Attributional style and depressive symptoms in adolescents: an examination of the role of various indicators of cognitive vulnerability

This study focuses on the hopelessness theory to explain depressive symptoms in adolescents. The aim is to assess which dimensions of the attributional style (causal attribution, attribution of consequences, implications for the self, total score, and weakest link score) better moderate the impact of negative events on the increase of depressive symptoms. For this purpose, 856 Spanish adolescents (449 girls and 407 boys, ages between 14 and 17 years) were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at follow-up 6 months later. They completed measures of depressogenic cognitive style [Hankin, B. L., & Abramson, L. Y. (2002). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression in adolescents: Reliability, validity, and gender differences. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 491-504], negative life events, and depressive symptoms. The results show that only the dimension of attribution of stable and global causes moderated the impact of the negative events on the increase of depression at follow-up. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of the weakest link score and the construct of attributional style from a developmental perspective.     

Slurs, Snubs, and Queer Jokes: Incidence and Impact of Heterosexist Harassment in Academia

Previous research has suggested that overt hostility against sexual minorities is associated with decrements in their well-being. However, subtler forms of heterosexism and their potential effects have been overlooked, heterosexuals have not been asked how they fare in a heterosexist environment, and no research has examined whether women and men might respond differently to heterosexism. Data from 3,128 northwestern US university students (representing all sexual orientations) address these gaps. Approximately 40% reported experiences of heterosexist harassment (HH) in the past year, and those who encountered both ambient and personal HH reported worse psychological and academic well-being than those who encountered no HH. Similar patterns of findings held for sexual minorities and heterosexuals, and for women and men. This paper is based on a presentation given at the American Psychological Association Convention in Toronto, Ontario in August 2003.     

Self-representation in mediated environments: the experience of emotions modulated by auditory-vibrotactile heartbeat.

In 1890, William James hypothesized that emotions are our perception of physiological changes. Many different theories of emotion have emerged since then, but it has been demonstrated that a specifically induced physiological state can influence an individual's emotional responses to stimuli. In the present study, auditory and/or vibrotactile heartbeat stimuli were presented to participants (N = 24), and the stimuli's effect on participants' physiological state and subsequent emotional attitude to affective pictures was measured. In particular, we aimed to investigate the effect of the perceived distance to stimuli on emotional experience. Distant versus close sound reproduction conditions (loudspeakers vs. headphones) were used to identify whether an "embodied" experience can occur in which participants would associate the external heartbeat sound with their own. Vibrotactile stimulation of an experimental chair and footrest was added to magnify the experience. Participants' peripheral heartbeat signals, self-reported valence (pleasantness) and arousal (activation) ratings for the pictures, and memory performance scores were collected. Heartbeat sounds significantly affected participants' heartbeat, the emotional judgments of pictures, and their recall. The effect of distance to stimuli was observed in the significant interaction between the spatial location of the heartbeat sound and the vibrotactile stimulation, which was mainly caused by the auditory-vibrotactile interaction in the loudspeakers condition. This interaction might suggest that vibrations transform the far sound condition (sound via loudspeakers) in a close-stimulation condition and support the hypothesis that close sounds are more affective than distant ones. These findings have implications for the design and evaluation of mediated environments.     

Evaluation of Halpern's "structural component" for improving critical thinking

Halpern (1998) proposed a four-component model for promoting the transfer of critical thinking. One of them, the "structural component," focuses on how to organize teaching so that critical thinking skills can be generalized. Here, we assess the efficiency of that type of organization. Thus, one group of university students received instruction following the suggestions specified in that component and their performance was compared with that of other university students who received instruction in the same skills but using a different procedure, and with that of a control group. In comparison with the control group, the performance of both instructed groups was better after training. However, no significant differences were observed between either instruction group; both forms of instruction afforded very similar results.     

Sober social networks: The role of online support groups in recovery from alcohol addiction

In the context of addiction research, positive recovery outcomes are affected by the quality of people's social interactions and perhaps to an even greater extent, by the defining norms of the groups they identify with—that is, using versus recovery groups. Here, we examine the role of online supportive networks in the process of recovery from alcohol addiction. We analyse the relationship between negative and positive aspects of recovery capital (i.e., self‐stigma, and respectively, positive recovery identity and self‐efficacy) as they relate to well‐being outcomes among alcohol users in an online recovery support group. Based on a computerised linguistic analysis of the naturally occurring data extracted from an online recovery support group (i.e., 257 posts made by 237 group members), we found that self‐stigma negatively predicts self‐efficacy and well‐being, and social identification with a recovery identity mediates these relationships. Overall, these findings highlight that positive engagement with supportive recovery networks is central to an effective and sustainable recovery.     

Thematic roles: Core knowledge or linguistic construct?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - The status of thematic roles such as Agent and Patient in cognitive science is highly controversial: To some they are universal components of core knowledge, to...     

What determines creative association? Revealing two factors which separately influence the creative process when solving the Remote Associates Test

The Remote Associates Test is a well‐established measure, frequently used to assess individuals’ creative abilities, as a function of the ability to elicit remote associates. The nature of the involved associative processes is still poorly understood. This hampers a deeper understanding of the creative process, rendering it difficult to determine what factors are controlled for, when the RAT is employed. We report an experiment that sheds further light on the nature of the associative process by manipulating (a) the frequency with which a pair of items are associated as associative strength, and (b) the probability of reaching the answer given the strength and the spread. Experimental results indicate a clear and surprisingly separate influence of frequency and probability on accuracy and response times. Frequency and probability both are thus factors that need to be included in the modeling process and controlled for when using the RAT to assess creativity.     

Age-related Changes in Postural Sway During Sit-to-stand in Typical Children and Children with Cerebral Palsy

Objective: To assess age-related changes in postural sway during sit-to-stand (STS) in typical children (TC) and children with mild cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Thirty-five TC and 23 children with mild CP were allocated in four different age groups: 5–6, 7–9, 10–12, and 13–15 years; they all performed STS movements over a force plate. Anterior-posterior and medial-lateral amplitude of center of pressure (CoP) displacement, area and velocity of CoP sway were analyzed and compared between the age groups for TC and children with CP. Results: TC at 5 to 6 years of age showed higher values of anterior-posterior CoP displacement and Area of CoP sway than at 10–12 years, during the stabilization phase. There were no age-related changes for CP. Conclusion: TC change their postural sway during the last STS phase over the years, reducing their body sway. Children with CP did not show age-related changes in sway during STS, reflecting a distinct rhythm of postural control development in this population.     

Moving Beyond Anger and Depression: The Effects of Anxiety and Envy on Maladaptive Coping

According to general strain theory (GST), life stressors, or strains, lead to different types of negative emotions, some of which increase the likelihood of maladaptive coping. A considerable body of research testing GST focuses on anger and depression as manifestations of negative emotionality. Less research considers other types of negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and envy). The current study addresses this void in the literature through the use of surveys administered to a university-based sample. We also consider whether the effects of negative emotions vary by sex. The implications of our findings for theory, research, and mental health providers are discussed.