Personality types in adolescence: change and stability and links with adjustment and relationships: a five-wave longitudinal study

We examined change and stability of the 3 personality types identified by Block and Block (1980) and studied their links with adjustment and relationships. We used data from a 5-wave study of 923 early-to-middle and 390 middle-to-late adolescents, thereby covering the ages of 12-20 years. In Study 1, systematic evidence for personality change was found, in that the number of overcontrollers and undercontrollers decreased, whereas the number of resilients increased. Undercontrol, in particular, was found to peak in early-to-middle adolescence. We also found substantial stability of personality types, because 73.5% of the adolescents had the same personality type across the 5 waves. Personality change was mainly characterized by 2 transitions: overcontrol → resiliency and undercontrol → resiliency. The transitional analyses implied that the resilient type serves more often as the end point of personality development in adolescence than do overcontrol and undercontrol. Analyses of the personality type trajectories also revealed that the majority of adolescents who change personality type across 5 years made only 1 transition. Study 2 revealed systematic differences between resilients and overcontrollers in anxiety. Stable resilients were less anxious over time than were stable overcontrollers. Further, change from overcontrol to the resilient type was accompanied by decreases in anxiety, whereas change from the resilient type to overcontrol was accompanied by an increase in anxiety. Similarly, systematic differences between personality types were found in the formation of intimate relationships.     

Child and adolescent conduct disorder substantially shares genetic influences with three socioemotional dispositions

In a representative sample of twin children and adolescents, we tested the hypothesis that a substantial proportion of the genetic and environmental influences underlying conduct disorder (CD) are shared with three socioemotional dispositions: Prosociality, Negative Emotionality, and Daring. Caretaker ratings of each dispositional dimension were uniquely associated with a latent CD dimension that included both caretaker- and youth-reports of CD as indicators. Behavior genetic analyses indicated that moderate-to-high additive genetic and moderate nonshared environmental influences underlie all three dispositions and CD, with modest shared environmental influences on Prosociality. Forty percent of the additive genetic influences and all of the nonshared environmental influences on the latent CD dimension were shared in common with the three socioemotional dispositions. The finding that CD shares a substantial proportion of its genetic influences with three distinct socioemotional dispositions suggests new perspectives on the heterogeneous etiology of CD and new approaches to exploring its specific etiological mechanisms.     

A feedback intervention to increase digital and paper checklist performance in technically advanced aircraft simulation

This study examined whether pilots operating a flight simulator completed digital or paper flight checklists more accurately after receiving postflight graphic and verbal feedback. The dependent variable was the number of checklist items completed correctly per flight. Following treatment, checklist completion with paper and digital checklists increased from 38% and 39%, respectively, to nearly 100% and remained close to 100% after feedback and praise for improvement were withdrawn. Performance was maintained at or near 100% during follow-up probes.     

Effects of pedestrian prompts on motorist yielding at crosswalks

Pedestrian safety is a serious concern at busy intersections and pedestrian campuses across the nation. Although crosswalks and signs inform pedestrians where to cross, there is no standard protocol for pedestrians to signal drivers that they wish to use the crosswalks, except to stand in or at the crosswalk. We examined the effects of two pedestrian prompts, a raised hand and extended arm, on motorist yielding at uncontrolled crosswalks. The two prompts were effective at increasing yielding.     

Stepping back to see the big picture: when obstacles elicit global processing

Can obstacles prompt people to look at the "big picture" and open up their minds? Do the cognitive effects of obstacles extend beyond the tasks with which they interfere? These questions were addressed in 6 studies involving both physical and nonphysical obstacles and different measures of global versus local processing styles. Perceptual scope increased after participants solved anagrams in the presence, rather than the absence, of an auditory obstacle (random words played in the background; Study 1), particularly among individuals low in volatility (i.e., those who are inclined to stay engaged and finish what they do; Study 4). It also increased immediately after participants encountered a physical obstacle while navigating a maze (Study 3A) and when compared with doing nothing (Study 3B). Conceptual scope increased after participants solved anagrams while hearing random numbers framed as an "obstacle to overcome" rather than a "distraction to ignore" (Study 2) and after participants navigated a maze with a physical obstacle, compared with a maze without a physical obstacle, but only when trait (Study 5) or state (Study 6) volatility was low. Results suggest that obstacles trigger an "if obstacle, then start global processing" response, primarily when people are inclined to stay engaged and finish ongoing activities. Implications for dealing with life's obstacles and related research are discussed.     

Why did she put nail polish in my drink? Applying the Therapeutic Assessment model with an African American foster child in a community mental health setting

Although the majority of research on Therapeutic Assessment (TA) discusses the application of TA in research or private practice settings, we found that the model could be applied in a community mental health setting. We argue that when implementing this model with racially diverse, low socioeconomic status children, it is essential to integrate issues of class, privilege, and race into the assessment process. A case is presented that illuminates the specific concerns and struggles of adapting this model to a community psychology population. This analysis includes the interface with systems, placement stability, and consideration of culturally responsible treatment. We also demonstrate how the support of a treatment team helps the individual clinician process and integrate the levels of trauma and pain with which these families present.     

Task characteristics and the contextual interference effect

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the influence of blocked and random practice on the acquisition and retention of a criterion multisegment motor task practiced alongside either two similar-distractors tasks or two different-distractors tasks. The random-practice similar-distractors group made more decision-making errors and performed the criterion task more slowly than the blocked-practice similar-distractors group during the acquisition phase. Following a brief filled retention interval, the blocked-practice similar-distractors group demonstrated a loss of acquired performance capabilities, whereas the random-practice similar-distractors group did not. The blocked- and random-practice different-distractors groups performed similarly throughout the experiment. Results are interpreted within Glenberg's component-levels theory, in which it was argued that random practice must stimulate the differential storage of multilevel contextual components associated with the multiple motor tasks being learned to produce a contextual interference effect. The theoretical and practical implications of differential storage versus nonrepetition as a function of random practice are discussed.     

No pairing problem

Many have thought that there is a problem with causal commerce between immaterial souls and material bodies. In Physicalism or Something Near Enough, Jaegwon Kim attempts to spell out that problem. Rather than merely posing a question or raising a mystery for defenders of substance dualism to answer or address, he offers a compelling argument for the conclusion that immaterial souls cannot causally interact with material bodies. We offer a reconstruction of that argument that hinges on two premises: Kim’s Dictum and the Nowhere Man principle. Kim’s Dictum says that causation requires a spatial relation. Nowhere Man says that souls can’t be in space. By our lights, both premises can be called into question. We’ll begin our evaluation of the argument by pointing out some consequences of Kim’s Dictum. For some, these will be costs. We will then present two defeaters for Kim’s Dictum and a critical analysis of Kim’s case for Nowhere Man. The upshot is that Kim’s argument against substance dualism fails.     

Sex differences in cooperation: a meta-analytic review of social dilemmas

Although it is commonly believed that women are kinder and more cooperative than men, there is conflicting evidence for this assertion. Current theories of sex differences in social behavior suggest that it may be useful to examine in what situations men and women are likely to differ in cooperation. Here, we derive predictions from both sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives on context-specific sex differences in cooperation, and we conduct a unique meta-analytic study of 272 effect sizes-sampled across 50 years of research-on social dilemmas to examine several potential moderators. The overall average effect size is not statistically different from zero (d = -0.05), suggesting that men and women do not differ in their overall amounts of cooperation. However, the association between sex and cooperation is moderated by several key features of the social context: Male-male interactions are more cooperative than female-female interactions (d = 0.16), yet women cooperate more than men in mixed-sex interactions (d = -0.22). In repeated interactions, men are more cooperative than women. Women were more cooperative than men in larger groups and in more recent studies, but these differences disappeared after statistically controlling for several study characteristics. We discuss these results in the context of both sociocultural and evolutionary theories of sex differences, stress the need for an integrated biosocial approach, and outline directions for future research.     

Shyness as a moderator of the link between advanced maturity and early adolescent risk behavior

Advanced maturity in early adolescence has previously been linked with several risk behaviors. In this study, we examine whether shyness and gender might moderate this link. The participants were 750 early adolescents (M(age) = 13.73; 390 girls and 360 boys), followed for one year. We conducted analyses with shyness and gender as moderators of the links between advanced maturity and different types of risk behavior, and between one risk behavior and another. Despite differential patterns for boys and girls, the results suggest that being shy or not being shy modifies the links between advanced maturity and risk behavior primarily for boys. For boys, shyness reduces relationships between advanced maturity and risk behavior, whereas not being shy exacerbates the relationships between advanced maturity and high-risk behavior. Controlling for romantic involvement and peer victimization did not alter the moderating effects, thus failing to support the idea that the weaker links for shy youths were due to shy youths not being drawn into advanced peer groups by romantic partners or peers. Thus, shyness might serve as a buffer against risk behavior in early adolescence.