Early psychological consequences of the March 11, 2004, terrorist attacks in Madrid, Spain

On March 11, 2004, Al-Qaeda set off 10 bombs on several train routes in Madrid. 192 people were killed and 2,000 wounded. In this study, 1,179 questionnaires were administered Week 2 after the attacks to residents 18 years and over from the affected geographical areas. The questionnaire included items about sociodemographic variables and exposure to the attacks. Psychological effects were assessed as presence of acute stress and depressive symptomatology and functional impairment. 46.7% of the sample presented symptomatology of acute stress and 49.6% depressive symptoms. Among the symptoms of acute stress, the most frequent were re-experiencing (72.5%) and dissociative symptoms (71.8%). The chief predicting variables in symptomatology were being female, over 65 yr. old, and a habitual train user. The large number of affected people was refined with an item analysis and the consideration of severity of interference in psychosocial functioning.     

Determinants of assessing efficiency within auditory attention networks

The attention network test (ANT) assesses efficiency across alerting, orienting, and executive components of visual attention. This study examined approaches to assessing auditory attention networks, and performance was compared to the visual ANT. Results showed (1) alerting was sufficiently elicited in a pitch discrimination and sound localization task, although these effects were unrelated, (2) weak orienting of attention was elicited through pitch discrimination, which varied based on ISI and conflict level, but robust orienting of attention was found through sound localization, and (3) executive control was sufficiently assessed in both pitch discrimination and sound localization tasks, but these effects were unrelated. Correlation analysis suggested that, unlike alerting and orienting, sound localization auditory executive control functions tap a shared attention network system. Overall, the results suggest that auditory ANT measures are largely task and modality specific, with sound localization offering potential to assess all three attention networks in a single task.     

The Use of an Identifiability-Based Strategy for the Interpretation of Parameters in the 1PL-G and Rasch Models

Psychometrika - Using the well-known strategy in which parameters are linked to the sampling distribution via an identification analysis, we offer an interpretation of the item parameters in the...     

Dehumanization of dirty workers and attitudes toward social support

In lay perception, dirty work is a type of labor that degrades human dignity. Work can be perceived as dirty on three bases: social (related to the subordinate position or associated with contact with stigmatized people), physical (related to direct contact with garbage and waste), and moral (related to jobs considered sinful, dubious, or defying social norms). “Dirty” stigma makes workers objects of dehumanization and discrimination, in particular, people distance themselves from dirty workers and are not ready to help and support them. In the experimental study (N = 340), we investigated how certain types of dirty workers are dehumanized compared to nondirty workers and the indirect effect of the type of dirty work on attitudes toward the social support of dirty workers via animalistic (attribution of uniquely human traits) and the mechanistic (attribution of human nature traits) dehumanization. The results show that individuals are willing to offer more social support to a low status but not dirty worker rather than to social or moral dirty workers. At the same time, less social support is provided to nondirty than to physical dirty worker. Animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization mediates the relationship between the types of dirty work and the attitudes toward social support. In particular, less dehumanization leads to more positive attitudes toward social support. The limitations and future directions of the obtained results are discussed.     

Animalizing the disadvantaged,mechanizing the wealthy: The convergence of socio‐economic status and attribution of humanity

Differences between groups in socio‐economic status (SES) are becoming more salient nowadays. In this context, we examined the animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization that both low and high‐SES groups may experience respectively by conducting three studies. In study 1, we manipulated the SES of two fictitious groups (low vs. high‐SES) and measured the humanity ascribed to them. Results showed that the low‐SES group was animalized in comparison with the high‐SES group, which was mechanized. In study 2, we manipulated the humanity of two fictitious groups by describing them as animals or machines and measured the perceived SES of the groups. Participants tended to attribute lower SES to the group described as animals and higher SES to the group described as machines. Finally, in study 3, we used an Implicit Association Test to replicate the results of studies 1 and 2. Taken together, these studies show that low‐SES groups are considered as animal‐like whereas high‐SES groups are seen as robot‐like. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to the justification of income inequality within our society.     

Different faces of (un)controllability: Control restoration modulates the efficiency of task switching

Uncontrollability has been often associated with impaired or rigid cognitive processing. However, perceived stability of uncontrollable events modulated some of these detrimental effects on cognition. We investigated whether the experience of sequential control loss and restoration can enhance cognitive flexibility. We manipulated uncontrollability using a concept formation procedure that entailed either only unsolvable tasks (control deprivation condition), unsolvable tasks followed by solvable ones (control restoration condition) or only solvable tasks (control condition). To assess cognitive flexibility, we used a task-switching procedure that incorporated social categories. In Experiment 1 participants categorized people based on gender or age, and in Experiment 2 and 3 based on gender or social roles. Participants showed more flexibility in control restoration than in control deprivation condition. Additionally, in Experiments 2 and 3 this effect was mainly pronounced in the condition where the task evoked more cognitive conflict. We discuss the motivational underpinnings of unstable experiences of control loss and restoration.

     

Building capacity in neurodevelopment assessment of children in sub-Saharan Africa: A quality assurance model to implement standardized neurodevelopment testing

Compromised neurodevelopment (ND) among infants and children is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Standardized testing of ND is frequently prohibitive in these contexts, as tests require skilled staff for their application. In this paper, we present a quality assurance (QA) model (QualiND) for standardized ND testing, discussing findings and implications from our experience applying the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children second edition (KABC-II). The QualiND model was implemented within IMPAACT P1104s study, a multisite, prospective study including 615 children affected by HIV. From 2014 to 2016, the QualiND managed 18 testers across 6 sites located in 4 African countries applying the KABC-II in 9 local languages. The QualiND is a multilevel, video-assisted iterative model incorporating remote evaluation, feedback, and supervision roles. Using an ad hoc rubric, videos of test application were evaluated by experienced staff in a centralized QA center. At each study site, testers and supervisors reviewed feedback from videos received via email from the QA center and devised an action plan to address testing errors and deficiencies. There were few instances of invalid tests and few barriers to test completion. Over 97% of KABC-II tests across sites were considered to be valid by the QA center. Overall, the QualiND model was a useful platform for remote supervision to nonspecialist and minimally trained research staff. The QualiND model may be useful to researchers and organizations involved in measuring early child development using standardized tests in low and middle-income countries.     

“Interest in the service of that which is disinterested.” Józef Tischner’s anthropologico-ethical project of work

This paper focuses on one of Tischner’s last and little-known essays on the issues concerning work in the era of free market and the hegemony of the laws of economic calculation. In a discussion with Dominique Méda and André Gorz, Tischner diagnoses various threats to contemporary forms of work. Tischner criticizes above all the one-sided—that is, only objective—conception of today’s work. Referring to his own and original anthropologico-ethical project of work, the Polish scholar draws the reader’s attention to the need to promote the subjective model of work to be construed as interhuman dialogue. In work, thus construed, Tischner discerns a guarantee of the moral order of contemporary societies. His anthropological-ethical concept of work successfully inscribes itself in some of the models of work of the future, which are very much promoted today.

     

Autobiographical Narratives of Oldest-Old Persons: What Matters at That Age?

This study adopts the Valuation theory and the Self-Confrontation Method to explore the autobiographic narrative in oldest old persons, considering a temporal perspective (past, present, future). The sample comprises three men and two women (84-95 years old). The findings suggest that the narrative of oldest-old persons emerges structured in a way that their narration of the past focus on outside connections (proximity with others; success achieved); their narration of the present centers on attaining a life philosophy and proximity with others and their narration of the future concentrates on self-enhancement (maintaining autonomy vs. experiencing powerlessness and lack of involvement).     

Learning to teach through video playback: student teachers confronting their own practice

The aim of this study was to examine the use of video playback with student teachers to promote teacher learning and to analyse patterns of reflection. A total of 14 student teachers video recorded their lessons in the practice setting and later confronted their performance, facing their videotaped lesson during the course of an interview with their university supervisor. The interviews were then transcribed and coded. Our results indicate that video playback facilitates student teacher learning and that the quality of reflection ranges from routine to dialogic. This suggests that further research into how to elicit higher levels of reflection is needed. The role of the supervisor in promoting deeper thinking should be further examined.