Ease of predication does not account for imageability effects in performance: a reply to Jones (2002)

In this paper we defend our views against claim that the criticism of the ease of predication hypothesis (Jones, 1985) made by de Mornay Davies and Funnell (2000) is "fundamentally flawed." Jones raises five issues concerning the content of the text, the reliability of effects of ease of predication, the generation of predicates, semantic features, and memory retrieval. We address each of these issues in turn and show that either a critical point raised is not made, or the point is mistaken. More importantly we show that our empirical findings, which are entirely overlooked by Jones, unequivocally support the view that ease of predication does not account for imageability effects in performance.     

Primary process and peer consultation: an experiential model to work through countertransference

Various models exist for peer supervision and consultation of group therapy. This article documents the authors' experience using an experiential group consultation of group therapy model that relies on primary process to overcome countertransference dilemmas. A review of group therapy supervision and consultation models is followed by vignettes from the authors' experience. Discussion of the vignettes highlight critical issues in group consultation and expound upon the strengths and challenges of using an experiential model.     

Individual differences in children's emotion understanding: effects of age and language

Over the last two decades, it has been established that children's emotion understanding changes as they develop. Recent studies have also begun to address individual differences in children's emotion understanding. The first goal of this study was to examine the development of these individual differences across a wide age range with a test assessing nine different components of emotion understanding. The second goal was to examine the relation between language ability and individual differences in emotion understanding. Eighty children ranging in age from 4 to 11 years were tested. Children displayed a clear improvement with age in both their emotion understanding and language ability. In each age group, there were clear individual differences in emotion understanding and language ability. Age and language ability together explained 72% of emotion understanding variance; 20% of this variance was explained by age alone and 27% by language ability alone. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

Predicting the subjective experience of intrinsic motivation: the roles of self-determination, the balance of challenges and skills, and self-realization values

A series of studies was conducted to investigate the contributions of self-determination, perceived competence, and self-realization values to the subjective experience of intrinsic motivation. Using varying sets of instructions in these studies, college undergraduates generated and subsequently evaluated panels of identity-related activities. Three measures of the subjective experience of intrinsic motivation were used as outcome variables: (a) interest, (b) flow experiences, and (c) feelings of personal expressiveness. These subjective experience measures were strongly intercorrelated. Across studies, self-determination was found to be strongly associated with all of the subjective experience measures. In contrast, self-realization values made larger contributions to flow experiences and to personal expressiveness than to interest. Perceived competence, although significantly correlated with all subjective experience measures, played a considerably smaller role in the prediction of intrinsic motivation.     

Being born female is dangerous for your health

In this article, the author explores how gender inequity is manifested in poor reproductive and mental health outcomes, including unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, maternal mortality, sexually transmitted infections, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms. Briefly described is a landmark 1994 United Nations conference emphasizing that gender inequity adversely affects women's reproductive health, particularly in developing countries, and the implementation of its recommendations is tracked. Although there is increased recognition of oppression's toll on women's physical and emotional health as well as their intellectual and social potential, progress toward equity goals is uneven and slow. Psychologists as a group play many roles--for example, in research, education, policy, law, communications, industry, international development, and private practice--through which they can make professional contributions to gender equity as a focus or underlying principle.     

Explicit and implicit processes in multicue judgment

In two experiments, a multicue probability learning task was used to train participants in relating judgments to a criterion, on the basis of several cues that could or could not be relevant. The outcome feedback had 25% added noise to simulate real-world experience-based learning. Judgmental strategies acquired were measured by individual multiple linear regression analyses of a test phase (with no feedback) and were compared with self-ratings of cue relevance. In a third experiment, participants were instructed explicitly on cue relevance, with no training phase. The pattern of results suggested that both implicit and explicit cognitive processes influenced judgments and that they may have been sensitive to different task manipulations in the learning phase. On more complex tasks, despite weak explicit learning, explicit processes continued to influence judgments, producing a decrement in performance. These findings explain why studies of expert judgment often show only moderate levels of self-insight, since people have only partial access to the processes determining their judgments.     

The relation of children's everyday nonsocial peer play behavior to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning

The relations of children's nonsocial behavior to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning were examined in a short-term longitudinal study. Parents (primarily mothers) and teachers rated children's effortful regulation, emotionality, asocial behaviors, problem behaviors, and social acceptance, and children's nonsocial play behaviors were observed for two semesters. Peers also rated likability. Children's observed reticent activities were related to adults' ratings of high regulation, low externalizing problems, and high asocial behavior, as well as to low anger and low positive emotion. On the other hand, solitary play was associated with low positive emotion and low regulation over time and with high asocial behavior and high peer exclusion. Peer rejection mediated the relation of internalizing emotions (anxiety, low positive emotion) and regulation to solitary play later in the school year, and asocial play mediated the relation of internalizing emotions to both solitary and reticent play behavior.     

Incidence of critical events in professional practice: a statewide survey of psychotherapy providers

The goal was to tabulate the incidences of clients' suicide, attack by a client, and sexual contact with clients in an Alaskan sample of masters and doctoral-level psychotherapy providers (excluding psychiatrists) and to assess which, if any, demographic or professional characteristics were associated with each critical event. Results from 151 respondents (response rate 43.5%) indicated that 42.7% of providers had experienced at least one client's suicide, 28% had been physically attacked by a client, 4% reported having had sexual contact with a then current client, and 6% reported sexual contact with a former client. Areas for research are outlined, specifically the importance of using methods other than surveys and exploring variables other than standard demographic data.     

Community‐Based Participatory Research With Black Churches

Black Americans are more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to rely on spiritual and religious resources for mental health support. As such, counselors must seek unique ways to reach and understand Black communities. This article provides an overview of Black Americans' help‐seeking behaviors, the significance and culture of the Black Church, and a framework for counselors and counseling researchers to form effective partnerships to conduct community‐based participatory research initiatives that will produce empirical outcomes and promote culturally responsive mental health and wellness programming in Black communities.     

Heaven and Health: How Black,Latino, and Korean Christians View the Relationship Between Faith and Health

Religious congregations have increasingly been viewed as potential access points to health care in underserved communities. Such a perspective stems from a robust literature identifying the unique civic role that churches potentially play in African American and Latino communities. Yet, research on congregational health promotion has often not considered how congregants view the connections between religious faith, physical health, and the church community. In order to further interrogate how congregants view the church’s role in health promotion, we compare views on the relationship between faith and health for two groups that are overrepresented in American Christianity and underrepresented in medical careers (African Americans and Latinos) with a group that is similarly religious but comparatively well-represented in medical professions (Korean Americans). Drawing on data from focus groups with 19 pastors representing 18 different congregations and 28 interviews with church members, we find that churches across all three groups promote initiatives to care for the physical health of their members. Nonetheless, notable differences exist in how each group frames the interface between religious faith and physical health. African Americans and Latinos highlighted the role of faith in providing physical healing while Korean Americans saw the support of the religious community as the main benefit of their faith. Distrust of medicine was primarily articulated by members of African American churches. The results offer important implications for the future potential and nature of health initiatives in racial minority communities.