Using paired-choice assessment to identify variables maintaining sleep problems in a child with severe disabilities

In this study, we used a paired-choice assessment protocol to identify the relative reinforcing value of stimuli and activities for a child with severe disabilities when she failed to settle to sleep at night. The results of this assessment indicated that the child preferred the mother's attention relative to other activities presented. Assessment results were incorporated into an intervention, that produced a reduction in sleep disturbance that was maintained at a 12-month follow up.     

A microswitch program including words and choice opportunities for students with multiple disabilities

Two students with multiple disabilities were provided with two or three request microswitches and one choice microswitch. Activation of a request microswitch triggered the verbal announcement of one of the stimulus events related to it. The student could choose such an event through the choice microswitch or bypass it. The request microswitches were introduced individually and made available simultaneously by the end of the intervention and the postintervention period. Analysis showed that both students learned to use the microswitches. Transfer of the microswitch program into the students' home was very successful with one student and presented some difficulties with the other. Implications of the findings and new possible developments were discussed.     

Teaching 'Yes' and 'No' responses to children with multiple disabilities through a program including microswitches linked to a vocal output device

The present study introduced two children (a boy and a girl of 9.2 and 12.3 yr. of age, respectively, with multiple disabilities) to an intervention program for establishing Yes and No responses in relation to preferred and nonpreferred stimuli and assessed the acquisition and generalization of those responses. The program involved the use of microswitches, which monitored the nonverbal Yes and No responses performed by the children and ensured that these responses produced the matching verbal utterances via a vocal output device. Analysis showed children acquired Yes and No responses in relation to the stimuli used for the intervention and, to a comparable degree, to the stimuli used for generalization checks as well. An interview of 30 educational staff of a center for persons with multiple disabilities indicated that they considered the presence of Yes and No verbal utterances preferable to the absence of such utterances, and thought that the utterances could be helpful for the children's response acquisition and would be useful and pleasing for staff and parents. General implications of the findings were discussed.     

A brief account of statistical tests for single-case research with persons with developmental disabilities

Education and rehabilitation research with persons with developmental disabilities is often based on single-case designs (with small numbers of ordinal data points collected at irregular intervals) and relies upon graphic display and visual inspection of the data. This paper (a) provides a brief account of some statistical tests, which may serve to supplement the visual inspection process and (b) underlines some of their strengths and limitations to help education and rehabilitation personnel make a reasonable choice among them.     

Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance

While a great deal is known about the individual difference factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, much less is known about the country-level factors that shape people's willingness to believe conspiracy theories. In the current article we discuss the possibility that willingness to believe conspiracy theories might be shaped by the perception (and reality) of poor economic performance at the national level. To test this notion, we surveyed 6723 participants from 36 countries. In line with predictions, propensity to believe conspiracy theories was negatively associated with perceptions of current and future national economic vitality. Furthermore, countries with higher GDP per capita tended to have lower belief in conspiracy theories. The data suggest that conspiracy beliefs are not just caused by intrapsychic factors but are also shaped by difficult economic circumstances for which distrust might have a rational basis.     

SHAPING SELF-INITIATED TOILETING IN INFANTS

We evaluated a method for training infants to cue their mothers on the need to eliminate. The program consisted of three phases: Phase I was directed at establishing a dose temporal relationship between body signals (straining) and subsequent defecations on the potty; Phase II was designed to establish a relationship between prompted and unprompted potty reaching/grabbing responses and eliminations (defecations and urinations) on the potty; and Phase III served to establish unprompted potty reaching/grabbing responses as reliable precursors of eliminations. Four babies, between 3.1 and 6.6 months old, all completed the training before age 1 year, with no negative side effects.     

Hating among adolescents: Common contributions of cognitive distortions and maladaptive personality traits

The phenomenon of hating is becoming common in adolescence, but it has been rarely investigated. The study aimed to examine the relationships between hating behaviors, maladaptive personality traits, and cognitive distortions, and to explore whether cognitive distortions might intervene in the relationship between personality traits and hating. Method: Participants (200 boys and 202 girls) completed the Hating Adolescents Test (HAT), the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Form-Children (PID-5), and the How I Think Questionnaire (HITQ). Results: Preliminary results showed significant gender differences in the study’s variables: boys reported higher scores than girls on hating and on cognitive distortion minimizing, whereas no significant differences emerged on maladaptive personality traits. The mediation model showed that the cognitive distortion blaming others mediated the relationship between psychoticism and hating. Conclusions: Data suggested a mediating role of cognitive distortion blaming others in the relationship between psychoticism trait and hating behaviors.

     

Nonconscious influences of religion on prosociality: a priming study

Past literature on the automaticity of social behavior indicates that priming a concept automatically activates related behavioral schemas. In the two present studies we examined the impact of religion on prosociality. In the first study, we tested the impact of subliminal priming of religious concepts on prosocial behavior intentions. We found a main effect of this priming, moderated by valence: prosocial behavior tendencies were stronger when positive religious words had previously been subliminally primed. In the second study, we examined the accessibility of prosocial concepts, after the supraliminal activation of religion. Indeed, we found that not only were religion‐related attributes more accessible when primed, but positive religious primes were also able to activate prosocial concepts. While previous research has shown the religion‐prosociality link at the explicit level and in terms of the role of individual religiousness, these results indicate that religious concepts by themselves can nonconsciously activate prosocial behavioral schemas. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Uncovering the Motivational Core of Traits: The Case of Conscientiousness

Knowledge of the motivational bases of conscientiousness would be crucial for disentangling competing explanations about the processes underlying this trait. Thereby, building on the results of a previous investigation identifying 21 goal classes connected to conscientiousness, we performed three studies aimed at clarifying the full spectrum of goals and motives underlying this trait. In Study 1 (N = 299), we conceptually replicated the original associations between goal classes and conscientiousness poles, and we identified nine goal classes that individuals ascribe to conscientious profiles more than to other profiles. In Study 2 (N = 329), we examined the associations between the subjective importance of conscientious and unconscientious goal classes and personality traits, as well as the role of goals for the desire to change one's conscientiousness. In Study 3 (N = 432), we developed a 72-item assessment of nine goal classes and explored their connections with the most important facets of conscientiousness, self-control, future orientation, and the consideration of future consequences, using network analysis. We discuss the relevance of our results for research on conscientiousness and its underlying processes. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology