Analysis of Psychological and Social Functioning in Undergraduate Students with a Specific Learning Disorder (SLD).

It is considered to be particularly interesting to enrich the scientific overview investigating the comorbidities of specific learning disorders (SLDs) in young adults. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the psychosocial and relational profiles associated with the presence of learning difficulties in a population of university students. The hypothesis is that young adults with SLDs have lower psychological and socio-relational functioning than their typical-development peers. We further hypothesized that the socio-relational difficulties of students with SLDs could be explained not only by referring to the presence of a learning disorder, but also by considering some variables that may follow the experience of students with SLDs. The results highlighted that students with SLDs, compared to their typical-development peers, have low self-efficacy, high academic anxiety scores, emotional problems, and issues with peers. We finally suggest considering these aspects as early as the diagnostic process to facilitate an effective treatment plan for learning disorders to prevent, in terms of developmental trajectory, the manifestation of these aspects in adulthood.

Perceiving Oneself to Be Integrated into the Peer Group: A Protective Factor against Victimization in Children with Learning Disabilities.

Bullying is still a widespread social problem that needs serious attention. To date, research on this topic has shown that understanding the phenomenon requires a psychosocial perspective. The primary goal of the study is to identify the factors that contribute to the victimization of students with learning disabilities. The hypothesis is that the victimization experiences of this group of students can be explained by some socio-relational dynamics. Using a mediation model, this study demonstrates that perceived social integration completely mediates the association between the presence of learning disabilities and victimization experiences. This implies that students with learning disabilities are primarily victimized when they are not socially integrated into their class group. The implications for diagnosis and treatment are discussed.

MESSENGER Observations of Planetary Ion Enhancements at Mercury's Northern Magnetospheric Cusp During Flux Transfer Event Showers.

At Mercury, several processes can release ions and neutrals out of the planet's surface. Here we present enhancements of planetary ions (Na+-group ions) in Mercury's northern magnetospheric cusp during flux transfer event (FTE) "showers." FTE showers are intervals of intense dayside magnetopause reconnection, during which FTEs are observed in quick succession, that is, only separated by a few seconds. This study identifies 1953 FTE shower intervals and 1795 Non-FTE shower intervals. During the shower intervals, this study shows that the FTEs form a solar wind entry layer equatorward of the northern magnetospheric cusp. In this entry layer, solar wind ions are accelerated and move downward (i.e., planetward) toward the cusp, which sputter upward-moving planetary ions with a particle flux of 1 × 1011 m-2 s-1 within 1 min. The precipitation rate is estimated to increase by an order of magnitude during FTE showers, to 2 × 1025 s-1, and the neutral density of the exosphere could vary by >10% in response to this FTE-driven sputtering. Such rapid large-scale variations driven by dayside reconnection may explain the minute-to-minute changes in Mercury's exosphere, especially on the high latitudes, observed by ground-based telescopes on Earth. Our MESSENGER in situ observation of enhanced planetary ions in the entry layer likely corresponds to an escape channel for Mercury's planetary ions. Comprehensive, future multipoint measurements made by BepiColombo will greatly enhance our understanding of the processes contributing to Mercury's dynamic exosphere and magnetosphere.

Individual Strivings in Social Comparison Processes: Achievement Motivation Goals in the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect.

In school settings, adolescents recur to different sources of information to create their beliefs about future possibilities. Social comparison processes and personal goals related to achievement play an important role in shaping these beliefs. Drawing upon literature concerning the Big-Fish-Little-Pond effect and the Achievement Goal Theory, the present study aimed at understanding how adolescents attending the last year of secondary school (n = 689; M age = 18.15; SD = 0.57) perceive their possibilities of potentially having a better future than their classmates. In particular, we sought to understand in what way this perception is influenced by students' perceived relative position in their class-which accounts for the social comparison process-and its interaction with different types of achievement goals (mastery-approach goals, mastery-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals). Results showed that perceived relative position mediated the relationship between the predictors (classmates' average achievement and individual achievement) and future expectations. Furthermore, analyses of moderated mediation showed that both performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals reduced the impact of a low perceived relative position on future expectations, while mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance goals did not moderate its effect.

Undergraduates' academic socialization. A cross-time analysis.

BACKGROUND: Socialization practices support undergraduates' transitional processes when beginning their academic careers and afterwards. Anyhow, the absence of specific socialization measures for academic contexts does not allow Universities to assess it. AIMS: The present study aimed to contribute to the socialization literature by proposing a reliable measure (USQ, Undergraduate Socialization Questionnaire) specific for the academic context, that is, reflecting the same construct at different developmental stages. METHOD AND SAMPLES: Based on an organizational socialization scale (NSQ; Haueter al., 2003, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 20), we examined in Study One the USQ's three-factor structure (task, group, organization) (n. 451 undergraduates) and, in Study Two, we tested the construct invariance across time, comparing undergraduates' developmental changes through a two-wave longitudinal design (n.185 undergraduates attending their first and their second year). RESULTS: Findings supported both the USQ's dimensionality and measurement invariance, thus ensuring that the same underlying construct is being assessed, and its concurrent and predictive validity. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, results showed that USQ is a reliable instrument useful to monitor the effectiveness of undergraduates' adjustment process, also allowing comparison between specific groups of students or longitudinal comparison to evaluate their career development or the effectiveness of policies targeted to reduce the risk of marginalization and dropout.

My partner looks, swims, and quacks like a duck: The need for cognitive closure in the interpersonal perception of romantic engagement in close relationships.

Individuals are motivated to have a reassuring vision of their partners' characteristics that are central to the relationship such as romantic engagement. This can be particularly true for individuals with high levels of need for closure (NFC). In order to preserve a comforting and stable view of the relationship, they might be motivated by greater assumed similarity and lesser accuracy in perceiving partners' romantic engagement. Three-hundred-fifteen heterosexual couples filled out a questionnaire with measures of NFC and self- and other-reported romantic engagement (harmonious and obsessive). Results showed that, for both types of romantic engagement, assumed similarity and accuracy effects were positive and significant. Moreover, NFC had a moderating role in the assumed similarity and accuracy effects in harmonious romantic engagement. In particular, high NFC individuals showed greater assumed similarity and lower accuracy compared to low NFC individuals.

Can moral convictions against gender inequality overpower system justification effects? Examining the interaction between moral conviction and system justification.

It has been shown that disadvantaged groups who endorse system-justifying beliefs tend to internalize their state of inferiority by expressing ingroup derogation and opposing collective action for change. In the present research, we recruited women - as disadvantaged group - from different countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy) and examined whether their moral conviction against gender inequality, as an absolute stance that does not tolerate any violation, may interact with and overpower system-justifying beliefs. Results from three studies provided support for our hypotheses. First, when women held strong moral conviction, they expressed higher identification with their disadvantaged ingroup and, in turn, higher collective action intentions, independent of system-justifying beliefs. Second, when women held weak moral conviction, higher system-justifying beliefs reduced women's ingroup identification and, in turn, undermined their collective action intentions. This support is found across different contexts of gender inequality (the gender leadership gap, the gender pay gap, and the gender power imbalance), using different methodological approaches (online survey, online experiment, laboratory experiment). Implications, limits, and future directions are discussed.

Are Individuals Perceived as More Attractive within a Group? A Confirmative Study of Group Attractiveness Effect and the Cheerleader Effect in China.

The stereotype "what is beautiful is good" suggests that having an attractive physical appearance is very important to people's lives. Physical attractiveness, as an important personal trait, plays vital roles for shaping one's first impression, and for influencing one's subsequent evaluation and selection, based on obvious visual features. However, the contextual difference of the physical attractiveness between a group and its group members has been given less attention. For this reason, Van Osch et al. proposed and tested that the perceived physical attractiveness of a group is greater than the average attractiveness of its members (GA-effect), while Walker and Vul found that an individual as a group member is perceived to be more attractive in group context than in isolation (cheerleader effect). Our present work seeks to replicate these two effects on a sample of 1005 Chinese participants to check whether such effects also exist in China, a collectivist culture. Participants were asked to rate the degree of attractiveness presented in each photo stimuli and in each rating condition, and the results show that: (a) the participants' ratings of physical attractiveness of a group was significantly higher than the average attractiveness of its members (i.e., replicating the GA-effect); (b) the participants' ratings of physical attractiveness of an individual was evaluated higher in a group than in isolation (i.e., replicating the cheerleader effect); and (c) the larger the group size, the larger the GA-effect. This validating study may aid in understanding human behavior, judgments, and perceptions according to the GA-effect and the cheerleader effect used in a different context in China.

Tracking the Leader: Gaze Behavior in Group Interactions.

Can social gaze behavior reveal the leader during real-world group interactions? To answer this question, we developed a novel tripartite approach combining (1) computer vision methods for remote gaze estimation, (2) a detailed taxonomy to encode the implicit semantics of multi-party gaze features, and (3) machine learning methods to establish dependencies between leadership and visual behaviors. We found that social gaze behavior distinctively identified group leaders. Crucially, the relationship between leadership and gaze behavior generalized across democratic and autocratic leadership styles under conditions of low and high time-pressure, suggesting that gaze can serve as a general marker of leadership. These findings provide the first direct evidence that group visual patterns can reveal leadership across different social behaviors and validate a new promising method for monitoring natural group interactions.

Local Norms and the Theory of Planned Behavior: Understanding the Effects of Spatial Proximity on Recycling Intentions and Self-Reported Behavior.

This paper aims to deepen the understanding of the role of "local norms" in explaining ecological behavior within Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. A longitudinal investigation (overall N = 222), focused on households waste recycling, tested the hypothesis that the effects of this type of norms on behavioral intentions varies as a function of the individual's spatial proximity to the social categories relevant to the social-physical context (in this study: housemates, neighbors, inhabitants of the district or quarter, and inhabitants of the city) in which the behavior takes place. The hypothesis was confirmed and we also showed that the effects of local norms are empirically distinguishable from those of the social norms already considered by the model (i.e., subjective norms). Local norms, also have a direct influence on self-reported recycling behavior measured 1 month after intentions. We propose possible theoretical explanations for the results obtained and discuss the implications for applicative purposes.

Factors That Influence the Success of Contact Lens Fitting in Presbyopes: A Multicentric Survey.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the key factors behind successful and unsuccessful wear of contact lenses (CLs) for patients with presbyopia. METHOD: A multicenter survey was conducted using a questionnaire, in eight CL centers, among two groups of presbyopes: successful wearers (SWs), who were presbyopic and wearing CLs successfully, and unsuccessful wearers (UWs), who tried unsuccessfully to wear CLs to manage their presbyopia and had stopped wearing CLs. RESULTS: A total of 237 completed questionnaires were returned; 178 from SWs and 59 from UWs. Successful wearers used CLs 5.8±1.5 days a week and additional reading spectacles were never used by half of the SWs. Among SWs, the most important reason to continue wearing CLs was convenience (61%), whereas among UWs, the most important reason to discontinue wearing CLs was poor vision (80%). A logistic regression analysis showed that the absence of astigmatism (P<0.05), a higher subjective satisfaction (P<0.05), a better subjective perceived vision at distance (P<0.01), and a lower subjective loss of visual contrast (P<0.05) were able to predict the success of CL use for presbyopia. CONCLUSIONS: This study explores the predictors for determining successful or unsuccessful CL wear in presbyopes. Among ophthalmic, demographic, lifestyle, and subjective variables, the latter seems to be of greater importance in determining the success of CL wear. Therefore, it is necessary that subjective variables are taken into account by the CL practitioner when approaching presbyopic CL fitting in practice.

A double-cusp type electrostatic analyzer for high-cadence solar-wind suprathermal ion observations.

This paper describes a novel electrostatic analyzer concept to measure suprathermal ions, a Double-Cusp Analyzer for SupraThermals (DCAST) that employs a double-shell cusp structure. Due to the necessity of measuring higher energy levels to cover the suprathermal range, existing ion instruments require greater size and mass. Moreover, observations of potentially low-flux suprathermal ions require a long integration time to fully characterize key ion properties in the plasmas (e.g., anisotropy and energy spectrum) with necessary counting statistics. DCAST covers the suprathermal energy range (2-300 keV/q) spanning heated solar wind and pickup ions; it enables a high cadence, high angular resolution, and wide angle coverage measurement while conserving resources such as mass and size. As a proof-of-concept study, the performance of a prototype DCAST was verified by laboratory measurements (geometric factor, K-factor, and energy resolution), which also involved investigating noise characteristics coming from cross-sector contamination and foreground extreme ultra-violet photons. To understand the specific characteristics of the double-shell type design, the inner and outer sector voltage ratio (R V ) effects were examined in terms of the electro-static analyzer performance.

Factors affecting Observers' Accuracy when Assessing Credibility: The Effect of the Interaction between Media, Senders' Competence and Veracity.

The present experiment examined how the interaction between senders' communicative competence, veracity and the medium through which judgments were made affected observers' accuracy. Stimuli were obtained from a previous study. Observers (N = 220) judged the truthfulness of statements provided by a good truth teller, a good liar, a bad truth teller, and a bad liar presented either via an audio-only, video-only, audio-video, or transcript format. Log-linear analyses showed that the data were best explained via the saturated model, therefore indicating that all the four variables interacted, G2(0) = 0, p = 1, Q2 = 1. Follow-up analyses showed that the good liar and bad liar were best evaluated via the transcript (z = 2.5) and the audio-only medium (z = 3.9), respectively. Both the good truth teller and the bad truth teller were best assessed through the audio-video medium (z = 2.1, good truth teller, z = 3.4, bad truth teller). Results indicated that all the factors interacted and played a joint role on observers' accuracy. Difficulties and suggestions for choosing the right medium are presented.

Motivated Shield From Chronic Noise Environment: Moderation of the Relationship Between Noise Sensitivity and Work Wellbeing by Need for Closure.

Several studies have underlined how chronic exposure to environmental noise may have negative effects on performance, wellbeing, and social relations. The present study (N = 90 employees of a motor factory who are chronically exposed to environmental noise) investigated whether the negative effects of chronic exposure of noise-sensitive individuals to noise in the workplace may be moderated by the need for cognitive closure (i.e., an epistemic tendency to reduce uncertainty; NFCC, Kruglanski, 2004). As NFCC has been shown to enhance protection of the focal goal by reducing interference (Kossowska, 2007; Pica et al., 2013), we hypothesized that people with high NFCC should be able to manage the interference coming from environmental noise and concentrate on their tasks more than their low-NFCC counterparts. The results confirm that the negative effects of noise sensitivity on job satisfaction, state anxiety, and turnover intent were higher among low (vs. high)-NFCC individuals.

"You Can See How Things Will End by the Way They Begin": The Contribution of Early Mutual Obligations for the Development of the Psychological Contract.

This study explores dynamic processes in the development of the psychological contract, focusing on the interaction of obligations related to the two parties (i.e., employees' perceptions of both their own and the organization's obligations fulfillment) on attitudinal outcomes (organizational commitment and turnover intention) during the initial stage of the employment relationship. In a twofold cross-sectional and two-wave study on newly hired correctional police officers, we examined: (a) whether perception of organizational obligations fulfillment moderates the relationship between employee obligations and their attitudes (Study 1, n.500); (b) the direct and moderated influence of perceived obligations at the entrance stage on those in the following months (Study 2, n.223). Results confirmed that, in the eyes of the newcomer, the obligations fulfillment of each of the two parties interact, having an additional effect beyond the main direct effects, in influencing both subsequent obligations perceptions and, through this, the outcome variables. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The rocky road to prosocial behavior at work: The role of positivity and organizational socialization in preventing interpersonal strain.

Among relevant consequences of organizational socialization, a key factor is the promotion of organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (i.e. OCBI). However, the relation between organizational socialization and OCBI has received little attention. This study tests the validity of a moderated mediation model in which we examine the mediating effect of a decreased interpersonal strain on the relationship between organizational socialization and OCBI, and the moderation role of a positive personal resource in reducing interpersonal strain when an unsuccessful socialization subsists. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 765 new recruits of the Guardia di Finanza-a military Police Force reporting to the Italian Minister of Economy. Findings confirm our hypothesis that interpersonal strain mediates the relationship between organizational socialization and OCBI. The index of moderated mediation results significant, showing that this effect exists at different levels of positivity. Theoretical and practical implications for promoting pro-organizational behaviors are discussed.

Psychometric Aspects of the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire: Implications for Clinical Assessment and Research.

The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) is a self-report measure that assesses self-criticism and dependency, 2 personality traits that confer vulnerability to depression (Blatt, 2004 ). Over several decades, different, shortened versions of the DEQ have been constructed to offer an alternative to the complex scoring procedure of the original DEQ. This study explores the factor structure as well as the construct and convergent validity of the DEQ by comparing a clinical and nonclinical sample. We also compared the original DEQ with 5 shortened versions. There were 621 participants (358 university students and 263 outpatients). Fit indexes for models of the original DEQ did not meet minimum fit criteria. Moreover, the only versions with satisfactory fit were the Theoretical Depressive Experiences Questionnaire-21 (TDEQ-21) and the Theoretical Depressive Experiences Questionnaire-12 (TDEQ-12), which also showed acceptable construct and convergent validity. Finally, the diagnostic and clinical applicability of the DEQ is discussed.

Factors affecting observers' accuracy when assessing credibility: the effect of the interaction between media, senders' competence and veracity

The present experiment examined how the interaction between senders' communicative competence, veracity and the medium through which judgments were made affected observers' accuracy. Stimuli were obtained from a previous study. Observers (N = 220) judged the truthfulness of statements provided by a good truth teller, a good liar, a bad truth teller, and a bad liar presented either via an audio-only, video-only, audio-video, or transcript format. Log-linear analyses showed that the data were best explained via the saturated model, therefore indicating that all the four variables interacted, G2(0) = 0, p = 1, Q2 = 1. Follow-up analyses showed that the good liar and bad liar were best evaluated via the transcript (z = 2.5) and the audio-only medium (z = 3.9), respectively. Both the good truth teller and the bad truth teller were best assessed through the audio-video medium (z = 2.1, good truth teller, z = 3.4, bad truth teller). Results indicated that all the factors interacted and played a joint role on observers' accuracy. Difficulties and suggestions for choosing the right medium are presented

Health beliefs affect the correct replacement of daily disposable contact lenses: Predicting compliance with the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour.

PURPOSE: To assess the compliance of Daily Disposable Contact Lenses (DDCLs) wearers with replacing lenses at a manufacturer-recommended replacement frequency. To evaluate the ability of two different Health Behavioural Theories (HBT), The Health Belief Model (HBM) and The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), in predicting compliance. METHOD: A multi-centre survey was conducted using a questionnaire completed anonymously by contact lens wearers during the purchase of DDCLs. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-four questionnaires were returned. The survey comprised 58.5% females and 41.5% males (mean age 34±12years). Twenty-three percent of respondents were non-compliant with manufacturer-recommended replacement frequency (re-using DDCLs at least once). The main reason for re-using DDCLs was "to save money" (35%). Predictions of compliance behaviour (past behaviour or future intentions) on the basis of the two HBT was investigated through logistic regression analysis: both TPB factors (subjective norms and perceived behavioural control) were significant (p<0.01); HBM was less predictive with only the severity (past behaviour and future intentions) and perceived benefit (only for past behaviour) as significant factors (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Non-compliance with DDCLs replacement is widespread, affecting 1 out of 4 Italian wearers. Results from the TPB model show that the involvement of persons socially close to the wearers (subjective norms) and the improvement of the procedure of behavioural control of daily replacement (behavioural control) are of paramount importance in improving compliance. With reference to the HBM, it is important to warn DDCLs wearers of the severity of a contact-lens-related eye infection, and to underline the possibility of its prevention.

Avalanche photodiode based time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

This study reports on the performance of Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) as a timing detector for ion Time-of-Flight (TOF) mass spectroscopy. We found that the fast signal carrier speed in a reach-through type APD enables an extremely short timescale response with a mass or energy independent <2 ns rise time for <200 keV ions (1-40 AMU) under proper bias voltage operations. When combined with a microchannel plate to detect start electron signals from an ultra-thin carbon foil, the APD comprises a novel TOF system that successfully operates with a <0.8 ns intrinsic timing resolution even using commercial off-the-shelf constant-fraction discriminators. By replacing conventional total-energy detectors in the TOF-Energy system, APDs offer significant power and mass savings or an anti-coincidence background rejection capability in future space instrumentation.