Assessment of school violence and its personal effect on a sample of European students

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the prevalence of various problems of living together and school violence in a sample of 1629 pupils of Spain, Austria, France, and Hungary. The personal effect of these problems was also analyzed. The results obtained indicate a high prevalence of various school harassment behaviors (such as insults, fights, lack of rules for living together, etc.) in Austria, France, and Spain, being significantly lower in Hungary. As far as the personal effect, along with abusive behaviors among students, the students consider lack of motivation and troubled relations with teaching staff to be very significant.     

Perceptions of self-concept and self-presentation by procrastinators: further evidence

Two samples of university students completed self-report measures of chronic procrastination and either self-concept variables (Sample 1, n = 233) or self-presentational styles (Sample 2, n = 210). Results indicated that procrastination was significantly related to a self-concept of oneself as dominated by issues related to task performance, and to self-presentation strategies that reflected a person as continually justifying and excusing task delays and being "needy" of others' approval. It seems that men and women procrastinate in order to improve their social standing by making their accomplishments seem greater than they really are.     

The relationship between cognitive dissonance and helping behavior

An experiment was conducted to study the relationship between cognitive dissonance and helping behavior. A counterattitudinal procedure was employed to arouse dissonance. For half of the participants, an experimental confederate entered the room and elicited an opportunity for them to offer help. In this situation, fewer subjects in the dissonance condition offered help than subjects in the no‐dissonance condition. The least helping occurred among dissonance subjects with the highest level of commitment to the counterattitudinal task. Those with a medium level of commitment offered significantly more help. Despite the fact that results in line with Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory (subjects' attitudinal change) were obtained in the no‐helping situation, in helping situations, dissonance subjects who offered help presented significantly less attitude change than those who did not offer it. This was considered to be a result of helpfulness reducing dissonance arousal.     

Relationship between inner dialog and ideas of reference and the mediating role of dissociation

Recent lines of research have begun to concentrate on internal dialogue and its relationship to a diversity of psychopathological phenomena present in psychotic disorders. This study was intended as a preliminary exploration of the relationship of internal dialogue, dissociation and ideas of reference. To do this, a sample of 318 students filled in an internal dialogue scale (the VISQ, McCarthy‐Jones & Fernyhough), one for dissociation (DES‐II, Carlson & Putnam) and another for ideas of reference (REF, Lenzenweger, Bennett & Lilenfeld). The results confirm the hypothesis posed in the sense that internal dialogue was positively associated with dissociation and with ideas of reference. A partial mediation effect of dissociation was also found between inner speech and ideas of reference. Lines of future research this study opens and its possible integration in a model on ideas of reference are discussed.     

Internalized transphobia: Exploring perceptions of social messages in transgender and gender-nonconforming adults

Background: Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals encounter a variety of minority stressors that have yet to be fully articulated or explored within the research literature. The purpose of this study is to better understand internalized stigma—the experience of accepting and internalizing negative social messages and experiences about one's identity—an underexplored minority stressor for TGNC people.

Method: We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 diverse TGNC participants using consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology.

Results: Following data saturation and analysis, six distinct themes emerged across participants: (1) TGNC identities are regarded negatively by society; (2) social messages are perceived as originating from the media and religious ideology; (3) TGNC individuals report emotional distress; (4) negative self-perceptions in response to social messages; (5) TGNC individuals report resilience processes in response to negative social messages; and (6) social messages are perceived generally to differentially impact TGNC people of color.

Conclusion: Findings highlight the common experience of encountering social marginalization for TGNC individuals. Structural interventions that target pervasive sociocultural messages regarding TGNC identities are warranted.     

Eine Welt ohne Individuelle EntitÄten?

A world without individual entities? An advice to not to extract immediate ontological consequences from quantum theory. Should we assume a world without individual entities? I pledge not to extract immediate ontological consequences from quantum theory. My intention is to focus on the complexity of ontological concepts commonly associated with quantum theory. Using as an example the compatibility of EPR correlations with the existence of individual entities, it is shown that an absolute rejection of an ontological category, based on some aspects of the formalism of quantum theory, does not seem reasonable. A consequence of this argument is that the common sense view – the world is composed of individual entities – can be maintained, despite of the particularities of quantum mechanics.     

Appropriateness of the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale for non-White individuals

Analyses of data collected from 480 university students (approximately 56% White and 44% Black) challenge the utility of the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale (MAST) for use with individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds. This size sample allowed for an examination of the psychometric properties and cultural relevance of the MAST for non-Whites. Correlations between scores on the MAST, suicide, and depression measures were in the expected directions for Whites but not for Blacks or Latinos. The White sample data fit the four-factor model of the MAST, but the model required several modifications to fit the data from the Black sample. Verification of the cultural relevance of the MAST and a revision of the scale are recommended to improve its usefulness.     

Emotional perseveration: an update on prefrontal-amygdala interactions in fear extinction

Fear extinction refers to the ability to adapt as situations change by learning to suppress a previously learned fear. This process involves a gradual reduction in the capacity of a fear-conditioned stimulus to elicit fear by presenting the conditioned stimulus repeatedly on its own. Fear extinction is context-dependent and is generally considered to involve the establishment of inhibitory control of the prefrontal cortex over amygdala-based fear processes. In this paper, we review research progress on the neural basis of fear extinction with a focus on the role of the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. We evaluate two competing hypotheses for how the medial prefrontal cortex inhibits amygdala output. In addition, we present new findings showing that lesions of the basal amygdala do not affect fear extinction. Based on this result, we propose an updated model for integrating hippocampal-based contextual information with prefrontal-amygdala circuitry.     

Skinner and the rise of behavior modification and behavior therapy

Skinner is, without a doubt, one of the most predominant figures in the development of Behavior Modification and Behavior Therapy. Skinners' work is essential to the development of Behavior Modification and Behavior Therapy. Beginning with the social need for efficient psychotherapy, and after having generated a solid theoretical body of behavioral laws, Skinner indicated and also developed the appropriate path towards efficient interventions for unadaptive behavior. He developed a new theory regarding abnormal behavior (psychopathology), as well as a procedural model for evaluation (diagnosis) and intervention: "The functional analysis of behavior". His applications for this kind of work are pioneering and at the same time, he is the agglutinant figure of what we today call "Behavior Modification and/or Therapy". It is remarkable that a scientist could change the theories and practices of a discipline as radically as Skinner and his work did. His work, however, still has its limitations. The best way to acknowledge and pay tribute to Skinners' work is to overcome these limitations.     

Visual search strategies of experienced and nonexperienced swimming coaches

The aim of this study consists of the application of an experimental protocol that allows information to be obtained about the visual search strategies elaborated by swimming coaches. 16 swimming coaches participated. The Experienced group (n=8) had 16.1 yr. (SD=8.2) of coaching experience and at least five years of experience in underwater vision. The Nonexperienced group in underwater vision (n= 8) had 4.2 yr. (SD= 4.0) of coaching experience. Participants were tested in a laboratory environment using a video-projected sample of the crawl stroke of an elite swimmer. This work discusses the main areas of the swimmer's body used by coaches to identify and analyse errors in technique from overhead and underwater perspectives. In front-underwater videos, body roll and mid-water were the locations of the display with higher percentages of fixation time. In the side-underwater slow videos, the upper body was the location with higher percentages of visual fixation time and was used to detect the low elbow fault. Side-overhead takes were not the best perspectives to pick up information directly about performance of the arms; coaches attended to the head as a reference for their visual search. The observation and technical analysis of the hands and arms were facilitated by an underwater perspective. Visual fixation on the elbow served as a reference to identify errors in the upper body. The side-underwater perspective may be an adequate way to identify correct knee angles in leg kicking and the alignment of a swimmer's body and leg actions.