Metacognitions in patients with hallucinations and obsessive-compulsive disorder: the superstition factor

On the basis of the analogy between intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations established by Morrison et al. [(1995). Intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations: a cognitive approach. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 23, 265-280], the present work compares the metacognitive beliefs and processes of five groups of patients (current hallucinators, never-hallucinated people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, recovered hallucinators, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, and a clinical control group) and a non-clinical group. The results show that of the five metacognitive factors considered in this study, two were found to be different in the current hallucinators group in comparison to any other group in the design. Likewise, it is found that the metacognitive beliefs of the current hallucinators coincide with those of the OCD patients in various factors, particularly that relating to superstition, and this is interpreted as lending support to the model of Morrison et al. (1995). Furthermore, the results are discussed in the light of existing research on Thought-Action Fusion, stressing the role that may be played by superstitious beliefs and magical thinking in auditory hallucinations and OCD.     

Patterns of adaptation to conflict and schizoid personality scale scores

A previous investigation gave no evidence of a significant relationship of patterns of adaptation to conflict, as measured with the Serial Color-Word Test, with the Schizoid Personality Scale of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory. As a new scoring algorithm has subsequently been proposed for the latter scale, a replication was done with the modified schizoid scale. A group of 75 consecutive nonpsychotic women outpatients was given the Serial Color-Word Test and Coolidge's inventory. Both multiple and logistic regressions selected two significant predictors of schizoid personality, corresponding to high values of linear change in reading times during Trials 3 and 5 of the Serial Color-Word Test, i.e., to an increasingly rigid and inflexible style of the adaptive process. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded an effect size of .22 (partial eta2).     

The "style scheme" grounds perception of paintings

We studied the formation of style scheme (identification of the style that characterizes an artist) presenting 100 participants aesthetic visual stimuli. Participants were Spanish university students who volunteered: 72 women, 28 men of mean age 22.8 yr. Among those 50 were enrolled in History of Art and 50 students in Psychology. Stimuli belonged to different categories--High Art (pictures of well-known artists, like Van Gogh)/Popular Art (decorative pictures like Christmas postcards) and Representational (pictures with explicit meaning content, like a landscape)/Abstract (pictures without explicit meaning content, like Pollock's colored stains). Analysis using Signal Detection Theory techniques focused on how participants discriminate representational and abstract pictures. With High Art stimuli, participants can better discriminate representational paintings than abstract ones. However, the difference in discrimination between representational and abstract pictures diminishes among participants studying History of Art. It seems that prior education in art favors forming style schemes and to some extent enables the participant to detect the "meaning" in High Art abstract paintings.     

Responses to Depression in Children: Reconceptualizing the Relation Among Response Styles

We propose that researchers should utilize ratio scores when examining the response styles theory rather than examine each of the response styles separately. Higher ratio scores indicate a higher probability of engaging in ruminative, as opposed to distracting and problem solving, behaviors. In Phase One, we examined the factor structure and reliability of the Children's Response Styles Questionnaire (CRSQ) in a sample of 287 third through sixth grade schoolchildren. A two factor solution was obtained: (1) Rumination and (2) Distraction and Problem Solving. Both factors exhibited strong psychometric properties. In Phase Two, 140 children completed the CRSQ and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). Six weeks later, children completed the CDI. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor solution fit the data well. In line with hypotheses, CRSQ ratio scores were more strongly associated with CDI residual change scores than were either CRSQ rumination or distraction and problem solving scores.     

Spatial coding and central patterns: is there something special about the eyes?

In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.     

Psychosocial mediators of group cohesion on physical activity intention of older adults

Considerable evidence has indicated that group-based physical activity may be a promising approach to reducing and preventing age-related illness. However, this research has not examined the mechanisms by which cohesion may impact on behaviour. The purpose of the present research was to utilise the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the mechanism by which group cohesion may affect physical activity intention. Participants were recruited from an existing physical activity intervention studying the effects of group cohesion on physical activity behaviour. The outcomes of this intervention are reported elsewhere. This paper presents data from a sub-sample of the intervention population (N=74) that examined the mediating relationships between the theory of planned behaviour and group cohesion on physical activity intention. Analyses showed that attitude and perceived behavioural control mediated the relationship between specific group cohesion concepts and physical activity intention. The direct measure of subjective norm failed to display a mediating relationship. The mediating relationships displayed between attitude and perceived behavioural control and physical activity intention provide insight into potential mechanisms by which group cohesion may affect behaviour.