Self-focused attention and the processing of threat-related information

Subjects colour-named sets of threat content words and neutral control words, under conditions of high or low self-awareness. Threat words were colour-named more slowly than neutral words, under conditions of high self-awareness. This does not support the hypothesis that self-referential material is preferentially processed.     

Visual and verbal modes of information processing and cognitively-based coping strategies: An extension and replication

This study was designed to investigate the interaction between the use of an imaginallybased vs a verbally-based coping strategy with subjects who were selected on the basis of strong preferences for either visual or verbal modes of information processing. Forty-eight female students were subjected to a cold-pressor task. Measures of pain tolerance, pain threshold and a pain rating were obtained. The findings indicated that there was not a significant relationship between preferred cognitive style and the types of coping strategy provided. However, the treatments combined were found to be significantly more effective than the no-treatment condition on all three dependent measures. A structured debriefing revealed that use of visual vs verbal coping strategies did not differ as a function of treatment type or preferred cognitive style. It was concluded that individuals may demonstrate considerable flexibility in adapting to different types of cognitively-based coping strategies.     

Compatibility and the use of information processing strategies

When a prominent attribute looms larger in one response procedure than in another, a violation of procedure invariance occurs. A hypothesis based on compatibility between the structure of the input information and the required output was tested as an explanation of this phenomenon. It was also compared with other existing hypotheses in the field. The study had two aims: (1) to illustrate the prominence effect in a selection of preference tasks (choice, acceptance decisions, and preference ratings); (2) to demonstrate the processing differences in a matching procedure versus the selected preference tasks. Hence, verbal protocols were collected in both a matching task and in subsequent preference tasks. Silent control conditions were also employed. The structure compatibility hypothesis was confirmed in that a prominence effect obtained in the preference tasks was accompanied by a lower degree of attention to the attribute levels in these tasks. Furthermore, as predicted from the structure compatibility hypothesis, it was found that fewer comparisons between attribute levels were performed in the preference tasks than in the matching task. It was therefore concluded that both these processing differences may explain the occurrence of the prominence effects. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment and the processing of social information across the life span: theory and evidence

Researchers have used J. Bowlby's (1969/1982, 1973, 1980, 1988) attachment theory frequently as a basis for examining whether experiences in close personal relationships relate to the processing of social information across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We present an integrative life-span-encompassing theoretical model to explain the patterns of results that have emerged from these studies. The central proposition is that individuals who possess secure experience-based internal working models of attachment will process--in a relatively open manner--a broad range of positive and negative attachment-relevant social information. Moreover, secure individuals will draw on their positive attachment-related knowledge to process this information in a positively biased schematic way. In contrast, individuals who possess insecure internal working models of attachment will process attachment-relevant social information in one of two ways, depending on whether the information could cause the individual psychological pain. If processing the information is likely to lead to psychological pain, insecure individuals will defensively exclude this information from further processing. If, however, the information is unlikely to lead to psychological pain, then insecure individuals will process this information in a negatively biased schematic fashion that is congruent with their negative attachment-related experiences. In a comprehensive literature review, we describe studies that illustrate these patterns of attachment-related information processing from childhood to adulthood. This review focuses on studies that have examined specific components (e.g., attention and memory) and broader aspects (e.g., attributions) of social information processing. We also provide general conclusions and suggestions for future research.     

An information processing view of framing effects: The role of causal schemas in decision making

People prefer a sure gain to a probable larger gain when the two choices are presented from a gain perspective, but a probable larger loss to a sure loss when the objectively identical choices are presented from a loss perspective. Such reversals of preference due to the context of the problem are known asframing effects. In the present study, schema activation and subjects’ interpretations of the problems were examined as sources of the framing effects. Results showed that such effects could be eliminated by introducing into a problem a causal schema that provided a rationale for the reciprocal relationship between the gains and the losses. Moreover, when subjects were freed from framing they were consistently risk seeking in decisions about human life, but risk averse in decisions about property. Irrationality in choice behaviors and the ecological implication of framing effects are discussed.     

Consumer information processing strategies in middle and late adulthood

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which performance of a complex cognitive task of a type resembling that encountered in everyday life is maintained through adulthood. A total of 80 subjects participated; 20 in their thirties, 20 in their fifties, 20 in their sixties, and 20 in their seventies. Subjects were asked to make preference judgments with respect to 32 pocket-size notebooks of a sort they might encounter as consumers in a stationery or variety store. Independently, they were also asked to express their preferences with respect to each of the four dimensions on which the notebooks varied. With only minor differences across age groups, most subjects demonstrated the ability to integrate their individual dimension preferences into a complex preference judgment of an object embodying those dimensions, in a logically consistent manner.     

Neural substrates involved in the cognitive information processing in teleost fish

Animal Cognition - Over the last few decades, it has been shown that fish, comprising the largest group of vertebrates and in many respects one of the least well studied, possess many cognitive...     

Attachment and motivational strategies in adolescence: exploring links

Within the framework of attachment theory and of motivation goal theory, this study explored the relation between quality of attachment strategies and quality of motivational strategies in a sample of young adolescents. Specifically, this study examined patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and emotions as they related to representations of attachment and motivational functioning in situations that challenge or threaten three psychological needs (emotional security, competence, and autonomy). Forty-four students, aged 11 to 14 years, responded to imagined stressful situations in order to: (a) assess attachment strategies; (b) identify and assess students' motivational strategies in stressful classroom circumstances; (c) assess motivational strategies of students with high and low control and agency beliefs; and (d) examine the relations between attachment and motivational strategies. Four distinct action patterns were identified: flexible action, rigid action, passive behavior, and disorganized behavior. Significant relations were found between control beliefs and motivational strategies, as well as a trend toward relations between attachment and motivational strategies, suggesting that secure adolescents show more constructive motivational strategies and less disorganized strategies when compared to insecure adolescents.     

Reliance on schemas in source memory: age differences and similarity of schemas

The present study has examined the effects of source-schema-consistency, schematic distinctiveness and encoding time of schematic information on source memory of younger and older adults. Participants were administered a source memory test, in which two sources presented statements that were congruent with, incongruent with or irrelevant to sources' professions. Professions of sources were schematically similar or distinct, and they were revealed before or after the presentation of items. The results yielded that revelation of profession information before presentation of items enhanced source memory for incongruent items. Aging was associated with a general decrease in source monitoring processes. Participants who were assigned to similar-source condition and had their schemas activated before learning phase had higher source monitoring scores. Results are discussed in relation to source monitoring framework and aging of memory.     

Attachment patterns and emotion regulation strategies in the second year

With the aim of studying the relationship between methods of emotion regulation and quality of attachment we examined 39 infants with different patterns of attachment, of whom 20 were classified as secure (B), 12 as avoidant (A) and 7 as resistant (C), assessing the regulatory strategies adopted by them during the Strange Situation at 13 months. Secure infants used strategies of positive social engagement more than insecure avoidant infants, while resistant infants displayed greater negative social engagement and less object orientation than the other two groups. Avoidant infants adopted positive and negative hetero-regulatory strategies less than the other groups, also differing from resistant infants in their greater use of object regulatory strategies. There were no significant differences as regards self-comforting regulation. Thus, the findings showed how the most significant differences to emerge between the groups concerned hetero-regulatory strategies, developed by the infant in interaction with attachment figures, and regulatory strategies oriented towards objects. Further analysis showed how the use by part of each attachment group of the emotion regulation strategies varies, differentiating the episodes of the SSP according to their level of stress.     

Detachment and coping: The construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies

The present study describes the construction and validation of a new scale for measuring coping strategies entitled the Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). Earlier studies had suggested that there were three primary coping components: task, emotion, and avoidance. In part, the validation of the CSQ confirmed these results, extracting factors concerned with problem-solving (Rational Coping, RATCOP), emotion (Emotional Coping, EMCOP) and avoidance (Avoidance Coping, AVCOP). However, a new factor was uncovered which tapped distancing or detachment (Detached Coping, DETCOP). Subsequent analyses suggested a grouping of two adaptive (RATCOP and DETCOP) and two maladaptive (EMCOP and AVCOP) coping styles, which was confirmed by the concurrent validation of the scale using the Emotional Control Questionnaire.     

Children's self-reported coping strategies: the role of defensiveness and repressive adaptation

This study examined differences in self-reported coping strategies across children classified according to Weinberger et al.'s (1979) adaptive style paradigm. Consistent with the larger literature, it was hypothesized that repressors (i.e. characterized by high self-reported defensiveness and low self-reported distress) would endorse fewer behaviorally and cognitively avoidant coping strategies than other adaptive style groups. Participants included 134 children, ranging in age from 10 to 13 (M=11.26, sd=.59), who completed measures of defensiveness, trait anxiety, and coping. Consistent with the hypotheses, results indicated significantly lower endorsement of avoidant coping strategies, and significantly higher endorsement of approach-oriented strategies among repressors, but no significant differences across adaptive style groups for other forms of coping. Results indicate that, consistent with other indicators of psychological functioning, the measurement of coping strategies is subject to the effects of socially desirable responding. Further, results provide evidence that measures of coping may be contaminated by items reflecting adjustment problems.     

Defense mechanisms and coping strategies in conjugal relationships: An integration

Coping strategies and defence mechanisms are used to describe people's responses to stressful situations. The concept of coping strategies comes from the social psychological tradition, whereas the concept of defence mechanisms comes from the psychoanalytic tradition. According to the traditional view, the two concepts are very different. However, recently, a growing number of researchers suggested that coping strategies and defence mechanisms are more interrelated than what was assumed previously. This study was aimed at documenting the relationship between both concepts in the context of predicting adjustment in a specific situation, marital relationships, one of the most well‐suited situations to investigate people's responses to stressful situations. The sample consisted of 157 couples. Each partner completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, the Defense Style Questionnaire, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Two theoretical models, the independence model and the effectiveness model, accounting for the relationship between coping strategies and defence mechanisms were first tested, using confirmatory factor analyses. According to the independence hypothesis, one latent dimension should measure defence mechanisms and the other latent dimension should measure coping strategies. According to the effectiveness hypothesis, coping strategies and defence mechanisms could vary along two dimensions: adaptive and maladaptive ways of dealing with marital difficulties. Results revealed that the effectiveness hypothesis was a better representation of the relationship between the two concepts than the independence hypothesis. The unique contribution of defence mechanisms and coping strategies to the prediction of marital adjustment was next examined using multiple regression analyses. Again, results were generally congruent with the effectiveness hypothesis. Positive and negative relationships with marital adjustment were observed for both concepts. In addition, coping strategies did not result in more positive outcomes on marital adjustment than defence mechanisms. It seems that coping strategies and defence mechanisms have both their specificity and their shared characteristics.     

Trait vulnerability and coping strategies in the transition to motherhood

Using a prospective design, we explored the role of approach and emotional/avoidance-coping strategies in the relations between dependent and self-critical trait vulnerabilities and postpartum depressive symptoms among first-time mothers. It was assumed that dependency and self-criticism associate with approach and emotional/ avoidance strategies respectively, and that approach-coping strategies moderate trait vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms after childbirth. One hundred forty-six first pregnancy participants were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy and eight weeks postpartum. Dependency was found to associate positively with high approach and low emotional/avoidance-coping strategies, while self-criticism was found to correlate positively with high emotional/avoidance and low approachcoping strategies. In addition, approach-coping scores were found to moderate selfcritical trait vulnerability, reducing self-critical participants' depressive symptoms, thus confirming the coping effectiveness hypothesis. Results suggest that personality dispositions may affect the selection of coping processes, but that specific coping strategies are effective beyond personality characteristics, moderating the association between trait vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms. We propose a model in which self-criticism functions as vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the childbearing period. Our results illustrate the need to distinguish dependent and selfcritical personality traits, and point to the need to integrate personality and contextual factors in the study of childbirth depressive symptoms.     

Trait vulnerability and coping strategies in the transition to motherhood

Using a prospective design, we explored the role of approach and emotional/avoidance-coping strategies in the relations between dependent and self-critical trait vulnerabilities and postpartum depressive symptoms among first-time mothers. It was assumed that dependency and self-criticism associate with approach and emotional/ avoidance strategies respectively, and that approach-coping strategies moderate trait vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms after childbirth. One hundred forty-six first pregnancy participants were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy and eight weeks postpartum. Dependency was found to associate positively with high approach and low emotional/avoidance-coping strategies, while self-criticism was found to correlate positively with high emotional/avoidance and low approachcoping strategies. In addition, approach-coping scores were found to moderate selfcritical trait vulnerability, reducing self-critical participants' depressive symptoms, thus confirming the coping effectiveness hypothesis. Results suggest that personality dispositions may affect the selection of coping processes, but that specific coping strategies are effective beyond personality characteristics, moderating the association between trait vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms. We propose a model in which self-criticism functions as vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the childbearing period. Our results illustrate the need to distinguish dependent and selfcritical personality traits, and point to the need to integrate personality and contextual factors in the study of childbirth depressive symptoms.     

Antenatal predictors and use of coping strategies in labour

Abstract

One aim of antenatal preparation is developing coping strategies for use (luring labour. However, the existing literature suggests that attendance at classes is not associated with lower pain or distress, possibly because receiving training cannot be assumed to be associated with subsequent practice.

This study aimed to assess whether attenders at classes actually used their taught strategies in their labours, whether use was associated with psychological benefits and whether antenatal measures could predict subsequent use. Concepts from the theories of planned behaviour and self efficacy were used to attempt to predict use of three types of coping strategy.

Use was high for breathing strategies but poor for relaxation and posture. Proportion of use of breathing and relaxation showed weak associations with lower fear. Whilst intentions did act as significant predictors for use of posture and relaxation only small proportions of the variance were accounted for and other antenatal measures showed little predictive capacity.

Reasons why women in labour may fail to take behavioural consequences from their antenatal beliefs are considered. Predicting health-related behaviours where maintenance rather than just initiation is involved may require greater consideration of intra-situational and emotional factors. Modifications of antenatal preparation to facilitate use of strategies are discussed.     

Family perceptions and coping strategies in cases of intersexuality: understanding their significance

Considering that the intersexual condition has a negative impact on the individual, their family, and society, health professionals and researchers have dedicated themselves to is to describe and understand the perceptions of primary caregivers regarding intersexuality and its developmental aspects. Six mothers and one grandmother of school age children were interviewed. The data indicated that living with the stigma of intersexuality can mean a permanent state of crisis within the family system. Issues such as guilt about the child's suffering and questions related to the choice of gender follow the family from the moment of diagnosis. It is suggested that the therapeutic follow-up should foster the necessary conditions for the family group to be organized as a model of competence, replacing the model of guilt.