Attitudes towards seeking psychological help among a sample of Turkish university students: the roles of rumination and internal working models

The current study investigates how attitudes towards seeking psychological help relate to internal working models of attachment (self-model and other-model) and ruminative tendencies. The study includes 589 Turkish university students (278 females, 308 males and 3 unknown) by implementing a convenient sampling procedure. The average age of the participants was 22.4 years (SD = 2.2). Participants were administered the Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help-Short, the Relationship Questionnaire and the Rumination Scale. The results of the study indicate that the other-model and rumination have a relationship to women's help-seeking attitudes whereas the self-model has a relationship to men's help-seeking attitudes. The results are discussed in light of the related literature.     

Individual differences in cognitive plasticity: an investigation of training curves in younger and older adults

To date, cognitive intervention research has provided mixed but nevertheless promising evidence with respect to the effects of cognitive training on untrained tasks (transfer). However, the mechanisms behind learning, training effects and their predictors are not fully understood. Moreover, individual differences, which may constitute an important factor impacting training outcome, are usually neglected. We suggest investigating individual training performance across training sessions in order to gain finer-grained knowledge of training gains, on the one hand, and assessing the potential impact of predictors such as age and fluid intelligence on learning rate, on the other hand. To this aim, we propose to model individual learning curves to examine the intra-individual change in training as well as inter-individual differences in intra-individual change. We recommend introducing a latent growth curve model (LGCM) analysis, a method frequently applied to learning data but rarely used in cognitive training research. Such advanced analyses of the training phase allow identifying factors to be respected when designing effective tailor-made training interventions. To illustrate the proposed approach, a LGCM analysis using data of a 10-day working memory training study in younger and older adults is reported.     

A Call for an Unbiased Search for Moderators in Disfluency Research: Reply to Oppenheimer and Alter (2014)

In a commentary to our article, Oppenheimer and Alter stressed the importance of searching for moderators in disfluency research. We agree, but we would like to clarify two issues. First, unlike Oppenheimer and Alter, we assume that learner characteristics might indeed moderate the effects of disfluency. Second, conclusions concerning the impact of disfluency in educational settings might be biased because of the file‐drawer problem. To counteract this possibility, we want to encourage other researchers to publish their studies––regardless of whether they found (positive) effects of disfluency or not. Until then, any recommendation concerning the use of disfluency as an educational intervention seems premature.     

Performance monitoring in obsessive–compulsive disorder: A temporo-spatial principal component analysis

Hyperactive performance monitoring is a robust finding in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Patients show increased amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-related negativity (CRN). Recently, two temporo-spatial factors were shown to contribute to both ERPs in healthy individuals. In the present study, it was investigated whether the factor structure underlying ERN and CRN is similar in OCD and which factors differ between groups. A principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to investigate the temporo-spatial factor structure of ERN and CRN. Twenty-six OCD patients and 26 healthy controls conducted a flanker task. EEG data were analyzed as conventional ERP components and as factor scores derived from temporo-spatial PCA. ERP results showed expected increases in ERN and CRN amplitudes in OCD patients. For both groups, the PCA confirmed the assumed factor structure of a central and a fronto-parietal factor contributing to ERN and CRN. Factor scores of both factors were differently affected by response correctness in OCD. Alterations in factor scores indicate increased activity in both an outcome-independent monitoring process and an error-sensitive process, contributing to overactive performance monitoring in OCD.     

Simulating bistable perception with interrupted ambiguous stimulus using self-oscillator dynamics with percept choice bifurcation

A behavioral stochastic self-oscillator model is used for simulating interrupted ambiguous stimulus-induced percept reversals. The results provide further support for a dynamical systems foundation of cognitive and psychological problems as discussed in detail within the context of Gestalt psychology by Wagemans et al. (Concept Theor Found Psychol Bull 138(6):1218–1252, 2012), and for coordination dynamics of the brain (Kelso in Philos Trans R Soc B 367:906–918, 2012). Statistical evaluation of simulated reversal time series predicts a maximum of the percept reversal rate that conforms with a number of results in the literature. The macroscopic model is based on two inhibitorily coupled sets of three coupled nonlinear equations, one triplet for each percept. The derivation of our specific dynamics equations is based on a drastically simplified field theoretical approach using well-known phase synchronization for explaining brain dynamics on the macroscopic EEG level. The degree of coherence (contrast μ, 0 ≤ μ ≤ 1) of the superimposed fields required for onset of bistable dynamics is related to a phase synchronization index of EEG fields, and it is used in the present context as ambiguity control parameter. For quantitative agreement with the experimental data, the addition of a stochastic Langevin force term in the attention equation proved essential. Formal analysis leads to a quantification of well-known “cognitive inertia” and supports the interplay between percept choice (bifurcation) dynamics during stimulus onset and adaptive gain (attention fatigue) driven quasiperiodic percept reversals.     

Standards nichtstrafrechtlicher psychiatrischer Begutachtung

The introduction of the certificate for forensic psychiatry of the German Association of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics (DGPPN) in 2000 was a significant contribution to raising awareness of the formal and substantive requirements for forensic psychiatric evaluations and to develop a systematic quality improvement in forensic psychiatric expert services. By the special dominance of the certification in the field of penal law assessment, this proved to be problematic for many predominantly non-penal experts. This led to a requirement to develop a qualification for the non-penal expert opinions. In particular the increasing specialization of the psychiatric disciplines and the diversity of the legal issues and framework require a continuing education in the field of non-penal psychiatric assessments. Substantive and formal requirements are discussed and a continuous process of quality improvement and assurance is outlined. Last but not least a plea is made for close interdisciplinary exchange with the jurisprudence and the courts in the context of quality circles.     

Relevance drives attention: Attentional bias for gain- and loss-related stimuli is driven by delayed disengagement

Attentional bias to gain- and loss-related stimuli was investigated in a dot-probe task. We used coloured stimuli that had acquired their valence during the experiment by signalling the chance to either win or lose points in a game task. Replicating previous findings with the additional singleton paradigm, we found attentional bias effects for both gain- and loss-related colours. The effects were due to delayed disengagement from valent stimuli, especially if they were positive, and could not be explained by nonattentional processes like behavioural freezing. Our findings suggest that stimuli signalling opportunities and dangers hold attention, supporting a general motivational relevance principle of the orienting of attention.     

Correction to: Spiritual Care Needs of Patients in Oncology Units and Nursing Practices in Turkey: A Qualitative Study

Journal of Religion and Health -     

Employee–supervisor political skill congruence and work outcomes: The mediating role of leader–member exchange quality

This study aims to investigate the effect of employee–supervisor political skill congruence on the quality of leader–member exchange (LMX), which in turn influences employees' job satisfaction and turnover intention. For this purpose, two survey studies were conducted. The first study examined the relationship between employee–supervisor political skill congruence and LMX using multi-source data collected from 287 employee–supervisor dyads. The second study examined the indirect effect of congruence in political skill on work outcomes through LMX by using time-lagged multi-source data collected from 142 employee–supervisor dyads. The findings indicate that compared with incongruence, congruence in political skill is associated with higher employee-rated LMX. Moreover, among dyads with congruent political skills, congruence at high levels of political skill is associated with higher employee-rated LMX compared with congruence at low levels of political skill. Moreover, in case of incongruency, low employee–high supervisor political skill combination was related to higher supervisor-rated LMX compared with high employee–low supervisor political skill combination. Lastly, employee–supervisor political skill congruency indirectly influences job satisfaction and turnover intention through employee-rated LMX. This research significantly contributes to the political skill literature by examining potential consequences of employee–supervisor congruence in political skill in the workplace.