Inclusion: Conceptualization and measurement

In the present research, we introduced a conceptual framework of inclusion and subsequently used this as a starting point to develop and validate a scale to measure perceptions of inclusion. Departing from existing work on inclusion and complementing this with theoretical insights from optimal distinctiveness theory and self‐determination theory, we proposed that inclusion is a hierarchical two‐dimensional concept consisting of perceptions of belonging and authenticity. In addition, we posed that in the process of inclusion, it is the group rather than the individual that has primary agency. From this conceptualization, we developed and validated the 16‐item perceived group inclusion scale (PGIS). Data from two samples supported our proposed configuration of inclusion. In addition, the PGIS appeared to be a reliable measure of inclusion and was demonstrated to possess both nomological and predictive validity. Taken together, this research contributes to the conceptual refinement of the inclusion construct and offers researchers a reliable and valid tool to conduct future inclusion research. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conceptualization and measurement of temporal focus: The subjective experience of the past,present, and future

Temporal focus is the attention individuals devote to thinking about the past, present, and future, and the concept is important because it affects how people incorporate perceptions about past experiences, current situations, and future expectations into their attitudes, cognitions, and behavior. However, temporal focus has not been clearly defined nor situated in a nomological network of constructs. In addition, existing measures of temporal focus suffer from various shortcomings. In this paper, we advance the concept of temporal focus by critically examining its conceptualization, developing a new measure of temporal focus (Temporal Focus Scale; TFS), and evaluating the validity (i.e., construct, convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity) of the TFS across four studies. We conclude that understanding how individuals focus their attention toward the past, present, and future clarifies their responses to explicit and implicit temporal information, which suggests that a variety of research streams would benefit from incorporating the concept of temporal focus.     

Virtual reality in psychotherapy: review.

Virtual reality (VR) has recently emerged as a potentially effective way to provide general and specialty health care services, and appears poised to enter mainstream psychotherapy delivery. Because VR could be part of the future of clinical psychology, it is critical to all psychotherapists that it be defined broadly. To ensure appropriate development of VR applications, clinicians must have a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges it will provide in professional practice. This review outlines the current state of clinical research relevant to the development of virtual environments for use in psychotherapy. In particular, the paper focuses its analysis on both actual applications of VR in clinical psychology and how different clinical perspectives can use this approach to improve the process of therapeutic change.     

The portrayal of black people in UK television advertising: perception and reality

• Since the early 1990s, the UK advertising industry has been criticised for the relative absence of non‐whites, and for the ways ethnic minorities are depicted when they are used. Using interviews with advertising professionals and focus groups with black consumers, information on the perceptions of black people in advertising was gathered. The overwhelming message to advertisers was a simple one: ‘it isn't about quotas; it's about the way we are portrayed’. A content analysis of all advertisements shown during prime time on the three terrestrial channels over 2 weeks was then conducted. Results revealed that black people are actually over‐represented in UK television advertisements, although this is not the case for all sectors. However, the role type given to black spokespersons was found to be limited. Implications for marketing and advertising are discussed.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social identity uncertainty: Conceptualization,measurement, and construct validity

The following paper establishes a measurement of social identity uncertainty. Based on uncertainty-identity theory, we propose social identity uncertainty is a unique type of self-uncertainty related to group identification. We further believe social identity uncertainty is comprised of two components: identity-uncertainty (i.e., uncertainty about one’s group identity) and membership-uncertainty (i.e., uncertainty about being a group member). Study 1 (N = 314) and Study 2 (N = 299) explored and confirmed that two subcomponents exist within social identity uncertainty. Study 3 (N = 295) developed convergent validity using various social identity-related constructs, and discriminant validity using dispositional constructs. Overall, we found (a) identity-uncertainty and membership-uncertainty are distinct constructs, and (b) our measurements have both convergent and discriminant validity.     

Empathy: Conceptualization,measurement, and relation to prosocial behavior

Empathy, sympathy, and related vicarious emotional responses are important concepts in developmental, social, and clinical psychology. The purpose of this paper is to examine conceptual and methodological issues concerning the assessment of vicarious emotional responding and to present data from a series of multimethod studies on the assessment of empathy-related reactions and their association with prosocial behavior. The findings presented are consistent with several conclusions: (a) In some contexts, physiological, facial, and self-report indexes can be useful markers of vicarious emotional responses, (b) other-oriented sympathetic responding is positively related to prosocial behavior (particularly altruism) whereas personal distress reactions sometimes are associated with low levels of helping, and (c) physiological arousal is higher for personal distress than sympathetic reactions.This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (BNS8807784) to the first two authors and a Career Development Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Development (K04 HD00717) to Nancy Eisenberg. A version of this paper was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New Orleans, February 1990.     

Virtual reality: A new track in psychological research

One major challenge of social interaction research is to achieve high experimental control over social interactions to allow for rigorous scientific reasoning. Virtual reality (VR) promises this level of control. Pan and Hamilton guide us with a detailed review on existing and future possibilities and challenges of using VR for social interaction research. Here, we extend the discussion to methodological and practical implications when using VR.     

Effects of consumer perceptions of brand experience on the web: brand familiarity,satisfaction and brand trust

Creating a customer experience that is synonymous with a particular (website) brand is becoming increasingly recognised as a vital driver of e‐performance. E‐tailors are just as likely to try to influence consumers' shopping behaviour, through atmospherics and service, as brick‐and‐mortar stores. This study investigates several questions that have been left unanswered in recent studies of consumer behaviour in the context of internet‐based marketing. Its focus lies in addressing the issue of whether there is a direct relationship between brand experience and brand trust or whether there is an indirect relationship via satisfaction or brand familiarity. The results of an empirical study of e‐consumer behaviour show that brand trust is achieved through the following dimensions operating and interrelating as antecedent constructs: first, various brand experiences and the search for information, secondly, a high level of brand familiarity, and thirdly, customer satisfaction based on cognitive and emotional factors. These findings should assist marketers and academics in their understanding of the development of brand trust in an internet‐based environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Virtual reality in episodic memory research: A review

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Although virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool for the investigation of episodic memory phenomena, to date there has been relatively little examination of how...     

Virtual reality in brain damage rehabilitation: review.

Given the high incidence of brain injury in the population, brain damage rehabilitation is still a relatively undeveloped field. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to assist current rehabilitation techniques in addressing the impairments, disabilities, and handicaps associated with brain damage. The main focus of much of the exploratory research performed to date has been to investigate the use of VR in the assessment of cognitive abilities, but there is now a trend for more studies to encompass rehabilitation training strategies. This review describes studies that have used VR in the assessment and rehabilitation of specific disabilities resulting from brain injury, including executive dysfunction, memory impairments, spatial ability impairments, attention deficits, and unilateral visual neglect. In addition, it describes studies that have used VR to try to offset some of the handicaps that people experience after brain injury. Finally, a table is included which, although not an exhaustive list of everything that has been published, includes many more studies that are relevant to the use of VR in the assessment and rehabilitation of brain damage. The review concludes that the use of VR in brain damage rehabilitation is expanding dramatically and will become an integral part of cognitive assessment and rehabilitation in the future.     

Virtual reality and the new psychophysics

Virtual reality (VR) promises methodological rigour with the extra benefit of allowing us to study the context-dependent behaviour of individuals in their natural environment. Pan and Hamilton (2018, Br. J. Psychol.) provide a useful overview of methodological recommendations for using VR. Here, we highlight some other aspects of the use of VR. Our first argument is that VR can be useful by virtue of its differences from the normal perceptual environment. That is, by virtue of its relative non-realism and poverty of its perceptual elements, it can actually offer increased clarity with respect to the features of interest for the researcher. Our second argument is that VR exerts its measurable influence more by eliciting an acceptance of the virtual world (i.e., ‘suspension of disbelief’) rather than by eliciting a true belief of the realism of the VR environment. We conclude by providing a novel suggestion for combining neuroimaging methods with embodied VR that relies on the suspension of disbelief.     

The multidimensionality of calling: Conceptualization,measurement and a bicultural perspective

The experience of a calling may be seen as the ultimate form of subjective career success that has many positive consequences for individuals and organizations. We are here concerned with the conceptualization of a new multidimensional measure of calling, the MCM. In the first two studies we employed a qualitative approach and came up with five core categories of the experience of a calling. Three of them could be empirically distinguished in our later quantitative studies, i.e., Identification & Person-Environment-Fit (IP), Transcendent Guiding Force (TGF), and Sense and Meaning & Value-Driven-Behavior (SMVB). We tested the reliability and validity of the MCM in two different countries (Germany and USA). Our data show that whereas TGF is most closely related to a direct calling measure, IP is more strongly related to job satisfaction. Both IP and TGF seem to have a buffering function against burnout. SMVB is endorsed most in the USA, whereas IP is endorsed most in Germany. We conclude that a multidimensional conceptualization seems appropriate in studying the experience of a calling and its consequences.     

Virtual reality technology in neuropsychological testing: A systematic review

Neuropsychological testing aims to measure individuals' cognitive abilities (e.g. memory, attention), analysing their performance on specific behavioural tasks. Most neuropsychological tests are administered in the so-called ‘paper-and-pencil’ modality or via computerised protocols. The adequacy of these procedures has been recently questioned, with more specific concerns about their ecological validity, i.e. the relation between test scores observed in the laboratory setting and the actual everyday cognitive functioning. In developing more ecological tasks, researchers started to implement virtual reality (VR) technology as an administration technique focused on exposing individuals to simulated but realistic stimuli and environments, maintaining at the same time a controlled laboratory setting and collecting advanced measures of cognitive functioning. This systematic review aims to present how VR procedures for neuropsychological testing have been implemented in the last years. We initially explain the rationale for supporting VR as an advanced assessment tool, but we also discuss the challenges and risks that can limit the widespread implementation of this technology. Then, we systematised the large body of studies adopting VR for neuropsychological testing, describing the VR tools' distribution amongst different cognitive functions through a PRISMA-guided systematic review. The systematic review highlighted that only very few instruments are ready for clinical use, reporting psychometric proprieties (e.g. validity) and providing normative data. Most of the tools still need to be standardised on large cohorts of participants, having published only limited data on small samples up to now. Finally, we discussed the possible future directions of the VR neuropsychological test development linked to technological advances.     

Chronic self-destructiveness: Conceptualization,measurement, and initial validation of the construct

Individual differences in various behaviors suggest that those who are primarily motivated by current emotional factors are more likely than those motivated by more distant cognitive considerations to engage in acts that are ultimately self-destructive. To assess and explore these behavioral differences, 12 samples of undergraduate subjects, totaling 864 (527 females, 337 males), a group of 15 businesswomen, and 111 male VA patients were used to develop a measure of this construct in a series of reliability and construct validity studies. By means of internal-consistency item analyses, two cross-validated 52-item measures of chronic self-destructiveness were constructed for males and females. Reliability was established with respect to internal consistency (alpha coefficients range from .73 to .97) and temporal consistency over a 1-month period (test-retest correlations range from .90 to .98). There is a slight drop in chronic self-destructiveness scores across age groups. Test scores were found to be positively related to external locus of control, negatively related to Type A coronary-prone behavior, and unrelated to either social desirability response set or need for achievement. Individuals high in chronic self-destructiveness, compared to those with low scores, are more likely to be in treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, to report having cheated in courses, to have had traffic violations, to report having gone through a rebellious stage in adolescence, and to postpone obtaining a medical test for cancer. Chronic self-destructiveness appears to be a personality dimension that affects behavior across a wide range of ages and situations.We wish to thank John Wapner for his assistance in obtaining data in the clinical sample.     

Virtual reality and acrophobia: one-year follow-up and case study.

We present a study with 10 subjects being exposed to three sessions of simulated heights in a virtual reality (VR) system. Among the participants we highlight a 66-year-old man blind in his left eye. The participants show significant progress in anxiety, avoidance, and behavior measurements when confronted with real height circumstances. The results obtained 1 year later at follow-up are statistically significant in the Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) and the Attitudes Toward Heights Questionnaire (ATHQ), but not the Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ).     

Virtual reality applications to agoraphobia: a protocol.

Recently, educators and instructional designers have focused on the development and implementation of virtual learning environments that effectively combine theoretical and applied knowledge to teach university students. One of the trusts of the Psychology Virtual Teaching Laboratory in collaboration with the IXTLI observatory is to develop dissemination programs to promote the insertion of virtual reality (VR) technologies applied to rehabilitation in their clinical practice. This paper describes the development of (1) agoraphobia VR learning objects to be use as a teaching support tools in class and (2) a multimedia teaching program that incorporate digital video and VR scenarios address to students in the field of mental health. Promotion among professors and students about the use of this technology will allow us to initiate research in our country as well as to validate contextualized applications for our culture, therefore contributing with new advances in this field.     

Introducing the New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO): Conceptualization and measurement

The notion of religious orientation as proposed by Allport and refined by Batson has provided a useful tool for identifying and discussing individual differences in religiosity within Christian and post-Christian contexts. The present paper accepts the conceptual and empirical usefulness of distinctions between the three constructs of intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations; reviews the conceptual and empirical strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of existing measures in this field; and proposes three new indices to assess these orientations. The New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO) are designed to be of equal length, to give equal empirical weight to three conceptual components within each construct, and to employ direct and accessible language. Data provided from a sample of 517 undergraduate students in Wales demonstrate the satisfactory psychometric properties of these new indices. A clear distinction is made between the appropriate use and the inappropriate misuse of these indices in future research.     

Adolescents and handheld advertising: The roles of brand familiarity and smartphone attachment in the processing of mobile advergames

Many adolescents are inseparable from their smartphones on which they are often confronted with covert advertising‐like mobile advergames. This study explores the roles of brand familiarity and smartphone attachment in adolescents’ abilities to recognize the commercial intent of advergames. Moreover, it considers the potential indirect effects of brand familiarity and smartphone attachment on the susceptibility of young consumers to mobile advergames. An experiment (N = 98) was conducted, which showed that brand familiarity moderates the effect of playing advergames on the recognition of the commercial intent of advergames. Furthermore, smartphone attachment was found to facilitate the recognition of the commercial intent of advergames, such that adolescents who experienced higher levels of smartphone attachment (when compared to lower levels) were better able to differentiate between advergames and non‐commercial games (games without advertising). Interestingly, no association between smartphone attachment and brand responses were found—suggesting that smartphone attachment did not affect adolescents’ compliance with the advertised message.     

Virtual reality pencil and paper tests for neglect: a protocol.

Hemispatial neglect is a common disorder that can occur after a lesion in the right hemisphere. Its main characterization is the difficulty in processing visual stimuli emanating from the space contralateral to the lesion. Pencil and paper tests (such as target cancellation, line bisection, or drawing copy) are used to diagnose neglect. We propose using virtual reality technology and haptic force feedback to enhance pencil and paper tests. Our system can track the patients' eye-gaze and their hand movements. Also, the efficiency of several techniques used to decrease the neglect in different sensory spaces are investigated.