Prenatal predictors of maternal and newborn EEG

Ninety-two mothers were recruited at a prenatal ultrasound clinic at which time they were given the CES-D for depression and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and their urines were assayed for cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. At the neonatal period the mothers and neonates were assessed on frontal EEG asymmetry. Correlation analyses revealed the following: (1) the mothers’ frontal asymmetry was negatively related to prenatal depression (CES-D) symptoms, negatively related to prenatal norepinephrine levels and positively related to prenatal serotonin levels; (2) the frontal asymmetry of the newborn was positively correlated with the mothers’ frontal asymmetry and negatively correlated with the mothers’ prenatal depression (CES-D) symptoms and negatively correlated with the mothers’ prenatal state anxiety scores. The neonates’ EEG frontal asymmetry was also, like the mother's, negatively related to prenatal maternal norepinephrine and positively related to prenatal maternal serotonin.     

Impressions formed in response to public self-evaluation maintenance strategies

Two studies examined the impressions formed in response to public self-evaluation maintenance strategies. According to Tesser’s (1988) self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model, a person who has been outperformed by a close other perceives the field of performance as less relevant to preserve self-evaluation. Tesser and Paulhus (1983) showed that this same strategy is used for the purpose of impression management, or public self-evaluation maintenance. The present research examined the SEM model variables from the view of impression formation. In the first study, information regarding field relevance and psychological closeness was conveyed by the experimenter. In this context, field relevance had a significant impact on perception of competence. In the other study, in which the information was conveyed by the target person, relevance and closeness influenced the perception of manipulativeness and sociability. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of investigating the SEM processes from the impression formation perspective.     

The Relation Between Obtained Preference Value and Reinforcer Potency

Stimulus preference assessments often include items suspected to be highly preferred. If only high‐preference stimuli are assessed, preference hierarchies may not accurately predict the results of reinforcer assessments (RA). In this study, paired‐stimulus (PS) preference assessments using items suspected to be preferred (PS‐1) generated distinct preference hierarchies. Subsequent RAs (RA‐1) indicated that high‐preference and low‐preference stimuli were associated with similar response rates. Additional assessments (PS‐2) were then conducted, using the least‐preferred item from PS‐1 plus seven new stimuli. The least‐preferred items on PS‐1 ranked as most preferred on PS‐2, and on RA‐2, the top‐ranked items functioned as reinforcers, but low‐ranked items did not. Implications for incorporating low‐preference items into clinical/educational programming are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of language and socioeconomic status on children's understanding of false belief

Study 1 investigated whether differences in the lexical explicitness with which languages express false belief influence children's performance on standard false belief tasks. Preschoolers speaking languages with explicit terms (Turkish and Puerto Rican Spanish) were compared with preschoolers speaking languages without explicit terms (Brazilian Portuguese and English) on questions assessing false belief understanding either specifically (the think question) or more generally (the look for question). Lexical explicitness influenced responses to the think question only. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with groups of both speakers differing in socioeconomic status (SES). A local effect of explicitness was found again as well as a more general influence of SES. The findings are discussed with regard to possible relations among language, SES, and understanding of mind.     

Psychoanalytic supervision of the difficult patient

Control cases from the broad group of non-neurotic but potentially analyzable patients appear with increasing frequency. The intense, complex transferences they develop place great stress on the psychoanalytic relationship and evoke marked countertransference reactions in psychoanalytic candidates, which reverberate within the supervisory relationship. Through application of a case study method, common themes emerge in the candidate-supervisor dyad: idealization of the supervisor and of classical technique, identification with the patient, parallel process enactments, difficulty maintaining the analytic frame, and the importance of concurrent training analysis. Classical supervisory techniques must be adapted to the "difficult" (non-neurotic) control case. Complex countertransference issues must be carefully addressed while maintaining the teach/treat boundary.     

The Benefits of Spiritual Diaries: A Mixed-Method Study in Korea

Journal of Religion and Health - This mixed study examined the benefits of spiritual diaries in Korea. Quantitatively, differences in spiritual growth and psychological well-being were examined in...     

Understanding the factors that determine workplace coaching effectiveness: a systematic literature review

Meta-analytic results have established that workplace coaching is effective, however, little is known about the determinants of coaching effectiveness. This paper reports an inclusive systematic literature review, covering the quantitative and qualitative research on workplace coaching. We focus on seven promising areas in the current workplace coaching literature that emerged by the synthesis of 117 empirical studies: self-efficacy, coaching motivation, goal orientation, trust, interpersonal attraction, feedback intervention, and supervisory support. The major contribution of our paper is the systematic integration of well-established theoretical constructs in the workplace coaching context and the new insights we provide in the synthesis of these literatures. Based on our review, we provide specific recommendations to be addressed in future research, including recommended research methodologies, which we propose will significantly progress the field of workplace coaching theory and practice.     

The impact of self on materialism among teenagers

No previous research has investigated the relationship between the concept of self and materialism, especially among teenagers. Our study seeks to reverse this trend by examining how independent self‐construal and interdependent self‐construal affect materialism among Brazilian teenagers (grades 7 through 12). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. We find that independent self‐construal has a positive effect on materialism. Furthermore, we created three sub‐constructs out of the original interdependent self‐construal construct, none of which affected materialism in the same way. Group dependency, a need to achieve the group's authorisation, increases materialism; group loyalty, an attitude of group fidelity, has no effect on materialism; and group respect, a respect for group decision, diminishes materialism. These are interesting results, because they question our prior beliefs on the matter and introduce new factors into the scholarly discussion of this issue. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trauma as an objective or subjective experience: The association between types of traumatic events,personality traits,subjective experience of the event,and posttraumatic symptoms

The study aimed to examine the discrete effect of objective (type of trauma and demographic characteristics) and subjective (proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, the Big Five personality traits, and dissociative symptoms) factors on the risk for PTSD among 1,210 undergraduate students. The findings indicate that survivors of physical/sexual assault scored the highest on proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, neuroticism, dissociation, and PTSD symptoms. In addition, subjective experience of the trauma, proximity to it, type of trauma, dissociation, and neuroticism were associated with the risk for PTSD symptoms. The findings point to the significance of both subjective and objective variables in the risk for PTSD symptoms.