Unconventionality and Originality: Does Self-Assessed Unconventionality Increase Original Achievement?

Creativity is negatively associated with certain personality traits (e.g., conformity) and social influences (e.g., group pressure). In this study, creativity was examined in relation to unconventionality, which was expected to correlate positively with creativity, especially originality. This hypothesis was based on the theory that unconventional people hold uncommon views and attitudes and develop more diverging concepts and associations, which build the foundation for creative thinking. To examine the hypothesis, an online study with N = 90 participants was conducted. Unconventionality was measured with a new self-rating questionnaire, and creativity was measured with unusual uses, consequences, and explanations measures, which assessed both originality (rarity and uniqueness) and flexibility (diversity). The association of unconventionality with originality, after controlling for flexibility, was compared to other constructs (openness, conservatism, education). Path analysis revealed strong effects of unconventionality on originality (latent β = .58, r = .64). Unconventionality continued to predict originality after controlling for openness, which was weakly related to originality (β = .08, r = .49). Unconventionality weakly predicted flexibility (β = .09, r = .26). Supplemental analyses indicated that the effects of unconventionality on originality were not attributable to confounds (e.g., conservatism or education). The results indicate that the effects of unconventionality are positive, specific, substantial, and independent of related constructs (e.g., openness).     

How to Model Heterogeneity in Costly Punishment: Insights from Responders' Response Times

We investigate what processes may underlie heterogeneity in social preferences. We address this question by examining participants' decisions and associated response times across 12 mini‐ultimatum games. Using a finite mixture model and cross‐validating its classification with a response time analysis, we identified four groups of responders: one group takes little to no account of the proposed split or the foregone allocation and swiftly accepts any positive offer; two groups process primarily the objective properties of the allocations (fairness and kindness) and need more time the more properties need to be examined; and a fourth group, which takes more time than the others, appears to take into account what they would have proposed had they been put in the role of the proposer. We discuss implications of this joint decision–response time analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recall bias for stimulus and response anxiety words in spider phobics

Abstract

Experiments on memory bias in patients with anxiety disorders have produced inconsistent results. It is suggested that results may depend on whether the words studied relate to anxiety-inducing stimulus features or to the anxiety response. It was predicted, following previous results, that phobic subjects would show diminished recall of stimulus words, but that recall of response words might be enhanced. In fact, for both stimulus and response words, phobics showed better recall of phobia-related words than of control words. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that phobic anxiety is associated with a bias towards recall of phobia-related words. However, it seems likely that phobic anxiety has several potentially conflicting effects on recall, and that this accounts for the inconsistent results in literature.     

The psychotherapy of parenthood: towards a formulation and valuation of concurrent work with parents

This paper explores the process and value of concurrent work with parents when their child is being treated in individual psychotherapy. The position taken is that psychoanalytic understanding generally and the specific formulations presented in this paper have a broader applicability in other aspects and approaches in child and adolescent mental health practice. The central issues are the interweaving of knowledge of family processes, child development and psychopathology, and the uses that can be made of an understanding of transference and countertransference. A particular formulation is presented in relation to aspects of the work that constitute ‘child guidance’ and those that may be considered as ‘psychotherapeutic’ in relation to parental psychopathology. We have coined the term ‘the psychotherapy of parenthood’ to give this work the status it deserves and to define a boundary within which to explore the areas and levels of this complex work. Some practice and training implications are considered.     

Recognition memory for briefly presented pictures: the time course of rapid forgetting

When viewing a rapid sequence of pictures, observers momentarily understand the gist of each scene but have poor recognition memory for most of them (M. C. Potter, 1976). Is forgetting immediate, or does some information persist briefly? Sequences of 5 scenes were presented for 173 ms/picture; when yes-no testing began immediately, recognition was initially high but declined markedly during the 10-item test. With testing delays of 2 or 6 s, the decline over testing was less steep. When 10 or 20 pictures were presented, there was again a marked initial decline during testing. A 2-alternative forced-choice recognition test produced similar results. Both the passage of time and test interference (but not presentation interference) led to forgetting. The brief persistence of information may assist in building a coherent representation over several fixations.     

Resilience and Subjective Wellbeing: A Psychometric Evaluation in Young Australian Adults

Objective

Resilience is an important and underdeveloped area of research, and there are few studies that describe levels of resilience among youth samples. A major aim of this research is to explore the utility of an adapted form of the 10‐item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale and to clarify the association between this construct and a robust measure of subjective wellbeing.

Method

A representative sample of 1000 Victorians aged 16–25 years participated in a telephone interview comprising the modified 10‐item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale and the Personal Wellbeing Index.

Results

The modified 10‐item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale demonstrated adequate inter‐item reliability and factored as intended. A moderate, positive correlation was found between the modified 10‐item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale and the Personal Wellbeing Index. Significance testing revealed group differences for gender, age, and annual household income. The results are also used to establish theoretical “normal” ranges for resilience in Victoria's youth population.

Conclusion

The results from this study support the modified 10‐item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale as a valid and reliable measure of young people's resilience using traditional psychometric tests. Moreover, this is the first study to describe the levels of resilience among Victorian youths and to evaluate these data alongside a robust measure of subjective wellbeing. The implications of the findings for government policy and service delivery are discussed.     

A short form of the metacognitions questionnaire: properties of the MCQ-30

The metacognitions questionnaire (MCQ) measures individual differences in a selection of metacognitive beliefs, judgments and monitoring tendencies considered important in the metacognitive model of psychological disorders. The development and properties of a shortened 30-item version of the MCQ, the MCQ-30, are reported. Construct validity was evaluated by confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Overall, the fit indices suggested an acceptable fit to a five-factor model consistent with the original MCQ. Exploratory factor analysis supported a five-factor structure, which was almost identical to the original solution obtained in previous studies with the full MCQ. The five factors are cognitive confidence, positive beliefs about worry, cognitive self-consciousness, negative beliefs about uncontrollability of thoughts and danger, and beliefs about need to control thoughts. The MCQ-30 showed good internal consistency and convergent validity, and acceptable to good test-retest reliability. Positive relationships between metacognitions and measures of worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms provided further support for the validity of the measure and the metacognitive theory of intrusive thoughts. The psychometric properties of MCQ-30 suggest that the instrument is a valuable addition to the assessment of metacognitions that has the advantage of being more economical to use compared with the original MCQ.     

Interpretations of voices in patients with hallucinations and non-patient controls: a comparison and predictors of distress in patients

BACKGROUND: This study tested the hypotheses that interpretations of voices will be associated with distress linked to auditory hallucinations, and that patients experiencing hallucinations will exhibit higher levels of negative interpretations in comparison with non-patients. METHOD: The Interpretation of Voices Inventory (British Journal of Clinical Psychology 41 (2002) 259) was administered to patients who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia spectrum disorders with auditory hallucinations and non-patients. Patients were also assessed using a semi-structured interview to asses clinical dimensions of their voices. RESULTS: The results showed that people with psychosis who experience auditory hallucinations did exhibit higher levels of positive and negative interpretations of voices, in comparison to non-patients. Correlational analyses revealed that interpretations of voices were significantly associated with emotional, physical and cognitive characteristics of voices. Regression analyses demonstrated that physical characteristics of voices and metaphysical beliefs were significant predictors of emotional characteristics of voices. CONCLUSIONS: The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Effects of Musical and Voice “Fit” on Responses to Advertisements1

Research on musical “fit” suggests that listeners might recall more of a radio advertisement if it features musical/voice content that corresponds with features of the advertised brand. This is because the music/voice should prime certain aspects of listeners' knowledge. Two studies were carried out to test this, each involving 5 specially prepared radio ads. The first indicated that musical fit enhanced recall of the products advertised, the brands advertised, and specific claims made during the course of the ad copy; and also participants' ratings of liking for the ad and likelihood of purchasing the advertised product. A second similar study considered voice fit and found that this could also promote recall of specific product claims and lead to higher ratings of liking for the ad and likelihood of purchasing the advertised product. These results confirm that both musical and voice fit can prime certain aspects of listeners' knowledge and also increase liking for ads, such that it might improve knowledge-based and affective responses to advertising. The theoretical implications of this are discussed in terms of the concept of involvement and what precisely is meant by musical/voice fit.