Alcohol norms are strong predictors of drinking. However, the extent to which norms influence behavior depends on how closely people attend to them; people are more likely to attend to norms when their affiliation needs are unfulfilled by members of their social networks (Cullum, O'Grady, & Tennen, 2011). Therefore, we predicted that Perceived Social Support (PSS) would moderate the relationship between norms and drinking such that people with low levels of PSS would be more motivated to attend to norms. College students (N = 498) completed measures of PSS and peer alcohol norms and then reported on their drinking behavior daily for 30 days. As predicted, we found when PSS was low, student drinking was strongly influenced by peer norms, but there was no relationship between norms and drinking when PSS was high. Findings suggest that when affiliation needs are high, norms are more influential on drinking behavior.

We report one study investigating how persons are categorized when the targets are presented with contextual cues. Using photos of either persons in occupational clothing and in occupational contexts or photos of college students and without distracting stimuli, the response times to verify various group memberships were tested, with the underlying interest of determining how persons are perceived when the persons are clearly members of multiple categories. Consistent with past research, when using rather simplistic photos, women were categorized as women faster than men were categorized as men. With occupational photos, however, women were not categorized as women faster than men were as men, nor were men categorized by occupation faster than were women, contrary to predictions derived from the 'white male default' (Zárate & Smith, 1990). Rather, for female stereotypic occupations, female targets were classified by occupation faster than were male stereotypic occupations, male targets were classified by occupation faster than were female targets. Across all comparisons, subjects categorized same-sex targets faster than other sex targets. Results are discussed for their implications for various person perception models.

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In Louisiana, 33% of adolescents and 28% of children are overweight or obese (Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, 2011). It is projected that as many as 24,000 more children in Louisiana may become obese by 2020 if the trend continues (Broyles et al, 2011). Researchers have identified several strategies to address overweight among youth, but more work needs to be done in our classrooms to teach university students the skills necessary to become real-world ready for working with children and adolescents who struggle with weight management.