The Relationship Between Nonclinical Schizotypy and Handedness on Divergent and Convergent Creative Problem-Solving Tasks

Previous research indicated a relationship between hemispherical dominance, the extent of schizotypal tendencies, and creativity. Little research has been conducted to assess the degree of schizotypy in nonclinical samples. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which measures of multidimensional schizotypy and predominant handedness could predict measures of creativity, as assessed by both divergent and convergent tasks. One hundred and twenty-six participants participated in a quasi-experiment involving tests of predominant handedness, schizotypal tendencies, and divergent and convergent thinking. Results suggest that individuals who scored high on a test for schizotypal tendencies performed better on divergent problem-solving tasks, as opposed to low scoring individuals who performed better on convergent problem-solving tasks. Furthermore, results suggest that there was relationship between handedness on divergent and convergent thinking. There was, however, a relationship between handedness (right hemisphere) on the degree of schizotypal tendencies with left-handed individuals demonstrating greater schizotypal tendencies.     

Correlates of Happiness Among Older Spanish Institutionalised and Non-Institutionalised Adults

The overall objective of this study was to explore the current (i.e., at the time of the study) and past (i.e., over their lifetimes) happiness of 65-year-old and older men and women who had different personal and socio-demographic characteristics. We also investigated the role of affect balance and life satisfaction as sources of participants’ subjective well-being, as well as the contribution of other psychosocial variables, including self-efficacy, optimism, health and quality of life, stress, social support and leisure, and of socio-demographic conditions. Further, we examined the influence of institutionalisation on happiness and on the aforementioned psychosocial variables. Participants voluntarily completed self-reports regarding all of these variables. Participants’ current happiness (M = 6.6 on a 0–10 scale) was significantly lower than their past happiness (M = 7.7). The happiness of the institutionalised participants did not differ from that of the non-institutionalised participants, although significant differences were found for a number of psychosocial variables. Affect balance and life satisfaction were significant correlates and predictors of current happiness, which was also associated with many psychosocial variables and was further predicted by past happiness, health indicators and some life dimensions assessed as perceived sources of one’s own happiness, such as a sense of autonomy and independence. Our results highlight the importance of establishing both happiness and its correlates to develop interventions aimed at promoting subjective well-being in older people, given that, compared to earlier periods in life, happiness may be reduced in late adulthood.     

Reviews

Nirvana and other Buddhist felicities: Utopias of the Pali imaginaire. By Steven Collins. Published by Cambridge University Press, 1998, xxiv + 684 pp.

Verses from the Center: A Buddhist Vision of the Sublime. By Stephen Batchelor. Published by Riverhead Books, 2000, xvii + 181 pp.

Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream. Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo. Published by Curzon Press, 2000, xxviii + 354 pp.     

A Comparison of Simultaneous Prompting and Constant Time Delay Procedures in Teaching State Capitals

This investigation compared the effectiveness and efficiency of constant time delay (CTD) and simultaneous prompting (SP) procedures in teaching discrete social studies facts to 4 high school students with learning and behavior disorders using an adapted alternating treatments design nested within a multiple probe design. The results indicated that both procedures were effective, with the simultaneous prompting procedure being slightly more efficient in terms of errors during instructional and maintenance phases. In addition, when interviewed about their preferences, both the instructor and participants preferred the simultaneous prompting procedure. This investigation extends current research as there are small numbers of studies comparing SP to other response prompting strategies, and to date, SP and CTD have not been compared with high school students with high-incidence disabilities. Future research issues are discussed.     

Biological motion preference in humans at birth: role of dynamic and configural properties

The present study addresses the hypothesis that detection of biological motion is an intrinsic capacity of the visual system guided by a non-species-specific predisposition for the pattern of vertebrate movement and investigates the role of global vs. local information in biological motion detection. Two-day-old babies exposed to a biological motion point-light display (depicting a walking hen) and a non-biological motion display (a rotating rigid object) preferentially looked at the biological display (Experiment 1). A new group of newborns showed themselves to be capable of discriminating, following habituation, a biological motion display from a spatially scrambled version of it (Experiment 2). However, a third group of newborns, at their first exposure to such displays, did not show any preference between them (Experiment 3). Results confirm and extend previous comparative and developmental data, supporting an inborn predisposition to attend to biological motion in humans. This ability is presumably part of an evolutionarily ancient and non-species-specific system predisposing animals to preferentially attend to other animals.     

The limits of love: Predicting immediate versus sustained caring behaviors in close relationships

Do the same kinds of processes predict spontaneous acts of kindness and long-term caring behavior in relationships? Three studies examined predictors of immediate behaviors versus delayed, sustained behaviors. Positive feelings toward the relationship partner predicted pro-relational behaviors when the behaviors could be completed in an immediate and fairly short timespan, but not when the behaviors required performance after several days delay (Study 1) or when the behavior required continued self-regulation over a period of a week (Studies 2 and 3). Sustained behavior regulation was better predicted by factors related to self-regulation strength, such as trait conscientiousness, than it was by positive relationship feelings. However, when feelings were primed daily, the feelings-behavior link remained strong for sustained behaviors (Study 3). Together, these studies suggest that immediate pro-relational behaviors are more likely to be acts of the heart, whereas delayed, sustained pro-relational behaviors are more likely to be acts of will.     

The effect of question expectedness and experience on lying about intentions

In recent years researchers have started to focus on lying about intentions (Granhag, 2010). In the present experiment participants were interviewed about their forthcoming trip. We tested the hypothesis that liars (N=43) compared to truth tellers (N=43) would give fewer details to unexpected questions about planning, transportation and the core event, but an equal amount or more detail to expected questions about the purpose of the trip. We also tested the hypothesis that participants who had previously experienced the intention (i.e., they had made such a trip before) would give more detail than those who had never experienced the intended action. The unexpected question hypothesis was supported, whereas the previous experience effect only emerged in interactions. The benefit of using different types of questions for lie detection purposes is discussed.     

Current developments in the practice of individual psychoanalytic psychodrama in France

The authors present the history of individual psychoanalytic psychodrama and its current developments as practised in France. They put forward the technique, objectives and rules, along with the indications, limits and risks that ensue from the specific nature of this therapeutic approach. Through its technical adjustments, individual psychoanalytic psychodrama provides a therapeutic option that is appropriate to the defences prevalent in many patients that cause classical psychotherapies to fail: massive inhibition, operative functioning far removed from affects or in false self mode; phobias, disavowal or splitting of the internal psychic life and emotions; prevalence of short discharge circuits in acted-out behaviours and bodily or visceral complaints and expressions. Psychodrama utilizes these defences not in order to eliminate them but to 'subvert' them so that they can continue to carry out their protective role, in particular ensuring narcissistic continuity. At the same time, psychodrama relaxes these defences and facilitates a possible filtering through of the repressed material. Through the number of actors and the diffraction of transference that this allows, psychodrama provides a possibility of adjusting the potentially traumatic effect of the encounter with the object and the instigation of the transference in the regressive dimension induced by any psychotherapeutic process.     

The Facilitation and Maintenance of the Therapeutic Alliance in Family Therapy

The formation and maintenance of the therapeutic alliance in family therapy involves complexities pertaining to the stabilizing tendency of family systems, and the necessity for negotiation of the goals and tasks of therapy with and among multiple individuals (i.e., the family members) in a context of systemic reciprocity and mutual influence. This article explores the complexities associated with the establishment and maintenance of the therapeutic alliance in family therapy. Alliance stances are presented as clinical applications designed to assist therapists in working with split alliances, establishing within family collaboration, and in negotiating homeostatic processes.     

Designing Selection Systems for Medicine: The importance of balancing predictive and political validity in high‐stakes selection contexts

Selection into medical education and training is a high‐stakes process. A key unanswered issue is the effectiveness of measuring noncognitive predictors via both low‐fidelity and high‐fidelity selection approaches in this high‐stakes context. We review studies investigating the effectiveness of multiple selection instruments in terms of predictive validity, incremental validity, and applicant reactions in both entry‐level and advanced‐level medical selection. Our results show that the situational judgment test (SJT) is the best single predictor of performance, operationalized in multiple ways. In addition, the low‐fidelity SJT has incremental predictive power over cognitively oriented tests, and high‐fidelity assessment center (AC) exercises add incremental validity over the low‐fidelity (and less costly) selection methods. Concerning applicant reactions, results show that overall, the selection system is positively received. However, the method with the highest predictive validity – the SJT – received comparatively lower face validity ratings which may present a ‘justice dilemma’ for employers. Furthermore, various other stakeholders have a political interest in the selection methods used (e.g., government, the regulators and trade unions).