Recollection improves with age: children’s and adults’ accounts of their childhood experiences

ABSTRACT

Since the time of Freud, psychologists have drawn conclusions about children’s memory on the basis of retrospective research with adults. Here, we turn the tables by examining what prospective studies with children and adolescents can tell us about the retrospective memory accounts provided by adults. Adults were interviewed about recent events and events from different points during their childhood (Age 5, Age 10) and early adolescence (Age 13). Children (5- and 8- to 9-year-olds) and young adolescents (12- to 13-year-olds) were interviewed about recent events. When matched for age at the time of encoding, adults recalled more about the target events than did 5-year-olds, even though the retention interval for adults was substantially longer. We conclude that retrospective studies with adults may lead researchers to overestimate the content of the early childhood memories that survive. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for an understanding of memory development and the practical implications for the interpretation of adults’ retrospective accounts in the courtroom.     

“This phone saved my life”: Older persons’ experiences and appraisals of an mHealth intervention aimed at addressing loneliness

This qualitative study aimed to explore older persons’ experiences and appraisals of the utility of an mHealth intervention for reducing their sense of loneliness. Participants (n = 13; 86.42% females; age range 65 to 87 years) received training in the use of a smartphone and a social networking application (WhatsApp). Following the intervention, they completed a focus group discussion. For data triangulation, participants shared their social media postings. Content analysis of the focus group discussion and social media data indicated that the mobile device was used to mitigate perceptions of loneliness and isolation, thus facilitating social network building, enhancing self-efficacy, and improving cognitive flexibility. Mobile phones and a social networking application appear to reduce loneliness experienced by the elderly.     

Influence of African American elders’ age stereotypes on their cardiovascular response to stress

Abstract

Although it has been shown that White elders are vulnerable to the influence of age stereotypes, it was not known whether this effect applied to African American elders. In the present study, African American elders were randomly assigned to negative or positive implicit-age-stereotype groups. Compared to participants in the positive age-stereotype group, those in the negative age-stereotype group demonstrated significantly more elevated cardiovascular response to stress, as measured by blood pressure and heart rate following mental challenges. These results suggest that negative age stereotypes generate a susceptibility to stress among African American elders, whereas positive age may provide them with a defense against this stress.     

South African Hindu Psychologists’ Perceptions of Mental Illness

Conceptualisations of mental illness are not universally applicable, as culture shapes the expression, perceptions and treatment preferences thereof. By focusing on the perceptions of Hindu psychologists regarding mental illness, this study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the impact that religious beliefs have on such conceptualisations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Hindu psychologists around the Johannesburg area, South Africa. Responses were analysed using thematic content analysis. From the findings, it was evident that religion plays a critical role in the understanding and treatment of mental illness. Hindu beliefs around psychological disturbances were salient. Additionally, it was found that a tension existed between psychologists’ awareness of the influential function of religion, particularly amongst collectivistic communities such as the Hindu community, and their occupational understandings and practices, which are deeply rooted in Western thought. Furthermore, it was suggested that the fear of stigma prevented Hindu clients from reaping the benefits of seeking help from culturally competent psychologists.     

African parents’ estimates of their own and their children’s multiple intelligences

A total of 421 parents from four Southern African countries (Nambia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) estimated their own and their children’s multiple intelligences. There were consistent country and sex differences in self-estimates. Nambians tended to give lowest self-estimates and Zambians highest self-estimates. Contrary to previous findings from other continents females gave higher self-estimates than males on all seven multiple intelligences. These results were mirrored in the estimation of children: females gave higher scores than males and Zambians gave highest estimates and Nambians lowest. Reasons for these findings are discussed.     

The ‘coming of age’ for Southern African psychobiography

This study investigated the effects of perceived values (personal, artistic, and sociocultural) of tourists’ attitude and behavioural intention to visit Africa. Participants were tourists (176 men and 124 women) who visited the Museum of African Art based on Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. Results, following hierarchical analysis, suggest personal value and sociocultural value rather than artistic value to predict tourists’ attitude and behavioural intention to visit Africa. The findings of this study imply that personal and sociocultural predispositions lead to the tourists’ likely adoption of a tourist destination beyond familiarities with artistic works associated with the destination. Tourism promotion campaigns aimed at promoting African as a destination should customise messages to address the personal and sociocultural predispositions of would-be international tourists.     

Mobile phone use while driving: An investigation of the beliefs influencing drivers’ hands-free and hand-held mobile phone use

This study explored the psychological influences of hands-free and hand-held mobile phone use while driving. Participants were 796 Australian drivers aged 17–76 years who owned mobile phones. A cross-sectional survey assessed frequency of calling and text messaging while driving (overall, hands-free, hand-held) as well as drivers’ behavioural, normative, and control beliefs relating to mobile phone use while driving. Irrespective of handset type, 43% of drivers reported answering calls while driving on a daily basis, followed by making calls (36%), reading text messages (27%), and sending text messages (18%). In total, 63.9% of drivers did not own hands-free kits and, of the drivers that owned hand-free kits, 32% did not use it most or all of the time. Significant differences were found in the behavioural, normative, and control beliefs of frequent and infrequent users of both types of handset while driving. As expected, frequent users reported more advantages of, more approval from others for, and fewer barriers that would prevent them from, using either a hands-free or a hand-held mobile phone while driving than infrequent users. Campaigns to reduce mobile phone use while driving should attempt to minimise the perceived benefits of the behaviour and highlight the risks of this unsafe driving practice.     

Therapists’ experiences with internal representations of clients

Fourteen therapists were interviewed via telephone regarding their experience of “carrying around” their clients with them between sessions (i.e. internal representations, or IRs, of clients), a phenomenon about which little empirically based knowledge exists. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. Findings indicated that overall, therapists have IRs infrequently, most often have IRs of clients struggling with severe or challenging presenting problems, and do receive some training about IRs. When describing a specific IR experience, therapists typically noted a strong therapy relationship, and stated that the IRs typically had specific triggers. The IRs generally consisted of feelings about the client, and typically consisted of thoughts about the client or the felt presence of the client. The IRs generally yielded positive effects, typically both personally and professionally, and were typically discussed with supervisors/consultants. Implications for research, training, and practice are presented.     

Delayed disclosure of disability related needs: Experiences of “at-risk” students in a South African university

The present study explored disability disclosure influences on university students, and specifically the types of supports the students perceive to need. Informants were three differently abled students (female = 1 and males = 2). They participated in semi-structured and focus group interviews on their delayed disability disclosure. Thematic analysis of the data revealed students to contend with inaccessibility of information on support mechanisms, low self-confidence, stigma and doubt, and embarrassment to negotiate support. To best support students with disabilities in their disability disclosure, student counselling services should prioritise dealing with their anxieties and follow this up by supporting them in balancing their disability and academic needs.     

Older adults’ experiences of internet-based vestibular rehabilitation for dizziness: A longitudinal study

Objective: Factors influencing engagement with self-managed rehabilitation are not well understood, but evidence suggests they may change over time. Despite increasing digitalisation of self-managed interventions, little is known about the role of internet-based interventions in patients’ experiences of self-directed rehabilitation. This longitudinal qualitative study investigated individuals’ ongoing experiences of internet-guided, self-managed rehabilitation within the context of rehabilitation for dizziness.

Methods: Eighteen adults aged fifty and over who experienced dizziness used the ‘Balance Retraining’ internet intervention for six weeks. Participants took part in semi-structured telephone interviews at two-week intervals to explore their experiences. Data were inductively thematically analysed.

Results: The internet intervention was reported to facilitate engagement with rehabilitation exercises, providing motivation to continue through symptom reduction and simple but helpful strategies. It was perceived as informative, reassuring, visually pleasing and easy to use. Barriers to engagement included practicalities, symptoms and doubts about exercise efficacy. Participants’ perceptions did not always remain consistent over time.

Conclusion: The internet intervention may be a feasible method of supporting self-managed vestibular rehabilitation. More generally, longitudinal findings suggest that appearance-related perceptions of online interventions may be especially important for initial engagement. Furthermore, intervention features targeting self-efficacy seem important in overcoming barriers to engagement.     

Parents’ satisfaction with their child’s first year of school

A group of university and vocationally educated parents (n=486) were requested to evaluate their satisfaction with their childs first school year, and they were also asked to recall the positive and negative events from their childs academic year. Both structured and open-ended measures consistently revealed that parents were quite satisfied with the functioning of their childs school. Parents social–psychological distance from the school, as measured by their social positions in the education hierarchy, tended to structure parental satisfaction: the mothers, and especially the university-educated parents, indicated the highest level of satisfaction, and these groups emphasized both positive and negative recollections; the group farthest from the school turned out be the vocationally educated fathers. Our results highlighted the teacher: the recollections concerning the teachers were evenly distributed into positive and negative accounts, and negative recollections regarding teachers and home-school cooperation in particular affected parents overall satisfaction. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for educational policy.     

Humour is serious: Minority group members’ use of humour in their encounters with majority group members

This article adds to the social psychological literature on how minority group members seek to manage their interactions with majority group members. Specifically, it focuses on minority group members’ use of humour in interactions where they anticipate or actually experience prejudice. The data on which our analysis is based originate from interviews conducted with Roma in Hungary (N = 30). Asked about their interactions with majority group members, interviewees reported using humour as a means to (a) manage embarrassment; (b) gather information about the other's intergroup attitudes; and (c) subvert taken-for-granted understandings of social relations. The humour involved was diverse. Sometimes it entailed the telling of (Roma-related) jokes. Sometimes it involved the exaggerated performance of roles and identities that ironised majority–minority social relations. The significance of humour as a tool for minority group members to exert some control over their interactions with majority group members is discussed.     

Practitioners’ perspectives on the use of clinical supervision in their therapeutic engagement with asylum seekers and refugee clients

The present study is the first study undertaken in Australia that seeks to explore practitioners’ perspectives on the use of clinical supervision in their therapeutic engagement with asylum seekers and refugees. We used thematic analysis to analyse extracts of interviews that were conducted with nine professionals who worked therapeutically with asylum seekers and refugees and had experience of participating in individual and peer supervision. The findings of the study suggest that supervision encouraged practitioners to develop multicultural awareness and explore therapeutic ways of working that are compatible with their clients’ frame. In addition, supervision provided the context in which practitioners explored the impact of the asylum legislative framework on their clinical work and reflected upon their feelings of powerlessness and political impotence. Implications for practice that derive from supervisory needs of practitioners who work with asylum seekers and refugees are explored.     

First-time mothers’ experiences of meaningfulness during their third trimester of pregnancy: A focus on spirituality

This study sought to gain in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of first-time mothers during their third trimester of pregnancy. The non-probability, purposive sample were Afrikaans speaking first-time mothers aged between 22 and 40 years. Data on their experiences of meaningfulness during their pregnancy were collected using the Mmogo-Method® and reflective journals. The data were thematically analyzed combining textual data and visual depictions. This group of first-time mothers expressed a very personal relationship with a Divine reality that they rely on and derive meaningfulness from their pregnancy and birthing experiences. They perceived a Divine reality as the giver of life and that they were given a responsibility to carry new life. Sense of meaningfulness during pregnancy was strongly associated with spirituality.     

A survey of neuropsychologists’ use of validity tests with children and adolescents

A web-based survey of validity test use by North American neuropsychologists was conducted, with 282 participants meeting inclusion criteria. Respondents indicated that they use a median of one stand-alone performance validity test (PVT), one embedded PVT, and one symptom validity test (SVT) per pediatric assessment. The vast majority of respondents indicated they give at least one PVT (92%) and at least one SVT (88%) during each pediatric assessment. A meaningful difference in validity use (i.e., at least a medium effect size) was only found for those who engage in forensic work, with those clinicians giving more stand-alone PVTs than those who do not conduct forensic work. The most frequently used validity measures in pediatric assessments are presented, as are reasons participants reported for both using and not using validity tests. Limitations and qualitative comparisons to other surveys on validity test use with adults are discussed.     

A response to Nguyen’s article, ‘Identification: A qualitative study of the experiences of bilingual therapists with their monolinguals and bilingual clients’

Noticing a certain lack of reflections directly related to language per se, I emphasise and discuss the importance of language issues in any bilingual or multilingual therapy. I try to illustrate this both with some of the existing literature on the subject and by offering my own take on some of the comments made by the interviewees.     

Older adults’ perceptions of ageing and their health and functioning: a systematic review of observational studies

Many older people perceive ageing negatively, describing it in terms of poor or declining health and functioning. These perceptions may be related to older adults’ health. The aim of this review was to synthesise existing research on the relationship between older adults’ perceptions of ageing and their health and functioning. A systematic search was conducted of five electronic databases (ASSIA, CINAHL, IBSS, MEDLINE and PsycINFO). Citations within identified reports were also searched. Observational studies were included if they included perceptions of ageing and health-related measures involving participants aged 60 years and older. Study selection, data extraction and quality appraisal were conducted using predefined criteria. Twenty-eight reports met the criteria for inclusion. Older adults’ perceptions of ageing were assessed with a variety of measures. Perceptions were related to health and functioning across seven health domains: memory and cognitive performance, physical and physiological performance, medical conditions and outcomes, disability, care-seeking, self-rated health, quality of life and death. How ageing is perceived by older adults is related to their health and functioning in multiple domains. However, higher quality and longitudinal studies are needed to further investigate this relationship.     

African American, White and Latino Fathers’ Activities with their Sons and Daughters in Early Childhood

We examined the activities that low-income, ethnically diverse fathers of sons versus daughters engage in with their children in the preschool years. African American, Latino, and White fathers (N?=?426) from research sites across the United States, were interviewed about their caregiving, play, literacy, and visiting activities when their children were 2?years, 3?years, and preschool age. Fathers of boys engaged more frequently in physical play than fathers of girls, whereas fathers of girls engaged more frequently in literacy activities. Moreover, gendered patterns of father engagement were already evident at the 2-year assessment, suggesting that fathers channel their children toward gender-typed activities well before their children have a clear understanding of gender roles. Ethnic differences were also found in fathers’ activities with children, and child gender moderated ethnic patterns of behavior. For example, Black fathers of sons reported the highest levels of engagement in caregiving, play and visiting activities, and both Latino and African American fathers of sons engaged in more visiting activities compared to White fathers of sons. Fathers’ education and marital status were also associated with fathers’ activities. Married fathers and those with a high school diploma more frequently engaged in literacy activities than unmarried fathers without a diploma; moreover, although Latino fathers engaged less in caregiving activities than African American and White fathers, this difference attenuated after controlling for differences in fathers’ education. The activities children share with their fathers vary by child gender, race/ethnicity, and family circumstances and offer insight into early gendered experiences in the family.