Political Intolerance,Right and Left

Research recently published in Political Psychology suggested that political intolerance is more strongly predicted by political conservatism than liberalism. Our findings challenge that conclusion. Participants provided intolerance judgments of several targets and the political objective of these targets (left‐wing vs. right‐wing) was varied between subjects. Across seven judgments, conservatism predicted intolerance of left‐wing targets, while liberalism predicted intolerance of right‐wing targets. These relationships were fully mediated by perceived threat from targets. Moreover, participants were biased against directly opposing political targets: conservatives were more intolerant of a left‐wing target than the opposing right‐wing target (e.g., pro‐gay vs. anti‐gay rights activists), while liberals were more intolerant of a right‐wing target than the opposing left‐wing target. These findings are discussed within the context of the existing political intolerance and motivated reasoning literatures.     

Effects of signaled and unsignaled alternative reinforcement on persistence and relapse in children and pigeons

Three experiments explored the impact of different reinforcer rates for alternative behavior (DRA) on the suppression and post‐DRA relapse of target behavior, and the persistence of alternative behavior. All experiments arranged baseline, intervention with extinction of target behavior concurrently with DRA, and post‐treatment tests of resurgence or reinstatement, in two‐ or three‐component multiple schedules. Experiment 1, with pigeons, arranged high or low baseline reinforcer rates; both rich and lean DRA schedules reduced target behavior to low levels. When DRA was discontinued, the magnitude of relapse depended on both baseline reinforcer rate and the rate of DRA. Experiment 2, with children exhibiting problem behaviors, arranged an intermediate baseline reinforcer rate and rich or lean signaled DRA. During treatment, both rich and lean DRA rapidly reduced problem behavior to low levels, but post‐treatment relapse was generally greater in the DRA‐rich than the DRA‐lean component. Experiment 3, with pigeons, repeated the low‐baseline condition of Experiment 1 with signaled DRA as in Experiment 2. Target behavior decreased to intermediate levels in both DRA‐rich and DRA‐lean components. Relapse, when it occurred, was directly related to DRA reinforcer rate as in Experiment 2. The post‐treatment persistence of alternative behavior was greater in the DRA‐rich component in Experiment 1, whereas it was the same or greater in the signaled‐DRA‐lean component in Experiments 2 and 3. Thus, infrequent signaled DRA may be optimal for effective clinical treatment.     

The Treatment of Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder (TAASD) Study: Rationale,Design and Methods

This paper describes the rationale, design, and methods of the Treatment for Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorders study, a three-site randomized controlled trial investigating the relative efficacy of a modular CBT protocol for anxiety in ASD (Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism) versus standard CBT for pediatric anxiety (the Coping Cat program) and a treatment-as-usual control. The trial is distinct in its scope, its direct comparison of active treatments for anxiety in ASD, and its comprehensive approach to assessing anxiety difficulties in youth with ASD. The trial will evaluate the relative benefits of CBT for children with ASD and investigate potential moderators (ASD severity, anxiety presentation, comorbidity) and mediators of treatment response, essential steps for future dissemination and implementation.     

Working memory and spatial judgments: Cognitive load increases the central tendency bias

Previous work demonstrates that memory for simple stimuli can be biased by information about the distribution of which the stimulus is a member. Specifically, people underestimate values greater than the distribution’s average and overestimate values smaller than the average. This is referred to as the central tendency bias. This bias has been explained as an optimal use of both noisy sensory information and category information. In largely separate literature, cognitive load (CL) experiments attempt to manipulate the available working memory of participants in order to observe the effect on choice or judgments. In two experiments, we demonstrate that participants under high cognitive load exhibit a stronger central tendency bias than when under a low cognitive load. Although not anticipated at the outset, we also find that judgments exhibit an anchoring bias not described previously.     

Longitudinal Results of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Youths with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Depressive Symptoms

Youths with chronic physical illnesses face increased rates of psychological problems and the burden of coping with physical illness-related challenges. The following data describes treatment outcome maintenance results from a randomized clinical trial investigating the impact of a cognitive behavioral intervention Primary and Secondary Control Enhancement Therapy-Physical Illness (PASCET-PI) as compared to treatment as usual (TAU) on youths with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Forty-one participants aged 11-17 with IBD and concurrent depressive symptomatology were randomized to PASCET-PI (n?=?22) or TAU (n?=?19). Self-reported depressive features, global functioning, and DSM-IV depressive symptomatology were assessed immediately post-treatment (T2), followed by assessments at 6-months (T3) and 12-months (T4) post-treatment initiation. Repeated measure models revealed significantly improved global psychosocial functioning in youths randomized to PASCET-PI compared to youths randomized to TAU. Improvements in self-reported depressive features and DSM-IV depressive symptoms were found at the trend level for youths randomized to PASCET-PI relative to those receiving TAU. Effect size estimates for all outcome variables suggested large to medium treatment effects.