Mistakes pertaining to undesired (relative to desired) self-standards elicit immediate enhanced electrocortical signals of error processing

Past research provides initial evidence that errors pertaining to undesired (vs. desired) self-standards are of greater motivational significance, but little is known about how quickly people recognize and respond to such errors. To examine immediate responses to errors pertaining to desired and undesired self-standards, we assessed event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants judged self-attributes as personally desirable or undesirable. No discernible differences emerged in ERPs associated with correct responses to undesired compared to desired self-standards. Error-related negativities, shown in past work to index motivational significance, and error positivities, shown in past work to index post-error adjustment, were more pronounced when participants erroneously endorsed undesirable self-standards than when they erroneously failed to endorse desirable self-standards. These electrophysiological correlates of differences in the motivational significance of undesired versus desired self-standards emerged within 400 ms of making an error, suggesting that the impact of these errors does not require extensive deliberation.     

The Centrality of Schools in the Lifecourse: The Case for Focusing on School-Related Influences in Developmental Theory and Research

While the strength of the lifecourse/developmental (LCD) perspective in the examination of antisocial behavior has been clearly demonstrated, this work has given little attention to schools and education as salient influences. By contrast, there is much research using other theoretical frameworks to examine school-related risk factors of deviance. Given what we know about the importance of schooling and education on individual development and subsequent implications for behavior, we contend that academic influences should be more prevalent in LCD theories of deviance and that research using an LCD theoretical perspective should embrace non-LCD work examining school-related risk factors of antisocial behavior.     

A Single-Subject Study of a Technology-Based Self-Monitoring Intervention

Students with ADHD often struggle with self-regulation skills. One strategy demonstrating considerable success in helping these students regulate their behavior is self-monitoring. Although there is an abundance of research on self-monitoring, research on the use of technology for self-monitoring is only beginning to emerge. The primary goal of this single-subject study was to examine the effects of an iPad application (SCORE IT) for self-monitoring on the behavior of three fifth-grade students with or at risk for ADHD who were exhibiting low rates of academic engagement in a general education environment. A secondary goal was to gain an in-depth understanding of the teacher’s perceptions of the feasibility and value of the intervention. Overall, the SCORE IT intervention resulted in substantial improvements in academic engagement, and teacher perceptions of the feasibility and worth of the intervention were reported as highly favorable. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

Episodic-like memory in zebrafish

Episodic-like memory tests often aid in determining an animal’s ability to recall the what, where, and which (context) of an event. To date, this type of memory has been demonstrated in humans, wild chacma baboons, corvids (Scrub jays), humming birds, mice, rats, Yucatan minipigs, and cuttlefish. The potential for this type of memory in zebrafish remains unexplored even though they are quickly becoming an essential model organism for the study of a variety of human cognitive and mental disorders. Here we explore the episodic-like capabilities of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a previously established mammalian memory paradigm. We demonstrate that when zebrafish were presented with a familiar object in a familiar context but a novel location within that context, they spend more time in the novel quadrant. Thus, zebrafish display episodic-like memory as they remember what object they saw, where they saw it (quadrant location), and on which occasion (yellow or blue walls) it was presented.     

Understanding supervisee nondisclosures in supervision with videorecording review and interpersonal process recall

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to obtain an in‐depth understanding of supervisees' in‐the‐moment nondisclosure experiences, perceptions and internal processes as they occurred in clinical supervision involving videorecording review. The supervisees who participated in the study were students in their first year of a master's‐level counselling practicum in Western Canada. Utilising interpersonal process recall (IPR) interview methods, supervisees were asked to share their moment‐by‐moment nondisclosures that occurred during a recent videorecorded supervision session in which the supervisory dyad reviewed a videorecording of the supervisee's clinical work. Thematic analysis across cases yielded five overarching themes: (a) validation; (b) safety; (c) growth and accomplishment; (d) performance anxiety; and (e) avoidance. The findings revealed a broad range of positive and negative supervisee nondisclosures that were influenced by the supervision modality of videorecording review and the IPR interview. Implications for clinical supervision, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Will We Ever Again Conduct in-Person Psychotherapy Sessions? Factors Associated with the Decision to Provide in-Person Therapy in the Age of COVID-19

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a new reality on the delivery of psychotherapeutic services. Therapists have had to rapidly adapt to telehealth therapy...     

When lending an ear turns into mistreatment: An episodic examination of leader mistreatment in response to venting at work

Venting—an emotion‐focused form of coping involving the discharge of negative feelings to others—is common in organizational settings. Venting may benefit the self via the release of negative emotion, or by acting as a catalyst for changes to problematic work situations. Nonetheless, venting might have unintended consequences via its influence on those who are the recipients of venting from others. In light of this idea, we provide a theoretical explanation for how leaders in particular are affected by venting receipt at work. Drawing from the transactional model of stress, we theorize that venting tends to be appraised as a threat, which triggers negative emotion that, in turn, potentiates deviant action tendencies (i.e., interpersonal mistreatment). Yet, our theory suggests that not all leaders necessarily experience venting in the same way. Specifically, leaders with higher need for cognition are less influenced by surface‐level cues associated with others’ emotional expressions and find challenging interpersonal situations to be less aversive, thereby attenuating the deleterious effects of receipt of venting. In an experience sampling study of 112 managers across 10 consecutive workdays, we find support for our theoretical model. Altogether, our findings provide insight into the costs incurred when leaders lend an ear to those who vent, which can result in negative downstream consequences.     

Constructing Profiles of Religious Agreement and Disagreement Between Adolescents and Mothers: A Research Note

This research note describes the use of latent class analysis to examine how three dimensions of religiosity—the importance of religion (religious salience), attendance at religious services, and frequency of prayer—cluster together to form unique profiles. Building upon recent research identifying different profiles of religiosity at the level of the individual, we used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to identify dyadic profiles of religious concordance or discordance between 14,202 adolescents and their mothers. We identified five profiles: one concordant (27% of sample), two discordant (25% of sample), and two of mixed concordance/discordance (49%). The profiles distinguish between various levels of adolescent/mother relations, suggesting that they may represent distinct family dynamics. They also distinguish between several variables (race, adolescent age, geographical region) in predictable ways, providing additional demonstration of the categories’ meaningfulness.     

Relationships among self-esteem, stress, and physical activity in college students

The purpose of this study was to identify population and sex-specific relationships between perceived stress, self-esteem, and physical activity in college students. 90 students, ages 18 and older and enrolled in five sections of a health and human behavior class during the spring 2010 semester, were contacted for this study with 74 consenting to serve as study participants. Each participant completed three surveys: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Significant correlations were observed between perceived stress and self-esteem in men, and in women. Physical activity was not significantly correlated with perceived stress or self-esteem.