Renewal of cue-elicited urge to smoke: implications for cue exposure treatment

The effects of cue exposure therapy are limited, because renewal after extinction is an important source of relapse. In this study, 33 smokers were exposed to a cue predicting smoking availability and a cue predicting smoking unavailability in one context (acquisition context A). Following extinction in another context (extinction context B), a test for renewal took place in the original acquisition context A (i.e. ABA renewal). Urge to smoke was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. Renewal of differential conditioned urge responding occurred when participants were tested in the acquisition context, while differential urge responding remained extinguished when tested in the extinction context. This experiment provides evidence that ABA renewal occurred in smokers. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Some Variables in the Blue (Red) Phenomenon

The relation between spontaneous color choices and ratings of the prototypicality, conspicuousness, and pleasantness of colors was studied in a sample of Dutch college students. Pleasantness, not prototypicality or conspicuousness, determined the four most frequent spontaneous choices—red, blue, green, and purple. Subjects considered blue the most pleasant of the 12 colors studied, which suggests a pleasantness explanation for the “blue phenomenon” found in some countries. The predominance of red as a spontaneous choice replicated the results of previous studies in the Netherlands. Red also was rated highest in prototypicality but was not rated higher by red choosers than by choosers of other colors, so that a simple prototypicality explanation was rejected. Further analysis showed that the predominance of red as the spontaneous choice of Dutch subjects can be explained by an interaction between prototypicality and pleasantness: Subjects tended to choose red when they rated it highly on both variables.     

A Dialectic on Validity: Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going

It has been suggested that the primary issue in considerations of validity today is the discrepancy between currently accepted theory and the practice of validation. The reason for this discrepancy may be that although considerable discussion has taken place in educational measurement and psychometrics regarding changes in our conceptions of validity, that has not been the case more generally in the social and behavioral sciences. A dialectic on the current status of validity theory for social and behavioral scientists is presented to help bridge this gap.     

A Glimpse into Co-Occupations: Parent/Caregiver's Support of Young Children's Playfulness Scale

Cooperative play between parents/caregivers and children is a positive and significant contributor to the development of children’s emotional, social, and cognitive skills and may set the stage for the formation of co-occupations. This article discusses the rationale for the development of Parent/Caregiver’s Support of Young Children’s Playfulness (PSYCP), an assessment that is based on children’s play and playfulness, adult’s playfulness, and parent–child interaction. The use of the PSYCP to assess co-occupations will allow therapists to identify the specific behaviors that either hinder or support playfulness and mutual play.     

Performance and Perceptions of Brainstormers in an Organizational Setting

Employees of a corporation who had undergone considerable training for effective teamwork were asked to brainstorm about a job-relevant issue in groups of four or alone. One half of the groups brainstormed alone first, and the other half brainstormed as a group before brainstorming alone. Participants were also asked to rate their performance and indicate whether they would perform better in groups or alone on a brainstorming task. Consistent with past laboratory research, groups generated only about half as many ideas as a similar number of individuals (nominal group), and group brainstorming led to more favorable perceptions of individual performance. Participants also believed that they would brainstorm more effectively in a group than alone. These results indicate that productivity losses in brainstorming groups are not restricted to laboratory groups. Such losses occur even in groups who work together on a daily basis, have considerable training in group dynamics, and are dealing with a job-relevant issue. The sequence of alone to group brainstorming did not influence overall productivity. The relation of this research to that of facilitated and electronic brainstorming is discussed.     

Do you see what I see? The effect of members’ cognitive styles on team processes and errors in task execution

This research investigates the effect of members’ cognitive styles on team processes that affect errors in execution tasks. In two laboratory studies, we investigated how a team’s composition (members’ cognitive styles related to object and spatial visualization) affects the team’s strategic focus and strategic consensus, and how those affect the team’s commission of errors. Study 1, conducted with 70 dyads performing a navigation and identification task, established that teams high in spatial visualization are more process-focused than teams high in object visualization. Process focus, which pertains to a team’s attention to the details of conducting a task, is associated with fewer errors. Study 2, conducted with 64 teams performing a building task, established that heterogeneity in cognitive style is negatively associated with the formation of a strategic consensus, which has a direct and mediating relationship with errors.     

The effects of team strategic orientation on team process and information search

We tested the effects of team strategic orientation on team member perceptions, work strategy and information search. In Experiment 1, 80 teams worked on a hidden profile decision-making task. A defensive team strategic orientation increased members’ perceptions of the problem’s scope, leading to a more process-focused work strategy and broader information search compared to an offensive team strategic orientation. When teams needed critical information from the environment, defensive teams outperformed offensive teams; offensive teams performed better when critical information resided within the team. In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated with 92 teams performing a different decision task. When making a second decision, half of the teams were led to change their strategic orientation; teams shifting from offense to defense altered their information search behavior more readily than did teams shifting in the opposite direction, suggesting an asymmetric adaptation effect.     

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in high‐risk groups

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ‐ Short Form (CTQ‐SF) is widely used to measure childhood abuse of all types. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the instrument. The participants constituted four subsamples (n = 517): substance abusers (n = 126), psychiatric patients (n = 210), prisoners (n = 109) and adolescents in out‐of‐home placements (n = 72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a reasonable fit of the data to the original five‐factor structure of the CTQ‐SF. Measurement invariance was found across gender and the four subsamples. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the CTQ‐SF has acceptable psychometric properties, with good reliability and satisfactory accuracy, to assess different dimensions of childhood trauma.     

Self-efficacy and affect responses to Sprint Interval Training

ObjectivesTo examine the influence of efficacious beliefs on affective states, enjoyment, and satisfaction after performing a maximal intensity exercise task (i.e. Sprint Interval Training (SIT).DesignAn experimental design was utilized and participants were randomized to a high self-efficacy feedback (HE), low self-efficacy feedback (LE), or no feedback control condition.MethodsCollege-aged men and women (n = 74) performed four 30-second maximal sprints, interspersed with 4-min breaks. Following each sprint interval, participants received either positive, negative or no feedback and SIT self-efficacy, affective states (i.e., positive well-being, psychological distress, fatigue), heart rate (HR), and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed. Upon terminating the exercise session, enjoyment and satisfaction were assessed.ResultsThere was group equivalency in HR and RPE among participants of each group. The HE group had significantly less of a decline in SIT self-efficacy from pre to post SIT than both the LE and control groups, and reported significantly higher levels of exercise enjoyment than the other two groups. In addition, the HE and control groups reported significantly higher satisfaction than the LE group.ConclusionsWe recommend that exercisers receive positive feedback statements while performing SIT to minimize the decrease in SIT self-efficacy and to bolster feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction.     

Fine motor skill predicts expressive language in infant siblings of children with autism

We investigated whether fine motor and expressive language skills are related in the later‐born siblings of children with autism (heightened‐risk, HR infants) who are at increased risk for language delays. We observed 34 HR infants longitudinally from 12 to 36 months. We used parent report and standardized observation measures to assess fine motor skill from 12 to 24 months in HR infants (Study 1) and its relation to later expressive vocabulary at 36 months in HR infants (Study 2). In Study 1, we also included 25 infants without a family history of autism to serve as a normative comparison group for a parent‐report fine motor measure. We found that HR infants exhibited fine motor delays between 12 and 24 months and expressive vocabulary delays at 36 months. Further, fine motor skill significantly predicted expressive language at 36 months. Fine motor and expressive language skills are related early in development in HR infants, who, as a group, exhibit risk for delays in both. Our findings highlight the importance of considering fine motor skill in children at risk for language impairments and may have implications for early identification of expressive language difficulties.