Cognitive errors,coping patterns,and the therapeutic alliance: A pilot study of in‐session process

Aim: This exploratory study examined the association between clients’ assessment of the therapeutic alliance and their cognitive errors (CE) and coping action patterns (CAP). Method: Selected therapy sessions of clients (N = 26) were rated for cognitive errors and coping action patterns using the CERS and CAPRS methods (Drapeau, Perry, & Dunkley, 2008; Perry, Drapeau, & Dunkley, 2005). The therapeutic alliance was assessed using the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI; Horvath & Greenberg, 1989). Results: Following Bonferroni corrections, no significant relationship was found between clients’ CEs and their ratings of the WAI. However, the ‘Negotiation’ CAP was associated with the total alliance score, and with the Task and Goal subscales. Implications: A better understanding of the cognitive processes presented by clients in session can enable clinicians to address these factors early on when the alliance is most critical.     

Joint drumming: social context facilitates synchronization in preschool children

The human capacity to synchronize body movements to an external acoustic beat enables uniquely human behaviors such as music making and dancing. By hypothesis, these first evolved in human cultures as fundamentally social activities. We therefore hypothesized that children would spontaneously synchronize their body movements to an external beat at earlier ages and with higher accuracy if the stimulus was presented in a social context. A total of 36 children in three age groups (2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 years) were invited to drum along with either a human partner, a drumming machine, or a drum sound coming from a speaker. When drumming with a social partner, children as young as 2.5 years adjusted their drumming tempo to a beat outside the range of their spontaneous motor tempo. Moreover, children of all ages synchronized their drumming with higher accuracy in the social condition. We argue that drumming together with a social partner creates a shared representation of the joint action task and/or elicits a specific human motivation to synchronize movements during joint rhythmic activity.     

Blame-Laden Moral Rebukes and the Morally Competent Robot: A Confucian Ethical Perspective

Science and Engineering Ethics - Empirical studies have suggested that language-capable robots have the persuasive power to shape the shared moral norms based on how they respond to human norm...     

Possession is not always the law: With age, preschoolers increasingly use verbal information to identify who owns what

Children can identify owners either by seeing a person in possession of an object (a visual cue) and inferring that they are the owner or by hearing testimony about a claim of ownership (a verbal cue). A total of 391 children between 2.5 and 6years of age were tested in three experiments assessing how children identify owners when these two cues are in conflict. Children were presented with stories using two dolls and a toy. One doll possessed the toy, and children were told that the toy was either the possessor's or the nonpossessor's. Two forms of ownership statement were used: a third-person statement, "That is Billy's ball", and a first-person statement by one of the dolls, "That is my ball". The results show that by 4years of age, children prioritize the verbal statements as a more reliable cue to ownership than physical possession. Younger children did not prioritize possession over the verbal cue to ownership but rather gave mixed responses. These results are discussed in terms of children's social experience outside of the home and their acceptance of testimony in other domains.     

Is “Σ” purple or green? Bistable grapheme-color synesthesia induced by ambiguous characters

People with grapheme-color synesthesia perceive specific colors when viewing different letters or numbers. Previous studies have suggested that synesthetic color experience can be bistable when induced by an ambiguous character. However, the exact relationship between processes underlying the identity of an alphanumeric character and the experience of the induced synesthetic color has not been examined. In the present study, we explored this by focusing on the temporal relation of inducer identification and color emergence using inducers whose identity could be rendered ambiguous upon rotation of the characters. Specifically, achromatic alphabetic letters (W/M) and digits (6/9) were presented at varying angles to 9 grapheme-color synesthetes. Results showed that grapheme identification and synesthetically perceived grapheme color covary with the orientation of the test stimulus and that synesthetes were slower naming the experienced color than identifying the character, particularly at intermediate angles where ambiguity was greatest.     

Probable PTSD and Impairment in Witnesses of Work-Related Fatalities

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, steel, oil, and mining are among the nation's most dangerous industries. This study assessed probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive symptoms, life functioning, and well-being in a unique sample of 89 members of the United Steelworkers who reported directly witnessing an occupational fatality. Of the sample, 25.8% reported symptoms consistent with probable PTSD, while 21.3% reported symptoms consistent with subthreshold PTSD. These two groups differed significantly from the non-PTSD group on measures of depressive symptoms, well-being, and life functioning. These findings highlight the further need for assessment and intervention for workers exposed to fatalities.