The snodgrass picture fragment completion test: Alternate-form reliability

In two studies, the alternate-form reliability of the Snodgrass picture fragment completion test of implicit memory (Snodgrass, Smith, Feenan, & Corwin, 1987) was examined. In this test, identification thresholds are established for fragmented pictures. The same fragmented pictures are then shown again, intermixed with new fragmented pictures. Implicit memory is indicated by a decrease in identification threshold from the first to second presentation. Alternate-form reliability was low to moderate, depending on the measure used, regardless of the length of the test. A third study showed that explicit memory instructions did not increase the reliability. Recommendations for use of the test in correlational and experimental research are presented.     

Spiritual Openness,Revisiting a Potentially Important Aspect of Spirituality: Scale Review and Revision

Religiousness and spirituality (R/S) exert important influences on individuals across a range of domains. Spiritual Openness is theoretically linked with the personality trait of Openness to Experience, suggesting promise for future research. Using responses from 366 undergraduates on the Spiritual Experience Index-Revised (SEI-R: subscales of Spiritual Openness and Spiritual Support), analyses evaluated and revised the SEI-R, deleting poor items and generating a 10-item measure. The new SEI-S exhibits better psychometric properties and reduced participant burden, and subscales displayed a curvilinear relationship in which increases in Spiritual Openness showed a trade-off in levels of Spiritual Support.     

Cross's Nigrescence Model: From Theory to Scale to Theory

This article describes the theoretical and empirical evolution of the revised Cross nigrescence identity model (W. E. Cross, 1991) in the context of developing a new multidimensional measure, the Cross Racial Identity Scale (Vandiver et al., 2000). The research resulted in an expanded nigrescence model (W. E. Cross & B. J. Vandiver, 2001), and preliminary factor analytic strategies support the existence of 6 subscales. Este artículo describe la evolución teoretica y empirica de el modelo indentidad de nigrescence creado y revisado por W. E. Cross (1991) en el contexto de la creación de una nueva escala miltidimensional, la Escala de Identidad Racial Cross (B. J. Vandiver et al., 2000). La investigación resultó en un modelo de nigrescence extendido (W. E. Cross & B. J. Vandiver, 2001), y las estrategias factor analíticas preliminarias sustentan la existencia de 6 sub‐escalas.     

Nigrescence Theory: Current Status and Challenges for the Future

This article raises a number of critical questions for scale development and theorizing in the field of Black racial identity. In particular, the authors suggest that research on Black racial identity would benefit from longitudinal studies and the examination of the existence of overarching racial identity constructs. Este artículo plantea varias preguntas críticas sobre el desarrollo de escalas y teorías en el campo de la Identidad Racial Negra. En lo particular, los autores sugieren que investigaciones basadas en la Identidad Racial Negra se beneficiarian con estudios longitudinales y la examinación de la existencia de conceptos expansivos sobre la identidad racial.     

Decreasing Child Distress During Needle Sticks and Maintaining Treatment Gains Over Time

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention for reducing behavioral distress in children during needle sticks. Participants were eight children and their parents. The children received injections or venipunctures for hematological or oncological disease. The distress management intervention included instruction for children to engage in a distraction activity during needle sticks and parent training in coaching their children. The intervention was adapted to clinic and home treatment settings. Results indicated that five children exhibited significantly less distress after treatment when compared with baseline sessions, that treatment gains were maintained at follow-up for three of them, and that child distress was significantly and negatively related to use of the experimental distractor. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

Perceptions of Licensure: A Survey of Michigan Genetic Counselors

This study by the Michigan Genetic Counselor Licensure Committee is the first known published documentation of genetic counselors’ beliefs and attitudes about licensure. The response rate from genetic counselors in Michigan was 66% (41/62). Ninety-five percent of respondents were supportive of licensure. Respondents believed licensure would legitimize genetic counseling as a distinct allied healthcare profession (97.5%), increase the public’s protection (75%), and allow genetic counselors to practice independently (67%). While 45% felt licensure would increase counselor involvement in lawsuits, this did not impact licensure support (p?=?0.744). Opinions were split regarding physician supervision and ordering tests. Even though 28% favored physician supervision, there was overwhelming support for genetic counselors performing some components of genetic testing (95%) and ordering some types of genetic tests (82%) independent of a physician. Use of this survey may be helpful in other states to assess genetic counselors’ interest in licensure and for drafting legislation.     

Parent education in the public school: The parent and preschooler's program

The public school is discussed as a milieu in which to provide parent education for parents of preschool children. Primary prevention within the public school setting is designated as a means by which many children and families can be reached while the mental health of infants and young children is addressed as an integral concern of the community. The Parent and Preschooler's Program is described as an example of the implementation of a preschool parent education program in a public school which was initiated by community members and is eagerly supported by the school system.     

Learning and generalization on asynchrony and order tasks at sound offset: implications for underlying neural circuitry

Normal auditory perception relies on accurate judgments about the temporal relationships between sounds. Previously, we used a perceptual-learning paradigm to investigate the neural substrates of two such relative-timing judgments made at sound onset: detecting stimulus asynchrony and discriminating stimulus order. Here, we conducted parallel experiments at sound offset. Human adults practiced approximately 1 h/d for 6-8 d on either asynchrony detection or order discrimination at sound offset with tones at 0.25 and 4.0 kHz. As at sound onset, learning on order-offset discrimination did not generalize to the other task (asynchrony), an untrained temporal position (onset), or untrained frequency pairs, indicating that this training affected a quite specialized neural circuit. In contrast, learning on asynchrony-offset detection generalized to the other task (order) and temporal position (onset), though not to untrained frequency pairs, implying that the training on this condition influenced a less specialized, or more interdependent, circuit. Finally, the learning patterns induced by single-session exposure to asynchrony and order tasks differed depending on whether these tasks were performed primarily at sound onset or offset, suggesting that this exposure modified circuitry specialized to separately process relative-timing tasks at these two temporal positions. Overall, it appears that the neural processes underlying relative-timing judgments are malleable, and that the nature of the affected circuitry depends on the duration of exposure (multihour or single-session) and the parameters of the judgment(s) made during that exposure.     

Is there more to complicated grief than depression and posttraumatic stress disorder? A test of incremental validity

There is growing interest in complicated grief reactions as a possible new diagnostic category for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, no research has yet shown that complicated grief has incremental validity (i.e., predicts unique variance in functioning). The authors addressed this issue in 2 studies by comparing grief, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms with different measures of functioning (interviewer ratings, friend ratings, self-report, and autonomic arousal). The 1st study (N = 73) used longitudinal data collected at 4 and 18 months postloss, and the 2nd study (N = 447) used cross-sectional data collected 2.5-3.5 years postloss. With depression and PTSD controlled, grief emerged as a unique predictor of functioning, both cross-sectionally and prospectively. The findings provide convergent support for the incremental validity of complicated grief as an independent marker of bereavement-related psychopathology.     

How to Supervise the Use of Homework in Cognitive Behavior Therapy: The Role of Trainee Therapist Beliefs

Encouraging and facilitating homework completion is a core cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) skill. Consequently, it represents an important part of training practitioners. Oftentimes the process of integrating homework into therapy is rushed, poorly executed, or forgotten, and trainees are surprised to find that some patients do not complete homework. We advocate for increased therapist responsibility in accounting for homework nonadherence. Therefore, problems with the use of homework in therapy are frequently an agenda item in the supervision of trainee cognitive behavior therapists. In our experience, trainee CBT practitioners exhibit a number of interrelated automatic thoughts, assumptions, and in-session behaviors that influence their use of homework assignments. The Cognitive Behavior Therapy Homework Project has proposed a “model for practice” to guide the use of homework in CBT [Kazantzis, N., MacEwan, J., & Dattilio, F. M. (2005). A guiding model for practice. In: Kazantzis, N., Deane, F. P., Ronan, K. R., & L’Abate, L. (Eds.), Using homework assignments in cognitive behavior therapy (pp. 359–407). New York: Routledge]. The present article will draw from those practice recommendations and discuss the role and impact of the therapeutic relationship and therapist beliefs on the use of homework assignments, with reference to the different levels of CBT conceptualization. Clinical examples from the supervision of trainees enrolled in the practicum component of the Massey University Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavior Therapy are used to illustrate supervising the use of homework assignments.