Social Cognition and Social Responsiveness in 10-month-old Infants

In this study, we investigated relations between infants' understanding of intentional actions and measures of social responsiveness during a transitional period, 9- to 11-months. Infants (N = 52) were tested in visual habituation paradigms tapping their understanding of the relation between a person and the object of her attention. Measures of social responsiveness included orienting to the target of another's attention, point production, and supported joint attention in parent---child play. Infants' responses to the habituation events were related to their social responsiveness. Distinct factors for understanding actions and social responsiveness as relational were revealed. Infants who produced object-directed points were more likely to understand pointing as relational, and infants who engaged in high amounts of shared attention were more likely to understand gaze. Infants' tendency to orient in response to an adult's gaze shifts and points was unrelated to their understanding of gaze and pointing. These findings elucidate the ways in which social cognition and social responsiveness, although distinct, are related in development.     

The Developing Theory of Mental State Control: Changes in Beliefs about the Controllability of Emotional Experience from Elementary School through Adulthood

ABSTRACT

In everyday life, we use folk theories about the mind and behavior to understand ourselves and others. An important part of our folk theory of mind is our intuitions about the role of the self in mental functioning—namely, whether the self is able to control each mental operation. The current study explored beliefs about the nature of control over emotional aspects of mental experience from middle childhood through adulthood. Elementary school children (n = 46), middle schoolers (n = 46), 18-year-olds (n = 46), and adults (n = 104) were presented with vignettes depicting characters experiencing negative emotions. Participants evaluated the intentionality, changeability, and chronicity of the characters’ responses. Results showed that by elementary school, children share adults’ view that emotions are largely outside of volitional control. However, beliefs about the changeability and chronicity of emotions mature beyond middle childhood. Between elementary school and adulthood, participants decreased their endorsement of the ability to change one’s current negative emotions and increased their beliefs in the chronic, enduring nature of these responses. With age, these changeability and chronicity beliefs also came to differ depending on the emotional response (i.e., feeling grumpy, being nervous, acting mean). Together, these findings suggest that intuitions about the controllability of emotional experience become more differentiated and less optimistic across development.     

Pediatric Do-Not-Attempt-Resuscitation Orders and Public Schools: A National Assessment of Policies and Laws

Some children living with life-shortening medical conditions may wish to attend school without the threat of having resuscitation attempted in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest on the school premises. Despite recent attention to in-school do-not-attempt-resuscitation (DNAR) orders, no assessment of state laws or school policies has yet been made. We therefore sought to survey a national sample of prominent school districts and situate their policies in the context of relevant state laws. Most (80%) school districts sampled did not have policies, regulations, or protocols for dealing with student DNARs. A similar majority (76%) either would not honor student DNARs or were uncertain about whether they could. Frequent contradictions between school policies and state laws also exist. Consequently, children living with life-shortening conditions who have DNARs may not have these orders honored if cardiopulmonary arrest were to occur on school premises. Coordinated efforts are needed to harmonize school district, state, and federal approaches in order to support children and families' right to have important medical decisions honored.     

A latent profile analysis of coping responses to individuals’ most traumatic event: associations with adaptive and maladaptive mental health outcomes

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives: This study explores how empirically-derived coping response patterns influence mental health.

Design: Emerging adults, currently enrolled in college and aged 18–24 (N?=?432; M_age?=?19.66; SD?=?1.65), completed self-report measures of trauma exposure, coping responses to self-selected most traumatic event (MTE), resilience, posttraumatic growth (PTG), depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).

Methods: Eight coping subscales were included as indicators in a latent profile analysis. Then, associations between established profiles and mental health outcomes were examined, covarying for demographic and trauma-related variables.

Results: Considering fit statistics, class size, profile patterns, and theory, the four-class model was deemed most appropriate: High Overall Coping (HCOPE; n?=?146, 34%), Low Overall Coping (LCOPE; n?=?92, 22%), High Engagement Coping (HENG; n?=?115, 27%), and High Disengagement Coping (HDIS; n?=?73, 17%). HENG participants endorsed above-average resilience and PTG, coupled with below-average depressive symptoms and PTSS. Compared to the sample average, HDIS participants endorsed lower resilience and PTG, coupled with higher depressive symptoms and PTSS. LCOPE participants endorsed low levels of all outcomes. HCOPE participants endorsed high levels of all outcomes.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that clinicians who promote engagement coping and discourage disengagement coping among trauma-exposed individuals may engender the most desirable constellation of mental health outcomes.     

A COMPARISON OF BRIEF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSES WITH AND WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES

Variations to traditional functional analysis methodology, such as brief functional analyses (BFAs), are prevalent in the literature. In the current evaluation, two types of BFAs were each conducted with five participants. In one, potential motivating operations (MOs) were presented, and problem behavior resulted in delivery of an associated consequence. In the other, the same MOs were presented, but no consequences were delivered. Results of the two BFAs were compared with respect to the conditions in which problem behavior occurred and the degree of differentiation between test and control conditions. Results across the BFA methodologies generally matched across all five participants. However, greater differentiation was observed in the BFA that did not include consequences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The cortical representation of centrally presented words: A magnetic stimulation study

The right and left visual fields each project to the contralateral cerebral hemispheres. The current study aimed to investigate the extent of the functional overlap of the two hemifields along the vertical meridian. We applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left and right occipital cortex to investigate whether the foveal representation of words is bilaterally represented or is split between the two hemispheres. Employing a lateralized lexical decision task, we first showed a double dissociation between the stimulated cortical site and performance; right visual field (RVF) but not left visual field (LVF) performance was impaired when the left visual cortex was stimulated, and LVF but not RVF performance was impairred when the right visual cortex was stimulated. Unilateral stimulation also significantly impaired lexical decision latencies to centrally presented words. These findings support the suggestion that foveal representation of words is split. We discuss future strategies for the use of TMS in further tests of the split representation account.     

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”: humour,religion and wellbeing

This essay explores the relationship between humour, religion, and wellbeing. It surveys some historical and contemporary psychological approaches to humour, and examines the empirical findings on the relationship between humour and health. It notes the historical antipathy between religion and humour, and argues that this is based on an incomplete analysis of the complexities of both religion and humour, including the chronological aspects of phase in the life of a religion or religious movement, and the capacity of humour both to conserve and subvert received wisdom of the faith tradition. Finally, it argues that aspects of both humour and religion are associated with transcendence, and that this maybe a helpful a conceptual bridge linking the two.     

The Impact of Experienced Emotion on Evaluative Judgments: The Effects of Age and Emotion Regulation Style

ABSTRACT

Adults aged from 24 to 79 were exposed to four commercial advertisements within the context of television programs designed to induce either a positive or negative mood. Although age was associated with memory for the content of the commercials, it did not moderate the impact of mood on evaluations of the advertized products. Instead, participants who reported engaging in expressive suppression as a common emotion regulation strategy were more likely to make evaluations that were biased by moods than those individuals who reported low use of this strategy. The results suggest that the maintenance of emotion regulation ability in later adulthood may help people control certain affective influences on thought.     

REVIEWS

WOMAN-AFFIRMING SEX: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON WOMEN's SEXUALITY
Sexual Salvation: Affrming Women's Sexual Rights and Pleasures, Naomi B. McCormick. Westport, CT:
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF A FEMINIST SEXOLOGIST
Sex is Not a Natural Act and Other Essays, Leonore Tiefer. Boulder, CO:
THE BATTLEGROUND OF OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS
Male/Female Roles: Opposing Viewpoints. Jonathan S. Petrikin (Ed). San Diego, CA:
Feminism: Opposing Viewpoints. Carol Wekesser. (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
Sexual Values: Opposing Viewpoints. Charles P. Cozic (Ed.). San Diego, CA:
A "FADDISH PREOCCUPATION" COMES INTO ITS OWN
Women and Suicidal Behavior, Silvia Sara Canetto and David Lester (Eds.). New York:     

Developmental Co-ordination Disorder and Emerging Adulthood: Not Just a Motor Disorder

This paper discusses the focus of the special edition on emerging adulthood in DCD and how the different papers present the increasing awareness not only of the disorder but the continuation of difficulties into adulthood. It highlights the varying presentation at this stage and the impact these difficulties have on quality of life. Finally, it calls for further research to be undertaken to increase the understanding of DCD for both clinicians and researchers.