Life after Trauma: Personality and Daily Life Experiences of Traumatized People

In this study, we explored differences in personality and daily life experiences of traumatized (n= 26) versus nontraumatized (n= 30) college students. Study participants completed a variety of personality measures as well as a 28–day experience sampling study assessing daily activities, emotions, and physical health. Although not differing on general demographics, traumatized individuals reported more trait anxiety and lower self–esteem than nontraumatized individuals. They scored higher on Neuroticism, were more introverted, and were less emotionally stable than nontraumatized participants. Traumatized individuals also reported more cognitive disturbances, emotional blunting, and interpersonal withdrawal. They did not report being more depressed, but did endorse cognitive styles associated with heightened risk for depression. Earlier age of trauma was associated with more pathological outcomes: lower self–esteem and psychological well–being, more anxiety, more pessimism, and emotional constriction of positive mood. We compare this symptom profile to that of posttraumatic stress disorder.     

The thinking heart: Developmental dynamics in Etty Hillesum'sdiaries

This essay has three purposes. First, it proposes a method for reading texts developmentally, noting the appropriate type of text for this enterprise, the process for estimating the subject's developmental perspective, and necessary cautions when undertaking a developmental interpretation. Second, it highlights developmental dynamics which can be approximated in other contexts. Finally, it lifts up the writings of an extraordinary young Dutch woman, a victim of Auschwitz, offering her life as a model of virtues which our society would do well to imitate more than fifty years after the Holocaust.Where she also directs the Program in Christian Spirituality.     

Individual differences and cheating behavior: Guilt and cheating in competitive situations

To examine whether guilt would inhibit immoral behavior, subjects were differentiated on their feelings of anticipatory (AG) and posttransgressional (PTG) guilt and subsequently placed in an anagram task shown to induce a high level of cheating. Results indicated that neither pre- nor post-test AG was related to cheating behavior, and test-retest administration indicated that the AG scale was unreliable. The PTG scale, however, was found to be a temporally reliable measure of guilt. In order to assess the relative contributions of pre-test posttransgressional guilt, the ability to persist, and gender to cheating behavior, a saturated multiple regression model of centered predictor effects and interaction terms was constructed. Results revealed a significant gender × persistence interaction. The cheating behavior of males was not significantly influenced by the ability to persist. On the other hand, females who exhibited a strong ability to persist rarely cheated, while those who were unable to persist cheated a great deal. Finally, subjects who felt the most posttransgressional guilt cheated more frequently. These findings provide additional evidence that guilt may be positively related to cheating behavior.     

Construction and validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory,a structured inventory to assess multiple dimensions of gender attitudes

Three studies describe the development and initial validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI), a structured inventory that assesses attitudes toward the multiple objects that organize college students' thoughts and feelings about sex and gender. An intergroup relations perspective was used to specify the universe of gender-related targets and to construct a preliminary instrument. Factor analyses of the results of two sequential studies yielded a 109-item inventory with 14 content-specific attitude areas and three second-order factors. In Study 3 GAI scales were shown to have acceptable internal consistency and temporal stability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. In terms of race/ethnicity, most respondents were white (ranging from 69% to 82% across the three studies).     

Deceived versus nondeceived participants' perceptions of scientific and applied psychology

Research examining the possible effects of deceptive research participation on participants' perceptions of psychology has yielded equivocal results. The present study's goal was to clarify the possible effects of participation in mildly deceptive research on participants' impressions of scientific and applied psychology. Participants (N = 112) were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions: active groups receiving negative, positive, or no feedback, or passive groups receiving negative, positive, or no feedback. Following participation, participants completed measures of impressions of psychotherapy and psychotherapists, researchers, and instructors. The manipulation did not affect attitudes toward psychology on any of the dependent measures, although gender effects resulted on one measure. Participants in general reported very positive attitudes toward the science and practice of psychology. Recommendations are offered for future research on the effects of more extensive deceptions.     

Time,change, and motion: The effects of stimulus movement on temporal perception

The effects of stimulus motion on time perception were examined in five experiments. Subjects judged the durations (6–18 sec) of a series of computer-generated visual displays comprised of varying numbers of simple geometrical forms. In Experiment 1, subjects reproduced the duration of displays consisting of stationary or moving (at 20 cm/sec) stimulus figures. In Experiment 2, subjects reproduced the durations of stimuli that were either stationary, moving slowly (at 10 cm/sec), or moving fast (at 30 cm/sec). In Experiment 3, subjects used the production method to generate specified durations for stationary, slow, and fast displays. In Experiments 4 and 5, subjects reproduced the duration of stimuli that moved at speeds ranging from 0 to 45 cm/sec. Each experiment showed that stimulus motion lengthened perceived time. In general, faster speeds lengthened perceived time to a greater degree than slower speeds. Varying the number of stimuli appearing in the displays had only limited effects on time judgments. Other findings indicated that shorter intervals tended to be overestimated and longer intervals underestimated (Vierordt’s law), an effect which applied to both stationary and moving stimuli. The results support a change model of perceived time, which maintains that intervals associated with more changes are perceived to be longer than intervals with fewer changes.     

Parents, infants, and day-care teachers: Interrelations and implications for better child care

Many young children are reared today in both family and child-care settings. The relation that exists between these two settings has important implications for child care. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model is used as a way to view the interrelations among children, families, and child-care programs. Data from a study of infants in day care provide information on the time infants spend in family and day-care contexts, how parents and caregivers view children's behavior in these two settings, and rates of otitis media (ear infections) and other illnesses for these children. Results show that infants spend about twice as many hours per day awake with parents as in day care. Regarding child behaviors, parents and caregivers seem to have similar behaviors they like and dislike, but they each see particular children quite differently with respect to these behaviors. Finally, infants in this sample were diagnosed with illnesses 60% to 70% of the time. Findings are discussed in terms of the ecological model with particular attention given to relations between parents and caregivers.     

Robust conditioned flavor preferences with a sensory preconditioning procedure

During sensory preconditioning, rats were given two distinct flavors (saccharin and coffee) in sequence with 0, 9, or 27 sec between the two flavors. A control group received the flavors unpaired. In subsequent training, the second flavor preceded sucrose by 5 min. Later, the subjects that had had 0- or 9-sec delays between the two flavors showed a significant preference for the flavor not directly reinforced, whereas those that had had a 27-sec delay showed only a marginally significant preference. Although taste aversions have been produced using these methods, this is the first demonstration of conditioned preferences for flavors not directly associated with the reinforcers. These results offer an alternative way to study flavor-flavor learning.