Youth in child welfare settings exhibit high rates of externalizing behavior disorders, which place them at increased risk for placement disruptions. These placement disruptions are linked to further increases in externalizing problems. Given these mental health concerns and also the economic constraints of child welfare settings, there is a need for reliable, valid, and efficient measures of externalizing behavior problems. The Parent Daily Report (PDR) is one particularly promising measure of problematic child behaviors. It is a 31-item parent observation report of behavior problems such as defiance, fighting, and arguing. The present investigation represents the first large-scale, systematic examination of the psychometric properties of the PDR using a diverse child welfare sample. The sample consisted of 700 children (52% female) between the ages of 5 and 12 years (M = 8.8 years) who were placed in relative or nonrelative foster care in San Diego County between 1999 and 2004, and whose caregivers participated in an effectiveness trial of a parent management training and support intervention. The first study aim was to examine the factor structure of the PDR using exploratory factor analysis, which uncovered a two-factor structure. The second and third aims were to compare the factor structure across language and gender. Multiple group analysis across language revealed partial equivalence between the English and Spanish versions of the PDR. Multiple group analysis across gender revealed an equivalent factor structure for males and females. The final study aim was to determine whether the PDR could be used to identify distinct subgroups of children. Latent class analysis supported a 3-class solution, based on the severity of behavioral disturbance (i.e., low, moderate, severe). These findings collectively suggest that the PDR has sound psychometric properties when used with a diverse child welfare sample. Further, the measure is clinically valuable in that it can be used to identify youth that are at high risk for placement disruptions and escalation of externalizing problems. Additional implications for assessment, treatment, and future research in child welfare settings are discussed

The covalent attachment of ubiquitin to proteins is one of the most common regulatory mechanisms in mammalian cells. It regulates numerous cellular processes through a combination of proteolytic and non-proteolytic forms of ubiquitination. In a neuronal context, the UPS has long been implicated in a variety of neurological disorders, and more recently, in normal neuronal function. Given the potential importance of the UPS in a neuronal framework, a logical step towards better understanding the scope of its function in neurons would involve an examination of the neuronal targets of the UPS. This research began with a large-scale identification of ubiquitinated, neuronal proteins. Using transgenic, His-6-ubiquitin tagged mice, in combination with denaturing nickel-affinity chromatography, we were able to specifically enrich for large amounts of ubiquitinated proteins. We identified over 385 unique proteins, of which 278 passed stringent filters of potential false-positives. With an approximate proteome of 1200 proteins, we concluded that at least 25% of all synaptic proteins were ubiquitinated at a detectable level. Following the screen, I conducted a more in-depth analysis of the more interesting targets. One of the more promising candidates identified was stromal interaction molecule I (STIM1). Characterization of neuronal STIM1 revealed that it was expressed throughout development with stable levels of expression in mature neurons. Furthermore, subpopulations of STIM1 were identified on the surface of hippocampal neurons. Ectopically expressed STIM1 rapidly redistributed into punctate clusters in response to thapsigargin (TG)-induced store-depletion. Proteasome inhibitors significantly increase surface STIM1 levels and peak Ca2+ influx upon TG -induced SOCE. Additionally, overexpression of POSH, an E3 ligase, leads to a decrease in STIM1 surface populations. Together, these results provide compelling evidence for previously undescribed roles of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in the regulation of STIM1 and SOCE function. Examination of neuronal Rac1-GEF, kalirin-5, reveals that its stability is affected by CamKII and PP1/2 activity, in a proteasome-dependent manner. The role of kalirin-5 in the brain is yet unknown, but UPS-mediated regulation may provide a platform from which to pursue future studies

Biologists, lay adults, and children alike value causal explanations of how biological entities work. Despite this, elementary school science education has historically lacked mechanistic content. In line with recent science education standards, we investigated the effects of mechanistic learning goals on understanding of an in-depth lesson about how the heart works. Children ages 6 to 11 who were given mechanistic learning goals performed better on knowledge assessments of the heart lesson and enjoyed their learning goal more than children who were given a relatively superficial learning goal—to focus on labels. Thus, learning goals orienting children towards mechanistic content during lessons enhance science learning and enjoyment.

People generally prefer functional explanations over mechanistic ones. Why? One possibility is that people value functional information more. But another possibility is that people don't have an overall preference for functional explanations; Instead, people might just expect this information to precede mechanistic information. Here, we ask whether people have preferences for the order of functional and mechanistic information in explanations. In a first set of studies, we show that adults do in fact prefer that functional information precedes mechanistic. In a second set of studies, we show that people have a more general preference for explanations to address the whole before parts. Finally, we show that the preference for function to precede mechanism may be related to the broader whole-before-parts preference.

The law of product liability starts with the idea that a product should safely perform the function that it is for: a plaintiff can recover if she used the product for its intended purpose, but perhaps not if she misused the product. Previous work in psychology has suggested that people reason about artifacts in terms of their purpose. Yet, no work has tested the effect of misuse on judgment and decision-making, in particular in the context of product liability, or creator accountability. Two studies (N = 280, N = 282) show a robust effect of misuse on liability judgments, such that people are less likely to blame the creator in the case of misuse (vs. normal use). Additionally, both studies show a consistent pattern with regard to the role of individual differences in narrow teleology. When a product is misused, individual differences in teleology are strongly associated with liability judgments, but there is no such association when the product is used normally. This asymmetry suggests that judgments of misuse may be best explained in terms of what objects are for.

Learning frequently forces us to rely on the good judgment and epistemic vigilance of sources with no more firsthand knowledge of a topic than ourselves, but who may have more second or third- hand knowledge. Yet, being forced to rely on their judgment doesn’t prevent us from evaluating their judgment: one might trust information because it was passed on to you by someone whose epistemic vigilance you trust, but reject it from someone whom you believe lacks good judgment. We present two experiments suggest that by integrating affective cues like anger and surprise along with perceptual access and consensus, children infer what others believe and what the correct answer to a question is. We discuss implications for consensus-based social learning strategies.