A Note on Item Analysis of Family Relations Test Data

Two statistical problems prevent meaningful item analysis of Family Relations Test (FRT) data: (a) multiple assignment invalidates the assumption of independence and (b) low frequencies prevent computation of probabilities. It is suggested that: (a) multiple assignment be disallowed and (b) items be made more representative of family interactions.     

Exploring Socioeconomic Differences in Bedtime Behaviours and Sleep Duration in English Preschool Children

Children's sleep is critical for optimal health and development; yet sleep duration has decreased in recent decades, and many children do not have adequate sleep. Certain sleep behaviours (‘sleep hygiene’) are commonly recommended, and there is some evidence that they are associated with longer nighttime sleep. Parents of 84 British 3‐year‐old children were interviewed about their children's sleep and completed five‐night/four‐day sleep diaries documenting their children's sleep, from which daily sleep duration was estimated. Diaries were validated by actigraphy in a subgroup of children. Sleep hygiene behaviours (regular bedtime, reading at bedtime, falling asleep in bed) were associated with each other, and were more common in the high socioeconomic status compared to the low socioeconomic status group. Parents' reasons for not practicing sleep hygiene included difficulty, inability or inconvenience. Sleep hygiene behaviours were associated with significantly longer child sleep at night but not over 24 h. Longer daytime napping compensated for shorter nighttime sleep in children whose parents did not implement sleep hygiene behaviours. Parents may need to be advised that certain behaviours are associated with longer nighttime sleep and given practical advice on how to implement these behaviours. © 2014 The Authors. Infant and Child Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Couple's Grid: A Tool for Assessing Interpersonal Construction in Couples

In the study of human relationships, interest in interpersonal construction is increasing because of its implications for the quality of the couple's relationship. The processes involved in construing self and others may play a key role. However, a precise methodology to study those processes has not yet been developed. The aim of this article is to present a dyadic assessment tool, the couple's grid (CG), which is inspired from constructivist and systemic perspectives. Derived from Procter's (1985) family grid, the CG is similarly based on the repertory grid technique. The CG assesses perception of self and partner, and their ideals, and also the metaperception of the partner's view (e.g., “What does your partner think about you?”). These two levels of analysis provide measures of perceived similarity, commonality, and sociality. This article describes the development of CG as an assessment tool with a case illustration.     

Counterfactual Reasoning for Regretted Situations Involving Controllable Versus Uncontrollable Events: The Modulating Role of Contingent Self-Esteem

We report a study that examined the modulating impact of contingent self-esteem on regret intensity for regretted outcomes associated with controllable versus uncontrollable events. The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2006) was used to assess the extent to which a person’s sense of self-worth is based on self and others’ expectations. We found that there was an influence of self-esteem contingency for controllable but not for uncontrollable regret types. For controllable regret types individuals with a high contingent (i.e., unstable) self-esteem reported greater regret intensity than those with a low contingent (i.e., stable) self-esteem. We interpret this finding as reflecting a functional and adaptive role of high contingent self-esteem in terms of mobilizing the application of counterfactual reasoning and planning mechanisms that can enable personal expectations to be achieved in the future.     

Relative salience of syllable structure and syllable order in zebra finch song

There is a rich history of behavioral and neurobiological research focused on the ‘syntax’ of birdsong as a model for human language and complex auditory perception. Zebra finches are one of the most widely studied songbird species in this area of investigation. As they produce song syllables in a fixed sequence, it is reasonable to assume that adult zebra finches are also sensitive to the order of syllables within their song; however, results from electrophysiological and behavioral studies provide somewhat mixed evidence on exactly how sensitive zebra finches are to syllable order as compared, say, to syllable structure. Here, we investigate how well adult zebra finches can discriminate changes in syllable order relative to changes in syllable structure in their natural song motifs. In addition, we identify a possible role for experience in enhancing sensitivity to syllable order. We found that both male and female adult zebra finches are surprisingly poor at discriminating changes to the order of syllables within their species-specific song motifs, but are extraordinarily good at discriminating changes to syllable structure (i.e., reversals) in specific syllables. Direct experience or familiarity with a song, either using the bird’s own song (BOS) or the song of a flock mate as the test stimulus, improved both male and female zebra finches’ sensitivity to syllable order. However, even with experience, birds remained much more sensitive to structural changes in syllables. These results help to clarify some of the ambiguities from the literature on the discriminability of changes in syllable order in zebra finches, provide potential insight on the ethological significance of zebra finch song features, and suggest new avenues of investigation in using zebra finches as animal models for sequential sound processing.     

Relationships between psychological stress,coping and disordered eating: A review

Abstract

Objective: Psychological stress and inadequate coping skills have been hypothesized to play important roles in the etiology of disordered eating. This paper reviews the empirical evidence which has emerged regarding the proposed relationships among stress. coping skills and various forms of disordered eating. Method: A search of psychological and medical databases was conducted to identify studies examining life events, and other types of psychological stress and coping strategies, in relation to the onset of disordered eating. Results: Despite methodological limitations such as the use of non-representative samples and retrospective methodologies, evidence of relationships between stress. coping and disordered eating was obtained in the majority of studies reviewed. Discussion: The implications of these findings am discussed and suggestions for future research, including the utilization of longitudinal. prospective studies, am presented.     

Assessing Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder: The Emotion Regulation Interview

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is thought to involve emotional hyper-reactivity and emotion dysregulation. However, the precise nature of the emotion dysregulation in SAD has not been well characterized. In the present study, the Emotion Regulation Interview (ERI) was developed to quantify the frequency and self-efficacy of five emotion regulation strategies specified by Gross’s (Review of General Psychology 2: 271–299, 1998) process model of emotion regulation. Forty-eight individuals with SAD and 33 healthy controls (HCs) were interviewed about responses during (a) a laboratory speech task and (b) two recent social anxiety-evoking situations. Individuals with SAD reported greater use of avoidance and expressive suppression than HCs, as well as lesser self-efficacy in implementing cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. These regulation deficits were not accounted for by differences in emotional reactivity. These findings highlight specific emotion regulation deficits in SAD, and support the idea that the Emotion Regulation Interview may be usefully applied to other clinical disorders.     

Preference stability belief as a determinant of response to personalized recommendations

Preference stability refers to the objectively measured choice consistency among options with different attribute values in the same product category. We suggest that a consumer's subjectively held belief of preference stability may be an important determinant of response to personalized recommendations. Experimental results confirm that preference stability belief moderates the effect of customization on the evaluation of recommendation accuracy and receptiveness to the learning relationship. Customization will produce stronger effects on accuracy evaluation and receptiveness for subjects with high preference stability belief than for subjects with low preference stability belief. Customers who believe their preferences are stable appreciate customized recommendations more, notice more acutely whether recommendations are customized or not, and are more receptive to the learning relationship when recommendations are customized than when not. Customers who believe their own preferences are less stable do not appreciate customized recommendations as much, are less sensitive to whether recommendations are customized or not, and are not more receptive to the learning relationship even when recommendations are customized. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.