Testing a computational model of interpersonal judgment with personal constructs

In a repertory grid experiment based on elicited personal constructs we tested several predictive implications of a computational model of interpersonal judgment developed by Lefebvre, Lefebvre, and Adams-Webber (1986). Results are compared with related findings within the framework of personal construct theory.     

Protection of Children from Physical Maltreatment in Canada: An Evaluation of the Supreme Court's Definition of Reasonable Force

In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada set out seven criteria to distinguish reasonable from abusive corrective force with children. We tested the validity of those criteria by mapping them onto a nationally representative data set of substantiated cases of physical abuse. The court's criteria defining reasonable force actually characterized the majority of cases of child physical maltreatment in Canada. These cases were more likely to be characterized by the use of spanking in the family than by each of the criteria set out by the Supreme Court. One in five cases was not characterized by any of the court's criteria, and virtually none were characterized by all of them. The findings provide stronger support for abolishing physical punishment than for legal attempts to narrow its definition.     

Negotiating for Improved Reimbursement for Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Successful Project

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder that has been widely disseminated to many outpatient treatment settings. Many practitioners depend on third-party payers to fund treatment delivery. DBT requires additional clinical services not often included in outpatient therapy, including a weekly skills group led by 2 clinicians, and the requirement for clinicians to attend weekly consultation team and provide intersession contact for coaching. Standard outpatient insurance rates for individual and group sessions do not provide adequate reimbursement for the additional services of DBT. This paper describes how 2 DBT team leaders collaborated to obtain improved reimbursement for their programs. The 2 teams met with insurers, educated them about DBT, and showed outcomes from their programs to achieve large increases in reimbursement rates. The paper includes client outcome data from both programs.     

Sanctification of work: assessing the role of spirituality in employment attitudes

Recent research has sought to develop measures that empirically substantiate spirituality as a unique construct independent of established personality constructs. One such measure is Sanctification, a psychological process through which people perceive aspects of life to possess spiritual character and significance. This study empirically examines the relationship between Sanctification of Work and work-related outcomes in a national sample (N?=?827) of individuals employed in religiously affiliated institutions. The results indicated that the Sanctification of Work was a significant predictor of Job Satisfaction, Turnover Intention, and Organisational Commitment after controlling for Personality, Spirituality, Religiosity, Psychological Safety, and Demographic variables.     

Semantic Degradation and Lexical Access in Age-Related Naming Failures

This study investigated the impaired lexical access and semantic degradation hypotheses as two potential explanations of naming failures in normal aging. Naming responses on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and Action Naming Test (ANT) were analyzed across three test sessions for 39 adults from three age groups (50s, 60s, and 70s). Failures to name before and after cues were classified as either impaired access if failures occurred at an earlier test session followed by successful naming at a later test session or semantic degradation if naming was successful at an earlier test session followed by failures at a later test session. The results indicated that on both the BNT and ANT all age groups produced more naming failures attributed to impaired access than to semantic degradation. However, for object naming, the failures showed significantly more semantic degradation for people in their 70s compared to the younger age groups. By contrast, for action naming, semantic degradation was negligible, possibly masked by a ceiling effect, and the only age-difference result that approached significance indicated that adults in their 70s produced more naming failures attributed to impaired access than adults in their 50s.     

Remembering Words Never Presented: False Memory Effects in Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Thirty-five young adults, 35 older adults and 29 individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer’s type studied lists of semantically related words (e.g., thread, pin, sewing) that converged on a non-presented lure (needle). Compared to the young adults, older adults remembered (recall and recognition tests) fewer studied items but falsely remembered more non-presented lures. Memory for studied items was lower in the DAT group compared to normal elders. The DAT group did recall some non-presented lures, although unlike the older adults, recall of non-presented lures was not elevated compared to veridical memory. Similar to the normal elders, the DAT group showed increased susceptibility to false recognition of non-presented lures. Susceptibility to false recognition did not vary as a function of disease severity.     

Done in 60 s? Inferring teachers’ subjective well-being from thin slices of nonverbal behavior

Being a teacher is known to be a particularly stressful occupation and as a consequence many teachers suffer from reduced well-being. Thus, it is important to know as soon as possible which individuals are likely to experience reduced well-being in their employment. Therefore, this study investigated whether it is possible to infer teachers’ future well-being from minimal nonverbal information, i.e., thin slices of behavior. Between 2003 and 2006, 50 teachers were filmed while holding a lesson. Naïve observers were shown 60-s clips of these teachers and were asked to predict the teachers’ satisfaction with job, life, and health in 5–8 years. Five to eight years later, the teachers’ satisfaction with job, life, and health was assessed. It was shown that judges highly agree in their predictions. Additionally, these predictions were shown to be accurate for life and job satisfaction. Thus, it is possible to predict a teacher’s well-being on the basis of thin slices of the nonverbal behavior they show while performing their job. These thin slices might therefore allow for a risk assessment in the context of teacher education and such approaches might contribute to teacher professionalism.     

Everyday Cognitive Functioning in Cardiac Patients: Relationships Between Self-report,Report of a Significant Other and Cognitive Test Performance

ABSTRACT

Candidates for cardiac bypass surgery often experience cognitive decline. Such decline is likely to affect their everyday cognitive functioning. The aim of the present study was to compare cardiac patients' ratings of their everyday cognitive functioning against significant others' ratings and selected neuropsychological tests. Sixty-nine patients completed a battery of standardised cognitive tests. Patients and significant others also completed the Everyday Function Questionnaire independently of each other. Patient and significant other ratings of patients' everyday cognitive difficulties were found to be similar. Despite the similarities in ratings of difficulties, some everyday cognitive tasks were attributed to different processes. Patients' and significant others' ratings were most closely associated with the neuropsychological test of visual memory. Tests of the patients' verbal memory and fluency were only related to significant others' ratings. Test scores of attention and planning were largely unrelated to ratings by either patients or their significant others.     

The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility is one of the essential mental abilities underlying creative thinking. Previous findings have shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations, and it has been suggested that active involvement is needed for schema violations to facilitate cognitive flexibility. The possibility that identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility was investigated in 2 studies. In the first study, under conditions of high or low identification, participants watched an actor preparing a sandwich. The way the actor made the sandwich followed either a schema violation or contained the normal schema of preparing a sandwich. When identification was high, watching a schema-violation-enhanced cognitive flexibility as compared to watching the corresponding normal event. No effect of schema violation occurred under conditions of low identification. As little is known about the neural correlates of schema violations, in the second study the brain activity during schema violations was explored by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants were instructed to identify with an actor and brain activity was measured while participants watched the actor performing a schema violation or the corresponding normal schema. Activity in the temporal parietal junction (TPJ), a brain region that is associated with violation of expectations, was higher in the schema-violation condition than in the normal schema condition. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of the effects of schema violations and may provide important practical implications in various settings where creative thinking is needed.     

Rorschach Characteristics of Mothers of Incest Victims

Investigated the Rorschach characteristics of 28 mothers of incest victims, using the Rorschach Comprehensive System. Their characteristics were compared to those from a control group of 28 women, matched with the target group for socioeconomic status (SES), age, education, marital status, and the presence of children. Chi-square, analysis of variance, and a stepwise linear discriminant function analysis were used to evaluate Rorschach differences between the control and target groups. Major findings indicate that mothers of incest victims demonstrated significantly greater weaknesses in reality testing, more frequent signs of depression, and greater interpersonal guardedness than control group mothers. Discriminant function analysis, based on scores from the schizophrenia index (SCZI), conventional form (X + %), and texture responses (t), yielded an overall accurate classification rate of 87.5% for placement of women into the target and control group categories.