Does a quarterlife crisis exist?

In this study, the authors examined quarterlife crisis, defined in the popular press as an identity crisis that leaves recent college graduates depressed, anxious, and full of doubt. To determine if a unique crisis exists, 4 groups of young adults (recent high school [n = 23] and college [n = 117] graduates in the workforce, present undergraduate [n = 75], and graduate [n = 57] students) completed self-report measures assessing identity development, future time perspective, social support, coping, depression, anxiety, and job and life satisfaction. No support was found for a quarterlife crisis among these 4 groups. Working high school graduates displayed the highest anxiety, followed by present undergraduates. Depression was predicted by family support and identity commitment. Job satisfaction was associated with income and support from friends. Life satisfaction was associated with income, social support from friends and family, and identity commitment.     

All else being equal: Are men always higher in social dominance orientation than women?

The belief in the gender invariance of many traits is a view that dominates much of psychology. In social psychology, this position is clearly represented by social dominance theory and the construct of social dominance orientation (SDO) where it is argued that, all else being equal, men will be higher in SDO than women. In other domains, though, these assumptions are being questioned, and researchers are arguing for a gender similarities hypothesis. The argument is that men and women are more similar than different, and where there are effects for gender, these are small. In this investigation, men and women are compared under similar cultural (Study 1), ideological, (Study 2) and status (Study 3) contexts to examine whether, all else being equal, men really are higher in SDO than women. In an additional study (Study 4), a meta‐analysis is conducted aggregating the effect sizes of the previous studies. Results demonstrated either no effect for gender or an interaction between gender and the relevant social context and only a small effect size of gender—findings that disconfirm the ceteris paribus assumption of social dominance theory. In conclusion, the implications of the findings for understanding gender effects in social psychology are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting alternative strategies for preserving a belief in a just world: The case of repressive coping style

Researchers suggest that observers of innocent suffering will negatively evaluate the victim as a strategy for maintaining their belief in a just world. We propose an alternative class of strategies and test whether individual differences in repressive coping style predict the type of strategy people will use. In the first two studies, we exposed repressors versus nonrepressors to victims whose suffering should pose a high versus low threat to the need to believe in a just world. Repressors had a greater tendency to positively reappraise the high threat victim's suffering. Nonrepressors had a greater tendency to negatively evaluate the high threat victim. A third study replicated the results for the high threat conditions and suggested that repressors' positive reappraisal is not because of a tendency to minimize suffering. Our research (i) demonstrates a class of strategies for preserving the belief in a just world other than negatively evaluating the victim and (ii) is among the first to examine directly an individual difference predictor of alternative just‐world preservation strategies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A randomized trial examining the effects of parent engagement on early language and literacy: the Getting Ready intervention

Language and literacy skills established during early childhood are critical for later school success. Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschoolers including language and literacy development, and family-school collaboration is an important contributor to school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on language and literacy development. Participants included 217 children, 211 parents, and 29 Head Start teachers in 21 schools. Statistically significant differences in favor of the treatment group were observed between treatment and control participants in the rate of change over 2 academic years on teacher reports of children's language use (d = 1.11), reading (d = 1.25), and writing skills (d = 0.93). Significant intervention effects on children's direct measures of expressive language were identified for a subgroup of cases where there were concerns about a child's development upon entry into preschool. Additionally, other child and family moderators revealed specific variables that influenced the treatment's effects.     

Attentional demands associated with obstacle crossing while carrying a load

The extent to which different locomotor tasks require cognitive control is not well characterized. In this article, the authors consider the potential increase in attentional demands associated with carrying an anterior load while clearing an obstacle. Nine healthy male volunteers participated in 80 walking trials, 20 in each of 4 conditions: 1 no load condition (NL) and 3 carrying conditions (2KG, 5KG, and 10KG). Of the 20 trials in each condition, 12 included a probe reaction time (PRT) test during lead limb obstacle crossing, which was used to measure cognitive load. A load-dependent increase in PRT was observed, with PRT in the 2KG condition being significantly greater than in the NL condition, and PRT in the 5KG and 10KG conditions being significantly greater than in the 2KG condition. These results suggested that cognitive load was increased when: (a) the obstacle was occluded from vision by the load, and (b) the magnitude of load was increased.     

Potentiation in young infants: The origin of the prior knowledge effect?

In two experiments with 6-month-old infants, we found that prior learning of an operant task (remembered for 2 weeks) mediated new learning of a modeling event (remembered for only 1 day) and increased its recall. Infants first learned to associate lever pressing with moving a toy train housed in a large box. One or 2 weeks later, three target actions were modeled on a hand puppet while the train box (a retrieval cue) was in view. Merely retrieving the train memory strengthened it, and simultaneously pairing its retrieved memory with the modeled actions potentiated their learning and recall. When paired 1 week later, deferred imitation increased from 1 day to 4 weeks; when paired 2 weeks later, it increased from 1 day to 6 weeks. The striking parallels between potentiated learning in infants and the prior knowledge effect in adults suggests that the prior knowledge effect originates in early infancy.     

Quality of college students' same-sex friendships as a function of personality and interpersonal competence

The aim of the current study was to investigate personality traits and interpersonal competencies as predictors of the quality of same-sex friendships in young adulthood. Undergraduate students (N = 176), who attended a mid-Atlantic U.S., medium-sized university, completed self-report surveys on their personality, interpersonal competence, and friendship quality. Sex, class status, extraversion, agreeableness, and interpersonal competencies were associated with higher friendship quality, but only the interpersonal competence of self-disclosure significantly predicted friendship quality after controlling for sex, class status, and the five personality factors.     

The subject of attention

The absence of a common understanding of attention plagues current research on the topic. Combining the findings from three domains of research on attention, this paper presents a univocal account that fits normal use of the term as well as its many associated phenomena: attention is a process of mental selection that is within the control of the subject. The role of the subject is often excluded from naturalized accounts, but this paper will be an exception to that rule. The paper aims to show how we might reinstate the subject into the act of attention, endorsing the ordinary notion that attention is a direction of the mind by the subject, rather than a mere occurrence or happening. To do so, it lays out the best work of phenomenology, psychology, and neuroscience on specifying the ordinary notion of attention and, in finding them individually wanting, combines them into a unified view that avoids the problems of each. In this way the paper presents a ??how possible?? account of the ordinary notion of attention, wherein attention is enacted by a subject.     

Second order change and evidence‐based practice

Since its inception, family therapy (FT) has been distinguished by its explicit theoretical and practical focus on families and relationships as systems, with an emphasis on second order rather than first order change. As a result of these conceptual underpinnings we suggest that FT needs to look for manifestations of change which differ from individually focused disciplines such as clinical psychology. Studies of second order change have most commonly appeared in the form of conceptual papers and doctoral dissertations. We begin by revisiting the conceptual underpinnings of second order change. Building on this framework, we develop these aspects of change within the framework of recent developments in the empirical study of change. Finally, we point towards some promising directions for further evaluative work of FT as well as ways to incorporate some of these principles into training of FT students.     

The effect of viewing ultra-fit images on college women's body dissatisfaction

Modern ideals of female attractiveness include an extremely toned and fit appearance in addition to extreme thinness. Although viewing thin models has a negative effect on women's body image, research has not tested the effect of exposure to the ultra-fit physique separate from the thin-ideal. This randomized, posttest-only experiment tested the effects of the athletic aspect of the current ideal by exposing 138 undergraduate women to thin and athletic models, normal weight athletic models, or a control condition consisting of neutral objects. The study also tested the moderating effects of thin-ideal and athletic-ideal internalization. Exposure to thin ultra-fit models, but not normal weight ultra-fit models, produced an increase in body dissatisfaction and neither internalization variable moderated this effect. Findings suggest that interventions that focus on the benefits of fitness while challenging the desirability of thinness may offer promising results.