“Pushing the Button While Pushing the Argument”: Motor Priming of Abstract Action Language

In a behavioral study we analyzed the influence of visual action primes on abstract action sentence processing. We thereby aimed at investigating mental motor involvement during processes of meaning constitution of action verbs in abstract contexts. In the first experiment, participants executed either congruous or incongruous movements parallel to a video prime. In the second experiment, we added a no‐movement condition. After the execution of the movement, participants rendered a sensibility judgment on action sentence targets. It was expected that congruous movements would facilitate both concrete and abstract action sentence comprehension in comparison to the incongruous and the no‐movement condition. Results in Experiment 1 showed a concreteness effect but no effect of motor priming. Experiment 2 revealed a concreteness effect as well as an interaction effect of the sentence and the movement condition. The findings indicate an involvement of motor processes in abstract action language processing on a behavioral level.     

Gender (Non)conformity in Middle Childhood: A Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Gender-Typed Behavior,Friendship, and Peer Preference

The present study investigated the associations among gender, gender-typed behavior, and peer preference in 54 Year 5 (9–10 year-old) children in the United Kingdom. Children completed self-reports about their gendered behavior, nominated friends, and participated in a one-on-one interview regarding their preference and non-preference for hypothetical classmates. Results indicated that children were similar to their friends in terms of gender and engagement in gender-typed activities. Regarding potential classmates, the gender nonconforming boy was the most at risk for peer rejection. Students preferred the gender conforming boy and gender nonconforming girl—most often citing masculine activities as reasons why they liked the potential classmate, and feminine activities as reasons why they did not like the potential classmate. Results suggest that feminine activities are devalued in current society, even for girls. Children’s own engagement in gendered activities was also associated with their choice of potential classmate. These results are interpreted in line with social constructionist, social dominance, and hegemonic masculinity theories of gender development and socialization. Knowledge about these patterns of preference and non-preference will help teachers identify students at risk for rejection, enabling them to work proactively to create a positive social environment.     

Old Wine in New Bottles? The Case of Self‐compassion and Neuroticism

Research on self‐compassion, which is defined as being understanding and kind to oneself when confronted with negative experiences, has produced an impressive number of articles in recent years. This research shows that individual differences in self‐compassion, as measured by the Self‐Compassion Scale (SCS), are positively related to life satisfaction, health and social functioning. However, a critical and systematic test of self‐compassion from a personality perspective has not yet conducted so far. In the present study (N = 576), we (i) tested the factor structure of the SCS, (ii) examined the distinctiveness of self‐compassion with regard to the five‐factor model of personality, focusing on neuroticism, and (iii) tested the incremental predictive power of self‐compassion beyond the five‐factor model in the context of life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a two‐factor plus six facets solution of self‐compassion (a positive factor and a negative factor). Additional analyses revealed that the negative factor was redundant with facets of neuroticism (rs ≥ .85), whereas the positive factor had some unique variance left. However, neither the negative factor nor the positive factor could explain substantial incremental variance in life satisfaction beyond neuroticism. Recommendations for how to use the SCS are provided, and the future of research on self‐compassion is discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Racial/ethnic differences moderate associations of coping strategies and posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters among women experiencing partner violence: a multigroup path analysis

Background: Past research underscores the key role of coping strategies in the development, maintenance, and exacerbation of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The goal of the current study was to extend existing literature by examining whether race/ethnicity moderates the relations among coping strategies (social support, problem-solving, avoidance) and PTSD symptom clusters (intrusion, avoidance, numbing, arousal).

Methods: Participants were 369 community women (134 African Americans, 131 Latinas, 104 Whites) who reported bidirectional aggression with a current male partner. Multigroup path analysis was utilized to test the moderating role of race/ethnicity in a model linking coping strategies to PTSD symptom clusters.

Results: The strength and direction of relations among coping strategies and PTSD symptom clusters varied as a function of race/ethnicity. Greater social support coping was related to more arousal symptoms for Latinas and Whites. Greater problem-solving coping was related to fewer arousal symptoms for Latinas. Greater avoidance coping was related to more symptoms across many of the PTSD clusters for African Americans, Latinas, and Whites, however, these relations were strongest for African Americans.

Conclusion: Results provide support for the moderating role of race/ethnicity in the relations among coping strategies and PTSD symptom clusters, and highlight potential targets for culturally informed PTSD treatments.     

Rationale and development of a general population well-being measure: Psychometric status of the GP-CORE in a student sample

This paper presents the rationale, development, and psychometric status of a non-clinical self-report measure for the general population (GP) - including students - derived from the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) and hence termed the GP-CORE. In contrast to the CORE-OM, the GP-CORE does not comprise items denoting high-intensity of presenting problems or risk and thereby increases its acceptability in a non-clinical population. Uniquely, over half the items in the GP-CORE are positively keyed. Analyses showed the GP-CORE to have good reliability, to distinguish between clinical and non-clinical populations, and have convergent validity against the full version. Norms for student populations are presented. It is suggested that the GP-CORE has considerable utility as a means of tapping the psychological well being of students and can then interface with counselling and mental health services using the CORE-OM.     

What “Mice Trap” tells us about the mental lexicon

Level ordering has proven inadequate as a morphological theory, leaving unexplained the experimental results taken to support it as a component of innate grammar—young children’s acceptance of irregular plurals in English compounds. The present study demonstrates that these results can be explained by slower access to the grammatically preferred singulars of irregular nouns when compounds are created on-line from plural stimuli. Experiments on English noun–noun compound production and on production of either singular or plural forms from the same or opposite form confirmed that more irregular than regular plurals were used in compounds, and showed that producing irregular singulars from plurals was slower than producing regular singulars. Plural responses were also slower when cue and required response number differed.     

Using Cognitive Mapping to Understand Problems Experienced by Family Caregivers of Persons with Severe Physical Disabilities

Individuals who provide ongoing care for family members who have a chronic disease or disability are likely to encounter a wide array of problems that can compromise their own health and their ability to function effectively in a caregiving role. Structured focus group meetings were conducted to elicit a comprehensive list of the problems that caregivers experienced during their first year of providing care to a person with a severe physical disability. A separate group of caregivers (N = 60) individually sorted problems into piles based on their similarity and assigned relative importance to each problem. The aggregated data were analyzed with multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results indicated that caregivers cognitively organize problems along three dimensions: I. Centeredness–caregiver versus patient-oriented; II. Relationship Demands–physical versus emotional; and III. Caregiver Burden–time versus emotional. Additionally, 6 clusters of substantively similar problems were identified and prioritized in terms of personal relevance: Basic Needs (lowest); Perceived Constraints; Caregiver Challenges; Patient Resentment; Patient Withdrawal; and Patient Intrapsychic Adjustment (highest). Further examination of the organization of problems identified by caregivers should provide important insights about the experience of caregivers and how more targeted interventions can be developed to address their specific needs.     

Exploring the contributions of declarative and procedural information to training: A test of the procedural reinstatement principle

According to the procedural reinstatement principle, procedural information leads to strong retention but limited transfer, whereas declarative information leads to poor retention but robust transfer. To test this principle in Experiment 1, participants were trained to perform a serial response task in one of 3 conditions (declarative, procedural, mixed) and were subsequently tested in either the same or another condition. Required responses were identical in the three conditions; they differed only in the emphasis given to declarative or procedural information. Consistent with the procedural reinstatement principle, in terms of response time procedural information was more durable than declarative information. In Experiment 2, transfer was assessed using procedural and declarative conditions, but participants transferred between response sequences within those conditions. Although there was transfer in response time between sequences with procedural information, the greatest magnitude of transfer was found in one direction with declarative information, consistent with the procedural reinstatement principle.