The Influence of Counselor Epistemology on the Helping Interview: A Qualitative Study

The relationship between certain personal qualities of a counselor and the outcomes of counseling has been well established. In this qualitative study, the authors sought to extend this understanding by examining the relationship between the personal epistemologies of counselor trainees and their interview behaviors. Five distinguishing themes emerged.     

Moral Conviction and Political Engagement

The 2004 presidential election led to considerable discussion about whether moral values motivated people to vote, and if so, whether it led to a conservative electoral advantage. The results of two studies—one conducted in the context of the 2000 presidential election, the other in the context of the 2004 presidential election—indicated that stronger moral convictions associated with candidates themselves and attitudes on issues of the day uniquely predicted self-reported voting behavior and intentions to vote even when controlling for a host of alternative explanations (e.g., attitude strength, strength of party identification). In addition, we found strong support for the hypothesis that moral convictions equally motivated political engagement for those on the political right and left and little support for the notion that a combination of morality and politics is something more characteristic of the political right than it is of the political left.     

Effects of auditory input in individuation tasks

Under many conditions auditory input interferes with visual processing, especially early in development. These interference effects are often more pronounced when the auditory input is unfamiliar than when the auditory input is familiar (e.g. human speech, pre‐familiarized sounds, etc.). The current study extends this research by examining how auditory input affects 8‐ and 14‐month‐olds’ performance on individuation tasks. The results of the current study indicate that both unfamiliar sounds and words interfered with infants’ performance on an individuation task, with cross‐modal interference effects being numerically stronger for unfamiliar sounds. The effects of auditory input on a variety of lexical tasks are discussed.     

How and to What Extent Do Two Cover, Copy, and Compare Spelling Interventions Contribute to Spelling, Word Recognition, and Vocabulary Development?

We used an adapted alternating treatments design to evaluate and compare the effects of 2 spelling interventions on spelling acquisition and maintenance, word reading, and vocabulary in three first-grade students. The first intervention, Cover, Copy, and Compare (CCC), involved having participants look at a word, cover it, write it, then compare the written response with the original stimulus. For the second intervention, Cover, Copy, and Compare + Sentence Definition (CCC + SD), CCC was supplemented with the experimenter reading a sentence containing the word and a brief definition of the word. Results showed that both interventions increased participants’ spelling at an equivalent rate, which was greater than a control condition. All participants showed greater gains in word reading in the 2 interventions than the control condition, and only 1 participant was better able to define words learned in the CCC + SD condition relative to the CCC condition.     

Revaluating the evidence for the General Factor of Personality in the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire: Concerns about Rushton and Irwing (2009)

We evaluated whether the Big Five-based hierarchical model for the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) reported by Rushton and Irwing (2009) would replicate in a second sample of 733 participants. We were unable to confirm their hierarchical model and detected problems with the reporting of the original results. Exploratory factor analytic investigations generally supported the canonical three factor solution for the MPQ described in the existing literature. This was the case for both the present dataset and for the correlation matrix analyzed by Rushton and Irwing.     

Choking under pressure: The role of fear of negative evaluation

Objective

Conceptual models and predictors of choking under pressure (i.e., choking) have been proposed, but the role of fear of negative evaluation remains largely unknown. The purpose of the current study was to determine the degree to which fear of negative evaluation (FNE) may predispose athletes to choking.

Design and method

138 Experienced basketball players participated in a pre-selection stage, which involved completing a set of questionnaires that included the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation-II (BFNE-II) questionnaire. Based on the scores from the BFNE-II, 34 athletes, categorized as either low- or high-FNE, were selected to perform basketball shots from five different areas of the court under low- and high-pressure phases. Shooting performance was evaluated based on the total number of successful shots out of 50 attempts.

Results

Results indicated that the high-FNE athletes displayed a significant increase in anxiety and a significant decrease in performance from low- to high-pressure phases. The low-FNE group exhibited only minimal changes in anxiety throughout the study and was able to maintain performance under pressure. Further mediation analysis investigating significant difference in performance between FNE groups within the high-pressure phase indicated that that cognitive anxiety was a partial mediator between FNE group and performance, but somatic anxiety was not.

Conclusions

Findings extend the existing choking literature by providing empirical support for the role of FNE in the context of the self-presentation model of choking.     

Interpersonal patterns in borderline personality disorder

Research has shown that a disturbed capacity to relate to others is a key feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD; e.g., Bender & Skodol, 2007; Gunderson, 2007). However, few attempts have been made to determine if and how this disturbance translates into identifiable core interpersonal patterns. This study investigated the relationship patterns of 68 patients presenting with BPD. Vignettes of interpersonal interactions spontaneously reported by participants were rated using the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT; Luborsky & Crits-Christoph, 1990) method. Results of a factor analysis revealed six patterns of interactions: (1) interactions involving the ego ideal; (2) dependent-depressive interactions; (3) receptive interactions; (4) passive-submissive interactions; (5) successful interactions; and (6) sadomasochistic interactions. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Personality,Parental, and Media Influences on Aggressive Personality and Violent Crime in Young Adults

Debate remains regarding the interaction between predictor variables for aggression, including family environment, media violence, and personality. The current study examined the contributions of gender and personality, exposure to physical abuse and violence in the family, and exposure to media violence in both television and in video games on violent criminal activity. Data from young adults (n = 355) indicated that personality characteristics and direct physical abuse significantly predicted violent crime. Exposure to television and video game violence were not significant predictors of violent crime. These results elucidate the complex interplay between multiple factors related to the etiology of violent crime. These results also call into question the belief that media violence is involved in the etiology of violent crime.     

Appearance and reality

There is tension between the appealing idea that visual experience puts us in touch with objective reality and the doctrine of perceptual relativity, the claim that experience varies with such factors as distance, lighting, and angle of view. In this paper I present arguments for relativity, and then go on to propose that in view of relativity, we should believe that the properties presented to us in perception are relational and viewpoint‐dependent. I conclude by sketching a theory of how we nonetheless manage to achieve contact with objective properties. According to the theory, such contact is best explained in terms of perceptual representations acting in concert with cognitive and motoric representations, not in terms of perceptual representations alone.     

Associations between sleep variables and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs: A scoping review

Night-time is a period of great significance for many people who report paranormal experiences. However, there is limited understanding of the associations between sleep variables and seemingly paranormal experiences and/or beliefs. The aim of this review is to improve our understanding of these associations while unifying a currently fragmented literature-base into a structured, practical review. In this pre-registered scoping review, we searched for relevant studies in MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Web of Science and EMBASE using terms related to sleep and ostensibly paranormal experiences and beliefs. Forty-four studies met all inclusion criteria. All were cross-sectional and most investigated sleep paralysis and/or lucid dreaming in relation to ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs. Overall, there were positive associations between many sleep variables (including sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, nightmares, and hypnagogic hallucinations) and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs (including those of ghosts, spirits, and near-death experiences). The findings of this review have potential clinical implications such as reducing misdiagnosis and treatment development and provide foundations for further research. Our findings also highlight the importance of understanding why so many people report ‘things that go bump in the night’.