Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so

Does expecting positive outcomes--especially in important life domains such as relationships--make these positive outcomes more likely? In a longitudinal study of dating couples, the authors tested whether optimists (who have a cognitive disposition to expect positive outcomes) and their romantic partners are more satisfied in their relationships, and if so, whether this is due to optimists perceiving greater support from their partners. In cross-sectional analyses, both optimists and their partners indicated greater relationship satisfaction, an effect that was mediated by optimists' greater perceived support. When the couples engaged in a conflict conversation, optimists and their partners saw each other as engaging more constructively during the conflict, which in turn led both partners to feel that the conflict was better resolved 1 week later. In a 1-year follow-up, men's optimism predicted relationship status. Effects of optimism were mediated by the optimists' perceived support, which appears to promote a variety of beneficial processes in romantic relationships.     

Daily affective reactivity as a prospective predictor of depressive symptoms

Daily affective reactivity refers to the within-subject relationship between daily stress and daily mood. Most stress researchers have conceptualized daily affective reactivity as a dependent variable to be predicted by individual difference variables such as personality and psychopathology. In contrast, in our recent research, we have conceptualized daily affective reactivity as an independent variable that can predict depressive symptoms. In this article, we summarize three studies that relied on a daily process methodology and multilevel modeling to assess affective reactivity in the context of daily stressful events. Two of the studies (Cohen, Butler, Gunthert, & Beck, 2005; Gunthert, Cohen, Butler, & Beck, 2005) sampled adult outpatients in cognitive therapy and evaluated the predictive role of daily affective reactivity in treatment outcome (depression reduction). A third study (O'Neill, Cohen, Tolpin, & Gunthert, 2004) evaluated the predictive role of college students' daily affective reactivity in the development of depressive symptoms. We consider the strengths and weaknesses of a daily process methodology for research on depression in both clinical and nonclinical samples.     

Dysfunctional beliefs discriminate personality disorders

This study examines whether specific sets of dysfunctional beliefs are differentially associated with five personality disorders (PDs) as predicted by cognitive theory. Seven hundred fifty-six psychiatric outpatients completed the Personality Belief Questionnaire (PBQ) at intake and were assessed for PDs using a standardized clinical interview conducted by assessors who were blind to patients' PBQ responses. Findings showed that patients with avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, narcissistic, and paranoid PDs preferentially endorsed PBQ beliefs theoretically linked to their specific disorders. The study results support the cognitive theory of personality disorders. Suggestions are made regarding the clinical utility of the PBQ with personality-disordered patients and future research on the PBQ.     

An observational analysis of self-stimulatory behavior of older adults in a nursing home

Self-stimulatory behavior is described as a class of stereotyped and repetitive behaviors. This behavior often warrants concern because it can interfere with the learning and maintenance of more appropriate functional behaviors. In the present study, several topographies of self-stimulation were generated and the behavior of three older adult nursing home patients was observed for six weeks. Self-stimulation was high rate in all three subjects, and the manifestation of the behavior was idiosyncratic. Potential etiological factors and implications for treatment were discussed.     

Suppression of reflexive saccades in younger and older adults: Age comparisons on an antisaccade task

Inhibitory control of prepotent responses has been examined by using the antisaccade task, during which a reflexive saccade toward a peripheral onset must be suppressed before an eye movement in the opposite direction from the onset can be executed. In the present experiments, we sought to determine whether older and younger adults would perform similarly on this task. Older adults had a harder time suppressing their reflexive responses, as measured by an increase in the proportion of saccade direction errors. Despite an age-related decline in saccade direction accuracy, the increase in saccade latency associated with the antisaccade condition was the same for both younger and older adults. These results support the view that the effectiveness of inhibitory control declines with age (Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Hasher, Zacks, & May, 1999).     

Localization of sound in the vertical plane with and without high-frequency spectral cues

Binaural localization of 3.0-kHz high- and lowpass noise presented in the median vertical plane (MVP) and lateral vertical plane (LVP) was investigated. We anticipated superior performance when localizing the highpass noise hy virtue of the availability of pinna cues. The viability of this supposition was strengthened by monaural localization tests in which performance proficiency for the highpass noise exceeded that for the lowpass noise (p < .01). The main result showed that binaural localization of proficiency for highpass noise surpassed that for lowpass noise for all listening conditions (p < .01). However, the importance of binaural temporal and level differences in vertical-plane localization was demonstrated by the highly respectable performances when the lowpass noise was presented in the LVP. Data from binaural localization in the MVP and monaural localization in the LVP suggested that the influence of pinna cues diminishes for source elevations above 45°.     

An experimental investigation into the effects of uncertainty on rational behaviour in two person symmetric games

This paper reports the results of two experiments to investigate the effects of payoff alterations in two-person symmetric games. The initial experiment involved 60 subjects, each of whom could earn from £0 to £15, depending on the interaction of their decisions and the unknown decisions of one other person. All decisions were made without feedback to isolate the impact on subjects' behaviour of the game's parameters. A primary aim was to see if the games had strategically distinct structures, or whether uncertainty over the choice rule of others would influence choice behaviour and lessen this independence. An alternative model of rational choice, making allowance for uncertainty in the decision environment, was proposed to capture subjects' behaviour. The results indicated that the frontiers of most of the games had no impact on choice behaviour other than through the magnitude of the change in payoffs. The model received strong support across an identifiable set of ‘frontierless’ games. However, the variety of games was not sufficient to provide a comprehensive test. A second experiment was recently held to close these gaps. Fifty subjects took part, each of whom earned from A$0 to A$24, averaging A$17. The findings provided broad additional support for the theory.     

Simple geometric fractals

Recently, vision scientists have begun to explore fractals. This paper describes a set of programs that can be used to create fractal and fractal-like drawings. The programs were implemented on the Apple II series of computers. The programs were primarily designed to create deterministic and random fractal-like patterns with fractal dimensionality between 1 and 2. A supplementary program computes the box dimensionality, a measure of dimensionality that does not assume an infinite recursive process. The advantages of this measure of dimensionality over the more typical self-similar measure are discussed.     

Conflict and special service teams: Perspectives and suggestions for school psychologists

Perspectives on the notion of conflict in relation to the functioning of special service teams in public schools are delineated, and suggestions for school psychologists in the area of team conflict management are discussed. Conflict is seen as including both intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions. Thus, both aspects need to be seen separately and in relation to one another in order to understand conflict situations that affect team functioning. In this regard, intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict can be viewed from social psychological, cognitive-behavioral, organizational, and family systems perspectives. Consideration of these perspectives provides a framework that enables the school psychologist to understant how conflict can be manifested in teams, as well as within the individual team member, and appreciate how diverse factors have the potential to create conflict within teams.