The “Own” and the “Wise”: Does Stigma Status Buffer or Exacerbate Social Rejection of College Students with a Mental Illness?

Applying Goffman’s stigma-status framework and using data from a survey administered to college students (N = 556), we find that respondents who have been diagnosed with a mental illness (the “own”) or who know a family member or friend with a mental illness diagnosis (the “wise”) express lower desired social distance from persons with a mental illness than other respondents (“normals”). Also, informally labeling symptoms as “mental illness” reduced social distance among those similarly diagnosed. However, perceived dangerousness did not vary across stigma status, and the socially-distancing effects of perceived dangerousness were more pronounced among the “own.”     

Social Competence at the Playground: Preschoolers During Recess

Social interactions at the playground have been represented as a rich learning opportunity to hone and master social skills at preschool years. Specifically, all forms of social play (fantasy, role, exercise or rough‐and‐tumble) have been related to children's social competence. The main goal of this study was to examine whether it is a certain kind of social play which facilitates the development of social competence, or if it is just the opportunity for interacting during recess that provides children with an optimal environment for social learning. A total of 73 preschoolers (4–6 years old) were videotaped at the school's playground. Teachers provided assessments of children's social competence. Children's interactions at the playground were assessed through an innovative measuring method, based on radio‐frequency identification devices. The results showed a positive association between exercise play and children's social competence. In contrast with the literature, both forms of pretend play, fantasy and role play were unrelated to children's social competence. Smaller peer groups and longer interactions also demonstrated a positive association with these preschoolers' social competence. The study shows the importance of outdoor physical play for preschoolers' social success. Moreover, the study suggests that the environment in which children play has an important effect on the adaptive nature of their play. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parasympathetic cardio-regulation during social interactions in individuals with obesity—The influence of negative body image

Individuals with obesity in Western societies often face weight-related stigmatization and social exclusion. Recurrent exposure to prejudice and negative social feedback alters one’s behavior in future social interactions. In this study, we aimed to investigate autonomic nervous system and affective responses to social interactions in individuals with obesity. Women and men with (n = 56) and without (n = 56) obesity participated in episodes of social inclusion and social exclusion using a virtual ball-tossing game. During the experiment, heart rate was measured and parasympathetic activity (overall high-frequency power and event-related cardiac slowing) was analyzed. Our results show that in novel social interactions, women with obesity, relative to the other groups, exhibited the strongest increase in parasympathetic activity. Furthermore, parasympathetic activity was related to a more negative body image in individuals with obesity, but not in lean individuals. Additionally, women with obesity reported a stronger decrease in mood after social exclusion than did the other participants. Our results demonstrate influences of objective and subjective bodily characteristics on parasympathetic cardio-regulation during social interactions. In particular, they show behavioral and physiological alterations during social interactions in women with obesity.     

Genetic Counseling and Screening of Consanguineous Couples and Their Offspring: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

The objective of this document is to provide recommendations for genetic counseling and screening for consanguineous couples (related as second cousins or closer) and their offspring with the goals of1. providing preconception reproductive options2. improving pregnancy outcome and identifying reproductive choices3. reducing morbidity and mortality in the 1st years of life, and4. respecting psychosocial and multicultural issues.The recommendations are the opinions of a multicenter working group (the Consanguinity Working Group (CWG)) with expertise in genetic counseling, medical genetics, biochemical genetics, genetic epidemiology, pediatrics, perinatology, and public health genetics, which was convened by the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC). The consensus of the CWG and NSGC reviewers is that beyond a thorough medical family history with follow-up of significant findings, no additional preconception screening is recommended for consanguineous couples. Consanguineous couples should be offered similar genetic screening as suggested for any couple of their ethnic group. During pregnancy, consanguineous couples should be offered maternal–fetal serum marker screening and high-resolution fetal ultrasonography. Newborns should be screened for impaired hearing and detection of treatable inborn errors of metabolism. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of management, nor does use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. The professional judgment of a health care provider, familiar with the facts and circumstances of a specific case, will always supersede these recommendations.     

INCREASING ENGAGEMENT IN DAILY ACTIVITIES BY OLDER ADULTS WITH DEMENTIA

This study analyzed the effects of nursing assistants' use of prompts and praise to increase the engagement of older adults with dementia in daily living activities. The multiple baseline design across morning and afternoon work shifts showed consistent increases in engagement by each of the 5 residents during the intervention. These results suggest that increasing prompts and praise by nursing assistants may, in turn, increase the rate of engagement of older adults with dementia.     

Auditory coding of visual patterns for the blind

Recognition tasks of simple visual patterns have been used to assess an early visual--auditory sensory-substitution system, consisting of the coupling of a rough model of the human retina with an inverse model of the cochlea, by means of a pixel-frequency relationship. The potential advantage of the device, compared with previous ones, is to give the blind the ability to both localise and recognise visual patterns. Four evaluation sessions assessed the performance of twenty-four blindfolded sighted subjects using the device. Subjects had to recognise twenty-five visual patterns, one at a time, using a head-mounted small camera and interpreting the corresponding sounds given by the device. Half the subjects were trained by means of a correction feedback procedure during ten one-hour training sessions embedded in between the evaluation sessions. Results revealed extremely successful training effects. Performance of trained subjects significantly increased with practice compared with the untrained control group. The improvement was also observed for new patterns, demonstrating a learning-process generalisation. The negative correlation observed between scores and processing time showed that the subjects' response accuracy was related to their speed. In conclusion, simple pattern recognition is possible with a fairly natural vision-to-audition coding scheme, given the possibility for the subjects to have sensory--motor interactions while using the device.     

3-D processing in the Poggendorff illusion

In the Poggendorff illusion two collinear oblique lines, separated by two vertical lines, appear to be misaligned. 3-D processing of the oblique but not the vertical lines is considered to cause this apparent misalignment. We investigated whether more explicitly triggering 2-D versus 3-D interpretations of the different parts of Poggendorff-like displays would influence the apparent misalignment. In Experiment 1, we found that compared to 2-D controls, 3-D interpretations of the vertical parts did not influence apparent misalignment, while for the oblique parts 3-D processing resulted in more apparent misalignment than 2-D controls. In Experiment 2, the amount of contour convergence of the oblique parts was manipulated resulting in the 3-D blocks, but not the 2-D line patterns, to be perceived as receding in depth. Now, apparent misalignment increased the more the 3-D blocks were perceived as receding in depth. We conclude that apparent misalignment in Poggendorff-like displays can be influenced by different interpretations of its separate parts, while keeping the local junctions between the different elements the same.     

Does it only depend on the point of view? Perspective-related differences in justice evaluations of negative incidents in personal relationships

A series of four studies investigated systematic differences between actor and recipient interpretations and justice evaluations of negative incidents in interpersonal relationships. Due to a refined methodology, each negative incident was assessed both by the respective recipient and actor, and each participant reported incidents from both perspectives. The studies provided clear evidence of systematic recipient-actor differences and showed that the quality of the relationship between the parties involved in the incidents can moderate the occurrence and shape of the differences. Significant gender differences were found showing that women respond more accusingly than men in the role of the recipient and more defensively than men in the role of the actor. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.