Exposure to Major Stressors May Reduce Dysfunctional Cognition About Them1

Exposure to a given stressor may enhance future resistance to that specific event as well as to stressful events more generally. One mechanism may be that prior exposure decreases dysfunctional beliefs about the specific event or to events in general (i. e., general dysfunctional attitudes). The research described here examined whether exposure to divorce was related to fewer divorce‐specific and general dysfunctional attitudes. Divorced participants reported fewer divorce‐specific dysfunctional attitudes than did happily married participants or married participants considering divorce. Similarly, adult children of divorced parents had fewer divorce‐specific dysfunctional attitudes than did adult children of happily married parents. A different pattern was observed for general dysfunctional attitudes.     

Quantification of Conflicts of Interest in an Online Point-of-Care Clinical Support Website

Science and Engineering Ethics - Online medical reference websites are utilized by health care providers to enhance their education and decision making. However, these resources may not adequately...     

Young children are more likely to cheat after overhearing that a classmate is smart

Research on moral socialization has largely focused on the role of direct communication and has almost completely ignored a potentially rich source of social influence: evaluative comments that children overhear. We examined for the first time whether overheard comments can shape children's moral behavior. Three‐ and 5‐year‐old children (N = 200) participated in a guessing game in which they were instructed not to cheat by peeking. We randomly assigned children to a condition in which they overheard an experimenter tell another adult that a classmate who was no longer present is smart, or to a control condition in which the overheard conversation consisted of non‐social information. We found that 5‐year‐olds, but not 3‐year‐olds, cheated significantly more often if they overheard the classmate praised for being smart. These findings show that the effects of ability praise can spread far beyond the intended recipient to influence the behavior of children who are mere observers, and they suggest that overheard evaluative comments can be an important force in shaping moral development.     

A translational evaluation of potential iatrogenic effects of single and combined contingencies during functional analysis

Recent research suggests that combining putative reinforcers for problem behavior into a single, synthesized contingency may increase efficiency in identifying behavioral function relative to traditional functional analysis (FA). Other research suggests potential shortcomings of synthesized contingency analysis (SCA), such as the potential for false-positive outcomes. In prior comparisons of traditional FAs and SCAs, investigators could not ascertain with certainty the true function(s) of the participants' problem behavior for use as the criterion variable. We conducted a translational study to circumvent this limitation by training a specific function for a surrogate destructive behavior prior to conducting a traditional FA and SCA. The traditional FA correctly identified the previously established function of the target response in all six cases and produced no iatrogenic effects. The SCA produced differentiated results in all cases and iatrogenic effects (i.e., an additional function) in three of six cases. We discuss these findings in terms of the mechanisms that may promote iatrogenic effects.     

The Effects of Numerical and Logical Group Size on Computer-Mediated Idea Generation

A laboratory experiment investigated the effects of numerical group size and logical group size (i.e., group heterogeneity in regard to task demands) on the performance of groups addressing an idea generation task while using computer-mediated communication. Six different numerical group sizes were studied, which ranged from 5 to 10 members. Logical size was manipulated by varying the amount of task-relevant information given to a particular group member. Larger logical group sizes (heterogeneous groups) were induced by distributing unique task-relevant information among group members; smaller logical group sizes (homogeneous groups) were induced by providing all task information to all members. A significant main effect for numerical group size showed that larger groups outperformed smaller groups. Numerical group size interacted with logical group size resulting in greater performance gains for increased numerical group size within heterogeneous groups. Average contributions per group member diminished with increased numerical group size for homogeneous groups and increased for heterogeneous groups.     

A methodology to assess the utility of future space systems

The Air Force SPACECAST 2020 study identified and prioritized some future space systems and technologies required in the next century. This paper presents the results of research on the SPACECAST 2020 value model. The model determines and prioritizes future space systems’ utility towards controlling and exploiting space. This research identifies the assumptions and simplifications in the additive utility function and assesses modifications. The research shows that mutual utility independence of the mission areas is a reasonable assumption. Mutual utility independence allows the use of the multiplicative and multilinear utility functions. Also, the SPACECAST 2020 scoring functions used the same scoring scale and only measured the utility of future capabilities. This study makes modifications to the SPACECAST 2020 measure-of-merit scoring functions. It replaces most of these functions with either a concave, convex, linear or ‘S’ scoring function, which have expanded capability ranges to include both current and future capabilities. The modified scoring functions and alternative utility functions do not alter the SPACECAST 2020 results but do improve the credibility and future usefulness of the model. This study shows that the initial assumption of using an additive utility function is also valid. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of fluoxetine on play dominance in juvenile rats

In a series of three studies, we investigated the influence of a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (fluoxetine) on the rough-and-tumble play of juvenile rats. In Experiment 1, both members of eight pairs of solitary-housed juvenile rats received either vehicle, 2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg fluoxetine in a counterbalanced within-subject design 20 min before being allowed to play for 5 min periods on four successive test days. The 5 and 10 mg/kg pretreatments significantly reduced incidence of pins during play without affecting dorsal contacts. In Experiment 2, one member of each of 19 established play pairs received 5 mg/kg fluoxetine 20 min before play, while the other member received vehicle. Dominant rats showed no reduction in pins as a result of fluoxetine treatment, but subordinate rats who received fluoxetine exhibited significant reductions in pins. Subsequent dyadic analyses indicated that in pairs where the subordinate animal received fluoxetine, dominant animals maintained their pinning advantage over the 10 days of testing, but in pairs where the dominant animals received fluoxetine, this pinning asymmetry diminished. In Experiment 3, we replicated the above procedure with inexperienced play pairs, to control for the effects of prior social learning. Fluoxetine treatment (5 mg/kg) significantly reduced both pins and dorsal contacts in all treated rats. The results indicate that fluoxetine can reduce the playful pins of juvenile rats, but that prior social learning mediates the strength of these effects. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Longitudinal associations between relational and sexual well-being in couples transitioning to parenthood

There is limited understanding of the dynamic between relational and sexual well-being as couples adjust to new parenthood, despite this being a vulnerable period for couples' relationships. This study was aimed at examining the bidirectional links between relationship quality and sexual well-being (i.e., sexual satisfaction, sexual distress) across the transition to parenthood. We assessed new parent couples (N = 257) across four time points (two prenatal) from mid-pregnancy through 6 months postpartum. Parallel dyadic latent growth curve modeling was employed to examine the associations between trajectories of perceived relationship quality, sexual satisfaction, and sexual distress. New parents' declines in relationship quality were associated with declines in own and partners' sexual satisfaction and with increases in own sexual distress. Mothers' prenatal relationship quality and sexual distress predicted subsequent changes in own sexual distress and fathers' relationship quality, respectively. Results indicate that changes to new parents' relational and sexual well-being mutually influence each other over time. Current results indicate that the impact of the transition on couples' relationships is partly determined by own and partners' prenatal factors, to which clinicians and researchers can attend to early on. Cross-domain links between relational and sexual well-being should be considered in research and clinical practice.     

Spatial representation of pitch height: the SMARC effect

Through the preferential pairing of response positions to pitch, here we show that the internal representation of pitch height is spatial in nature and affects performance, especially in musically trained participants, when response alternatives are either vertically or horizontally aligned. The finding that our cognitive system maps pitch height onto an internal representation of space, which in turn affects motor performance even when this perceptual attribute is irrelevant to the task, extends previous studies on auditory perception and suggests an interesting analogy between music perception and mathematical cognition. Both the basic elements of mathematical cognition (i.e. numbers) and the basic elements of musical cognition (i.e. pitches), appear to be mapped onto a mental spatial representation in a way that affects motor performance.