COMPETENCE IN ASPECTS OF BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT AND CONSULTATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR SERVICE DELIVERY AND GRADUATE TRAINING

This study examined the extent to which competence in applying behavioral procedures (timeout from positive reinforcement) was sufficient to establish competence in teaching others to apply the same procedures. During baseline, graduate students attempted to instruct parents with a history of child abuse and neglect in the use of time-out. Students were then instructed in the use of time-out until they achieved proficiency in a role-play context. They then reattempted to instruct the parents. Finally, the students were instructed in certain consultation skills (i.e., teaching others to apply behavioral procedures) and again attempted to instruct parents in the application of time-out. Observations of students' consultation skills, parents' proficiency at administering time-out, and children's compliance to parental instructions revealed that explicit training in behavioral consulting skills was necessary to produce improvements in these behaviors. Students' proficiency at administering time-out was insufficient to enable them to instruct others in its application. These results were corroborated by surveys of both students and staff. The implications for graduate training and service delivery are discussed.     

A Value-Added Health Systems Science Intervention Based on My Life,My Story for Patients Living with HIV and Medical Students: Translating Narrative Medicine from Classroom to Clinic

Journal of Medical Humanities - In 2018-2019, at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (KSOM), we developed and piloted a narrative-based health systems science...     

Systematic mapping of developmental milestones in wild chimpanzees

Postnatal development is protracted relative to lifespan in many primates, including modern humans (Homo sapiens), facilitating the acquisition of key motor, communication and social skills that can maximize fitness later in life. Nevertheless, it remains unclear what evolutionary drivers led to extended immature periods. While the developmental milestone literature is well established in humans, insight we can gain from one‐species models is limited. By comparing the timing of relatable developmental milestones in a closely related species, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), we can gain further understanding of the evolution of such an extended developmental phase. To date, few studies have specifically attempted to estimate developmental milestones in a manner comparable to the human literature, and existing studies lack sufficient sample sizes to estimate which milestones are more plastic with higher inter‐individual variation in the timing of their emergence. Here, we describe the emergence of gross motor, fine motor, social interaction and communication traits from a longitudinal sample of 19 wild chimpanzee infants (8 females and 11 males), Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. Gross motor traits emerged at a mean of 4 months, communication traits at 12 months, social interaction traits at 14 months and fine motor traits at 15 months, with later emerging milestones demonstrating greater inter‐individual variation in the timing of the emergence. This pattern of milestone emergence is broadly comparable to observations in humans, suggesting selection for a prolonged infantile phase and that sustained skills development has a deep evolutionary history, with implications for theories on primate brain development.     

The Role of Whites in Lay Leadership Within Latino Churches

Latinos are the largest ethnoracial minority group in America, and Latino congregations play an important role in the lives of their members and communities. Yet, little research exists on these congregations. The current study provides an examination of the lay leadership structures and power dynamics within Latino congregations. Drawing from organizational ecology theory and the homophily principle as well as contemporary racial stratification literature, we propose competing hypotheses regarding the roles whites play within the lay leadership and power structures of Latino congregations. Utilizing a national multilevel data set, we find the persistence of white privilege existing within Latino congregations, as whites are more likely to hold lay leadership positions within these congregations than Latinos, despite their numeric minority status. Moreover, our results reveal that individual access to the decision‐making process in these congregations increases for both whites and multiracial individuals as the proportion of Latinos increases in their congregation. We further discuss the implications of these findings.     

A Kinetic Sculpture Intervention for Individuals Grieving the Deaths of Family Members

This article presents a creative intervention called kinetic sculpture for loss adaptation in grief counseling. This intervention is supported by professional literature regarding Bowenian family systems and creativity in counseling. The deaths of family members may generate much uncertainty for clients regarding functioning of their family systems. Kinetic sculpture allows clients to create visual examples of family equilibrium before, in the midst of, and after the deaths of family members. Insight gained from engaging in this intervention can aid clients in making aspirational plans for their own adaptations to loss. In this article, we present step-by-step instructions for creating the kinetic sculpture, make recommendations for process questions to accompany the intervention, and apply the kinetic sculpture in a case example.     

Exploring social television,opinion leaders,and Twitter audience reactions to Diane Sawyer's coming out interview with Caitlyn Jenner

With increasing visibility in both fictional and nonfictional media, transgender individuals have become a staple of the media landscape. Nonetheless, the general public has been slow to warm to transgender individuals and the rights of this community of people. The present study explored the audience reception to Caitlyn Jenner's coming out interview with Diane Sawyer. Examining Twitter conversations as part of a social television experience, this paper focuses on the types of words and phrases used in response to the interview, the themes that were present in the conversation, and the opinion leaders who helped to shape the discussion. Co-occurrence of themes was also explored. Results indicated an overwhelmingly positive response from live tweeters watching Jenner's coming out interview, led by a small but influential group of celebrities and media personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Perez Hilton. Top themes included support, gender, journey to truth, family drama, and bravery. The results are positioned within an exploration of the social nature of television viewing and reception of transgenderism by mainstream audiences.     

Who Deserves Faulty Products? How Blaming the Victim Prevents Consumer Punitive Action

A core requirement of a functioning free‐market system is that consumers hold companies accountable for selling faulty products. Following a harmful product failure, any blame that is incorrectly directed toward the victim may threaten consumer well‐being. Four experiments—in contexts of both fictitious and actual high‐profile product failures—show that this may in fact occur. The findings show that for a victim possessing immoral character: (a) consumers exaggerate blame because, (b) the victim is seen as deserving of suffering in general and, as a result, (c) consumers are less likely to take punitive action against the company (e.g., petition signing, negative word of mouth, and supporting financial justice). One field experiment and three online experiments converge to show that morality's effects are unique from other traits (e.g., sociability), but may be attenuated based on severity of harm to the victim and consumers’ own beliefs about justice. In sum, the current research furthers understanding of how and why victims are blamed, how doing so may threaten consumer and societal well‐being, and how it might be prevented.     

Correction to: Age-related differences in the attentional white bear

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - This article was originally published with errors in the graphs. It has been republished with corrections.     

Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: a limited-resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative

The current research tested the hypothesis that making many choices impairs subsequent self-control. Drawing from a limited-resource model of self-regulation and executive function, the authors hypothesized that decision making depletes the same resource used for self-control and active responding. In 4 laboratory studies, some participants made choices among consumer goods or college course options, whereas others thought about the same options without making choices. Making choices led to reduced self-control (i.e., less physical stamina, reduced persistence in the face of failure, more procrastination, and less quality and quantity of arithmetic calculations). A field study then found that reduced self-control was predicted by shoppers' self-reported degree of previous active decision making. Further studies suggested that choosing is more depleting than merely deliberating and forming preferences about options and more depleting than implementing choices made by someone else and that anticipating the choice task as enjoyable can reduce the depleting effect for the first choices but not for many choices.     

Migration Related Socio-cultural Changes and e-Learning in a European Globalising Society

OECD figures (1998–2002) reveal a sharply increasing flow of foreign workers into European countries. Ethnic diversification has become a generalized matter of fact. At the same time, rapidly developing technology and ‘intellectual globalization’ processes—the world wide web—have also become a reality. This complex cluster of changes has an impact on the perceptions of the self and of the other. Multilayered belongings and paradoxical meanings enter into interethnic relations in sometimes most surprising and unpredictable ways from outside of the boundaries of local communities. But the developments also create new and very positive opportunities for education/schooling and social cohesion. The paper critically examines this changing context and also Europe’s educational responses to the new challenges: the European Socrates programme, the initiatives in the field of intercultural citizenship education and the issue of combating deprivation.