Some Observations on Group Therapy with the Blind

This study integrates the theoretical assumptions underlying member preparation for group into a series of pregroup interview guidelines, which are then field tested for reliability and validity using a Solomon Four-Group design. Findings indicate a significant relationship exists between those individuals having the pregroup interview and a realistic perception of group membership and understanding of group purpose. The third dimension, which tested congruence between member goals and group purpose due to having the pregroup interview, was not significant. Implications of the study and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Books Received

Preliminary summaries of a few empirio‐semantical investigations¹ concerning such sentences as: can we say x, should we ever (ordinarily) say x, x is self‐evident (tautological, contradictory, nonsensical), P does not know what be is talking about, x is voluntary (involuntary) and: that is no excuse.     

The effects of scenario-based risk information on perceptions of susceptibility to Chlamydia and HIV

Abstract

Objectives: The Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) was originally reported as one-dimensional; however, habit has been described as characterised by several features. Moreover, one-dimensional models for the SRHI have demonstrated poor fit. Therefore, we aimed to compare multidimensional models with a one-dimensional model in both snacking and physical activity habits, besides examining further instrument characteristics.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted with high school and university students (n?=?555).

Main outcome measure: The SRHI adapted for physical activity and for snaking habits was applied at one time point.

Results: Nested models with one factor, two factors and three factors were compared. Next, a hierarchical second-order model was tested, and further validity issues, as well as invariance between habits, were examined. Three-dimensional models represented a better fit for both habits. However, fit was still inadequate in the snacking version. In addition, discriminant validity concerns emerged for the physical activity SRHI. Moreover, invariance between the snacking and the physical activity versions was not confirmed.

Conclusions: Considering the SRHI as composed by the dimensions of ‘lack of awareness’, ‘lack of control’ and ‘history of behavioural repetition’ seems to be more accurate. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that further research is needed.     

When does it hurt? Intergroup permeability moderates the link between discrimination and self‐esteem

Research shows that personal discrimination and group discrimination have distinct effects on personal self‐esteem. Specifically, whereas personal discrimination negatively impacts self‐esteem, group discrimination increases it. We suggest that this pattern is dependent on the socio‐structural context in which individuals experience discrimination. To test this hypothesis, we manipulate intergroup permeability and examine its impact on the link between personal/group discrimination and personal self‐esteem. Results show that a control condition replicates previous research, that is, a positive association between group discrimination and self‐esteem and a negative association for personal discrimination. The positive association of group discrimination disappeared in a permeable context and reversed when the context was presented as impermeable. Moreover, the deleterious effect of personal discrimination on self‐esteem vanished in impermeable contexts. Results are discussed in light of the literature on stigmatization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness: The role of the internalization of societal standards

Two studies examined restrained and unrestrained eaters’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness. Participants completed measures of implicit and explicit attitudes toward fatness and thinness (Studies 1 and 2), and a measure of the internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward thinness (Study 2). Restrained and unrestrained eaters both had strong implicit negative attitudes toward fatness, but restrained eaters had stronger negative explicit attitudes and beliefs about fatness. Explicit attitudes and beliefs were related to the degree of internalization of sociocultural attitudes, and the internalization of sociocultural attitudes partially mediated the relation between dietary restraint and explicit attitudes. These results suggest that most people are aware of societal standards regarding fatness and thinness and have developed negative implicit attitudes toward fatness, but that only some people (in particular, restrained eaters) have internalized these standards and developed negative explicit attitudes toward fatness that they endorse as personal beliefs.     

Situating Maimonides’s Approach to the Oral Torah in Its Andalusian Context

Maimonides’s readers have long recognized that his presentation of the Oral Torah differed markedly from that of the Baghdadi geonim, particularly Sa‘adya Gaon. Maimonides did not cite any precedent for his disagreements with the geonim. Recent studies, however, have called attention to Andalusian sources that prefigure and parallel Maimonidean claims, suggesting that his views, at least in part, drew on earlier Andalusian thought. This article argues that a uniquely Andalusian understanding of the talmudic adage “A sage is superior to a prophet,” first found in the writings of Isaac Ibn Ghiyāth, demonstrates that Andalusian Rabbanite culture had long approached the Oral Torah differently than did the geonim of Baghdad. After identifying a number of Andalusian antecedents for Maimonides’s approach to the Oral Torah, this article explores possible motives for the divergent pictures of revelation put forward by Rabbanites in Baghdad and Andalusia. It is suggested that the impact of Andalusian Maliki jurists helps explain the divergent positions of Baghdadi and Andalusian Rabbanites.     

How slips result in traffic conflicts and accidents

In this study subjects kept diaries about unintentional acts during driving. They were asked to record errors at skill-based level: slips and lapses. They also recorded the circumstances preceding these errors and the consequences for road safety. It was demonstrated how insight into the nature and antecedents of these ‘human errors’ contributes considerably to the understanding of road safety. By focusing on the conditions which control the occurrence of unintentional acts the study shows how these errors or their consequences can be controlled. A relationship was established between the specific conditions that evoke these slips and generic classes of condition that are conducive to errors: latent failure types. It is argued that in conditions controlled by latent failures cognitive processes produce not only skill-based errors but also rule- and knowledge-based errors. It is claimed that strategies to increase safety should be directed at these latent failures, rather than at the errors that follow from them.     

Deficits in acquisition and extinction of conditioned responses in mGluR7 knockout mice

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 (mGluR7) is expressed in brain regions implicated in emotional learning and working memory, and previous behavioral experiments indicated contributions of mGluR7 to various complex behaviors. In the present study, we investigated the specific effects of mGluR7 deletion on a variety of conditioning paradigms that model crucial neurocognitive and psychopathological behavioral phenomena. Null-mutant mGluR7^−/− mice displayed defects during scheduled appetitive conditioning, acquisition and extinction of appetitive odor conditioning, extinction of response suppression-based conditioned emotional responding (CER), acquisition of discriminative CER, and contextual fear conditioning. mGluR7^−/− animals were slower to acquire the association between a conditioned stimulus and a positive or negative reinforcer, but eventually reached similar performance levels to their wildtype littermates. Notably, extinction learning of conditioned responses was slower in mGluR7^−/− compared to wildtype animals. The observed delays in the acquisition of complicated stimulus associations across conditioning procedures may suggest a critical role for mGluR7 in neurocognitive functions and psychopathology.