Parental socioeconomic status and child intellectual functioning in a Norwegian sample

Socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood has been linked to cognitive function and future academic and occupational success in studies from several countries. However, previous Nordic studies have shown inconsistent results regarding the strength of this link. We therefore investigated the association between SES and cognitive functioning in a sample of 255 Norwegian children, including 151 typically developing children and 104 children with a psychiatric diagnosis. The third edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC‐III) to assess cognitive function was used. SES was defined from maternal and paternal education and family income of typically developing children and of a subsample of children with a psychiatric diagnosis. Multiple adjusted regression analyses were used to investigate the relation between SES and cognitive functioning. The analyses showed that SES explained a significant part of the variance of the full‐scale WISC‐III score and two WISC‐III indices (Verbal Comprehension and Freedom from Distractibility). Overall, the strength of the relations was weaker than expected from reports from other non‐Nordic countries. Parental education was the only significant individual predictor, suggesting that income was of minor importance as a predictor of cognitive functioning. Further studies should investigate how diverse political and socioeconomic contexts influence the relation between SES and cognitive functioning.     

On the relationship between negative affective priming and prefrontal cognitive control mechanisms

Although several studies have examined inhibition of affective stimuli, valence-dependent cognitive control effects remain poorly understood. Behavioural and functional imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) data were collected from 17 healthy participants to examine neural correlates of the Negative Affective Priming (NAP) task. We created relative ratio scores considering the reaction times of prime trials in order to assess the amount of interference after the presentation of negative and positive distracter words. Behavioural results showed an attenuated NAP effect for negative distracters compared to neutral stimuli. Furthermore, priming negative distracters generated more interference by reacting to the probe target than positive distracters. Neuroimaging data revealed a stronger prefrontal activation during negative NAP trials compared to positive NAP and neutral control trials, which was reflected in a heightened activation of superior and middle frontal gyrus as well as parietal cortex. The findings show the impact of negative distracters on prefrontal response, contributing to the understanding of NAP effects in healthy subjects.     

Me,Myself, and Mobility: The Relevance of Region for Young Adults' Identity Development

As residential mobility is a common life event that particularly affects young adults, regional identity may be relevant for young adults. We therefore extended the three‐dimensional identity model to the regional domain. The development of regional identity was studied using a prospective design over six months with a sample of 1,795 post‐secondary graduates (71% female, mean age of 24.54 years), containing both movers and non‐movers. Latent profile analyses and latent profile transition analyses revealed three main findings: First, solutions with four regional identity statuses—moratorium, searching moratorium, closure, and achievement—were found to be most interpretable. Second, the emergent statuses differed substantially in terms of Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction, as well as with moving experience. Third, the stability of identity status membership across a period of six months was highest for the non‐movers group. Comparatively less stability across time was found for the movers, underscoring the relevance of transitions for identity development. Taken together, these findings show that even in a mobile world, region matters in identity development. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

„Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy“

There are a number of evidence-based methods of psychotherapy for the treatment of depression but most treatment approaches have shown low or moderate success in the subgroup of chronic depression (duration >?2 years) as compared to episodic depression. This could be related to a higher rate of early trauma and specific deficits in cognitive and interpersonal functioning within this group of patients. James McCullough has developed a psychotherapeutic approach known as cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP) specifically for chronic depression to overcome these deficits. In CBASP early negative experiences are associated with current interpersonal problems and a systematic relearning process is initiated. The approach integrates behavioral, cognitive and interpersonal strategies. The CBASP approach is empirically supported by study results and has shown to be effective in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This article presents the development of the approach and therapeutic strategies as well as techniques of CBASP are described.     

Performance on the Test of Memory Malingering in children with neurological conditions

Despite increasing interest in the use of performance validity tests with youth, relatively little is known about how children and adolescents with neurological diagnoses perform on these measures. The purpose of this study was to examine performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) in a general pediatric neurologic sample. Data were obtained from 266 consecutive patients (mean age = 13.0, SD = 3.7, range = 5–18) referred for a neuropsychological assessment in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. As part of a broader neuropsychological battery, patients were administered the TOMM. In this sample, 94% of children passed the TOMM. Pass rate was 87% for 5–7 year-olds but was ≥ 90% for all other ages. Children with a history of stroke had the lowest pass rate (86%), with other diagnostic groups scoring ≥ 90%, including epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and hydrocephalus. Lower TOMM performance was related to slower processing speed and weaker memory performance. The results support using the TOMM with children and adolescents who have neurological diagnoses. Caution may still be warranted when interpreting scores in those who are younger and/or who have more significant cognitive difficulty.     

Dear Computer,Teach Me Manners: Testing Virtual Employment Interview Training

Expanding research on employment interview training, this study introduces virtual employment interview (VI) training with focus on nonverbal behavior. In VI training, participants took part in a simulated interview with a virtual character. Simultaneously, the computer analyzed participants’ nonverbal behavior and provided real‐time feedback for it. The control group received parallel interview training. Following training, participants took part in mock interviews, where interviewers rated participants’ nonverbal behavior, and interview performance. Analyses revealed (a) that participants of VI training showed better interview performance, (b) that this effect was mediated by nonverbal behavior, and (c) that VI training has a positive influence on interview anxiety. These results have important practical implications for applicants, career counseling centers, and organizations.     

Is retrieval the key? Metamemory judgment and testing as learning strategies

Re-reading is the most common learning strategy, albeit not a very efficient one. Testing is highly efficient, but not perceived by students as a learning strategy. Prospective judgment-of-learning (JOL) reflect the learner's impression of subsequently being able to retrieve the ongoing learning in a cued-recall task. Estimating JOL involves attempting to retrieve the information, as in testing. The few studies that have explored the potential mnemonic benefit of JOL have yielded contradictory results. Our aim was to compare JOL and testing with re-study and to examine the impact of these strategies according to the relative difficulty of the material (cue-target association strength) in two experiments. After a first encoding phase, participants re-studied, provided JOL, or took a test. Forty-eight hours later, they participated in a final cued-recall test, during which their confidence level judgments were collected. The main result was that delayed JOL behaved in the same way as testing, and both yielded better performances than re-study when material was of moderate difficulty. The easy or very difficult material revealed no differences between these strategies. JOL is proposed as an alternative to testing when faced with difficult material.     

Teachers’ emotions and emotion management: integrating emotion regulation theory with emotional labor research

While the similarities between emotion regulation (Gross in J Personal Soc Psychol 74:224–237, 1998a) and emotional labor (Hochschild in The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983) have been theoretically discussed, empirical research on their relation is lacking. We examined the relations between the two constructs as well as their relations with teachers’ discrete emotions in a sample of 189 secondary school teachers. The results showed that reappraisal correlated positively with deep acting, whereas suppression correlated positively with surface acting. The findings further suggest that reappraisal and deep acting are linked to experiencing positive emotions, whereas suppression and surface acting are linked to experiencing negative emotions. However, there also were some differences in how emotion regulation and emotional labor were related to teachers’ discrete emotional experiences. Specifically, reappraisal and deep acting strategies were positively related to enjoyment; in addition, deep acting was negatively related to negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and frustration. By contrast, suppression and surface acting strategies were positively associated with negative emotions (i.e., suppression with anxiety; surface acting with anxiety, anger, and frustration), and surface acting was negatively associated with the positive emotion enjoyment. Implications for integrating research on teachers’ emotion regulation and emotional labor are discussed.     

Subtle cognitive deficits in severe alcohol addicts – Do they show a specific profile?

Although alcohol dependency is a burden to society, data on cognitive performance in therapy‐resistant patients after multiple withdrawals are poor. In this study, 22 patients without reported cognitive deficits and 20 control subjects performed extensive cognitive testing and a motor task assessing short‐term memory. Patients displayed subtle deficits (mainly in executive function), while memory functions were relatively unimpaired. Our results suggest that subtle frontal‐executive deficits may contribute to a poor prognosis, but could be missed by routine clinical tests.     

The contextual role of subjective age in the chronological age/absenteeism relationship in blue and white collar teams

Organizations in the twenty-first century face the challenges of an increasingly ageing workforce, which have an effect on organizational health and productivity. As chronological age has shown to be an insufficient indicator of employees’ health and, in particular, absenteeism, we apply the subjective age concept (i.e., how old an employee feels) at the team-level to explain the average chronological age/average short-term absenteeism relationship. We develop a theoretical framework for underlying processes, combining the subjective age research with the socioemotional selectivity theory and team contagion processes. We test our predictions in a time-lagged team-level sample of 1,015 teams with 12,926 employees to find a significant interactive effect of average chronological age and average subjective age on average short-term absenteeism in teams. The relationship is negative and significant when average subjective age is low. Under high-average subjective age, the relationship is non-significant. Furthermore, this interactive effect (average chronological age/average subjective age) is moderated by job type (white versus blue collar) in the form of a three-way interaction, indicating that the effect is only significant among white collar teams. We hope to enrich the theoretical debate on age and absenteeism and provide organizations with a new perspective on ageing work teams.