Using narratives to explore other-directed occupational choice and academic success

The construct of “other-directed versus self-directed career choice” has existed for quite some time. The current focus of vocational psychologists and counselors has made them question the relevance of this construct for contemporary American society. Many counselors today challenge the assumption that a career choice based on others’ expectations is problematic. This longitudinal study utilized a logistic regression analysis to determine whether self-directed or other-directed status, as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test related to success with which individuals enacted career choices. The sample consisted of 433 BS/MD students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science-Doctor of Medicine (BS/MD) degree program at a Midwestern medical college. The findings showed that self-directed or other-directed career choice did not predict academic success.     

Correction to: The diachronic threshold problem

Philosophical Studies -     

The Usual and the Unusual: Solving Remote Associates Test Tasks Using Simple Statistical Natural Language Processing Based on Language Use

In this study we show how complex creative relations can arise from fairly frequent semantic relations observed in everyday language. By doing this, we reflect on some key cognitive aspects of linguistic and general creativity. In our experimentation, we automated the process of solving a battery of Remote Associates Test tasks. By applying Statistical Natural Language Processing techniques to a large web‐based corpus, we perform a frequency and collocation analysis of the test items. Results show that 37% of the 68 tasks were automatically solved, whereas human accuracy reached 43%. Our method outperformed humans in the tasks rated as difficult: 38% and 32%, respectively. Highly relevant is that the novel and adequate relations established in order to solve the RAT were not previously present in the corpus. The frequency based approach pervades all stages of our method: during the divergent stage, highly frequent collocations are listed, while the convergent stage starts by matching each task's triads output, shrinking that list, and finalizing it by choosing the least frequent, therefore more informative and often correct, result. Finally, we discuss the implications of our model in overcoming functional fixedness and understanding cognitive salience in the creative process.     

Predicting the use of corporal punishment: Child aggression,parent religiosity,and the BDNF gene

Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents’ CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers’ and fathers’ self‐reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three‐way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers’ BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers’ CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8–9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio‐ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene‐environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.

     

Doddering but dear … even in the eyes of young children? Age stereotyping and prejudice in childhood and adolescence

This study aims to explore age prejudice, and to examine age stereotyping in children and adolescents by adopting the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) as a theoretical framework. It was hypothesised that children are socialised into adopting an ambivalent representation of old age (socialisation hypothesis) and that this cognitive bias becomes weaker in adolescence due to greater cognitive maturity (developmental hypothesis). By analysing representative data from Portugal (European Social Survey; N = 2367), it was ascertained that the ambivalent age stereotype (higher evaluations of warmth than competence for older people) is indeed a shared social representation of older people in Portuguese society. A total of 103 Portuguese children (6–10 year olds) and adolescents (11–15 year olds) were then sampled from a local school and responded to age‐appropriate measures assessing age prejudice as well as age stereotypes. Contrary to previous studies, the findings do not provide evidence for the existence of age prejudice because both children and adolescents reported positive feelings towards older people. However, the socialisation hypothesis was corroborated by showing that the ambivalent old age stereotype was already present in childhood. Contrary to the stipulated developmental hypothesis, the magnitude of this cognitive bias was very similar in adolescence.     

Home-Based vs. Clinic-Based Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: Comparative Effectiveness in the Context of Dissemination and Implementation

Disruptive child behavior disorders remain a major public health issue despite the proliferation of several strong Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for these children and their families. This may stem from barriers to treatment facing many families in need, particularly families with low resources. Home-based treatment may be best suited for this population; however, EBPs are not always available or tested as home-based interventions. The current study compares an intensive home-based adaptation of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to the standard clinic-based model in the context of a statewide implementation. As part of the statewide implementation, therapists entered archival data into an online system. Data was gathered for 314 families receiving PCIT, with 181 children in clinic-based PCIT and 133 in intensive home-based PCIT. Consistent with other trials of PCIT, results of the current study indicate that both versions of the therapy were effective in reducing child-behavior problems and increasing parenting skills; however, there were marked differences in attrition. Intensive home-based participants were twice as likely to complete treatment (64.66%) compared to clinic-based participants (33.15%) despite facing more adversity. These results underscore the importance of scientifically-sound adaptations of EBPs, as well as the role of comparative effectiveness studies as a critical tool in the integrative model of intervention science.     

Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation predicts post-transplantation outcomes

Psychosocial factors greatly impact the course of patients throughout the liver transplantation process. A retrospective chart review was performed of patients who underwent liver transplantation at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012. A composite psychosocial score was computed based on the patient’s pre-transplant evaluation. Patients were divided into two groups based on compliance, support and insight: Optimal psychosocial score and Non-optimal psychosocial score. Post-liver transplantation survival and complication rates were evaluated. Out of 100 patients who underwent liver transplantation at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center between 2002 and 2012, 93% had a complete pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluation in the medical record performed by professional psychologists and social workers. Post-liver transplantation survival was significantly higher in the Optimal group (85%) as compared to the Non-optimal group (56%, p = .002). Post-liver transplantation rate of renal failure was significantly lower in the Optimal group. No significant differences were observed between the groups in other post-transplant complications. A patient’s psychosocial status may impact outcomes following transplantation as inferior psychosocial grades were associated with lower overall survival and increased rates of complications. Pre-liver transplant psychosocial evaluations are an important tool to help predict survival following transplantation.     

Age-related similarities and differences in monitoring spatial cognition

Spatial cognitive performance is impaired in later adulthood but it is unclear whether the metacognitive processes involved in monitoring spatial cognitive performance are also compromised. Inaccurate monitoring could affect whether people choose to engage in tasks that require spatial thinking and also the strategies they use in spatial domains such as navigation. The current experiment examined potential age differences in monitoring spatial cognitive performance in a variety of spatial domains including visual–spatial working memory, spatial orientation, spatial visualization, navigation, and place learning. Younger and older adults completed a 2D mental rotation test, 3D mental rotation test, paper folding test, spatial memory span test, two virtual navigation tasks, and a cognitive mapping test. Participants also made metacognitive judgments of performance (confidence judgments, judgments of learning, or navigation time estimates) on each trial for all spatial tasks. Preference for allocentric or egocentric navigation strategies was also measured. Overall, performance was poorer and confidence in performance was lower for older adults than younger adults. In most spatial domains, the absolute and relative accuracy of metacognitive judgments was equivalent for both age groups. However, age differences in monitoring accuracy (specifically relative accuracy) emerged in spatial tasks involving navigation. Confidence in navigating for a target location also mediated age differences in allocentric navigation strategy use. These findings suggest that with the possible exception of navigation monitoring, spatial cognition may be spared from age-related decline even though spatial cognition itself is impaired in older age.     

Children's low affective perspective-taking ability is associated with low self-initiated pro-sociality

Children's affective perspective-taking (APT) may provide a basis for efficient social interaction. The APT abilities of 83 children from 46 same-sex sibling pairs (ages 36 to 72 months, M = 52.8; SD = 12.6) were assessed through their reactions to affectively loaded story situations, and children whose APT ability (but not general cognitive abilities) was low relative to other children of their age were designated as Low-APT children. These children were not less pro-social when specific social cues or requests for pro-social behavior were given by experimenters. However, low APT may hinder children's ability to infer the need for pro-social action from relatively subtle social cues. Although 46.9% of nonlow APT children behaved pro-socially in at least two of three opportunities they were given to perform a self-initiated pro-social behavior, none of the children who were low on APT did.     

Immigration, suicidal ideation and deliberate self-injury in the Boston youth survey 2006

The prevalence and immigration-related correlates of deliberate self-injury (DSI) and suicidal ideation (SI) were estimated in a sample of Boston public high school students in 2006. Compared with U.S.-born youth, immigrant youth were not at increased risk for DSI or SI, even if they had experienced discrimination due to their ancestry. By contrast, U.S.-born youth who reported having been discriminated against because of their ancestry had an increased risk of deliberate self-injury (odds ratio [OR] = 3.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.6-5.9) and suicidal ideation (OR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.2-3.8). The combination of being U.S.-born and experiencing ancestry-based discrimination identifies youth at increased risk for suicidal behavior.