Improving Attitudes Toward Prostate Examinations by Loss-Framed Appeals

One of the main causes of late diagnoses in prostate cancer is the aversive attitude toward prostate examinations. In this study, we analyze the efficacy of an informative pamphlet in changing that attitude. A randomized sample of north Italian men was given different versions of an informative pamphlet, obtained by systematically manipulating the message framing and emotional vividness. After reading the pamphlet, each participant completed an attitude questionnaire. Levels of anxiety and self-reported health status were measured using the STAI-X2 and the SF-36 questionnaires. Results show that loss-framed messages (i.e., messages highlighting the negative consequences of not doing the examinations) had a significant positive effect on attitudes toward the prostate screening, but the effect was rather small.     

Simple discrimination training with differential responses to establish functional and equivalence classes with preschool children

The present study assessed whether simple discrimination training with differential responses would produce functional and equivalence classes with preschool children. In Experiment 1, we exposed 10 children to simple successive discrimination training in which they had to press different buttons (selection‐based responses). Response 1 (R1) was reinforced only in the presence of A1, B1, or C1, and Response 2 (R2) was reinforced only in the presence of A2, B2, or C2. We assessed the formation of functional classes by training new selection responses in the presence of one member of each class (A1‐R3, A2‐R4) and testing to see if these responses would occur in the presence of other members. Eight children responded consistently with functional class formation. Four of these eight children also responded consistently with the formation of equivalence classes. Experiment 2 investigated whether differential motor responses (i.e., gestures) would improve equivalence class yields. Three of six children showed both functional and equivalence class formation. In general, the results indicate that the simple discrimination procedure with differential responses yielded functional and equivalence class formation.     

Behavioral and emotional problems among Italian international adoptees and non-adopted children: father's and mother's reports

This study intends to fill the gap in empirical research carried out in Italy regarding international adoptees' behavioral and emotional problems. Assuming a multi-informant approach, it aims to compare parents' reports of behavioral problems of adopted and non-adopted children and to examine parental agreement. The sample was composed of 186 adoptive couples and 195 biological couples with the target child between ages 7 and 11 years. The mother and father filled in the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) separately. Analysis of the CBCL revealed that adopted children are perceived by their parents as having more Total and Externalizing Problems than are their non-adopted counterparts. Moreover, they are more likely to demonstrate attention difficulties and aggressive behavior. The agreement between parents turned out to be moderate for adoptive parents and slightly lower for the biological ones. Consistent with most adoption research, the results confirm the higher risk of behavioral problems among adopted children. They also shed light on the significant perceptual discrepancy between mothers and fathers, underlining the importance of considering both parents' reports in the study of adopted children's adjustment.     

Metaphor comprehension in Alzheimer's disease: novelty matters

The comprehension of non-literal language was investigated in 20 probable Alzheimer's disease (pAD) patients by comparing their performance to that of 20 matched control subjects. pAD patients were unimpaired in the comprehension of conventional metaphors and idioms. However, their performance was significantly lower in the case of non-conventional (novel) metaphor comprehension. This ability was not related to global cognitive deterioration or to deficits in the cognitive domains of attention, memory and language comprehension. On the other hand, the impairment in verbal reasoning appeared to be relevant for both novel and conventional metaphor comprehension. The relationship between novel metaphor comprehension and performance in the visual-spatial planning task of the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) suggests that executive impairment, possibly related to prefrontal dysfunction, may be responsible for the pAD patients' poor performance in novel metaphor comprehension. The present findings suggest a role of the prefrontal cortex in novel metaphor comprehension.     

Age‐related changes in the control of episodic retrieval: an ERP study of recognition memory in children and adults

We examined developmental aspects of the ability to monitor the temporal context of an item’s previous occurrence while event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. In a continuous recognition task, children between 10 and 12 years and young adults watched a stream of pictures repeated with a lag of 10–15 intervening items and indicated recurrences. In a second run, these already familiar pictures were repeated as non‐targets along with new pictures, while subjects were instructed to indicate only recurrences within the run. Young adults were able to maintain high performance levels in both tasks, whereas children had longer response times and committed a large number of false alarms to non‐targets. ERPs in both age groups showed similar parietal old/new effects for target repetitions within runs. In addition, adults’ ERPs showed similar old/new effects at frontal electrodes for repetitions and non‐targets, presumably reflecting assessments of familiarity, whereas for children repeated relative to first presentations were associated with more negative‐going waveforms at anterior frontal recording sites. Together, these results suggest a continuing maturation of the brain networks assessing novelty or familiarity. Recollection as indexed by parietal old/new effects appeared similar between young adults and children, but the development of controlled episodic retrieval, resulting in recollection of non‐target information, appears to continue well into adolescence.     

Zur Differenzierung zwischen unsicheren und aggressiven Teilnehmern beim Gruppentraining Sozialer Kompetenzen (GSK) im Straf- und Maßregelvollzug

The cognitive-behavioural group training for social competence “GSK” [16] has proven to also be effective in the penal system [28]. The present study examines if a targeted differentiating assessment prior to the intervention and a thereon based homogeneous group composition with regard to insecure and aggressive behaviour patterns can enhance the effectiveness of the “GSK” in the penal system and in a forensic hospital unit. Altogether 48 male delinquents across both settings were therefore divided into a “homogeneous insecure” group, a “homogeneous aggressive” group and a “heterogeneous” group. Pre-post-comparisons show that the intervention is effective for all three groups and also in both settings, the penal system and the forensic hospital unit. The “homogeneous aggressive” group revealed the strongest intervention effects.     

“Change my selfie”: Relationships between self-objectification and selfie-behavior in young Italian women

Self-objectification is a pervasive phenomenon, related to specific socio-cultural context, that can lead to many psychological and interpersonal consequences. With the present study, we investigated the correlates of self-objectification in young Italian women analyzing both its traditional antecedents and its consequences for self-presentation on social network sites (SNS). A total of 676 Italian university female students completed a self-reported questionnaire on self-objectification, internalization of a thin-ideal and related influences, internalized sexism, self-esteem, SNS use, selfie-posting on SNS and selfies’ manipulation. Results indicated that media and peers, but not family pressures, were positively associated with thin-ideal internalization, which, in turn, was positively associated with self-objectification. Moreover, both sexism and self-esteem were significantly associated with self-objectification. Regarding self-objectification consequences for SNS usage, results revealed that self-objectification was positively associated with time spent on SNS, frequency of selfie-posting and selfie-editing. It was concluded that objectification theory can be extended into the context of image-related behaviors on SNS. Results suggest that young women with low self-esteem, traditional attitudes toward gender roles and high levels of internalization of thin-ideal may report high levels of self-objectification which, in turn, may be related to specific self-promotion behaviors on social media. The limitations of the present study, particularly in terms of sampling and implications for future research on selfie-behavior are discussed.     

Perceiving arousal and valence in facial expressions: Differences between children and adults

Arousal and valence have long been studied as the two primary dimensions for the perception of emotional stimuli such as facial expressions. Prior correlational studies that tested emotion perception along these dimensions found broad similarities between adults and children. However, few studies looked for direct differences between children and adults in these dimensions beyond correlation. We tested 9-year-old children and adults on rating positive and negative facial stimuli based on emotional arousal and valence. Despite high significant correlations between children’s and adults’ ratings, our findings also showed significant differences between children and adults in terms of rating values: Children rated all expressions as significantly more positive than adults in valence. Children also rated positive emotions as more arousing than adults. Our results show that although perception of facial emotions along arousal and valence follows similar patterns in children and adults, some differences in ratings persist, and vary by emotion type.     

Psychometric properties of the Coping Response Inventory with Brazilian adolescents

To analyze the psychometric properties of the Coping Response Inventory-Youth Form (CRI-Y) and its applicability, 426 Brazilian adolescents (43.3% boys, 56.7% girls), ages 12 to 18 years (M = 16.5, SD = 1.6), completed the authorized Brazilian/Portuguese version of the 1993 original. Analysis showed higher use of Approach coping and Emotional Discharge by the girls. The inventory showed internal consistency reliability was similar to that of the original scale. A two-factor structure reflecting Approach and Avoidance coping was found; however, the distribution of loadings of specific coping scales on this two-factor structure did not fit the original Moos model. The criterion validity analyzed by the use of the Youth Self-Report showed significant positive relation between the Avoidance dimension and Psychopathological symptoms for boys and girls. Data were discussed with respect to coping theory, assessment, and cultural influences.