Modifying Obsessive-Compulsive Beliefs about Controlling One’s Thoughts

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder propose that beliefs about the importance of and need to control thoughts (ICT) are central to the maintenance of the disorder. Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation (CBM-I) can be used to experimentally test this theory and may also have clinical utility as an adjunct therapeutic tool. The current study extended previous research to investigate whether two CBM-I sessions (one within and one outside the laboratory) would augment effects on obsessive-compulsive beliefs and behavior. We randomly allocated undergraduate participants high in ICT beliefs to a Positive (n = 30) or Control (n = 36) CBM-I condition and conducted multi-modal assessments immediately following the first training and at one-week follow-up. As predicted, participants in the Positive condition reported a reduction in obsessive-compulsive beliefs from baseline to follow-up (partial η ² = .42), whereas those in the Control condition did not. Participants responded more adaptively to the ICT relevant stressor task at follow-up compared to post-intervention, but there was no significant difference between conditions. Likewise, participants reported a reduction in obsessive symptoms over time that did not differ between conditions. The findings are considered in light of cognitive models of OCD, and clinical implications are discussed.     

Comprehension of Idioms by Children with Learning Disabilities: Metaphoric Transparency and Syntactic Frozenness

Third and fifth grade children with and without learning disabilities participated in this study. Syntactically frozen and flexible idioms and transparent and opaque idioms were used as stimuli to examine the ability to identify the correct idiom and to explain idiom meanings. Grade and diagnostic category affected performance on the explanation task but not on the forced choice task. Idiom type was also a factor affecting comprehension and explanation. Literal responses occurred rarely and were more likely to occur on the forced choice task.     

Representation and execution of vocal motor programs for expert singing of tonal melodies

Three experiments were conducted to study motor programs used by expert singers to produce short tonal melodies. Each experiment involved a response-priming procedure in which singers prepared to sing a primary melody but on 50% of trials had to switch and sing a different (secondary) melody instead. In Experiment 1, secondary melodies in the same key as the primary melody were easier to produce than secondary melodies in a different key. Experiment 2 showed that it was the initial note rather than key per se that affected production of secondary melodies. In Experiment 3, secondary melodies involving exact transpositions were easier to sing than secondary melodies with a different contour than the primary melody. Also, switches between the keys of C and G were easier than those between C and E. Taken together, these results suggest that the initial note of a melody may be the most important element in the motor program, that key is represented in a hierarchical form, and that melodic contour is represented as a series of exact semitone offsets.     

Effects of reinforcer consumption and magnitude on response rates during noncontingent reinforcement

Results of previous research on the effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) have been inconsistent when magnitude of reinforcement was manipulated. We attempted to clarify the influence of NCR magnitude by including additional controls. In Study 1, we examined the effects of reinforcer consumption time by comparing the same magnitude of NCR when session time was and was not corrected to account for reinforcer consumption. Lower response rates were observed when session time was not corrected, indicating that reinforcer consumption can suppress response rates. In Study 2, we first selected varying reinforcer magnitudes (small, medium, and large) on the basis of corrected response rates observed during a contingent reinforcement condition and then compared the effects of these magnitudes during NCR. One participant exhibited lower response rates when large-magnitude reinforcers were delivered; the other ceased responding altogether even when small-magnitude reinforcers were delivered. We also compared the effects of the same NCR magnitude (medium) during 10-min and 30-min sessions. Lower response rates were observed during 30-min sessions, indicating that the number of reinforcers consumed across a session can have the same effect as the number consumed per reinforcer delivery. These findings indicate that, even when response rate is corrected to account for reinforcer consumption, larger magnitudes of NCR (defined on either a per-delivery or per-session basis) result in lower response rates than do smaller magnitudes.     

Response-restriction analysis: II. Alteration of activity preferences

We used response-restriction (RR) assessments to identify the preferences of 7 individuals with mental retardation for a variety of vocational and leisure activities. We subsequently increased their engagement in nonpreferred activities using several procedures: response restriction per se versus a Premack-type contingency (Study 1), supplemental reinforcement for engagement in target activities (Study 2), and noncontingent pairing of reinforcers with nonpreferred activities (Study 3). Results indicated that preferences are not immutable and can be altered through a variety of relatively benign interventions and that the results of RR assessments may be helpful in determining which types of procedures may be most effective on an individual basis.     

Functional analysis of self-injurious behavior and its relation to self-restraint

Some individuals who engage in self-injurious behavior (SIB) also exhibit self-restraint. In the present study, a series of three functional analyses were conducted to determine the variables that maintained a participant's SIB, one without restraint items available, one with a preferred and effective form of self-restraint (an airplane pillow) available noncontingently, and one with this item delivered contingent on SIB. Results suggested that SIB was reinforced by escape and by access to self-restraint materials, self-restraint appeared to be maintained by automatic reinforcement, and continuous access to highly preferred restraint materials effectively suppressed SIB.     

Neurodevelopmental care in the NICU

Neurodevelopmental care, which is any NICU intervention undertaken to improve neurodevelopmental outcome, includes NICU design, nursing routines, nursing care plans, management of pain, feeding methods and, most importantly, encouraging parental involvement with their NICU infant. Recognition that sensory stimulation can overwhelm preterm infants and increase physiologic signs of stress led to attempts to reduce sensory input. More recent approaches judiciously add back soothing sensory input (e.g., therapeutic touch, soft music). Circadian light/dark cycles and physical activity improve preterm growth. Attention to infant positioning and handling affects physiologic variables and joint mobility, if not functional motor abilities. A highly organized system of care for NICU infants is Als' NIDCAP (i.e., Neonatal Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program). Although NIDCAP may reduce need for respiratory support and hospital length of stay, it does not significantly influence neurodevelopmental outcome at 2-3 years. Pain management includes benign interventions (e.g., nonnutritive sucking, oral glucose), but the prolonged use of narcotics must be balanced against the consequences of sedation and dependency. The foremost challenge for NICUs remains parent disenfranchisement. Kangaroo care, which involves parent/infant skin-to-skin contact, improves preterm growth, decreases nosocomial infections and may shorten hospital length of stay. A great deal of work needs to be done to identify and demonstrate efficacy of specific interventions and changes that humanize the NICU, encourage parental involvement, support infant development and optimize preterm neurodevelopmental outcomes.     

A Study of Health Perception,Disability Acceptance,and Life Satisfaction Based on Types of Leisure Activity Among Koreans with a Physical Disability

Leisure studies provide evidence that leisure engagement serves as a vehicle for improving life satisfaction among individuals with a physical disability. However, a dearth of research addresses which types of leisure activities are associated with specific psychological benefits. This study sought to capture three aspects of psychological benefits: acceptance of disability, life satisfaction, and health perception, and to explore how leisure activities are related to these psychological benefits. Using data released from the 2011 Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled in Korea, this study found that individuals with a physical disability who participate in social activity, religious activity, and Internet use reported high health perception, life satisfaction, and disability acceptance. In particular, findings of this study provide evidence that social activity participation plays an important role in increasing health benefits among individuals with a physical disability.     

Loneliness in the Daily Lives of Young Adults: Testing a Socio‐cognitive Model

A socio‐cognitive model of loneliness states that lonely people are characterized by two characteristics, hypersensitivity to social threat and hyposensitivity to social reward. However, these characteristics have not yet been examined in the daily lives of young adults. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to examine these two characteristics in young adults and whether relationship status, living situation, and type of company moderated the relationship between sensitivity to threat and reward and feelings of loneliness. The Experience Sampling Method was used, and data were collected among 219 first‐year college students (M age = 19.60, 91% female). Participants filled out questionnaires on their smartphone at five random time points per day, on 11 consecutive days. Multilevel analyses showed support for hypersensitivity to social threat, in that students high in loneliness were more negatively affected by negative perceptions of company. Results for hyposensitivity to social reward were in the opposite direction; students high in loneliness were more positively affected by positive perceptions of company than students low in loneliness. These relations were not moderated by relationship status or living situation. Our findings may indicate that loneliness serves as a motivational state that increases susceptibility to the environment in order to restore social relationships. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Value of Lakota Traditional Healing for Youth Resiliency and Family Functioning

This article reports research findings on the impact of Oglala Lakota Sioux traditional healing on family functioning and youth resiliency where trauma, abuse, or violence are often present. Caregivers of Lakota youth struggling with serious emotional and behavioral problems participated in the study. The study included both quantitative and qualitative samples: 27 families for the quantitative sample and 8 families for the qualitative sample. Results from caregivers revealed that traditional healing and cultural practices, as well as the promotion of cultural identity, had statistically significant positive effects on the perceived familial and individual functioning of Lakota youth and their families. Effect sizes indicate that the results have strong practical significance.