Production,verification, and priming of multiplication facts

In the arithmetic-verification procedure, subjects are presented with a simple equation (e.g., 4 × 8 = 24) and must decide quickly whether it is true or false. The prevailing model of arithmetic verification holds that the presented answer (e.g., 24) has no direct effect on the speed and accuracy of retrieving an answer to the problem. It follows that models of the retrieval stage based on verification are also valid models of retrieval in the production task, in which subjects simply retrieve and state the answer to a given problem. Results of two experiments using singledigit multiplication problems challenge these assumptions. It is argued that the presented answer in verification functions as a priming stimulus and that on “true” verification trials the effects of priming are sufficient to distort estimates of problem difficulty and to mask important evidence about the nature of the retrieval process. It is also argued that the priming of false answers that have associative links to a presented problem induces interference that disrupts both speed and accuracy of retrieval. The results raise questions about the interpretation of verification data and offer support for a network-interference theory of the mental processes underlying simple multiplication.     

Relationships Between Trait Anxiety,Demographic Variables,and School Adjustment in Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

The present study investigated relationships between dimensions of anxiety, age, gender, and school adjustment in students with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The 177 students with SLD completed measures of anxiety and school adjustment. The results of a hierarchical regression analysis indicated that age and gender together were not significant predictors of attitude to school, and that after the influence of age and gender had been removed students with more physiological and social anxiety, but less worry tended to have poorer attitudes toward school. A second hierarchical regression indicated that younger students reported more negative attitudes toward teachers, and after controlling for age and gender, students with more social anxiety reported more negative attitudes toward teachers. Implications for school personnel are discussed.     

The combined effects of noncontingent reinforcement and punishment on the reduction of rumination

The current study extends the literature on the assessment and treatment of rumination through the evaluation of a combined reinforcement‐ and punishment‐based intervention. The study included a single participant with a history of rumination maintained by automatic reinforcement, as identified via a functional analysis. Both noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) with preferred edible items and punishment, in the form of a facial screen, were implemented separately to evaluate their independent effects on the occurrence of rumination. The final treatment package included both NCR and punishment procedures. Implementation of the combined treatment resulted in a 96.5% reduction in rumination relative to baseline. Procedural modifications and integrity errors also were evaluated.     

Do Self-efficacy Expectation and Spirituality Provide a Buffer Against Stress-Associated Impairment of Health? A Comprehensive Analysis of the German Pastoral Ministry Study

We aimed to analyse stress perception, psychosomatic health and life satisfaction in pastoral professionals, paying particular attention to their individual and shared resources. Enrolling 8574 German pastoral professionals (48 % priests, 22 % parish expert workers, 18 % pastoral assistants, 12 % deacons), we found that pastoral professionals’ stress perception is associated with psychosomatic health impairment. General self-efficacy was a beneficial resource to protect against stress perceptions, while perception of the transcendent had a further yet weakly positive influence for stress-related impairment of health. External stressors (i.e. team size, duration of work per week and size of pastoral unit) were only of marginal independent relevance.     

Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness in Polish Patients with Chronic Diseases: Validation of the Polish Version of the SpREUK Questionnaire

Although providing religious/spiritual (SpR) support to sick has received in Poland growing attention in the scientific literature, little has been written about how to measure whether patients are in search for SpR or may already have trust in such a resource helpful to cope with disease. The Polish version of the SpREUK questionnaire was validated in a sample of 275 patients with chronic diseases. Both explorative and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the already established three subscales, i.e., Search, Trust, and Reflection, with good internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α between .74 and .91). The instrument appears to be a good choice to be used in both secular and religious societies.     

No source memory for unrecognized items when implicit feedback is avoided

In a recent empirical study, Starns, Hicks, Brown, and Martin (Memory & Cognition, 36, 1–8 2008) collected source judgments for old items that participants had claimed to be new and found residual source discriminability depending on the old-new response bias. The authors interpreted their finding as evidence in favor of the bivariate signal-detection model, but against the two-high-threshold model of item/source memory. According to the latter, new responses only follow from the state of old-new uncertainty for which no source discrimination is possible, and the probability of entering this state is independent of the old-new response bias. However, when missed old items were presented for source discrimination, the participants could infer that the items had been previously studied. To test whether this implicit feedback led to second retrieval attempts and thus to source memory for presumably unrecognized items, we replicated Starns et al.’s (Memory & Cognition, 36, 1–8 2008) finding and compared their procedure to a procedure without such feedback. Our results challenge the conclusion to abandon discrete processing in source memory; source memory for unrecognized items is probably an artifact of the procedure, by which implicit feedback prompts participants to reconsider their recognition judgment when asked to rate the source of old items in the absence of item memory.     

Structure Building Predicts Grades in College Psychology and Biology

Knowing what skills underlie college success can allow students, teachers, and universities to identify and to help at‐risk students. One skill that may underlie success across a variety of subject areas is structure building, the ability to create mental representations of narratives (Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990 ). We tested if individual differences in structure‐building ability predicted success in two college classes: introductory to psychology and introductory biology. In both cases, structure building predicted success. This effect was robust, with structure building explaining variance in course grades even after accounting for high school GPA and SAT scores (in the psychology course) or a measure of domain knowledge (in the biology course). The results support the claim that structure building is an important individual difference, one that is associated with learning in different domains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

BRCA1 Testing: Genetic Counseling Protocol Development and Counseling Issues

This article discusses the genetic counseling protocols which were developed and counseling issues that have arisen in the first 2 years of evaluating a large kindred with a BRCA1 mutation. The rationale for the development of the genetic counseling protocols and specific genetic counseling visual aids are presented and discussed. The protocols and counseling aids can serve as models for other programs offering cancer susceptibility testing. The observations of study counselors about study subject concerns and responses to genetic testing at the time of the pretest and posttest counseling sessions are presented.