Effects of maternal themes upon death imagery

Two samples (n = 47, n = 45) of women were studied to determine the impact of maternal messages upon death imagery as measured by the Holtzmann Inkblots. In both samples a maternal symbiotic message significantly decreased death imagery. A maternal monosymbiotic message resulted in decreased death imagery in only one sample. Control messages produced no changes in death imagery. The findings are congruent with theories that link death anxiety with concern about separation from parental figures.     

On the locus of the divided-attention effects

Reaction times in a choice reaction task were used to localize the livided-attention effect (less proficient performance under dual than under ingle-taks conditions) in a sequential-stage model of human information processing. Experiment 1 eliminated a central (memory-dependent) processing tage, while Experiment 2 suggested that a stimulus sampling process within the hitial encoding stage was the locus of the effect. Thus, the effect was localized in the input, not the central or an output stage of processing. A slower stimulus ampling rate was indicated under dual-than under single-task conditions.     

Through the community looking glass: reevaluating the ethical and policy implications of research on adolescent risk and sociopathology

Drawing on a conception of scientists and community members as partners in the construction of ethically responsible research practices, this article urges investigators to seek the perspectives of teenagers and parents in evaluating the personal and political costs and benefits of research on adolescent risk behaviors. Content analysis of focus group discussions involving over 100 parents and teenagers from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds revealed community opinions regarding the scientific merit, social value, racial bias, and participant and group harms and benefits associated with surveys, informant reports, intervention studies, blood sampling, and genetic research on youth problems. Participants comments highlight new directions for socially responsible research.     

The effects of noncontingent delivery of high- and low-preference stimuli on attention-maintained destructive behavior

An adolescent with severe mental retardation and cerebral palsy who displayed attention-maintained destructive behavior was exposed to noncontingent reinforcer delivery (NCR) with either a high-preference or a low-preference stimulus while reinforcement for destructive behavior with attention remained in effect (i.e., NCR without extinction). NCR without extinction was effective only when the high-preference stimulus was available, suggesting that systematic assessment of stimulus quality may enhance the effectiveness of NCR with alternative stimuli.     

The California Family Health Project: V. Family problem solving and adult health.

This article explores the relationship between family Problem Solving and the Health of adults in a community-based sample of 225 families. Family Problem Solving refers to the ways in which the family conducts itself to resolve a shared problem. Sixteen observer ratings of family Problem-Solving behavior during a 30-minute task were developed, based on the Simulated Family Activity Measure (SIM-FAM), and good interrater agreement was achieved. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) yielded a set of three well-constructed, interpretable dimensions: Problem-Solving Effectiveness, Problem-Solving Style, and Sociomotor Activity. Multidimensional scaling analyses (MDS) suggested that family problem-solving behavior involved an organized, means-end sequence of family behaviors in which aspects of style served problem-solving effectiveness. All 16 Problem-Solving variables were analyzed with a set of 14 health variables, for husbands and wives separately, using canonical correlation. No subset of Problem-Solving variables was significantly associated with a subset of Health variables for either husbands or wives, although there was a significant association between the two sets of variables when taken as a whole. Given previous research on family Problem Solving, we conclude that the absence of significant associations between particular aspects of family Problem Solving and Health may be due to our use of a community-based rather than a stressed or clinical sample. Associations between Family Problem Solving and Health might best be viewed in the context of other family variables.     

A methodological review of preference displacement research

The purpose of this review was to identify and compare methodological components of preference displacement research and outcomes. We coded, categorized, and defined patterns of preference displacement for a total of 133 participants across 10 studies. We found that patterns of displacement differed within and across studies, and over 46% of participants did not engage in patterns of displacement. Therefore, the commonly held notion that edible stimuli are more likely to displace tangible stimuli is not as ubiquitous as once thought. However, due to considerable variation in methodology and reporting across reviewed studies, it is difficult to determine what variables may be responsible for obtained study outcomes. We conclude that future researchers consider the importance of each methodological variable coded in our review, and make methodological decisions in the context of the research question they are looking to answer. We also provide additional suggestions for future research and clinical practice.     

What if I am the one? Measuring individual differences in emotional sensitivity to probability and emotional reactivity to possibility

Current theories of risk perception point to the powerful role of emotion and the neglect of probabilistic information in the face of risk, but these tendencies differ across individuals. We propose a method for measuring individuals' emotional sensitivity to probability to assess how feelings about probabilities, rather than the probabilities themselves, influence decisions. Participants gave affective ratings (worry or excitement) to 14 risky events, each with a specified probability ranging from 1 in 10 to 1 in 10,000,000. For each participant, we regressed these emotional responses against item probabilities, estimating a slope (the degree to which emotional responses change with probability) and an intercept (the emotional reaction to an event with a fixed probability). These two parameters were treated as individual difference scores and included in models predicting reactions to several health risk scenarios. Both emotional sensitivity to probability (slope) and emotional reactivity to possibility (intercept) significantly predicted responses to these scenarios, above and beyond the predictive power of other well‐established individual difference measures.     

A replication of preference displacement research in children with autism spectrum disorder

The purpose of this paper was to replicate previous research on preference displacement with edible and leisure stimuli. In the present study, the experimenters evaluated preference displacement in 25 children with autism spectrum disorder using combined multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessments that consisted of highly preferred edible and leisure stimuli. In addition, the experimenters used a block randomization procedure to evaluate if assessment order influenced displacement outcomes. The experimenters observed patterns of complete displacement by edible stimuli for four participants and complete displacement by leisure stimuli for two participants; assessment order did not influence outcomes. The results and implications are discussed.     

Emotions during the Covid-19 pandemic: Fear,anxiety, and anger as mediators between threats and policy support and political actions

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly changed the lives of most people. It has been described as the most severe global health disaster of modern times by the United Nations. No doubt such a major crisis influences what citizens think of different policies, and how they become politically active, not to mention, the forceful emotional experiences that the Covid-19 pandemic brings. This study evaluates how emotions affect support for policies related to restricting the spread of the virus and economic assistance, and how emotions affect intentions to engage politically. In an experiment (N = 1,072), we manipulated emotional reactions to threat by highlighting different aspects of the pandemic. Our findings show that different experimental treatments elicit different emotions, and that fear, anxiety, and anger are all related to policy support and political action intentions, but in different ways. Fear and anger predict support for restrictive policies to limit the spread of the virus, while anxiety predicts support for economic policies. Anger and anxiety, but not fear, increase intentions to engage politically. Hence, we find support for a mechanism where different aspects of the Covid-19 crisis evoke different emotional reactions, which in turn affects policy support and political actions differently.