Changes in Attachment‐Related Behavioural Problems of Internationally Adopted Toddlers in Finland: Results from the FinAdo Study

This study investigated attachment‐related behavioural problems and their change over time among internationally adopted toddlers (N = 171, boys 40%) in Finland. The parents filled in questionnaires posted in 2007 and again in 2009. At the baseline (on average, 1.9 years from adoption), the mean age of the adoptees was 2.8 years. The comparison group (N = 244, boys 46%) was collected through well‐baby clinics. Results from the paired t‐test and mixed models showed that the adoptees' attachment‐related behavioural problems decreased during the 2‐year follow‐up and that they did not manifest more problems than their age‐mates any more 4 years after adoption. The decrease in behavioural problems was associated with the child's female gender, country of origin and adoptive parents' positive experience about adoption. A child's stereotypic or self‐injurious behaviour was not associated with the change in attachment‐related behaviour over time, although both were associated with behavioural problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changing Versus Protecting the Status Quo: Why Men and Women Engage in Different Types of Action on Behalf of Women

We investigate women’s and men’s willingness to engage in action on behalf of women, and we identify two distinct categories of behavior: action that aims to challenge gender inequality (feminist action) and action that aims to protect women from violence (protective action). Three online studies were conducted. For each study, a U.S. community sample was recruited. In Study 1 (n?=?602), women reported greater intentions to engage in feminist action than men did. Men, however, were just as willing as women to participate in protective action. In Study 2 (n?=?726), we replicated these gender differences and found that protective action was positively predicted by benevolent sexism among men. In Study 3 (N?=?582), we investigated why women reported greater intentions to engage in feminist action compared to men. We found that women were more aware of gender inequality, which was associated with identification as a feminist, and through this, intentions to engage in feminist action. Awareness of gender inequality also predicted intentions to engage in protective action among women. Men, however, were less aware of gender inequality, which was associated with the belief that feminist action leads to women having more rights than men do and subsequently greater willingness to participate in protective action. Our results can assist social policymakers and activists to develop appropriate campaigns for gender equality if their goal is to challenge, rather than protect women from, the status quo.     

Comprehension of direct and indirect sarcastic remarks in children and adolescents with Tourette’s syndrome

Previous research has reported that aspects of social cognition such as nonliteral language comprehension are impaired in adults with Tourette’s syndrome (TS), but little is known about social cognition in children and adolescents with TS. The present study aims to evaluate a measure of sarcasm comprehension suitable for use with children and adolescents (Experiment 1), and to examine sarcasm comprehension in children and adolescents with TS-alone or TS and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, the measure of sarcasm comprehension was found to be sensitive to differences in nonliteral language comprehension for typically-developing children aged 10 to 11 years old compared to children aged 8 to 9 years old; the older group performed significantly better on the comprehension of scenarios ending with either direct or indirect sarcastic remarks, whereas the two age groups did not differ on the comprehension of scenarios ending with sincere remarks. In Experiment 2, both the TS-alone and TS+ADHD groups performed below the level of the control participants on the comprehension of indirect sarcasm items but not on the comprehension of direct sarcasm items and sincere items. Those with TS+ADHD also performed below the level of the control participants on measures of interference control and fluency. The findings are discussed with reference to the possible contribution of executive functioning and mentalizing to the patterns of performance.     

Effects of repeated collaborative retrieval on individual memory vary as a function of recall versus recognition tasks

Our research examines how prior group collaboration modulates later individual memory. We recently showed that repeated collaborative recall sessions benefit later individual recall more than a single collaborative recall session (Blumen & Rajaram, 2008). Current research compared the effects of repeated collaborative recall and repeated collaborative recognition on later individual recall and later individual recognition. A total of 192 participants studied a list of nouns and then completed three successive retrieval sessions in one of four conditions. While two collaborative recall sessions and two collaborative recognition sessions generated comparable levels of individual recall (CRecall-CRecall-I Recall ～ CRecognition-CRecognition-I Recall , Experiment 1a), two collaborative recognition sessions generated greater levels of individual recognition than two collaborative recall sessions (CRecognition-CRecognition- IRecognition > CRecall-CRecall- I Recognition , Experiment 1b). These findings are discussed in terms of two opposing mechanisms that operate during collaborative retrieval—re-exposure and retrieval disruption—and in terms of transfer-appropriate processing across collaborative and individual retrieval sessions.     

The coherence of critical event narratives and adolescents' psychological functioning

The present study examined the coherence of low- and high-point life-event narratives among adolescents (aged between 12 and 21 years) and their psychological functioning in terms of well-being and prosocial behaviour. The results showed robust age-related increases in narrative coherence. Age and gender significantly moderated the associations between narrative coherence and psychological functioning. Specifically, higher levels of coherence were significantly associated with prosocial behaviour only for older adolescents. Higher levels of narrative coherence were also associated with lower levels of well-being among adolescent boys, but not among adolescent girls. Results are discussed in terms of why coherent life-event narratives may not be linked to benefits for younger adolescents and for boys, and how low- and high-point life events both contribute to identity construction.     

Post‐identification feedback effects: Investigators and evaluators

We investigated the effects of post‐identification feedback and viewing conditions on beliefs and interviewing tactics of participant‐investigators, crime reports of participant‐witnesses and participant‐evaluators' credibility judgments of the witnesses. Study 1 participants assumed the roles of witness and investigator (N = 167 pairs). Witnesses' view of a simulated crime video was manipulated by distance from viewing monitor: 2 or 9 ft. Participants made a line‐up identification and received either positive feedback or no feedback. Significant effects for witnesses and investigators were associated with viewing condition and post‐identification feedback. Interviews between investigator‐witness pairs were videotaped. Investigators asked more positive, leading questions when they were led to believe that the witness had identified the suspect. In Study 2 evaluators (N = 302) viewed the witness‐investigator interviews. Viewing condition had no effect on judgments of witness credibility but positive post‐identification feedback led evaluators to judge witnesses as more credible than witnesses who received no feedback. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal contexts: filling the gap between episodic memory and associative learning

People can create temporal contexts, or episodes, and stimuli that belong to the same context can later be used to retrieve the memory of other events that occurred at the same time. This can occur in the absence of direct contingency and contiguity between the events, which poses a challenge to associative theories of learning and memory. Because this is a learning and memory problem, we propose an integrated approach. Theories of temporal contexts developed in the memory tradition provide interesting predictions that we test using the methods of associative learning to assess their generality and applicability to different settings and dependent variables. In 4 experiments, the integration of these 2 areas allows us to show that (a) participants spontaneously create temporal contexts in the absence of explicit instructions; (b) cues can be used to retrieve an old temporal context and the information associated with other cues that were trained in that context; and (c) the memory of a retrieved temporal context can be updated with information from the current situation that does not fit well with the retrieved memory, thereby helping participants to best adapt their behavior to the future changes of the environment.     

Perceptions of breastfeeding in mothers of babies born preterm in comparison to mothers of full-term babies

The purpose of the present study was: a) to describe the theme of verbalizations about breastfeeding in mothers' pre-term (M-PT) and full-term (M-FT) infants; b) to examine the association between these themes and mother's anxiety and depression indicators and socio-demographic characteristics and, neonatal characteristics of the infants. The sample consisted of 50 M-PT and 25 M-FT. The mothers were assessed through State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory and were interviewed using a Guide focusing breastfeeding issues. The M-PT group had significantly more mothers with clinical symptom of anxiety than the M-FT group. The M-PT reported more uncertainties and worries about breastfeeding and figured out more obstacles for the successful breastfeeding than the M-FT. These reports were associated positively with the infants' risk neonatal status; lower birth-weight, higher neonatal clinical risk, and more length time stay in NICU were associated with more mothers' worries and seeing obstacles for breastfeeding. In conclusion, the strategies to enhance the breastfeeding rate in the preterm population have to take into account the mothers' psychological status and their ideas in addition to offering information about the advantages of breastfeeding for child development.     

Space Fortress game training and executive control in older adults: a pilot intervention

We investigated the feasibility of using the Space Fortress (SF) game, a complex video game originally developed to study complex skill acquisition in young adults, to improve executive control processes in cognitively healthy older adults. The study protocol consisted of 36 one-hour game play sessions over 3 months with cognitive evaluations before and after, and a follow-up evaluation at 6 months. Sixty participants were randomized to one of three conditions: Emphasis Change (EC)--elders were instructed to concentrate on playing the entire game but place particular emphasis on a specific aspect of game play in each particular game; Active Control (AC)--game play with standard instructions; Passive Control (PC)--evaluation sessions without game play. Primary outcome measures were obtained from five tasks, presumably tapping executive control processes. A total of 54 older adults completed the study protocol. One measure of executive control, WAIS-III letter-number sequencing, showed improvement in performance from pre- to post-evaluations in the EC condition, but not in the other two conditions. These initial findings are modest but encouraging. Future SF interventions need to carefully consider increasing the duration and or the intensity of the intervention by providing at-home game training, reducing the motor demands of the game, and selecting appropriate outcome measures.     

Making the uncontrollable seem controllable: the role of action in the illusion of control

It is well known that certain variables can bias judgements about the perceived contingency between an action and an outcome, making them depart from the normative predictions. For instance, previous studies have proven that the activity level or probability of responding, P(R), is a crucial variable that can affect these judgements in objectively noncontingent situations. A possible account for the P(R) effect is based on the differential exposure to actual contingencies during the training phase, which is in turn presumably produced by individual differences in participants' P(R). The current two experiments replicate the P(R) effect in a free-response paradigm, and show that participants' judgements are better predicted by P(R) than by the actual contingency to which they expose themselves. Besides, both experiments converge with previous empirical data, showing a persistent bias that does not vanish as training proceeds. These findings contrast with the preasymptotic and transitory effect predicted by several theoretical models.