At the intersection of social and cognitive development: internal working models of attachment in infancy

Three visual habituation studies using abstract animations tested the claim that infants' attachment behavior in the Strange Situation procedure corresponds to their expectations about caregiver-infant interactions. Three unique patterns of expectations were revealed. Securely attached infants expected infants to seek comfort from caregivers and expected caregivers to provide comfort. Insecure-resistant infants not only expected infants to seek comfort from caregivers but also expected caregivers to withhold comfort. Insecure-avoidant infants expected infants to avoid seeking comfort from caregivers and expected caregivers to withhold comfort. These data support Bowlby's (1958) original claims-that infants form internal working models of attachment that are expressed in infants' own behavior.     

Intersubjectivity as a practical matter and a problematic achievement

I want to thank Professor George Psathas, Editor ofHuman Studies, for the opportunity to put together this special issue; the Society for Phenomenology and the Human Sciences for providing the stimulating intellectual setting that called forth these papers; and the contributors, who responded so graciously to my suggestions, requests, and pressures. I also want to thank Erica Cavin and Greg Smith, who provided helpful references, and Christina Papadimitriou and Norman Waksler, who offered suggestions on an earlier draft.     

Prospective factors contribute little to within-session changes in responding

Five rats pressed levers for food delivered by a multiple variable interval 1-min variable interval 1-min schedule. In theunpredictable conditions, sessions were 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100 min long, determined randomly at the beginning of each session. In thepredictable conditions, each of these session durations was presented for 15 consecutive sessions. Rate of responding changed systematically within the session even when the end of the session was unpredictable. This implies that prospective factors related to anticipation of the end of the session are not necessary for producing withinsession changes in responding. Within-session patterns of responding were also similar for the predictable and unpredictable conditions. This suggests that prospective factors contributed little to the form of the within-session patterns under the present conditions.     

Time Costs for Genetic Counseling in Preconception Carrier Screening with Genome Sequencing

Advances in technology and the promise of personalized health care are driving greater use of genome sequencing (GS) for a variety of clinical scenarios. As health systems consider adopting GS, they need to understand the impact of GS on the organization and cost of care. While research has documented a dramatic decrease in the cost of sequencing and interpreting GS, few studies have examined how GS impacts genetic counseling workloads. This study examined the time needed to provide genetic counseling for GS in the context of preconception carrier screening. Genetic counselors prospectively reported on the time spent in the results disclosure process with 107 study participants who were part of the NextGen study. We found that the median time for results disclosure was 64 min (ranged from 5 to 229 min). Preparation work was the most time-consuming activity. Qualitative data from journal entries, debrief interviews with genetic counselors, and detailed case conference notes provided information on factors influencing time for results disclosure and implications for practice. Results suggest that expanded carrier screening could require significant increases in genetic counseling time, unless we are able to generate new resources to reduce preparation work or develop other strategies such as the creation of new models to deliver this type of service.     

Thin Is In? Think Again: The Rising Importance of Muscularity in the Thin Ideal Female Body

Research has documented an increased emphasis on fitness in media targeting women. However, it is unclear whether this emphasis has resulted in increased muscularity in the perceived ideal female body shape. We sought to evaluate whether the ideal female figure has incorporated increased muscularity into the existing ideal body type that already emphasizes thinness. In Study 1, 78 female undergraduates evaluated images of U.S. beauty pageant winners over the past 15 years on dimensions of thinness, muscularity, and attractiveness. Results indicated that muscularity and thinness ratings of pageant winners significantly increased over time. In Study 2, 64 female undergraduates evaluated two different versions of the same image of a model: a Thin Muscular image and a Thin Only image in which the appearance of muscularity was removed through digital editing. When images were presented in pairs, results indicated that participants found the Thin Muscular image more attractive than the Thin Only image. These results suggest that the current perceived ideal female figure includes both extreme thinness and muscularity and that women prefer this muscular thin figure to a solely thin figure. These findings have implications for clinical treatments related to body image, compulsive exercise, and media literacy.     

From Mourning to Action: African American Women's Grief,Pain, and Activism

The Movement for Black Lives has brought particular attention to the experience of grief in the lives of African American mothers and its use in their advocacy for social reform. Grief-inspired activism is historically significant in the African American community. By highlighting the historical connections between Mamie Bradley Till and present-day African American mothers’ grief over their deceased children, we will discuss the role of grief and mourning in the lives of African American mothers and the way in which their grief is pivotal in shaping their involvement in social justice movements. Furthermore, we will provide suggestions on how to promote social activism among African American mothers.     

Personal Loss,Parental Relationships,and Caregiving Intentions among Adult Siblings of Individuals with Mental Illness

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Although parents often provide care for adult children coping with serious mental illness, adult siblings are typically expected to assume caregiving...     

Degrees and Dimensions of Rightness: Reflections on Martin Peterson’s Dimensions of Consequentialism

Martin Peterson argues for two interesting and appealing claims: multi-dimensionalism and degrees of rightness. Multi-dimensionalism is the view that more than one factor determines whether an act is right. According to Peterson’s multi-dimensionalism, these factors are not simply ways of achieving some greater aggregate good. Degrees of rightness is the view that some actions are more wrong or less right than others without being entirely wrong. It is of course, compatible with this, that some actions are right or wrong to a maximal degree, or entirely right or wrong. Multi-dimensionalism and degrees are taken to be intertwined. On Peterson’s view, if there were only one dimension, we wouldn’t need degrees; where only one dimension applies, an act is entirely right or entirely wrong. Peterson claims that degrees of rightness or wrongness arise only because there are multi-dimensions, and that an act cannot be entirely right if it is wrong on some dimension. I shall argue against both of these claims.