Niveles experimentales de conflicto social e influencia minoritaria: Límites en la definición de influencia indirecta

Resumen

El propósito de la presente investigación es desarrollar una jerarquía experimental que estudie las características más importantes del conflicto social en los procesos de influencia minoritaria. También se hace un análisis de los límites de la influencia latente minoritaria. Se defiende así la idea de que la influencia indirecta de las minorías reposa sobre una relación de naturaleza binaria no transitiva entre las posiciones minoritarias y las opiniones y actitudes objeto de influencia. Para ello se elaboró una serie de experimentos que combinan las siguientes variables, pertenencia categorial y presentatividad de la fuente minoritaria, en un diseño factorial 3 x 2. Los sujetos, 107 escolares (110 mujeres y 87 varones) fueron distribuidos en seis condiciones experimentales resultantes de la combinación de dos clases de variables: fuente de influencia perteneciente a un intragrupo, a un extragrupo, o a una minoría sin categorización social; fuente minoritaria representativa o no representativa. Los resultados subrayan la importancia del conflicto social en la producción de la influencia minoritaria y parecen confirmar la hipótesis de los límites en la influencia indirecta minoritaria.     

Emotion work and job stressors and their effects on burnout

Abstract

This article reports research on emotion work, organizational as well as social variables as predictors of job burnout. In burnout research, high emotional demands resulting from interactions with clients are seen as a core characteristic of service jobs. However, these emotional demands were seldom measured in a direct manner. It was only recently that emotional demands were included in studies on burnout referring to the concept of emotion work (emotional labor). Emotion work is defined as the requirement to display organizationally desired emotions. A multi-dimensional concept of emotion work was used to analyze the relations of emotion work variables with organizational and social variables and their joint effect on burnout in five samples including employees working in children's homes, kindergartens, hotels, banks and call centers. Emotion work variables correlated with organizational stressors and resources. However, hierarchical multiple regression showed a unique contribution of emotion work variables in the prediction of burnout. Moreover, the analysis of interaction effects of emotional dissonance and organizational and social stressors showed that for service professionals, the coincidence of these stressors led to exaggerated levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.     

The relationship between n-back performance and matrix reasoning — implications for training and transfer

We have previously demonstrated that training on a dual n-back task results in improvements in fluid intelligence (Gf) as measured by matrix reasoning tasks. Here, we explored the underlying mechanisms of this transfer effect in two studies, and we evaluated the transfer potential of a single n-back task. In the first study, we demonstrated that dual and single n-back task performances are approximately equally correlated with performance on two different tasks measuring Gf, whereas the correlation with a task assessing working memory capacity was smaller. Based on these results, the second study was aimed on testing the hypothesis that training on a single n-back task yields the same improvement in Gf as training on a dual n-back task, but that there should be less transfer to working memory capacity. We trained two groups of students for four weeks with either a single or a dual n-back intervention. We investigated transfer effects on working memory capacity and Gf comparing the two training groups' performance to controls who received no training of any kind. Our results showed that both training groups improved more on Gf than controls, thereby replicating and extending our prior results.     

Atypical categorization in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder process many perceptual and social events differently from typically developing children, suggesting that they may also form and recognize categories differently. We used a dot pattern categorization task and prototype comparison modeling to compare categorical processing in children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and matched typical controls. We were interested in whether there were differences in how children with autism use average similarity information about a category to make decisions. During testing, the group with autism spectrum disorder endorsed prototypes less and was seemingly less sensitive to differences between to-be-categorized items and the prototype. The findings suggest that individuals with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder are less likely to use overall average similarity when forming categories or making categorical decisions. Such differences in category formation and use may negatively impact processing of socially relevant information, such as facial expressions. A supplemental appendix for this article may be downloaded from http://pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Place and summation coding for canonical and non-canonical finger numeral representations

Fingers can be used to express numerical magnitudes, and cultural habits about the fixed order in which fingers are raised determine which configurations become canonical and which non-canonical. Although both types of configuration carry magnitude information, it has been shown that the canonical ones are recognized faster and directly linked to number semantics. Here we tested whether this difference is a consequence of differences in the qualitative way of processing the two types of configurations. When participants named Arabic digits (Experiment 1) or verbal numerals (Experiment 2) primed by canonical and non-canonical finger configurations, qualitatively different priming patterns were observed for the two types of configurations. Canonical configurations activated a place coding representation, with priming spreading to close smaller and larger magnitudes as a function of the prime–target distance. Conversely, non-canonical configurations activated a summation coding representation priming smaller and equal magnitudes independently of the prime–target distance, and larger targets depending on this distance.     

Children's activities and their meanings for parents: a mixed-methods study in six Western cultures

Theoretical perspectives and research in sociology, anthropology, sociolinguistics, and cultural psychology converge in recognizing the significance of children's time spent in various activities, especially in the family context. Knowing how children's time is deployed, however, only gives us a partial answer to how children acquire competence; the other part must take into account the culturally constructed meanings of activities, from the perspective of those who organize and direct children's daily lives. In this article, we report on a study of children's routine daily activities and on the meanings that parents attribute to them in six Western middle-class cultural communities located in Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United States (N = 183). Using week-long time diaries kept by parents, we first demonstrate similarities as well as significant differences in children's daily routines across the cultural samples. We then present brief vignettes--"a day in the life" --of children from each sample. Parent interviews were coded for themes in the meanings attributed to various activities. Excerpts from parent interviews, focusing on four major activities (meals, family time, play, school- or developmentally related activities), are presented to illustrate how cultural meanings and themes are woven into parents' organization and understanding of their children's daily lives. The results of this mixed-method approach provide a more reliable and nuanced picture of children's and families' daily lives than could be derived from either method alone.     

Observations and Insights About Strengthening Our Soldiers (SOS)

The Special Issue (June 2011) of the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings titled Strengthening Our Soldiers (SOS) and Their Families: Contemporary Psychological Advances Applied to Wartime Problems revealed the following important concerns: 1) Who is at risk for psychological sequelae during and following service in the U.S. military? 2) How to deliver the best treatment for our soldiers and veterans with PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury and Pain? 3) How to train the trainers? and 4) What are the current priorities for service delivery, research and funding? Assessment strategies and tools are provided to assist in identification of suicidal ideation and behaviors, alcohol abuse in spouses, posttraumatic stress disorders, depression, brain injuries and post-concussion syndrome, as well as positive growth experiences. Empirically validated Cognitive Processing and Prolonged Exposure treatments are described as are the empirical results already in evidence in our military populations. The innovative use of Virtual Reality and Telehealth applications is demonstrated in both army and naval settings for preparing and reducing trauma in affected soldiers. The Functional and Occupational Rehabilitation Treatment (FORT) Program and its role in returning function to injured soldiers with musculoskeletal pain and motion restrictions, while also leading to reductions of anxiety, depression and use of medical services, is described. A critique about providing service-research for children’s reactions to their parent’s deployments and family functioning during separation and reintegration is provided. The need for theoretical-empirical approaches to understanding pain-behavior, anxiety dysregulation as it impacts the brain function and structure is provided by experts in pain, neuropsychology, brain circuitry and anxiety management of multiple traumas. This final paper in SOS provides commentary on SOS and describes possible future implications of current psychological knowledge related to military personnel and their families.