Direct contact as a moderator of extended contact effects: cross-sectional and longitudinal impact on outgroup attitudes, behavioral intentions, and attitude certainty

Cross-group friendships (the most effective form of direct contact) and extended contact (i.e., knowing ingroup members who have outgroup friends) constitute two of the most important means of improving outgroup attitudes. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal samples from different intergroup contexts, this research demonstrates that extended contact is most effective when individuals live in segregated neighborhoods having only few, or no, direct friendships with outgroup members. Moreover, by including measures of attitudes and behavioral intentions the authors showed the broader impact of these forms of contact, and, by assessing attitude certainty as one dimension of attitude strength, they tested whether extended contact can lead not only to more positive but also to stronger outgroup orientations. Cross-sectional data showed that direct contact was more strongly related to attitude certainty than was extended contact, but longitudinal data showed both forms of contact affected attitude certainty in the long run.     

The effectiveness of intergroup contact at work: Mediators and moderators of hospital workers' prejudice towards immigrants

The present research examines the effectiveness of intergroup contact between 167 Italian hospital workers and foreign patients in reducing prejudice towards immigrants in general. The outcomes of contact at work were analysed controlling for the influence of contact outside the workplace and through mass media, and taking into account the role of empathy, anxiety and group membership salience. Results indicate that the beneficial effects of contact at work were partially mediated by increased empathy and reduced anxiety, experienced both in the work environment and towards immigrants in general. Finally, high levels of group membership salience facilitated the influence of contact on intergroup emotions. These findings show that contact at work can be a powerful means to reduce prejudice, thanks to its capacity to evoke changes in affective responses. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The contribution of prefixes to morphological processing of Spanish words

Three series of priming experiments were conducted to probe the morphological and phonological contributions to visual word recognition in Spanish. Prefixed, e.g., INCAPAZ (incapable), and pseudoprefixed, e.g., INDUSTRIA (industry) target words were presented for recognition following a prefixed, e.g., infeliz (unhappy), or pseudoprefixed, e.g., insulto (insult), prime starting with the same syllable as the target, at masked short or long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). At long SOAs the recognition of prefixed targets was facilitated by prefixed primes and inhibited by pseudoprefixed ones, whereas both prefixed and pseudoprefixed primes facilitated the recognition at short SOAs. In contrast, the recognition of pseudoprefixed targets was unaffected by the kind of prime presented, even when we used pairs of words overlapping in syllables that cannot be prefixes in Spanish. These results support a special status for morphological elements in access to meaning in reading.     

Effects of Decision Training on Decision Making and Performance in Young Tennis Players: An Applied Research

This study examined the effectiveness of a 10-week decision training program on decision making and performance in tennis. Decision training was based on the analysis combining tactical questioning and video feedback about players own actions. A quasi-experimental design with intermediate tennis players (control group, n = 6; experimental group, n = 5) was developed over 18 weeks, divided into 3 phases: preintervention, postintervention, and retention. A total of 13,383 game play actions were analyzed to test differences. Experimental group improves significantly decision making and performance and maintained improvements during the retention phase. Video feedback combined with questioning is recommended to achieve sport expertise.     

Item Response Modeling of Paired Comparison and Ranking Data

The comparative format used in ranking and paired comparisons tasks can significantly reduce the impact of uniform response biases typically associated with rating scales. Thurstone's (1927, 1931) model provides a powerful framework for modeling comparative data such as paired comparisons and rankings. Although Thurstonian models are generally presented as scaling models, that is, stimuli-centered models, they can also be used as person-centered models. In this article, we discuss how Thurstone's model for comparative data can be formulated as item response theory models so that respondents' scores on underlying dimensions can be estimated. Item parameters and latent trait scores can be readily estimated using a widely used statistical modeling program. Simulation studies show that item characteristic curves can be accurately estimated with as few as 200 observations and that latent trait scores can be recovered to a high precision. Empirical examples are given to illustrate how the model may be applied in practice and to recommend guidelines for designing ranking and paired comparisons tasks in the future.     

Identifying the Source of Misfit in Item Response Theory Models

When an item response theory model fails to fit adequately, the items for which the model provides a good fit and those for which it does not must be determined. To this end, we compare the performance of several fit statistics for item pairs with known asymptotic distributions under maximum likelihood estimation of the item parameters: (a) a mean and variance adjustment to bivariate Pearson's X², (b) a bivariate subtable analog to Reiser's (1996) overall goodness-of-fit test, (c) a z statistic for the bivariate residual cross product, and (d) Maydeu-Olivares and Joe's (2006) M₂ statistic applied to bivariate subtables. The unadjusted Pearson's X² with heuristically determined degrees of freedom is also included in the comparison. For binary and ordinal data, our simulation results suggest that the z statistic has the best Type I error and power behavior among all the statistics under investigation when the observed information matrix is used in its computation. However, if one has to use the cross-product information, the mean and variance adjusted X² is recommended. We illustrate the use of pairwise fit statistics in 2 real-data examples and discuss possible extensions of the current research in various directions.     

Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy With Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

This research wants to verify the effectiveness of couple's treatment, when a neurodegenerative disease affects one of the two partners. The disease affects not only the ailing individual, but also the dynamics within the couple. Fourteen patients affected by neurodegenerative diseases participated in an emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT) with their spouses. We collected a measure of the quality of life (SF-36) and relationship satisfaction (DAS) at the beginning and at the end of the treatment for both partners. The results show an improvement in quality of life and couple contentment, underlining the usefulness of such a psychotherapeutic intervention on the couple.