A Longitudinal Investigation of Children’s Trauma Memory Characteristics and Their Relationship with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - While trauma memory characteristics are considered a core predictor of adult PTSD, the literature on child PTSD is limited and inconsistent. We...     

Simultaneous utilization of multiple cues in judgments of learning

There is much evidence that metacognitive judgments, such as people’s predictions of their future memory performance (judgments of learning, JOLs), are inferences based on cues and heuristics. However, relatively little is known about whether and when people integrate multiple cues in one metacognitive judgment or focus on a single cue without integrating further information. The current set of experiments systematically addressed whether and to what degree people integrate multiple extrinsic and intrinsic cues in JOLs. Experiment 1 varied two cues: number of study presentations (1 vs. 2) and font size (18 point vs. 48 point). Results revealed that people integrated both cues in their JOLs. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the two word characteristics concreteness (abstract vs. concrete) and emotionality (neutral vs. emotional) were integrated in JOLs. Experiment 3 showed that people integrated all four cues in their JOLs when manipulated simultaneously. Finally, Experiment 4 confirmed integration of three cues that varied on a continuum rather than in two easily distinguishable levels. These results demonstrate that people have a remarkable capacity to integrate multiple cues in metacognitive judgments. In addition, our findings render an explanation of cue effects on JOLs in terms of demand characteristics implausible.     

The Use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy With Older Adults in Mexico: A Preliminary Study

This preliminary study investigated the use of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) with older adults in Mexico. The three session SFBT treatment focused on a self-defined problem, such as relationship issues or psychological well-being. Compared with a waiting list control group, the treatment group showed significant posttest improvements as indicated by the Outcome Questionnaire, the participant and an independent assessor. There was a significant difference between groups on participants' perception of goal achievement and in pre-post change during therapy on the Outcome Questionnaire. This study provides preliminary tentative support for the use of SFBT with the geriatric population in Mexico.     

The Use of Audio Guides to Collect Individualized Timing and Tracking Data in a Science Center Exhibition

ABSTRACT

Timing and tracking is a common method used to collect data about visitor behavior in exhibitions. Typically, it involves the unobtrusive observation of visitors. The purpose of this article is to present an alternative method for automated timing and tracking using an audio guide system. In the first part of the article, existing timing and tracking methods are reviewed to reveal their advantages and limitations. Against this background, the requirements of an alternative method for tracking large numbers of visitors in an interactive science center are discussed. Audio guides, which are commonly used in museum exhibitions, are used to track the movement of single visitors. In the second part of the article, the use of this method is illustrated in the context of a study on the orientation and choice behavior of visitor groups in an exhibition on biotechnology, molecular biology, and genetics. In conclusion, the benefits and limitations of our approach are discussed.     

Contribution of cognitive factors to the prediction of post-traumatic stress disorder, phobia and depression after motor vehicle accidents

Past research into the psychological consequences of traumatic events has largely focused on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although other anxiety disorders and depression are also common in the aftermath of trauma. Little is known about differential predictors of these conditions. The present study investigated the extent to which theoretically derived cognitive variables predict PTSD, phobias and depression after motor vehicle accidents. The cognitive predictors were compared to a set of established, mainly non-cognitive predictors. In addition, we tested how disorder-specific the cognitive predictors are. Participants (n=101) were interviewed within a year after having been injured in a motor vehicle accident. Diagnoses of PTSD, travel phobias and depression, symptom severities and predictor variables were assessed with self-report questionnaires and structured interviews. In multiple regression analyses, the sets of cognitive variables derived from disorder-specific models explained significantly greater proportions of the variance of the symptom severities than the established predictors (PTSD 76% vs. 45%, depression 72% vs. 46% and phobia 66% vs. 40%), and than cognitive variables derived from the models of the other disorders. In addition, the majority of individual cognitive variables showed the expected pattern of differences between diagnostic groups. The results support the hypothesis that disorder-specific sets of cognitive factors contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD, phobias and depression following traumatic events.     

Is School Feminine? Implicit Gender Stereotyping of School as a Predictor of Academic Achievement

One cause proposed for boys’ relatively lower academic achievement is a “feminisation” of schools that might result in a lack of fit between boys’ self-concept and academic engagement. Research so far has investigated math-male and language-female stereotypes, but no school-female stereotypes. Our study tested for implicit gender stereotyping of school and its impact on boys’ achievement in N?=?122 ninth-graders from a large city in Western Germany using the Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). Gender role self-concept and grades in math (representing an academic domain stereotyped as male) and German (domain stereotyped as female) were assessed using written questionnaires. It was found that, overall, students associated school more strongly with female than with male, and that this association of school with female was related to boys’ academic achievement. The more strongly boys associated school with female and the more they ascribed negative masculine traits to themselves, the lower their grades in German were. Boys’ academic achievement in math was unrelated to the extent to which they perceived school as feminine and themselves as masculine. Girls’ grades in both German and math were unrelated to their gender stereotyping of school. These findings emphasize the importance of fit between a student’s gender, gender role self-concept and gender stereotyping of school for academic achievement. Strategies to improve this fit are discussed.     

Enhanced perceptual priming for neutral stimuli in a traumatic context: A pathway to intrusive memories?

Clinical observations suggest that re-experiencing symptoms are triggered by stimuli that are perceptually similar to those present shortly before the trauma or its worst moments. Two experiments investigated the possible role of perceptual priming in this phenomenon. Volunteers (N = 28, N = 62) watched a series of “traumatic” and neutral picture stories, and completed blurred object identification (priming) and recognition memory tasks. Neutral objects that immediately preceded the “traumatic” stories were more strongly primed, but not better recognised, than objects from neutral stories. Enhanced priming predicted subsequent re-experiencing symptoms. The results support the role of perceptual priming in re-experiencing.     

Intrusive memories and rumination in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: a phenomenological comparison

The aim of the study was to investigate the phenomenological differences between intrusive memories and rumination in PTSD. The study population consisted of 31 patients with PTSD referred for cognitive behavioural therapy to specialist services. A semi-structured interview was used to examine the characteristics of the most prominent intrusive memory and rumination. Intrusive memories were predominantly sensory experiences of short duration, whereas rumination was predominantly a thought process of longer duration. Shame was associated more with rumination than with intrusive memories. Anxiety, helplessness, numbness, and threat were greater at the time of the trauma than when experiencing the intrusive memory. In contrast, feelings like anger and sadness were greater when experiencing intrusive memories than at the time of the event. The distinction between intrusive memories and rumination is of clinical importance as intrusive memories usually decrease with imaginal reliving of the trauma, whereas rumination may require different therapeutic strategies, such as rumination-focused or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.     

Foundations,institutes, charities,and proselytes in the early modern Holy Roman Empire

This article examines the support given to Jewish converts both before and after their conversion to the Lutheran faith during Pietism. Two central measures of support are discussed: proselyte institutes and proselyte charities. The first were aimed mainly at people with a Jewish background, the second were accessible primarily to members of the non-ruling Christian denomination but also, to a lesser degree, to Jews and followers of other religions. Most Pietist supporters of proselyte institutes had networks that reached across and beyond the whole empire, and were also connected with proselyte charities. Those charities were part of the common conversion policy, which was not only closely connected with the welfare practices of secular and church authorities but was also an expression of denominational rivalry. These measures and institutions notwithstanding, Jewish proselytes, like converts from other religions and denominations endured discrimination; Converts lamented that there was no real integration into the Christian community, even after their baptism, and support was too often conditional on “good behavior”, even when, seemingly, there was good will on the part of institutes and their sustainers.