Thanking in the times of the plague: The role of holistic thinking in meaning-making and gratitude

Two studies examined the role of holistic thinking in meaning-making and gratitude during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlational and mediational evidence showed that participants with high holistic thinking tended to construct more meaning from the pandemic and feel grateful, compared to participants with low holistic thinking (Study 1). Experimental manipulation of holistic thinking elicited behavioral choice for books on life meaning, which predicted gratitude (Study 2). These results cannot be explained by individual differences in the perception of threat (Study 1) or distress (Studies 1–2) associated with the pandemic. They cannot be explained by demographic factors such as age or gender, or cultural constructs such as ethnicity, educational level, or religiosity (Studies 1–2). These findings push understanding forward. They strengthen interdisciplinary links, fusing positive psychology with the social cognition of thinking styles. We discuss promising directions for future research with cross-cultural implications.     

The Evolution of Specialties in the CACREP Standards: CACREP's Role in Unifying the Profession

This article explores the evolution of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs’ (CACREP's) accreditation of program area specialties and how CACREP's decision to accredit specialties as separate programs has affected the counseling profession's ability to view itself as a single profession. The article links the development of CACREP and its accreditation structure to other historical and political events occurring within the profession and includes documentation of CACREP's efforts to self‐correct through policy development that emphasizes counseling first and specialties second.     

The shape of human navigation: how environmental geometry is used in maintenance of spatial orientation

The role of environmental geometry in maintaining spatial orientation was measured in immersive virtual reality using a spatial updating task (requiring maintenance of orientation during locomotion) within rooms varying in rotational symmetry (the number of room orientations providing the same perspective). Spatial updating was equally good in trapezoidal, rectangular and square rooms (one-fold, two-fold and four-fold rotationally symmetric, respectively) but worse in a circular room (∞-fold rotationally symmetric). This contrasts with reorientation performance, which was incrementally impaired by increasing rotational symmetry. Spatial updating performance in a shape-changing room (containing visible corners and flat surfaces, but changing its shape over time) was no better than performance in a circular room, indicating that superior spatial updating performance in angular environments was due to remembered room shape, rather than improved self-motion perception in the presence of visible corners and flat surfaces.     

Distinguishing Constructs from Variables in Designing Research

Current research practices often conflate theoretical constructs and explanatory hypotheses with variables and predicted effects, to the detriment of research progress. This has led to the use of procedures such as manipulation checks, mediation analysis, and boundary conditions predicated on the idea that matching constructs to variables is necessary to validate that a theory corresponds to an effect . An alternative perspective, Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE), calls for designing research to exploit the power of distinguishing constructs from variables, hypotheses from predictions, and theory from effects. IBE calls for stating hypotheses (Hs) about construct‐to‐construct relationships and, separately, the predictions (Ps) about variable‐to‐variable effects that are explained by the hypotheses. In addition, articles should include disparate effects, a single explanation covering all studies, and a discussion of the use of the research in specific problem contexts. The application of IBE is illustrated with research investigating when judgments are based on a feeling about the ease of information retrieval versus the information content itself.     

The Benefits of Spiritual Diaries: A Mixed-Method Study in Korea

Journal of Religion and Health - This mixed study examined the benefits of spiritual diaries in Korea. Quantitatively, differences in spiritual growth and psychological well-being were examined in...     

Watch out! Directional threat-related postures cue attention and the eyes

Previous work indicates that threatening facial expressions with averted eye gaze can act as a signal of imminent danger, enhancing attentional orienting in the gazed-at direction. However, this threat-related gaze-cueing effect is only present in individuals reporting high levels of anxiety. The present study used eye tracking to investigate whether additional directional social cues, such as averted angry and fearful human body postures, not only cue attention, but also the eyes. The data show that although body direction did not predict target location, anxious individuals made faster eye movements when fearful or angry postures were facing towards (congruent condition) rather than away (incongruent condition) from peripheral targets. Our results provide evidence for attentional cueing in response to threat-related directional body postures in those with anxiety. This suggests that for such individuals, attention is guided by threatening social stimuli in ways that can influence and bias eye movement behaviour.     

Self-management of a DRO procedure by three students with autism

Three students with autism were taught to self-manage a DRO program to reduce their disruptive behavior. During baseline conditions, all students showed high rates of disruptive behavior (either out-of-seat or nail-flicking). Students were taught to self-manage a DRO program during external reinforcement and prompted self-management conditions. Student gains were maintained during unprompted self-management and follow-up conditions. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐management of varied responding in three students with autism

One of the aspects of autism that is often held up as a hallmark of the disorder is a desire for sameness. Students with autism often show a marked lack of variability in language and play skills. The same behavioral patterns are repeated perseveratively, rather than attempting new patterns. In the current study, students diagnosed with autism were taught to self‐manage varied responding. Using a multiple baseline design, three children with autism were taught to self‐monitor and then to self‐manage in order to increase variability in play and social language. All three students demonstrated marked increases in variability during self‐management phases. These gains were maintained at one month follow‐up. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Influence of Supervisor and Supervisee Matching, Role Conflict, and Supervisory Relationship on Supervisee Satisfaction

In this study we explore how the “match” between supervisor and supervisee on contextual variables affects both conflict and the working alliance, which affects supervisee satisfaction. Participants included 132 supervisees in academic programs nationwide. The extent of match between supervisor and supervisee characteristics was not found to impact conflict, the working alliance, or supervisees’ satisfaction with supervision. Working alliance was highly predictive of supervisee satisfaction. Despite the findings that match was not related to working alliance or satisfaction, we believe that supervisors should still have open discussions with supervisees about their similarities and differences.