The function of the new member in an adolescent group

SUMMARY

In this paper we examine, through clinical examples, the impact a new member makes in an adolescent group. We were prepared for the disadvantages we felt would be experienced by the introduction of new members. However, we were clinically and theoretically interested in the way that new members brought extra space to the group, rather than diminishing it.     

Illegitimate concept equating in the partial fusion of construct validation theory and latent variable modeling

There has come to exist a partial fusion of construct validation theory and latent variable modeling at the center of which is located a practice of equating concepts such as construct, factor, latent variable, concept, unobservable, unmeasurable, underlying, hypothetical variable, theoretical term, theoretical variable, intervening variable, cause, abstractive property, functional unity, and measured property. In the current paper we: a) provide a structural explanation of this concept equating; b) provide arguments to the effect that it is illegitimate; c) suggest that the singular reason for the presence of construct in the literature of the social and behavioral sciences is to mark an allowance taken by the social and behavioral scientist to obliterate the concept/referent distinction that is foundational of sound science.     

A random walk down university avenue: life paths, life events, and personality trait change at the transition to university life

This longitudinal study examined the relation between continuity and change in the Big Five personality traits and life events. Approximately 2,000 German students were tracked from high school to university or to vocational training or work, with 3 assessments over 4 years. Life events were reported retrospectively at the 2nd and 3rd assessment. Latent curve analyses were used to assess change in personality traits, revealing 3 main findings. First, mean-level changes in the Big Five factors over the 4 years were in line with the maturity principle, indicating increasing psychological maturity from adolescence to young adulthood. Second, personality development was characterized by substantive individual differences relating to the life path followed; participants on a more vocationally oriented path showed higher increases in conscientiousness and lower increases in agreeableness than their peers at university. Third, initial level and change in the Big Five factors (especially Neuroticism and Extraversion) were linked to the occurrence of aggregated as well as single positive and negative life events. The analyses suggest that individual differences in personality development are associated with life transitions and individual life experiences.     

Detecting Changes in Simulated Events Using Partial‐Interval Recording and Momentary Time Sampling III: Evaluating Sensitivity as a Function of Session Length

In a series of two studies, we graphed simulated data representing continuous duration recording and continuous frequency recording into ABAB reversal designs depicting small, moderate, and large behavior changes during 10‐min, 30‐min, and 60‐min sessions. Data sets were re‐scored using partial‐interval recording and momentary time sampling with interval sizes set at 10 s, 20 s, 30 s, 1 min, and 2 min. In study 1, we visually inspected converted data for experimental control and compared the conclusion with those from the respective continuous duration recording or continuous frequency recording data to test for false negatives. In study 2, we evaluated the extent to which interval methods that were sensitive to changes in study 1 produced false positives. In part, the results show that momentary time sampling with interval sizes up to 30 s detected a wide range of changes in duration events and frequency events during lengthier observation periods. The practical implications of the findings are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of the use of conversational cues to assess reality status

In this study we assessed children's ability to use information overheard in other people's conversations to judge the reality status of a novel entity. Three- to 9-year-old children (N = 101) watched video clips in which two adults conversed casually about a novel being. Videos contained statements that either explicitly denied, explicitly affirmed, or implicitly acknowledged the entity's existence. Results indicated that children of all ages used statements of denial to discount the reality status of the novel entity, but that this ability improved with age. By age 5, children used implicit existence cues to judge a novel entity as being real. Not until age 9, however, did children begin to doubt the existence of entities whose reality status was explicitly affirmed in conversation. Overall, results indicate that the ability to use conversational cues to determine reality status is present in some children as early as age 3, but recognition of the nuanced language of belief continues to develop during the elementary-school years.     

Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Further explorations

Previous research using virtual environments has revealed a location-updating effect in which there is a decline in memory when people move from one location to another. Here we assess whether this effect reflects the influence of the experienced context, in terms of the degree of immersion of a person in an environment, as suggested by some work in spatial cognition, or by a shift in context. In Experiment 1, the degree of immersion was reduced by using smaller displays. In comparison, in Experiment 2 an actual, rather than a virtual, environment was used, to maximize immersion. Location-updating effects were observed under both of these conditions. In Experiment 3, the original encoding context was reinstated by having a person return to the original room in which objects were first encoded. However, inconsistent with an encoding specificity account, memory did not improve by reinstating this context. Finally, we did a further analysis of the results of this and previous experiments to assess the differential influence of foregrounding and retrieval interference. Overall, these data are interpreted in terms of the event horizon model of event cognition and memory.     

Ressourcenaktivierung bei Patienten

Background

Starting from Klaus Grawe’s draft of a general psychotherapy, the patient’s resources and resource-activating interventions have received increasing attention in empirical research.

Objective

The effectiveness of standardized writing instructions for the activation of patients’ resources before participating in internet chat aftercare groups for psychosomatic patients was examined.

Method

In a randomized controlled trial writing instruction for the activation of patients’ resources was given in 52 out of 102 internet chat aftercare sessions. The effects of this minimal intervention on the patients’ activity and the number of positive emotion words expressed during the chat session were examined. Additionally, the effects on patients’ self-esteem, attachment, orientation, control and well-being after the group sessions were assessed.

Results

Patients reported higher levels of self-esteem, orientation, control and well-being after chat sessions with a resource-activating intervention. No differences between intervention and control groups were detected on the text-based variables activity and number of positive emotion words.

Conclusions

Standardized minimal interventions for the activation of patients’ resources seem to be promising for enhancing the effectiveness of therapeutic Internet chat groups.     

Walking through doorways causes forgetting: environmental integration

Memory for objects declines when people move from one location to another (the location updating effect). However, it is unclear whether this is attributable to event model updating or to task demands. The focus here was on the degree of integration for probed-for information with the experienced environment. In prior research, the probes were verbal labels of visual objects. Experiment 1 assessed whether this was a consequence of an item-probe mismatch, as with transfer-appropriate processing. Visual probes were used to better coordinate what was seen with the nature of the memory probe. In Experiment 2, people received additional word pairs to remember, which were less well integrated with the environment, to assess whether the probed-for information needed to be well integrated. The results showed location updating effects in both cases. These data are consistent with an event cognition view that mental updating of a dynamic event disrupts memory.     

The structure of vocational interests in Germany: Different methodologies, different conclusions

The cross-cultural generalizability of vocational interest structures has received significant attention in recent years. This article adds to this research in four respects. First, data from a context that has not previously been investigated (Germany) was analyzed. Second, students at different stages of their educational career were examined. Third, the interest structure in male and females was compared. Fourth, two methods—the randomization test of hypothesized order relations (RTOR) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)—were applied to three competing structural conceptions: Holland’s circular representation, Gati’s hierarchical model, and Rounds and Tracey’s alternative hierarchical model. RTOR supported all three representations, whereas CFA supported only Holland’s model. CFAs indicated that the interest structure is reasonably invariant between high school and university students, but that the configurations for high school females and males differ. Substantive and methodological implications are discussed.     

Working memory and syllogistic reasoning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between working memory span and syllogistic reasoning performance. In addition, performance for the reasoning task was compared to predictions made by mental model theory and the probability heuristics model. According to mental model theory, syllogisms that require the use of more mental models are more difficult. According to the probability heuristics model difficulty is related to the number of probabilistic heuristics that must be applied, or (for invalid syllogisms) inconsistencies between the derived and correct conclusion. The predictions of these theories were examined across two experiments. In general, people with larger working memory capacities reasoned better. Also, the responses made by people with larger capacities were more likely to correspond to the predictions made by both mental model theory and the probability heuristics model. Relations between working memory span and performance were also consistent with both theories.