Driving impairs talking

It is well known that conversation (e.g, on a cell phone) impairs driving. We demonstrate that the reverse is also true: Language production and comprehension, and the encoding of the products of comprehension into memory, are less accurate when one is driving. Ninety-six pairs of drivers and conversation partners engaged in a story-retelling task in a driving simulator. Half of the pairs were older adults. Each pair completed one dual-task block (driving during the retelling task) and two single-task control blocks. The results showed a decline in the accuracy of the drivers’ storytelling and of their memory for stories that were told to them by their nondriving partners. Speech production suffered an additional cost when the difficulty of driving increased. Measures of driving performance suggested that the drivers gave priority to the driving task when they were conversing. As a result, their linguistic performance suffered.     

Training older adults to search more effectively: scanning strategy and visual search in dynamic displays

The authors examined the ability of older adults to modify their search strategies to detect changes in dynamic displays. Older adults who made few eye movements during search (i.e., covert searchers) were faster and more accurate compared with individuals who made many eye movements (i.e., overt searchers). When overt searchers were instructed to adopt a covert search strategy, target detection performance increased to the level of natural covert searchers. Similarly, covert searchers instructed to search overtly exhibited a decrease in target detection performance. These data suggest that with instructions and minimal practice, older adults can ameliorate the cost of a poor search strategy.     

The Interface between Mental Health Providers, Families, and Schools: Parent and Child Attitudes about Information-Sharing

Youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are at an increased risk for school problems and negative consequences into adulthood, increasing the need for collaboration between families, school personnel and mental health providers. Current treatment guidelines emphasize the importance of information-sharing between providers and schools, yet few studies have addressed parents’ or students’ attitudes and preferences about this process or about the disclosure of mental health-related information to school professionals. Using a sample of 73 pairs of parents and their adolescents seeking outpatient treatment, this study assessed parental and adolescent attitudes about disclosure of mental health treatment information to school personnel. The majority of parents reported that the school should be informed that their adolescent was receiving counseling or medication for EBD, and that they should be the primary informant, rather than providers. By comparison, adolescents preferred more discretion about their involvement in treatment. Taken together, the study results highlight a number of implications relevant to the therapeutic relation and the process of obtaining and sharing mental health-related treatment information with various school personnel. Future research directions regarding the consultative and collaborative process with school personnel are also discussed.     

Metacognition during unfamiliar face matching

Kruger and Dunning (1999) described a metacognitive bias in which insight into performance is linked to competence: poorer performers are less aware of their mistakes than better performers. Competence-based insight has been argued to apply generally across task domains, including a recent report investigating social cognition using a variety of face-matching tasks. Problematically, serious statistical and methodological criticisms have been directed against the traditional method of analysis used by researchers in this field. Here, we further illustrate these issues and investigate new sources of insight within unfamiliar face matching. Over two experiments (total N = 1077), where Experiment 2 was a preregistered replication of the key findings from Experiment 1, we found that insight into performance was multi-faceted. Participants demonstrated insight which was not based on competence, in the form of accurate updating of estimated performance. We also found evidence of insight which was based on competence: the difference in confidence on correct versus incorrect trials increased with competence. By providing ways that we can move beyond problematic, traditional approaches, we have begun to reveal a more realistic story regarding the nature of insight into face perception.     

Retrospective ratings of ADHD symptoms made at young adulthood by clinic-referred boys with ADHD-related problems, their brothers without ADHD, and control participants

Retrospective childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are required to diagnosis adult ADHD, but the validity of self-rated symptoms across time is questionable. Here, boys with ADHD-related problems, their brothers without ADHD, and former schoolmates rated themselves during young adulthood for ages 9, 14, and 19. Brothers rated probands retrospectively at the same ages. The young adults referred as children for ADHD (a) acknowledged childhood symptoms; (b) described improvement over time; (c) did not differ from brothers or controls on most self-ratings of young adult symptoms; (d) rated themselves as more symptomatic at age 9, but less symptomatic at age 19, than their brothers rated them; and (e) agreed only to some degree with brothers' ratings of probands' aggression (median correlation = .22). Probands' ratings showed limited agreement with judges' symptom ratings (median correlation = .16) and young adult follow-up examiners' ratings (median correlation = .14). These findings are not accounted for solely by changes in informants, nor by the course of ADHD psychopathology. They suggest some stability but limited internal consistency and validity for retrospective ADHD ratings by probands and brothers.     

Approach‐Avoidance Motivation and the Use of Affect as Information

Individuals often rely on their affect for information. However, positive or negative affect may not be informative for individuals who are more prone to feel affect of this particular valence in general, unless they chronically monitor their internal states. A series of studies demonstrates that differences in individuals’ internal versus external focus of attention and in trait affective valence associated with their approach versus avoidance motivation determine reliance on affect as information. Specifically, our findings show that while positive affect is used as an input in product satisfaction judgments regardless of individuals’ approach versus avoidance motivation, negative affect is used only by individuals with a predominant approach motivation.     

Action information from classification learning

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois Much of our learning comes from interacting with objects. Two experiments investigated whether or not arbitrary actions used during category learning with objects might be incorporated into object representations and influence later recognition judgments. In a virtual-reality chamber, participants used distinct arm movements to make different classification responses. During a recognition test phase, these same objects required arm movements that were consistent or inconsistent with the classification movement. In both experiments, consistent movements were facilitated relative to inconsistent movements, suggesting that arbitrary action information is incorporated into the representations.     

Ministers’ Perceptions of Depression: A Model to Understand and Improve Care

While depression is a significant worldwide health problem, fewer than half of individuals seek care. Faith-based communities may play an important role in improving the knowledge of and linkage to depression care. Focus groups of Caucasian and African-American clergy were conducted to explore these issues. Using a grounded theory approach five themes emerged, including explanatory models of depression, barriers and facilitators to care, and recommendations for involving religious communities. A model of depression care pathways was constructed that integrates secular and spiritual approaches. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to build trust between clergy and mental health professionals. Teresa L. Kramer, Ph.D., is Chief Psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. She has conducted research in child, adolescent and adult mental health assessment, outcomes, and quality of care. Her current research on adolescent depression is funded through a Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. She is currently developing faith-based programs to educate ministers and their congregations about depression-related illness. Dean Blevins, Ph.D., teaches in the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, at the university and is associated with the Center for Mental Health & Outcomes Research, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, and the South Central Mental Illness, Research, and Clinical Center in Little Rock. Terri L. Miller, Ph.D., also teaches in the Department of Psychiatry. Martha Phillips, Ph.D., is at the Department of Human Services in Little Rock. Vanessa Davis and Billy Burris are employed at the Division of Behavioral Health Services, also in Little Rock.     

Sequelae of Aggression in Acutely Suicidal Adolescents

The consequences of aggression on problem course and suicide risk were examined in 270 acutely suicidal adolescents (ages 12-17 years; 184 girls). Participants were assessed during psychiatric hospitalization (T1), 6-months post-hospitalization (T2), and 15 or more months post-hospitalization (T3). Study variables included self- and parent-reported aggression; self-reported internalizing symptoms, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and adverse events; and clinician-rated suicidal behavior. Aggression was not directly related to suicide attempt concurrently or prospectively. However, among more aggressive youth, internalizing symptoms were more predictive of T3 suicide attempt than among less aggressive youth. T1 aggression predicted aggressive incidents and the likelihood of incarceration prior to T3. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling indicated that self-reported aggression and internalizing problems were linked in terms of severity and rates of decline over time. Overall, parent-reported aggression was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Findings highlight (a) the continuity and consequences of aggression, (b) a possible role of aggression in worsening suicide risk factors and potentiating suicide attempt, and (c) the importance of ongoing research on subtypes of suicidal adolescents.     

Educating Through Meeting: Reflections on a Dialogic Pedagogy for Teaching Religious Studies

This article originated as a brief reflection on pedagogical issues intended to catalyze collegial discussions at a meeting of the Comparative Religious Studies faculty at San Jose State University. The author distinguishes four interrelated elements that motivate his own teaching: human meaning, dialogic inter‐activity, responsible response, and multi‐methodologic study. Dialogic pedagogy is illustrated with concrete examples of how theory fits in the classroom. To further clarify the discussion, Martin Buber's theory of educating is applied to the teaching process, especially his understanding of “one‐sided inclusion.”