Development and psychometric validation of a child Racial Attitudes Index (RAI)

The Racial Attitudes Index (RAI) measures a child’s racial attitudes. Designed for children aged 5–9 years, the RAI is delivered over the Internet using Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI). Unlike traditional binary forced-choice instruments, the RAI uses an expanded response format permitting a more nuanced understanding of patterns of children’s racial attitudes. In addition to establishing psychometric evidence of the RAI technical adequacy, hypotheses about RAI item response patterns were tested. The racial attitudes of 336 Black and White children in grades K–3 were assessed using a forced-choice instrument (Preschool Racial Attitudes Measure II) and the RAI. Findings from this study indicate measures obtained with the RAI are technically adequate, and the measure functions invariantly across racial groups. Also, patterns of children’s racial attitudes measured with the RAI are more nuanced than those obtained using the forced-choice response format.     

Comparing positive and negative reinforcement: A fantasy experiment

We propose quantitative experimental approaches to the question of whether positive and negative reinforcement are functionally different, and discuss scientific and ethical concerns that would arise if these approaches were pursued.     

Associations between Prenatal and Early Childhood Fish and Processed Food Intake,Conduct Problems,and Co-Occurring Difficulties

Little is known about early life diet as a risk factor for early-onset persistent conduct problems (EOP CP). To investigate this, we used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK-based prospective epidemiological birth cohort. 5727 mother-child pairs (49.9 % boys) monitored since pregnancy (delivery date between 1 April, 1991 and 31 December, 1992) reported intake of fish and processed foods at 32 weeks gestation and, for the child, at 3 years; EOP (n = 666) and Low conduct problem (Low CP, n = 5061) trajectories were measured from 4 to 13 years; hyperactivity and emotional difficulties were assessed in childhood (4–10 years) and early adolescence (12–13 years), in addition to potential confounding factors (family adversity, birth complications, income). Compared to Low CP, mothers of EOP children consumed less fish (p < 0.01) and more processed food (p < 0.05) prenatally, while EOP children consumed more processed food at 3 years (p < 0.05). For EOP, but not Low CP children, consuming less than two servings/week of fish (vs. two or more servings/week, p < 0.05), and one or more servings/day of processed food (vs. less than one serving/day, p < 0.01), was associated with higher emotional difficulties in early adolescence. Conclusions: Findings suggest that prenatal and postnatal diets high in processed food, and low in fish, associate with an EOP CP trajectory and co-occurring difficulties in early adolescence. As small effect size differences were found, further studies are needed to investigate the long-term impact of early unhealthy diet.     

Comparing qualitative research methodologies for systemic research: the use of grounded theory, discourse analysis and narrative analysis

Many of the qualitative research methods developed in the social sciences are well suited to explore research questions pertinent for the systemic field, and make a good fit with systemic thinking. In this paper I briefly outline the value of qualitative research for systemic psychotherapies. I explore some parallel developments in the field of qualitative research and systemic therapy which can inform each other. Three qualitative methodologies, a grounded theory approach, discourse analysis and narrative analysis, particularly useful for the research of subjective experience and meaning, are briefly outlined. To compare and contrast these methodologies, I discuss their application to a pilot study concerning the experiences of living life in more than one language. I demonstrate how each research methodology can highlight different aspects of qualitative research material and address different research questions. The challenge of how these methodologies may be further developed for systemic research is posed.     

New indirect measures of “inattentive” visual grouping in a change-detection task

It has often been suggested that Gestalt-like visual grouping processes may operate preattentively, but Mack and Rock (1998) suggested that no visual grouping takes place under “inattention.” We introduced a new method to assess this. While participants performed a demanding change-detection task on a small matrix at fixation, task-irrelevant background elements were arranged by color similarity into columns, rows, or pseudorandomly. Independent of any change in the target matrix, background grouping could also change or remain the same on each trial. This influenced accuracy of change judgments for the central task, even though background grouping or its change usually could not be explicitly reported when probed with surprise questions as in Mack and Rock. This suggests that visual grouping may arise implicitly under inattention and provides a new method for testing the boundaries of this processing. Here we extended the initial result to changes in background grouping remote from the target and to those occurring across an intervening saccade.     

Understanding Women's Body Satisfaction: The Role of Husbands

This study was designed to examine the role women's husbands may play in determining their body satisfaction. One hundred and seventy-two (172; mean age = 37.53 years) European American women's body satisfaction, their perceptions of their husbands' satisfaction with their bodies, and their husbands' actual satisfaction with their bodies were assessed using the Body Figure Rating Scale; women's weight status was assessed using body mass index (BMI). Results indicated that wives were much more dissatisfied with their bodies than were their husbands and that wives thought their husbands were much more dissatisfied with their bodies than the husbands actually were. Further, findings suggested that wives' BMIs were not as strongly related to husband's satisfaction with their wives' bodies as they were to wives' own satisfaction or perceptions of their husbands' satisfaction with their bodies.     

Division of Labor Among Lesbian and Heterosexual Parenting Couples: Correlates of Specialized Versus Shared Patterns

One of the central tasks that couples face in coparenting is the division of labor. In this study, we explored division of family labor among lesbian and heterosexual couples who were parenting 4 to 6 year-old children. Sixty-six families, half headed by lesbian couples and half headed by heterosexual couples, participated in the study. Measures of parental attitudes, resources, demographics, and division of labor were collected. As expected, lesbian couples were more likely to divide paid and unpaid labor evenly, whereas heterosexual couples were more likely to show specialized patterns, with husbands investing more time in paid employment and wives devoting more time to unpaid family work. Structural variables (e.g., husband's hours in paid employment) were the best predictors of division of labor among heterosexual couples. Among lesbian couples, however, ideological variables (e.g., ideas about ideal divisions of labor) were the better predictors. Discrepancies in occupational prestige were greater among heterosexual than among lesbian couples. Discussion centers on the ways in which gender and sexual orientation may relate to couples' decisions about division of labor.     

Psychological type and sex differences among church leaders in the United Kingdom

A sample of 135 female and 164 male church leaders of mixed denominations completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales. The female church leaders demonstrated clear preferences for extraversion over introversion, for sensing over intuition, for feeling over thinking, and for judging over perceiving. The male church leaders demonstrated clear preferences for introversion over extraversion, for sensing over intuition, for thinking over feeling, and for judging over perceiving. The predominant type among the women was ESFJ (22%) and the predominant type among the men was ISTJ (30%). Extravert and feeling types were significantly overrepresented among female church leaders, compared with male church leaders.     

Error adaptation in mental arithmetic

Until now, error and conflict adaptation have been studied extensively using simple laboratory tasks. A common finding is that responses slow down after errors. According to the conflict monitoring theory, performance should also improve after an error. However, this is usually not observed. In this study, we investigated whether the characteristics of the experimental paradigms normally used could explain this absence. More precisely, these paradigms have in common that behavioural adaptation has little room to be expressed. We therefore studied error and conflict adaptation effects in a task that encounters the richness of everyday life's behavioural adaptation--namely, mental arithmetic, where multiple solution strategies are available. In accordance with our hypothesis, we observed that post-error accuracy increases after errors in mental arithmetic. No support for conflict adaptation in mental arithmetic was found. Implications for current theories of conflict and error monitoring are discussed.