The role of cognitive factors in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a prospective study

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posit that specific kinds of dysfunctional beliefs (e.g., pertaining to responsibility and the significance of intrusive thoughts) underlie the development of this disorder. The present study was designed to prospectively evaluate whether dysfunctional beliefs thought to underlie OCD act as a specific vulnerability factor in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. Eighty-five individuals were prospectively followed over a period of time thought to be associated with an increased onset of OCD symptoms -- childbirth and the postpartum. The majority of these new mothers and fathers experienced intrusive infant-related thoughts and performed neutralizing behaviors similar to, but less severe than, those observed in OCD. Scores on a measure of dysfunctional beliefs thought to underlie OCD predicted the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms after controlling for pre-existing OCD symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Dysfunctional beliefs also predicted the severity of checking, washing, and obsessional OCD symptom dimensions, but not neutralizing, ordering, or hoarding symptom dimensions. These data provide evidence for specific dysfunctional beliefs as risk factors in the development of some types of OCD symptoms.     

Life-span development of visual working memory: when is feature binding difficult?

We asked whether the ability to keep in working memory the binding between a visual object and its spatial location changes with development across the life span more than memory for item information. Paired arrays of colored squares were identical or differed in the color of one square, and in the latter case, the changed color was unique on that trial (item change) or was duplicated elsewhere in the array (color-location binding change). Children (8-10 and 11-12 years old) and older adults (65-85 years old) showed deficits relative to young adults. These were only partly simulated by dividing attention in young adults. The older adults had an additional deficiency, specifically in binding information, which was evident only when item- and binding-change trials were mixed together. In that situation, the older adults often overlooked the more subtle, binding-type changes. Some working memory processes related to binding undergo life-span development in an inverted-U shape, whereas other, bias- and salience-related processes that influence the use of binding information seem to develop monotonically.     

Scope of attention, control of attention, and intelligence in children and adults

Recent experimentation has shown that cognitive aptitude measures are predicted by tests of the scope of an individual's attention or capacity in simple working memory tasks and also by the ability to control attention. However, these experiments do not indicate how separate or related the scope and control of attention are. An experiment with 52 children (10 to 11 years old) and 52 college students included measures of the scope and control of attention, as well as verbal and nonverbal aptitude measures. The children showed little evidence of using sophisticated attentional control, but the scope of attention predicted intelligence in that group. In adults, both the scope and control of attention varied among individuals and accounted for considerable individual variance in intelligence. About one third that variance was shared between scope an d control, and the rest was unique to one or the other.Scope and control of attention appear to be related but distinct contributors to intelligence.     

Shooting Genes,Distributing Credit: Narrating the Development of the Biolistic Gene Gun

Using oral histories with scientists, technology transfer managers and other collaborators who were involved with the development of the biolistic gene gun, I investigate how actors narrate their experiences of technology transfer. The individuals who worked on the gene gun draw on two different interpretive repertoires for describing the innovation process: a ‘localized’ repertoire that highlights defined moments and the conceptual contributions of a few individuals; and a ‘distributed’ repertoire that emphasizes longer time frames, the process of technical implementation and the importance of a network of collaborators. Each of these repertoires identifies a different assemblage of actors as deserving of credit and reward for the development of the gene gun. Examining how scientists employ these modes of describing the innovation process offers a way of thinking about how university inventors negotiate tensions around novel features of academic capitalism, such as personal profit arising from the commercialization of university technologies.     

The Delivery of Video-Based Performance Analysis by England Youth Soccer Coaches: Towards a Grounded Theory

Abstract

The present paper provides a conceptual basis for the examination of mood in sport. The nature of the mood construct is discussed with reference to related constructs. A conceptual model is presented which proposes that certain mood dimensions interact to influence behavior. Depression is proposed to be the most important mood dimension, influencing the intensity of mood responses, the interrelationships among other mood dimensions, and moderating mood and performance relationships for anger and tension. It is hoped that the conceptual model will help guide applied interventions and will act as a catalyst for future research.     

Adolescent–parent attachment as a mediator of relations between parenting and adolescent social behavior and wellbeing in China

The purpose of this study was to examine links between parenting dimensions (authoritative parenting, psychological control, and parental authority) and adolescent wellbeing (self‐esteem, autonomy, and peer attachments) as mediated by parent–teen attachment, among Chinese families. The sample included 298 Chinese adolescents, ages 15–18 years (M age = 16.36, SD = .68; 60% female). The mediation model was examined using path analyses (one model with parental authority as overprotection, and one with it as perceived behavioral control). To improve model fit a direct path was added from authoritative parenting to autonomy. Authoritative parenting was positively predictive of attachment, while psychological control and overprotection (but not behavioral control) were negative predictors. In turn, adolescent–parent attachment was positively related to the three outcomes. Lastly, the model paths did not differ by adolescent gender. These findings suggest that parenting behaviors may play a crucial role in adolescent social behaviors and wellbeing via adolescent–parent attachment.     

An Introductory Lecture on Personality Assessment

The role of personality assessment is minimized in many introductory psychology presentations for a variety of reasons. Personality assessment is an area of great breadth and is understandably formidable to those whose training has been outside this area of specialization.

The following lecture was designed to digest at least some parts of the area of personality assessment in as non-technical language as possible for use of instructors introducing its basic concepts.