Married Women's Achievement and Career Motivation: The Influence of Some Environmental and Psychological Variables

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships of some environmental and psychological variables to the career and achievement motivation of married women who had returned to college after an absence (N = 162).Subjects were grouped into first-and second-year students and by sex type (i.e., Androgynous, Feminine). Correlations for all groups indicated that either psychological or environmental variables were significantly related for some group to the motivation variables. Multivariate analyses for sex-typed groups supported the correlational findings for first-year subjects. These findings suggested the importance of including both types of variables in research investigating the career and achievement motivation of college reentry women. This was an exploratory study and researchers are urged to replicate it with larger, more representative sample.     

Age differences in neural activity related to mentalizing during person perception

ABSTRACT

Mentalizing, or thinking about others’ mental states, shapes social interactions. Older adults (OA) have reduced mentalizing capacities reflected by lower medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activation. The current study assessed if OA’ lower mPFC activation reflects less spontaneous mentalizing during person perception. Younger adults (YA) and OA viewed ingroup White and outgroup Black and Asian faces and completed a mentalizing task during fMRI. Afterward, they completed a task in which they inferred mental states from faces. Using an mPFC region defined by the mentalizing task, OA had lower activity than YA during person perception. OA’ mPFC activity toward faces positively related to their mentalizing outside the scanner. The extent of OA’ lower mPFC activation during person perception may depend on their actual detection of mental states in faces. Further, YA’, but not OA’, mPFC activity distinguished between outgroups. OA’ lower mentalizing-related mPFC activity may reduce their ability to individuate outgroup members.     

Considerations Regarding Online Methods for Suicide‐Related Research and Suicide Risk Assessment

Frequent advances in technology provide new and exciting opportunities for conducting suicide research and suicide risk assessments. However, to the authors' knowledge, best practices for using technology, specifically the Internet, to conduct research protocols involving suicide risk assessments have not been examined. In research contexts, the use of technology for research on suicidal behavior and suicide risk assessment can offer benefits relative to other forms of data collection. These advantages, which include increased validity, feasibility, and efficiency, as well as improvements in data collection and management, are presented. Considerations regarding the implementation of an online system for suicide risk assessment as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Understanding the impact of attachment insecurity on PTSD symptoms among male Veterans and military personnel

ABSTRACT

Attachment insecurity (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) has been found to contribute to PTSD symptom severity in Veterans. However, little is known of the unique contribution of attachment insecurity on individual PTSD symptom clusters. In a community sample of 106 combat-deployed Veterans, active duty service members, and reservists, this study examined: (1) the relationships between childhood family experience, combat experience, attachment insecurity, and PTSD symptom clusters, and (2) the influence of attachment insecurity on PTSD symptom clusters. Results revealed significant correlations between attachment anxiety and all PTSD symptom clusters (rs = .22 –.43) and attachment avoidance and PTSD symptom clusters, except the avoidance cluster (rs = .21 ?.36). Four multiple regression analyses were employed to address the second study aim. Childhood family experiences predicted negative alterations in cognitions and mood (β = –.30) and alterations in arousal and reactivity (β = –.20). Further, combat experience significantly predicted each symptom cluster of PTSD (βs = .03 –.44). In the second step, attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were added to each model. Attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance predicted negative alterations in cognitions and mood (βs = .22 and .35) and alterations in arousal and reactivity (βs = .27 and .17). Inconsistent with previous research, attachment insecurity did not predict symptoms of avoidance. These results highlight the impact of attachment among a diverse sample of trauma exposed individuals and may provide insights for clinical implications and therapeutic approaches when working with Veterans and military personnel high in attachment insecurity.     

Thoughtful Friends: Executive Function Relates to Social Problem Solving and Friendship Quality in Middle Childhood

Abstract

The present study examined links between best friendship quality, social problem solving in response to a transgression and conscious control of behavior (i.e., executive function or EF). Eighty-one 7- to 10-year-olds answered questions about their best friendship quality and responses to friendship transgressions (i.e., interpretations, goals, and strategies they would endorse). They also completed a battery of EF tasks measuring working memory, inhibition, and shifting. Results revealed few relations between social problem solving and best friendship quality. Social problem solving related to EF abilities, with inhibition relating to fewer revenge goals and cognitive flexibility relating to more neutral interpretations. Better working memory related to worse best friendship quality. Finally, verbal IQ was a strong predictor of several positive social problem-solving interpretations, goals, and strategies. Results suggest cognitive abilities in EF and language may be important to consider during middle childhood in this period of advancing social problem solving and friendships.     

Young children’s contingent interactions with a touchscreen influence their memory for spatial and narrative content

ABSTRACT

Young children have difficulty learning from two-dimensional (2D) sources (e.g., television). One reason for this may be that 2D media lacks the contingent feedback present in social interactions. Touchscreens can provide contingent, reciprocal responses in the absence of a social partner, and thus may have the potential to overcome the challenges of learning by viewing. We assessed 30- to 48-month-old children’s memory for eBook content and traced objects after interactive or observational touchscreen exposure. The degree of interactivity with the touchscreen varied by three conditions of (1) close-mapping in which the touchscreen input corresponded closely with the output, (2) far-mapping, and (3) watching a screen recording. Children who watched the screen recording did best on delayed object recognition for traced objects, whereas results for the eBook material revealed a condition by gender by age (months) interaction. Girls’ memory for eBook material improved with increasing age after interacting via near- or far-mapping. Results are discussed in terms of gender and age differences in executive functioning and the capacity of cognitive load, and the limitations of contingent interactions.