sharing, fifty-one 18- and 24-month-old children were administered 6 tasks with toys or food that could be shared with an adult playmate who had none. On each task the playmate communicated her desire for the items in a series of progressively more explicit cues. Twenty-four-month-olds shared frequently and spontaneously. Eighteen-month-olds shared when given multiple opportunities and when the partner provided enough communicative support. Younger children engaged in self-focused and hypothesis-testing behavior in lieu of sharing more often than did older children. Ownership understanding, separately assessed, was positively associated with sharing and negatively associated with non-sharing behavior, independent of age and language ability.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    ItemOpen Access
    Physical activity-related and weather-related practices of child care centers from 2 states.
    (J Phys Act Health, 2015-02) Ball, Sarah C; Gillman, Matthew W; Mayhew, Meghan; Namenek Brouwer, Rebecca J; Benjamin Neelon, Sara E
    BACKGROUND: Young children's physical activity (PA) is influenced by their child care environment. This study assessed PA practices in centers from Massachusetts (MA) and Rhode Island (RI), compared them to best practice recommendations, and assessed differences between states and center profit status. We also assessed weather-related practices. METHODS: Sixty percent of MA and 54% of RI directors returned a survey, for a total of 254. Recommendations were 1) daily outdoor play, 2) providing outdoor play area, 3) limiting fixed play structures, 4) variety of portable play equipment, and 5) providing indoor play area. We fit multivariable linear regression models to examine adjusted associations between state, profit status, PA, and weather-related practices. RESULTS: MA did not differ from RI in meeting PA recommendations (β = 0.03; 0.15, 0.21; P = .72), but MA centers scored higher on weather-related practices (β = 0.47; 0.16, 0.79; P = .004). For-profit centers had lower PA scores compared with nonprofits (β = -0.20; 95% CI: -0.38, -0.02; P = .03), but they did not differ for weather (β = 0.12; -0.19, 0.44; P = .44). CONCLUSIONS: More MA centers allowed children outside in light rain or snow. For-profit centers had more equipment—both fixed and portable. Results from this study may help inform interventions to increase PA in children.