Social class and models of agency: Independent and interdependent agency as educational (dis)advantage

Social class continues to be associated with achievement in school and attendance in university and higher education. This qualitative study explores this phenomenon, and reports three focus group interviews with middle and working class secondary school students, in Ireland. We explore cultural and identity factors in educational settings. Specifically, our analysis orients to the models of agency experienced by these students. Middle class participants express independent agency in education, through norms of choice, control, and freedom from constraints. In contrast, working class students orient towards an interdependent model of agency and express psychological, social, and material barriers to opportunity in education. However, independent neo‐liberal individualising and meritocratic discourses were expressed by both groups, suggesting the models are complicated and nuanced. Nevertheless, it is concluded that cultural fit and identity compatibility in educational settings, broadly, constitute middle class advantages and working class disadvantages.     

Attentional capture and inhibition (of return): the effect on perceptual sensitivity

The present study was designed to determine the spatial distribution of attention in displays in which an irrelevant color singleton was present. The results show that at the location of an irrelevant singleton, there is, first, an increased sensitivity (d'), followed later by a reduced sensitivity. The increased sensitivity implies that, first, the irrelevant singleton captured spatial attention, producing an increased sensory gain for input at the irrelevant distractor location. The later-occurring, reduced sensitivity implies the operation of inhibitory processes, possibly related to inhibition of return.     

The return of the erased: Memory and forgetfulness in Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004)

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind is a film about remembering and forgetting loss. This essay reads the film as an examination of mourning and melancholia, which are distinct ways of remembering and forgetting both a love object and its loss. Freud distinguished mourning from its pathological counterpart, melancholia, claiming that there is a normal way to grieve, mourning, and its degeneration into an abnormal pattern, melancholia. The author aims to make two points: firstly, that both processes are characterized by ambivalence and identification and therefore have some commonalities; secondly, that there is a difference between the two processes that is less apparent than the ones discussed by Freud. This is the difference between remembering a good and a bad object. Following Klein the author argues that this is a crucial qualitative difference between mourning and melancholia. She concludes that a central issue in grieving is not forgetting but remembering well.     

Teachers' and education students' perceptions of and reactions to children with and without the diagnostic label "ADHD"

Thirty-four elementary school teachers and 32 education students from Canada rated their reactions towards vignettes describing children who met attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom criteria that included or did not include the label “ADHD.” “ADHD”-labeled vignettes elicited greater perceptions of the child's impairment as well as more negative emotions and less confidence in the participants, although it also increased participants' willingness to implement treatment interventions. Ratings were similar to vignettes of boys versus girls; however, important differences in ratings between teachers and education students emerged and are discussed. Finally, we investigated the degree to which teachers' professional backgrounds influenced bias based on the label “ADHD.” Training specific to ADHD consistently predicted label bias, whereas teachers' experience working with children with ADHD did not.     

Diagnosis and Assessment of Depression and Suicidality Using the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-2.3)

The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-2.3) was studied in a sample of 265 adolescent inpatients to determine type and concurrent validity of depressive symptoms and depressive disorder diagnoses for different DISC-2.3 informants (parent, adolescent, both). The Children's Depression Rating Scale — Revised, Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS), Suicide Ideation Questionnaire — Junior, Spectrum of Suicide Behavior Scale, and clinical consensus diagnoses were used to assess concurrent validity. Results indicated that (1) parents, compared to adolescents, reported a higher prevalence of all depressive symptoms with the exception of weight change; (2) DISC-2.3 depressive and suicidality symptoms were related positively to independent validating criteria for all informant conditions, suggesting good concurrent validity; (3) the DISC-2.3 both informant condition correctly identified the most depressive disorders; and (4) the parent, but not the adolescent, DISC-2.3 Informant condition contributed to the prediction of clinical consensus diagnoses of depression after taking into account RADS scores.     

The participation of females in the labor force and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide)

This study explored the relationship between the participation of married women in the labor force, both part-time and full-time, and rates of personal violence (suicide and homicide) in the continental United States. The participation of married women in the labor force was related to homicide rates. Homicide rates were higher in states where a greater percentage of married women worked full-time. In contrast, suicide rates were more strongly related to indices of social integration (e.g., interstate migration and divorce rates). These results are discussed in terms of differences in social attitudes in the various regions of the United States and the stresses created by women's working.     

Eating disorder NOS (EDNOS): an example of the troublesome "not otherwise specified" (NOS) category in DSM-IV

The “Not Otherwise Specified” (NOS) category within DSM-IV is designed for disorders of clinical severity that are not specified within broad diagnostic classes. “NOS” diagnoses are intended to be residual categories and they tend to be neglected by researchers. This can be inappropriate. The problems associated with certain NOS diagnoses are well illustrated by “Eating Disorder NOS” (sometimes termed EDNOS), which is the most common category of eating disorder encountered in routine clinical practice yet it has barely been studied. Indeed, there has been no research on its treatment. Interim and longer-term conceptual and practical solutions to the anomalous status of eating disorder NOS are proposed including the creation of a new diagnosis termed “mixed eating disorder”. Several of these solutions are of relevance to NOS categories in general. All the solutions should fulfil criteria for clinical utility.     

Developing the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS): An empirical measure of agency disruption in hypnosis

Two experiments report on the construction of the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS), a new measure for quantifying alterations to agency. In Experiment 1, 370 participants completed a preliminary version of the scale following hypnosis. Factor analysis revealed two underlying factors: Involuntariness and Effortlessness. In Experiment 2, this two factor structure was confirmed in a sample of 113 low, medium and high hypnotisable participants. The two factors, Involuntariness and Effortlessness, correlated significantly with hypnotisability and pass rates for ideomotor, challenge and cognitive items. Twelve week test–retest correlations showed that Involuntariness was highly stable, but Effortlessness only moderately stable. Analysis of the combined datasets from Experiments 1 and 2 showed both SOARS scores were significantly related to the derived factors of Woody, Barnier, and McConkey’s (2005) 4-factor model of hypnotisability. This scale clarifies conceptual confusion around agentive action and provides empirical support for a multifactorial account of sense of agency.     

Impact of a training program in full consciousness (mindfulness) in the measure of growth and personal self-realization

This research focused on the impact of a full awareness (mindfulness) program on the sense of growth and personal self-realization in a sample of secondary school students. A randomized controlled design with an experimental group and waiting-list group was implemented. The Self-concept and Self-actualization Questionnaire (AURE) was used as dependent variable and was administrated before and after running the mindfulness program. The results show a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores on all factors and subfactors of the AURE. It is concluded that a program of meditation, focused on mindfulness training, may be a valid and appropriate instrument to improve a personal sense of self-realization and growth. It is also suggested that the use of such a program could be complementary with the Instructional-Emotive Program for Personal Growth and Self-realization (PIECAP) psycho-educational program.     

《易传》中"命"对"生"和"性"的统摄

就同一理论维度论,<易传>认为"生"、"性"同源于"命",即在"生"和"性"之间,"命"成为连接二者的契合点,"生"经由"命"转化为"性".<易传>讲"生"是基于阴阳"转易"的,由此出发则使"生生不已"成为"命"的基本内涵,而讲"性"则是基于"命"向万物之"顺承"的."命"的"生生不已"促成了"性"的积极有为,进而引领出一种乐观向上的人生态度.     

The impact of cognitive and psychiatric impairment of psychotic disorders on the test of memory malingering (TOMM)

The author analyzes the scores of inpatient psychiatric patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment who met criteria for a psychotic disorder on the following tests: the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition, Conner's Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version. Group 1 consisted of psychotic-disordered patients with significant concentration problems (concentration impersistence = 29). Group 2 consisted of psychotic disordered patients without significant concentration problems (no concentration impairment = 21). Although psychotic patients with concentration problems showed greater variability across TOMM trials, both groups obtained mean scores above 45 on Trial 2 and the retention trial on the TOMM. These findings indicate that cognitive impairment associated with psychosis generally does not negatively impair TOMM performance to such a level that would produce a false positive on the TOMM. Implications for forensic assessment, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.     

Happiness is a personal(ity) thing: the genetics of personality and well-being in a representative sample.

Subjective well-being is known to be related to personality traits. However, to date, nobody has examined whether personality and subjective well-being share a common genetic structure. We used a representative sample of 973 twin pairs to test the hypothesis that heritable differences in subjective well-being are entirely accounted for by the genetic architecture of the Five-Factor Model's personality domains. Results supported this model. Subjective well-being was accounted for by unique genetic influences from Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, and by a common genetic factor that influenced all five personality domains in the directions of low Neuroticism and high Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These findings indicate that subjective well-being is linked to personality by common genes and that personality may form an "affective reserve" relevant to set-point maintenance and changes in set point over time.     

The moderating roles of personal and social resources on the relationship between dual expectations (for instrumentality and expressiveness) and well-being

The authors examined the roles of self-esteem and perceived social support in moderating the relationship between dual social expectations (instrumentality and expressivity) and well-being. Participants were 166 female and 87 male students in an urban community in the midwestern United States. After the authors controlled for the main effects of instrumental and expressive expectations, social support, as predicted, moderated the relationship between dual expectations and well-being: With higher levels of social support, higher levels of dual expectations were associated with higher levels of well-being; with lower levels of social support, higher levels of dual expectations were associated with lower levels of well-being. Contrary to predictions, however, self-esteem did not moderate the relation between dual expectations and well-being. The discussion focuses on the importance of social resources in enhancing the potential benefits of dual expectations in interpersonal contexts.     

On the genesis of inflated (and deflated) judgments of responsibility

Prior research has found that people tend to overestimate their relative contribution to joint tasks [e.g., Ross, M., & Sicoly, F. (1979). Egocentric biases in availability and attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,37, 322–336]. The present research investigates one source of this bias, and in doing so, identifies an important moderator of the effect. Three studies demonstrate that when people estimate their relative contribution to collective endeavors they focus on their own contribution and give less consideration to the contribution of their collaborators. This can cause overestimation for tasks in which total contributions are plentiful, but underestimation for tasks in which total contributions are few—despite the fact that both tasks reflect positively on the person who performs them. These results extend Ross and Sicoly’s (1979) original analysis of bias in responsibility judgments, but also suggest that the tendency to overestimate one’s relative contribution to collaborations is not as ubiquitous as once thought.     

On the (In)Compatibility of Attitudes Toward Peace and War

Although attitudes toward peace and war are usually treated as two opposite poles of one dimension, in this article we argue that they may represent two distinct dimensions. To investigate this idea, we developed and tested a new balanced measure, the Attitudes Toward Peace and War (APW) Scale, in three studies (N = 4,742) in the United States and Denmark. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that attitudes toward peace and war formed two distinct, though negatively related, factors. Structural equation modeling showed that antecedents of attitudes toward peace included egalitarian ideological beliefs, the values of international harmony and equality, and empathic concern for others, and consequences included intentions to engage in peace‐related activities. On the other hand, antecedents of attitudes toward war included authoritarian ideological beliefs, the values of national strength and order, and less personal distress, and consequences included intentions to engage in warlike activities. Results also showed that political affiliation had an impact on the relationship between peace and war attitudes, with conservatives less likely to find the attitudes incompatible. The findings support the view that attitudes toward peace and war represent two distinct dimensions.     

The Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP): temporal stability and predictive validity of the diagnostic scales

The authors investigated the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of the diagnostic scales from the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP). Participants were identified from a sample of 240 undergraduates who completed the SNAP and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR) at Time 1. The authors selected 50 people who met criteria for a personality disorder (PD) based on the SNAP and 50 who did not qualify for a diagnosis. Eighty-three of these people completed the SNAP and the SAS-SR for a second time approximately 9 months after initial screening. SNAP PD scales were relatively stable over time. Test-retest correlation coefficients ranged from .58 to .81. Scores on diagnostic scales for paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal PD were inversely related to self-reported levels of adjustment for social roles concerned with work as a student, leisure activities, and relationships with family. The results provide some evidence for the validity of the SNAP     

The diagnostic utility of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-71 (SCARED-71)

Objective

This study investigated the diagnostic utility of the 71-item Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-71), as a screening tool for identifying anxiety disorders in youth aged 8-18 years.

Method

The SCARED-71 and the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS) were administered to clinically referred anxious children (n = 138) and control children (n = 38) as well as their parents.

Results

Results showed that the SCARED-71 differentiated clinically anxious from control children on the total score and on all subscales. Girls generally reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms and there were also significant age effects for various anxiety subscales. Further, reliable cut-off scores were established for the child and parent version of the SCARED-71. The parent version displayed better sensitivity and specificity, and therefore seems to be a more optimal screen for anxiety problems in children and adolescents. Finally, evidence for the predictive validity across anxiety disorders was found.

Conclusion

The SCARED-71 can be used as a screening tool to detect clinically significant anxiety problems in children and adolescents and discriminates reasonably well among specific anxiety disorders.     

Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and Kernberg's theory of personality organization related to adolescents in psychiatric care

75 adolescent psychiatric patients were diagnosed with the perceptual projective test the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and also according to Kernberg's theory of personality organization (PO). The test protocols were scored in respect of 130DMT variables and analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis. The objective was to try to separate the three types of PO, psychotic (PPO), borderline (BPO) and neurotic (NPO) by means of the DMT and also to compare the results with a similar study on adult psychiatric patients. The results showed that it is possible to separate significantly the three groups of PO. The BPO group seemed to be heterogeneous. The results were fairly similar to those obtained with adult psychiatric patients. The overall results supported the concurrent validity of Kernberg's theory of PO and for the DMT as well. The DMT seems to be a useful diagnostic method in respect of adolescent psychiatric patients.