Training in Evidence-Based Interventions (EBIs): What are school psychology programs teaching?

This study examined the degree to which school psychology programs provided training in Evidence-Based Interventions (EBIs). Survey data were collected from 97 school psychology training directors to assess their familiarity, level of student exposure, and perceived importance of EBIs. This study also examined the contextual factors that interfere with EBI training, and whether students are taught to apply the criteria developed by Divisions 12, 16, and 53 of the APA when evaluating outcome research. Results indicated that relatively low percentages of respondents were familiar with the EBIs included on the survey, exposure to EBIs occurred more frequently in coursework than practical experiences, and EBIs were rated as either somewhat important or important. Lack of time was rated as the most serious challenge to EBI training and a high percentage of directors reported students were taught to apply the criteria developed by professional organizations in psychology and education when evaluating outcome research.     

Olfactory discrimination between litter mates by mothers and alien adult cats: lump or split?

Animal Cognition - Mother cats can discriminate between their own and alien kittens using kittens’ body odour. Here we ask whether they can also distinguish between body odours of kittens...     

Attachment Representation and Sensitivity: The Moderating Role of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in a Refugee Sample

It has been hypothesized that adult attachment representations guide caregiving behavior and influence parental sensitivity, and thus affect the child's socio‐emotional development. Several studies have shown a link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reduced parental sensitivity, so it is possible that PTSD moderates the relationship between insecure attachment representations and insensitivity. In this study symptoms of PTSD (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire), parental sensitivity (Emotional Availability Scales), and attachment representations (Attachment Script Assessment) were assessed in 53 parents who were asylum seekers or refugees. Results showed that when parents were less able to draw on secure attachment representations, symptoms of PTSD increased the risk of insensitive parenting. These findings suggest that parental sensitivity is affected not just by attachment representations, but by a conjunction of risk factors including symptoms of PTSD and insecure attachment representations. These parents should therefore be supported to establish or confirm secure models of attachment experiences, to facilitate their ability interact sensitively and form a secure relationship with their children.     

Vague Objects within Classical Logic and Standard Mereology,and without Indeterminate Identity

Weatherson (The Philosophical Quarterly, 53, 481–501 2003) argues that whoever accepts classical logic, standard mereology and the difference between vague objects and any others, should conclude that there are no vague objects. Barnes and Williams (Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 90, 176–187 2009) claim that a supporter of vague objects who accepts classical logic and standard mereology should recognize that the existence of vague objects implies indeterminate identity. Even though it is not clearly stated, they all seem to be committed to the assumption that reality is ultimately constituted by mereological atoms. This assumption is not granted by standard mereology which instead remains silent on whether reality is atomic or gunky; therefore, I contend that whoever maintains classical logic, standard mereology and the difference between vague objects and any others, is not forced to conclude with Weatherson that there are no vague objects; nor is she compelled to revise her point of view according to Barnes and Williams’s proposal and to accept that the existence of vague objects implies indeterminate identity.     

How is anxiety related to math performance in young students? A longitudinal study of Grade 2 to Grade 3 children

Both general and math-specific anxiety are related to proficiency in mathematics. However, it is not clear when math anxiety arises in young children, nor how it relates to early math performance. This study therefore investigated the early association between math anxiety and math performance in Grades 2 and 3, by accounting for general anxiety and by further inspecting the prevalent directionality of the anxiety–performance link. Results revealed that this link was significant in Grade 3, with a prevalent direction from math anxiety to performance, rather than the reverse. Longitudinal analyses also showed an indirect effect of math anxiety in Grade 2 on subsequent math performance in Grade 3. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of monitoring anxiety from the early stages of schooling in order to promote proficient academic performance.     

Zika virus and pregnant women: A psychological approach

Zika virus presents risk of physical harm to pregnant women, but the fear of infection is also affecting women around the world. There is a gap in the research on Zika virus in the areas involving the impact on the psychosocial well-being of pregnant women. Therefore, this study is aimed at the investigation of the psychosocial adjustment of pregnant women to the risks of Zika virus infection during pregnancy. We investigated 14 pregnant women who were classified in three different groups: six in the first trimester, five in the second trimester and three in the third trimester, aged from 28 to 40 years (33.43 ± 3.76 years). Content analysis was used to interpret data. Our results show that the psychosocial adjustment of participants was significantly negative and included five aspects: (1) negative feelings, (2) changes in family planning, (3) adopting new customs (avoiding places of risk, use of specific clothes and use of repellent), (4) changed attitudes regarding body image and (5) feeling of external demand regarding prevention. The fear of Zika virus infection and all its associated risks have a negative biopsychosocial impact on the pregnant women in this study.     

阅读中字序编码对自上而下词汇加工的影响

研究采用边界范式通过两项实验考察词内字序编码对预测性效应的影响,结果发现:(1)全程词内字序颠倒和注视中词内字序颠倒都不影响预测性效应,但预视中词内字序颠倒则消除预测性效应,说明预视阶段内词内字序编码影响自上而下词汇加工,却不影响注视阶段内自上而下的词汇加工;(2)预视中词内字序颠倒和注视中词内字序颠倒条件下目标词汇凝视时间都高于全程词内字序颠倒条件,说明整个时程上的词汇加工并不严格依赖于词内字序编码。     

The Polish Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale: Preliminary Evidence on Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparison

Anxiety disorders are one of the most widespread psychological diseases in adolescence, which may lead to impairment in several areas of life and has been demonstrated a risk factor of other psychiatric disorders. One of the most widely used self-report measures to assess multiple symptoms of anxiety in youth is the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Literature suggests that anxiety symptoms vary across cultures to some extent. It has been found that individuals from collectivistic culture report higher levels of anxiety disorders than those from individualistic culture. Poland is a country whose culture was traditionally collectivistic; but now Poland is undergoing social and economic system transformation, which is taking it closer to individualistic culture. However, SCAS has never been validated in Polish samples, and thus the current study aimed (1) to assess the psychometric properties (structural validity and reliability) of SCAS in a sample of 303 Polish adolescents, (2) to examine gender differences, (3) to test the divergent validity of SCAS by relating it to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and (4) to compare the mean levels with Chinese (collectivistic) and Italian (individualistic) samples. The results confirmed that the Polish version of SCAS showed good reliability and validity. Polish girls showed higher physical injury and generalized anxiety/overanxious symptoms than boys. Furthermore, Polish adolescents reported higher levels of anxiety than Italian youth but lower levels of anxiety than their Chinese counterparts. Implications for professionals and researchers are discussed.     

Reward-priming impacts visual working memory maintenance: Evidence from human electrophysiology

Reward can benefit visual processing of reward-associated objects in a non-strategic way. Recent studies have suggested that such influence extends also to visual working memory (VWM) representations of reward-associated stimuli. However, it is not clear yet which mechanisms underlie the behavioural effects in VWM tasks: reward could directly impact on our ability to maintain representations in VWM or it could influence memory indirectly via priming of attentional selection. To distinguish between these alternatives we measured event-related potential indices of selective attention – the N2pc – and VWM maintenance – the CDA (contralateral delay activity) – while participants completed a VWM task. Results show that reward outcome in one trial caused similarly coloured targets to be strongly represented in VWM in subsequent trials, as expressed in a larger-amplitude CDA This was not preceded by a corresponding effect on attentional selection, in so far as our key manipulation had no impact on the N2pc. In a second experiment, we found that reward priming produced a behavioural benefit that emerged over time, suggesting that the representations of reward-associated items stored in VWM are more resistant to interference and decay. We conclude that when the task stresses VWM maintenance, it is at this representational level that reward will have impact.     

Eudaimonic Well-Being in Transsexual People,Before and After Gender Confirming Surgery

Gender confirming surgery (GCS) and cross-sex hormones (CSH) are crucial steps in the self-realization of a transsexual individual. However, no study has analyzed the outcome of GCS in a eudaimonic perspective, nor explored eudaimonic well-being before GCS. The study compares the eudaimonic well-being of trans men (N = 56) and women (N = 89) before and after GCS; in the MtF sample, a further comparison was carried out between those who never started any medical intervention and those who were already taking CSH. Finally, the impact of experiences of harassment, discrimination and violence on eudaimonic well-being in the post-surgery sample was explored. All participants completed the Psychological Well-being Scales (Ryff in J Pers Soc Psychol 57:1069–1081, 1989) and, only the post-surgery sample, a questionnaire to assess previous experiences of harassment, discrimination and violence. Both in MtF and FtM participants, those who already received GCS showed higher scores on self-acceptance; in the MtF sample, higher scores were also found on environmental mastery and lower scores on personal growth. The association between experiences of discrimination on well-being was limited and positive, with higher scores in personal growth only in FtM participants who reported being victims of such experiences. Our results suggest that both MtF and FtM transsexuals show higher levels of eudaimonic well-being after GCS.