Implicit sequence learning: effects of level of structure, adult age, and extended practice

The influence of structure and age on sequence learning was investigated by testing 24 young and 24 older participants for 10 sessions in an alternating serial response time task in which pattern trials alternated with random trials. Individuals encountered lag-2 or lag-3 structure, and learning was measured by the difference (in response time and accuracy) between pattern and random trials. Both ages learned lag-2 structure, but the young learned more than the older participants. Only the young people learned lag-3 structure, and they did so more slowly and to a lesser degree than they learned lag-2 structure. These age deficits in higher order sequence learning after extended practice are consistent with simultaneity theory and with theories positing that age-related deficits in neuromodulation lead to less distinctive representations.     

Age differences in veridical and false recall are not inevitable: The role of frontal lobe function

The relationship of neuropsychological measures of frontal lobe function to age differences in false recall was assessed using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott associative false memory paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). As other studies have found, older adults were less likely to correctly recall studied items and more likely to falsely recall highly related but nonpresented items than were younger adults. When older adults were divided based on a composite measure of frontal lobe functioning, this age difference was found only for low frontal lobe functioning individuals. High frontal lobe functioning older adults and young adults had equivalent levels of false recall, as well as equivalent levels of veridical recall. These results suggest that age differences in memory may be due to declines in frontal lobe function. More important, our findings indicate that declines in veridical recall and increases in false recall are not an inevitable consequence of aging.     

Using the multifaceted Rasch model to improve the TAT/PSE measure of need for achievement

We used the Rasch (1980) model to develop new pictures for the Thematic Apperception Test (C. D. Morgan & Murray, 1938; McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, & Lowell, 1953) or picture story exercise to measure need for achievement (nAch). In Experiments 1 and 2, we analyzed stories to assess the difficulty level of a total of 8 pictures using the multifaceted Rasch model with picture difficulty, story probe difficulty, and participant ability as facets with a partial credit model (FACETS; Linacre, 2005). A total of 6 pictures were retained and 4 new ones added for Experiment 3 in which 201 participants wrote 6 stories to a random set of the 10 pictures. FACETS analysis revealed improved person separation reliability. In Experiment 4, 206 participants wrote 1 story to the Studying picture either before or after filling out a battery of achievement-related questionnaires. The 2 experimental groups did not differ in the amount of nAch in their stories. The coder facet was demonstrated with 2 independent coders using the revised coding system for nAch.     

A modified DBT skills training program for oppositional defiant adolescents: promising preliminary findings

A modified skills training component of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was implemented in a group therapy format for non-suicidal outpatient young adolescents who met criteria for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Thirty-two youths completed the 16-week program, as well as pre- and post-treatment measures. The treatment was effective not only in decreasing negative behaviors, but also in increasing positive behaviors, per caregiver report. The youths reported a significant reduction in externalizing and internalizing symptoms and in depression. Reliable change indices indicated that far more participants were in the improved category than in the deteriorated category on the measures of interest. Despite the absence of control groups but consistent with the treatment outcome research literature for DBT-based treatments for other disorders, this study demonstrated that DBT skills training is feasible and shows promise in improving the behavior of ODD young adolescents.     

Adverse psychological outcomes in colorectal cancer screening: does health anxiety play a role?

People who are anxious about their health are more likely to misinterpret health information as personally threatening and less likely to be reassured by medical investigations that show they are free from disease. Consequently, health anxious people would be expected to react more adversely to cancer screening, but this possibility has rarely been explored. The moderating role of health anxiety on the psychological impact of participating in colorectal cancer screening was examined among a sub-sample of 3535 participants in a large, community-based trial of colorectal cancer screening in the UK. The screening modality was flexible sigmoidoscopy, which examines the bowel for pre-cancerous polyps. It was predicted that health anxiety would be associated with more worry about cancer before screening, a greater increase in worry if polyps were detected, and less reassurance after a clear result. As expected, health anxious participants were more anxious and more worried about bowel cancer both before and after screening. However, they experienced greater reductions in anxiety and worry about cancer following the examination. They reported lower levels of reassurance following screening, but also expressed more positive reactions to the experience. The positive psychological benefits of attending medical investigations should be examined in future work, because this may go some way towards explaining why health anxious people repeatedly seek medical interventions.     

Therapists' group attachments and their expectations of patients' attitudes about group therapy

A large body of literature has supported the application of attachment theory to the understanding of psychotherapy. In addition, a more recent social psychological literature is exploring the application of attachment theory to the area of group dynamics and group process. The current study is designed to integrate these two distinct bodies of literature. In a preliminary fashion, we examined the relationship between group therapists' group attachment styles and their assumptions and expectations of their patients' attitudes about group psychotherapy. Seventy-six therapists completed the Smith, Murphy & Coats (1999) measure of group attachment style. They also completed the Revised Group Therapy Survey (Carter, Mitchell, & Krautheim, 2001) from the viewpoint of a typical patient they treat. As hypothesized, therapists with more group attachment anxiety assumed that patients would hold more negative myths and misconceptions about group treatment than therapists with less group attachment anxiety. The utility of a group attachment construct in future research and practice is discussed.     

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys

Theory and research on sex differences in adjustment focus largely on parental, societal, and biological influences. However, it also is important to consider how peers contribute to girls' and boys' development. This article provides a critical review of sex differences in several peer relationship processes, including behavioral and social-cognitive styles, stress and coping, and relationship provisions. The authors present a speculative peer-socialization model based on this review in which the implications of these sex differences for girls' and boys' emotional and behavioral development are considered. Central to this model is the idea that sex-linked relationship processes have costs and benefits for girls' and boys' adjustment. Finally, the authors present recent research testing certain model components and propose approaches for testing understudied aspects of the model.     

Sources of individual differences in working memory: Contributions of strategy to capacity

Some research on attentional control in working memory has emphasized theoretical capacity differences. However, strategic behavior, which has been relatively unexplored, can also influence attentional control and its relationship to cognitive performance. In two experiments, we examined the relationship between attentional control (measured with operation span) and interference in a part-list cuing paradigm. Paradoxically, the results indicated that superior attentional control was related to increased interference. This relationship reflected the participants’ use of more complex encoding strategies, rather than superior interference control at retrieval, and was eliminated following brief encoding strategy training. The results suggest that complex span measures sometimes predict individual differences in task strategies related to interference control and that these strategies may be amenable to training. The implications for working memory research and the roles of strategies in basic memory and attention paradigms are briefly discussed.     

Motivating minority older adults to exercise

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore with minority older adults their experience in the Senior Exercise Self-Efficacy Pilot Program (SESEP) and establish what aspects of the SESEP helped the participants engage in exercise and what decreased their willingness to exercise. A total of 148 older adults from 12 Senior Centers participated. The majority of the participants were African American (77%), and female (79%) and the average age was 72.9+/-8.0. Analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed 36 codes which were categorized and reduced to 13 major themes. Eleven of these themes focused on factors that facilitated participation in exercise and two themes included factors that decreased willingness to participate in exercise. Findings support the use of the theory of self-efficacy to change behavior among minority older adults, and future research should focus on identifying culturally specific interventions that will strengthen these beliefs and thereby increase exercise behavior.     

Relation of emotion-related regulation to children's social competence: a longitudinal study

The differential relations of children's emotion-related regulation (i.e., effortful control and impulsivity) to their personality resiliency, adult-rated popularity, and social competence were examined in children who were 4.5-7.9 years old and who were remeasured 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs, and children's attentional persistence was observed. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating role of resiliency on the relations between regulation/control and popularity using two-wave longitudinal data. The results provide some evidence of the mediating role of resiliency in the relations between effortful control and popularity, provide some evidence of bidirectional effects, and also buttress the view that emotional regulation should be differentiated into effortful and reactive forms of control.