We extend decades of research on infants' visual processing by examining their eye gaze during viewing of natural scenes. We examined the eye movements of a racially diverse group of 4- to 12-month-old infants (N = 54; 27 boys; 24 infants were White and not Hispanic, 30 infants were African American, Asian American, mixed race and/or Hispanic) as…

To successfully navigate an uncertain world, one has to learn the relationship between cues (e.g., wind speed, atmospheric pressure) and outcomes (e.g., rain). When learning, it is possible to actively manipulate the cue values to test hypotheses about this relationship directly. Across two studies, we investigated how 5- to 7-year-olds actively…

Youth purpose has important implications for behavior and well-being, yet there is limited information about the types of purpose that young people pursue. The current study contributes insight into the content of purpose through a survey of 316 adolescents and young adults. Analyses of responses revealed that young people rated their purposes as…

Establishing college-degree programs for prison inmates is an evidence-based effective instructional strategy in reducing recidivism. Evaluating academic arenas as a resource to improve behavior and levels of functioning within correctional facilities is a necessary component of inmate academic programs. The purpose of this quantitative,…

A research study surveyed 946 volunteers from congregations who were actively involved in community service, as well as 3,959 other congregational attenders who were not involved in volunteer service, to understand the relationship between service learning and faith development. Findings show that service-learning is powerfully related to a mature…