Posttraumatic stress and physical health among adults: The role of coping mechanisms

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether coping mechanisms predict physical health, after controlling for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters in a non-clinical sample of adults. Data were collected from 483 adults through an online survey. Most of the participants (66.7%) reported lifetime exposure to at least one traumatic event. The final sample of this study included 319 trauma-exposed individuals. Results indicated that PTSD symptoms on the avoidance and hyperarousal clusters had significant positive relationships with self-reported physical health symptoms. After controlling for gender and PTSD, denial, behavioral disengagement, and self-blame significantly and positively predicted physical health symptoms.     

Coping,Social Interest,and Psychological Birth Order as Predictors of Resilience in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of psychological birth order, social interest, and coping strategies and their interactions on resilience in Turkish population (N?=?247). The results indicated social interest, coping strategies of active planning, acceptance and cognitive restructuring, seeking external help and psychological birth order of the youngest and middle child were predictors of resilience.     

Sex differences in the behavioral responses of dogs exposed to human chemosignals of fear and happiness

Animal Cognition - This research focuses on sex differences in the behavioral patterns of dogs when they are exposed to human chemosignals (sweat) produced in happy and fear contexts. No age, breed...     

Decision-making,cognitive functions,impulsivity, and media multitasking expectancies in high versus low media multitaskers

In several studies, individuals who reported to frequently multitask with different media displayed reduced cognitive performance, for example in fluid intelligence and executive functioning. These cognitive functions are relevant for making advantageous decisions under both objective risk (requiring reflection and strategical planning) and ambiguous risk (requiring learning from feedback). Thus, compared to low media multitaskers (LMMs), high media multitaskers (HMMs) may perform worse in both types of decision situations. The current study investigated HMMs and LMMs in a laboratory setting with the Game of Dice Task (GDT; objective risk), the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; ambiguous risk), various tests quantifying cognitive functions (logical reasoning, working memory, information processing, general executive functions), and self-report measures of impulsivity, media multitasking expectancies, and problematic Internet use. From 182 participants, 25 HMMs and 19 LMMs were identified using the Media Multitasking Index. Results show that HMMs compared to LMMs performed weaker on the IGT but not on the GDT. Furthermore, HMMs had slightly decreased performance in tests of logical reasoning and working memory capacity. HMMs tended to increased information processing speed but this difference was not significant. Furthermore, HMMs have more positive expectancies regarding media multitasking and reported higher tendencies toward problematic Internet use. HMMs and LMMs did not differ significantly with respect to impulsivity and executive functions. The results give a first hint that HMMs may have difficulties in decision-making under ambiguous but not under objective risk. HMMs may be more prone to errors in tasks that require feedback processing. However, HMMs appear not to be impaired in aspects of long-term strategic decision-making.

     

Predicting Treatment Outcomes From Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (ICBT) with therapist support shows promise as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Yet, not all patients respond to ICBT. It is therefore important to identify predictors of ICBT outcomes to determine who is likely to benefit. Relative to the large literature on predictors of outcomes for in-person CBT for OCD, very few studies have investigated ICBT predictors. Therefore, we analyzed predictors of outcome in an open trial (n = 30) of ICBT for OCD using the OCD-NET platform, which consists of 10 online modules delivered with therapist support. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) was administered by independent raters as the primary outcome measure at baseline and posttreatment. In this sample, greater baseline OCD severity and OCD-related avoidance behaviors were associated with higher end-state OCD symptoms (i.e., poorer outcome). Patients with a past history of face-to-face CBT for OCD also had worse outcomes. Although these results require replication, these factors may identify individuals at risk for poor ICBT outcomes.     

Seeing the mind of robots: Harm augments mind perception but benevolent intentions reduce dehumanisation of artificial entities in visual vignettes

According to moral typecasting theory, good- and evil-doers (agents) interact with the recipients of their actions (patients) in a moral dyad. When this dyad is completed, mind attribution towards intentionally harmed liminal minds is enhanced. However, from a dehumanisation view, malevolent actions may instead result in a denial of humanness. To contrast both accounts, a visual vignette experiment (N = 253) depicted either malevolent or benevolent intentions towards robotic or human avatars. Additionally, we examined the role of harm-salience by showing patients as either harmed, or still unharmed. The results revealed significantly increased mind attribution towards visibly harmed patients, mediated by perceived pain and expressed empathy. Benevolent and malevolent intentions were evaluated respectively as morally right or wrong, but their impact on the patient was diminished for the robotic avatar. Contrary to dehumanisation predictions, our manipulation of intentions failed to affect mind perception. Nonetheless, benevolent intentions reduced dehumanisation of the patients. Moreover, when pain and empathy were statistically controlled, the effect of intentions on mind perception was mediated by dehumanisation. These findings suggest that perceived intentions might only be indirectly tied to mind perception, and that their role may be better understood when additionally accounting for empathy and dehumanisation.     

An Analysis of Speech Disfluencies of Turkish Speakers Based on Age Variable

The focus of this research is to verify the influence of the age variable on fluent Turkish native speakers’ production of the various types of speech disfluencies. To accomplish this, four groups of native speakers of Turkish between ages 4–8, 18–23, 33–50 years respectively and those over 50-year-olds were constructed. A total of 84 participants took part in this study. Prepared and unprepared speech samples of at least 300 words were collected from each participant via face-to-face interviews that were tape recorded and transcribed; for practical reasons, only the unprepared speech samples were collected from children. As a result, for the prepared speech situation, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of age in the production rates of filled gaps, false starts, slips of the tongue and repetitions; however, participants in the over 50-year-old group produced more hesitations and prolongations than participants in the 18–23 and 33–50-year-old groups. For the unprepared speech situation, age variable was not effective on the production rates of filled gaps. However, 4–8 and over 50-year-old participants produced more hesitations and prolongations than the 18–23 and 33–50-year-old groups. 4–8-year-old children produced more slips of the tongue than the 18–23 and 33–50-year-old groups, and more false starts and repetitions than the participants in the other three age groups (18–23, 33–50, over 50). Further analyses revealed more extensive insights related to the types of disfluencies, the position of disfluencies, and the linguistic units involved in disfluency production in Turkish speech.