Context-processing deficits in schizotypal personality disorder

Research suggests that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is a part of the spectrum of schizophrenia-related illnesses. This article hypothesizes that a deficit in the representation and maintenance of context is a core cognitive disturbance in schizophrenia and that SPD individuals should demonstrate context-processing deficits. To test this hypothesis, the authors administered 3 versions of their AX-CPT task, designed to assess context processing, to 35 healthy controls and 26 individuals with DSM-IV SPD. They also administered working memory and selective attention tasks. SPD individuals displayed context representation deficits similar to those found in schizophrenia but did not show the same additional deficits in context maintenance. Context processing was strongly associated with working memory and selective attention performance in the SPD individuals.     

Collective aspirations: collective regulatory focus as a mediator between transformational and transactional leadership and team creativity

Journal of Business and Psychology - This paper examines the mediating role of two emergent team states—collective regulatory focus (CRF) and team initiative—for transmitting the...     

What is a face worth? Facial attractiveness biases experience-based monetary decision-making

There is ample evidence that attractive individuals, across diverse domains, are judged more favourably. But most research has focused on single/one-shot decisions, where decision-makers receive no feedback following their decisions, and outcomes of their judgements are inconsequential to the self. Would attractive individuals still be judged favourably in experience-based decision-making where people make iterative decisions and receive consequential feedback (money gained/lost) following each decision? To investigate this question, participants viewed headshots of four financial partners presented side-by-side and repeatedly (over 50–100 trials) selected partners that would help maximize their profits. Following every partner-selection, participants received feedback about the net monetary gains/losses the partner had conferred. Unbeknownst to participants, two partners (one attractive, one unattractive) were equally advantageous (conferred net-gains overtime) and two partners (one attractive and one unattractive) were equally disadvantageous (conferred net-losses overtime). Even though attractive and unattractive partners were equally profitable and despite receiving feedback, participants selected attractive partners more throughout the task were quicker to reselect them even when they conferred losses and judged them as more helpful. Indeed, attractive-disadvantageous partners were preferred to the same extent (or more) as unattractive-advantageous partners. Importantly, the effect of attractiveness on decision-making was fully explained by the perceived trustworthiness of the financial partners.     

Further evaluation of modified‐bolus‐placement methods during initial treatment of pediatric feeding disorders

Children with feeding disorders might pack or expel food when they lack the oral‐motor skills, the motivation, or both, to swallow. Bolus placement directly on the tongue with a Nuk (e.g., Milnes et al., 2019) or flipped spoon (e.g., Sharp et al., 2010) is a treatment that researchers generally implement after such behavior emerges (e.g., Girolami et al., 2007). However, Wilkins et al. (2014) tested the relative efficacy of Nuk presentation and upright‐spoon presentation during initial treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. In the current study, we compared the effects of (a) upright‐spoon presentation; (b) Nuk presentation; and (c) flipped‐spoon presentation on two product measures of swallowing: 15‐ and 30‐s mouth clean, and expulsion during the initial treatment of feeding disorders with 5 children. We also monitored lip closure during bite presentation and following bolus placement. Nuk presentation produced the highest levels of mouth clean and the lowest rates of expels relative to upright‐spoon presentation and flipped‐spoon presentation. We discuss potential reasons why modified‐bolus‐placement methods improved feeding behavior and how measures of oral‐motor skills might predict its necessity during initial treatment.     

Using telehealth to provide outpatient follow‐up to children with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

The COVID‐19 global health crisis compelled behavior analysts to consider alternatives to face‐to‐face services to treat children with feeding disorders. Research suggests telehealth is one method behavior analysts could use to initiate or continue assessment of and treatment for feeding disorders. In the current paper, we conducted pilot studies in which we analyzed chart records of patients with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder; who graduated from an intensive, day‐treatment program; and transitioned to an outpatient follow‐up program. In Experiment 1, we analyzed the data of participants who received follow‐up both in‐clinic and via telehealth. In Experiment 2, we analyzed goal attainment for participants who received outpatient follow‐up either in‐clinic exclusively or via telehealth exclusively. Results of both studies showed that outcomes were equivalent along most dimensions for in‐clinic and telehealth services. We provide recommendations for telehealth feeding services and discuss other considerations relevant to telehealth service delivery.     

Religiosity/Spirituality and Mental Health and Quality of Life of Early Pregnant Women

Journal of Religion and Health - The present study aims to investigate how religious/spiritual (R/S) beliefs are associated with depressive, anxious and stress symptoms and quality of life (QOL) of...     

Individual differences in emotional expression discrimination are associated with emotion label production in toddlers

It is possible that the visual discrimination of emotion categories and emotion word vocabulary develop via common emotion-specific processes. In contrast, it is possible that they develop with vocabulary development more generally. This study contrasts these two possibilities. Twenty-three 26-month-olds participated in a visual perceptual discrimination task involving emotional facial expressions. After familiarization to a 100% happy face, toddlers were tested for their visual preference for a novel sad face in a side-by-side presentation paired with the familiar happy face. Parental report was used to quantify production of emotion words and vocabulary generally. Visual preference for the novel emotion (sad) in the discrimination task correlated with emotion word vocabulary size but not with overall vocabulary size.     

The Acculturation of Community Psychology: Is There a Best Way?

In this paper I describe a community psychology perspective on acculturation and adjustment of immigrants and refugees and suggest that this field of acculturation research has in turn something to offer heuristically as we consider our identity and training for future generations of community psychologists over the next 50 years. I suggest that honoring our heritage, maintaining our disciplinary identity as community psychologists, and sustaining doctoral programs that offer training specific to community psychology are crucial for our survival as a field and is not antithetical to, and is indeed necessary for, interdisciplinary collaborations.     

Acculturation and psychological distress among adolescent immigrants from the former Soviet Union: exploring the mediating effect of family relationships

The present study investigated the potential mediating effect of adolescents' perceptions of family relationships using a structural equation modeling approach. The sample consisted of 226 immigrant adolescents from the former Soviet Union resettled in a suburban county in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. who were selected at random from the local public schools. The study included independent assessment of acculturation to the host (American) and native (Russian) culture. Results confirm the mediational role of family relationships on the impact of Russian acculturation on reduced distress. In addition, family relationships partially mediated the link between American acculturation and reduced psychological distress for these youth. The findings suggest that for this immigrant population native acculturation was related to less distress only when linked to positive familial relationships, whereas American acculturation was related to less distress directly, as well as through its positive impact on familial relationships.