Executive functions in decision making: An individual differences approach

This individual differences study examined the relationships between three executive functions (updating, shifting, and inhibition), measured as latent variables, and performance on two cognitively demanding subtests of the Adult Decision Making Competence battery: Applying Decision Rules and Consistency in Risk Perception. Structural equation modelling showed that executive functions contribute differentially to performance in these two tasks, with Applying Decision Rules being mainly related to inhibition and Consistency in Risk Perception mainly associated to shifting. The results suggest that the successful application of decision rules requires the capacity to selectively focus attention and inhibit irrelevant (or no more relevant) stimuli. They also suggest that consistency in risk perception depends on the ability to shift between judgement contexts.     

Book Review

Throughout different civilisations and historical epochs, anthropological and religious texts have been replete with accounts of persons who have reported anomalous experiences in the form of visions or voices. In these contexts, such experiences are considered to be a “gift” that can be spiritually enriching or life enhancing. One such group of individuals are mediums who claim to receive information from spirits of the deceased in the form of auditory or visual perceptions. This study explores how mediums come to interpret their experiences as mediumistic and how they describe their relationship with spirit voices. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Spiritualist mediums using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three themes were identified: “Childhood anomalous experiences”, “A search for meaning: Normalisation of mediumship”, and “relationship with spirit”. These themes illuminated aspects of the mediumistic experience that have therapeutic implications for individuals who have similar experiences but become distressed by them.     

Religion and the judgement of obsessionality

Abstract

Ninety-six lay participiants read case vignettes of two OCD sufferers, one high on religious activity and one low on religious activity. Possible confounding factors were balanced. Obsessionality and psychological symptoms were seen as significantly more likely in the OCD sufferer with a high level of religious activity, compared to the OCD sufferer with a low level of religious activity, though sadness and tension were not. Limitations of the study are discussed, as are possible interpretations of the findings.     

Effects of Augmenting Response Options on MMPI–2 RC Scale Psychometrics

A number of empirical investigations indicate that tests with a greater number of response options tend to yield better psychometric performance. We hypothesized that a version of the MMPI–2 with a polytomous response format would outperform the standard dichotomous format in terms of observed score reliability and validity. Two versions of the MMPI–2 RC scales were administered consecutively in counterbalanced order to 199 undergraduate students attending a large Midwestern university: the standard true–false version, and an experimental version containing 4 response options (very true, mainly true, slightly true, and false, not at all true). After participants completed both versions, 2 scales from the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) were administered to assess differences in convergent validity. Results showed enhancements in reliability for all RC scale scores and increases in the convergent validity of scores. Directions for further investigation and potential implications for future test development are discussed.     

The Mental Health Benefits and Costs of Sabbath Observance Among Orthodox Jews

This study aimed to examine the perceived psychological costs and benefits of Sabbath (Shabbos) observance among 13 practising Jews, 9 UK residents and 4 US residents. Emerging themes were as follows: Shabbos as a special day, giving time to contemplate on profound issues, withdrawal and rest from mundane concerns, and deepening relationships. These aspects can potentially improve feelings of mental well-being, and were indeed often said to do so. Some difficulties were described: some found they were prone to worry more on Shabbos because of the freedom from distractions, and there were reports of the difficulties of explaining to non-Jewish work colleagues the religious need to be free from work commitments. These findings were related to the literature on religious ritual observance and generally accord with other work in anthropology and psychology of religion examining the psychological impact of ritual. Work on the mental health implications of ritual observance needs to be expanded. It has received only limited attention, and understanding has been constrained by a misleading confusion between ritual and obsessionality. Other impacts of religion on mental health are better documented and understood, and religious ritual and its impact needs further documentation and attention.     

The Effects of Video-Taped Feedback on Form,Accuracy, and Latency in an Open and Closed Environment

40 college women performed a modification of the classical fencing lunge against 2 laterally-arranged targets, under closed and open environmental conditions. Form (rating scale), accuracy (proximity to target center), and response latency were taken to measure the effects of video-taped feedback (VT). Administration of VT with specific instructions to direct S’s attention to parts of the display resulted in closer approximation of the externally-imposed form, higher accuracy, and shorter response latency. Performing the skill in the closed environmental condition resulted in less deviation from the imposed form, higher accuracy scores, and longer response latency. No significant correlations were found between imposed form and accuracy.     

Researching a client's experience of preconceptions of therapy - A discourse analysis

This paper uses discourse analysis to look at clients' preconceptions of therapy, through the presentation of a case study. Further findings suggest that discourse analysis may be a useful approach to helping psychotherapists and counsellors as part of their practice.     

The Cognitive Effectiveness of Subtitle Processing

In an experimental study, we analyzed the cognitive processing of a subtitled film excerpt by adopting a methodological approach based on the integration of a variety of measures: eye-movement data, word recognition, and visual scene recognition. We tested the hypothesis that the processing of subtitled films is cognitively effective: It leads to a good understanding of film content without requiring a significant tradeoff between image processing and text processing. Following indications in the psycholinguistic literature, we also tested the hypothesis that two-line subtitles whose segmentation is syntactically incoherent can have a disruptive effect on information processing and recognition performance. The results highlighted the effectiveness of subtitle processing: Regardless of the quality of line segmentation, participants had a good understanding of the film content, they achieved good levels of performance in both word and scene recognition, and no tradeoff between text and image processing was detected. Eye-movement analyses enabled a further characterization of cognitive processing during subtitled film viewing. This article discusses the theoretical implications of the findings for both subtitling and multiple-source communication and highlights their methodological and applied implications.