Dash of Faith: A Faith-Based Participatory Research Pilot Study

The Dash of Faith pilot used a community-based participatory research approach to design an experiential dietary intervention based on two African-American churches, one intervention and one comparison. Congregation members identified components that were incorporated into 12 weekly and 4 monthly sessions, with a goal of increasing fruit and vegetable and lowering fat intake. At 2 months, a marginally significant (p = 0.07) increase in fruit and vegetable consumption was observed in the intervention group but was not maintained at study conclusion. We propose that these mixed findings may be attributable, in part, to bias introduced by the participatory nature of the design.     

The inner speech of behavioral regulation: Intentions and task performance strengthen when you talk to yourself as a You

People often talk to themselves using the first‐person pronoun (I), but they also talk to themselves as if they are speaking to someone else, using the second‐person pronoun (You). Yet, the relative behavioral control achieved by I and You self‐talk remains unknown. The current research was designed to examine the potential behavioral advantage of using You in self‐talk and the role of attitudes in this process. Three experiments compared the effects of I and You self‐talk on problem solving performance and behavioral intentions. Experiment 1 revealed that giving self‐advice about a hypothetical social situation using You yielded better anagram task performance than using I. Experiment 2 showed that using You self‐talk in preparation for an anagram task enhanced anagram performance and intentions to work on anagrams more than I self‐talk, and that these effects were mediated by participants' attitudes toward the task. Experiment 3 extended these findings to exercise intentions and highlighted the role of attitudes in this effect. Altogether, the current research showed that second‐person self‐talk strengthens both actual behavior performance and prospective behavioral intentions more than first‐person self‐talk. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Consumer response to interruption features and need for cognitive closure

Prior research on interruptions focuses entirely on the process being interrupted and assumes interruption homogeneity. Across two studies, we examine how heterogeneous features of interruptions (i.e., timing, frequency, and perceived pleasantness) and consumer individual differences (i.e., need for cognitive closure (NFCC)) impact consumer response toward a product. We find interruption features have opposing effects on consumer response for consumers high versus low in NFCC—depending upon the perceived valence of the interruption. Specifically, individuals with high NFCC respond better to a product when interruptions are perceived to be pleasant and occur late or infrequently. In contrast, those who have low NFCC respond better to a product when interruptions are perceived to be pleasant and occur early or perceived to be unpleasant and occur infrequently. The role of interruption pleasantness is discussed in terms of its predictive power for perceived pleasant but not perceived unpleasant interruptions. Finally, study findings are placed within marketing contexts that guide managerial implications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Willingness to Use ADHD Self-Management: Mixed Methods Study of Perceptions by Adolescents and Parents

Little is known about perceptions surrounding self-management for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although such interventions appear commonly used and are considered essential components of the chronic care model. Our research is part of a mixed methods study that followed students at high and low risk for ADHD over 11 years. During the final study years, area-representative samples of 148 adolescents (54.8 % participation; 97 ADHD high-risk group; 51 low-risk peers) and 161 parents (59.4 % participation; 108 parents of high-risk adolescent; 53 parents of low-risk peer) completed a cross-sectional survey on community-identified self-management interventions for ADHD (activity outlets, sleep regulation, dietary restriction, homework help, family rules, and prayer). Respondents also answered open-ended questions addressing undesirable self-management effects, which were analyzed using grounded theory methods. High-risk adolescents expressed significantly lower willingness towards all self-management interventions than did adult respondents, except for increased activity outlets. They also reported lower receptivity towards sleep regulation and dietary restriction than did their low-risk peer group. No gender or race differences in self-management willingness were found, except for higher receptivity to prayer in African American respondents. Cost, perceived ineffectiveness, disruptions to routines, causation of interpersonal conflicts, and reduced future self-reliance were seen as potential undesirable effects. Findings suggest that activity-based ADHD interventions appear particularly acceptable across all demographic and risk groups, unlike sleep regulation and dietary approaches. Further research on self-care effectiveness is needed to incorporate adolescents’ viewpoints about ADHD self-management, as interventions may be acceptable to adults, but resisted by adolescents.     

Small on the left,large on the right: numbers orient visual attention onto space in preverbal infants

Numbers are represented as ordered magnitudes along a spatially oriented number line. While culture and formal education modulate the direction of this number–space mapping, it is a matter of debate whether its emergence is entirely driven by cultural experience. By registering 8–9‐month‐old infants’ eye movements, this study shows that numerical cues are critical in orienting infants’ visual attention towards a peripheral region of space that is congruent with the number's relative position on a left‐to‐right oriented representational continuum. This finding provides the first direct evidence that, in humans, the association between numbers and oriented spatial codes occurs before the acquisition of symbols or exposure to formal education, suggesting that the number line is not merely a product of human invention.     

How perceived discrimination and professional rejection sensitivity impact women's career success

Professional rejection is a widespread phenomenon—most, if not all, of us have or will experience it in our lifetimes. However, some are more adept at handling it than others. This paper examines individual differences in how people interpret and handle professional rejection, proposing a construct called professional rejection sensitivity. We focused on whether this construct predicts decreased self-promoting behaviors and increased self-silencing behaviors and, subsequently, whether that impacts career success for junior faculty. Moreover, we investigated whether women may be disproportionally predisposed to professional rejection sensitivity because they tend to experience more discrimination in the workplace than men. We collected self-report data (i.e., individual differences) and biodata (i.e., curriculum vitae) from 300 junior faculty and found evidence of gender differences, such that women perceive more discrimination and report higher professional rejection sensitivity than men. We also found that individuals who are higher in professional rejection sensitivity are more likely to practice self-silencing behaviors, and individuals who perceive more discrimination have lower career success. This paper serves as the first step in demonstrating the existence of professional rejection sensitivity, which can guide future research that addresses how individuals can overcome this disposition. To support this path of research, we conclude with suggestions for potential interventions.     

Grim’s arguments against omniscience and indefinite extensibility

Patrick Grim has put forward a set theoretical argument purporting to prove that omniscience is an inconsistent concept and a model theoretical argument for the claim that we cannot even consistently define omniscience. The former relies on the fact that the class of all truths seems to be an inconsistent multiplicity (or a proper class, a class that is not a set); the latter is based on the difficulty of quantifying over classes that are not sets. We first address the set theoretical argument and make explicit some ways in which it depends on mathematical Platonism. Then we sketch a non Platonistic account of inconsistent multiplicities, based on the notion of indefinite extensibility, and show how Grim??s set theoretical argument could fail to be conclusive in such a context. Finally, we confront Grim??s model theoretical argument suggesting a way to define a being as omniscient without quantifying over any inconsistent multiplicity.     

Long-term improvement in coping skills following multimodal treatment in war veterans with chronic PTSD

Due to the long-lasting and resistant symptoms characteristic of chronic combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its treatment is complex and often requires a tailored therapeutic approach incorporating both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. A multimodal approach of psychoeducative, sociotherapeutic, and dynamically oriented trauma-focused groups is described. We assessed the short- and long-term effectiveness of this therapeutic program by monitoring its impact on PTSD symptoms, depression, neurotic symptoms, coping skills, and quality of life for three years. The findings revealed short-term reduction in the symptoms of PTSD and depression, while the long-term results were manifested as the increased use of all coping mechanisms and a greater level of obsession.