Teenage Aspirations for Future Careers and Occupational Outcomes

In a follow-up study of over 17,000 individuals born 12 years apart (in 1958 and 1970) this article investigates the formation and realization of teenage career aspirations in a changing sociohistorical context. Two types of analytical models, a mediating model and a contextual systems model, were used to analyze the processes by which the effects of social structure influence teenage aspirations and subsequent occupational attainment. Both models suggest that teenage aspirations in combination with educational attainments are a major driving force in the occupational development of young people and that they mediate the effects of socioeconomic background factors. The contextual system model is an elaboration of the mediating model, providing additional insights into the effects of distal and proximal contexts. Differences in the experiences of young people growing up 12 years apart indicate that the sociohistorical context plays a key role in shaping occupational progression. For the later born cohort the importance of educational credentials has increased, both in influencing teenage aspirations and predicting adult occupational outcomes.     

The psychological bases of ideology and prejudice: testing a dual process model

The issue of personality and prejudice has been largely investigated in terms of authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, these seem more appropriately conceptualized as ideological attitudes than as personality dimensions. The authors describe a causal model linking dual dimensions of personality, social world view, ideological attitudes, and intergroup attitudes. Structural equation modeling with data from American and White Afrikaner students supported the model, suggesting that social conformity and belief in a dangerous world influence authoritarian attitudes, whereas toughmindedness and belief in a competitive jungle world influence social dominance attitudes, and these two ideological attitude dimensions influence intergroup attitudes. The model implies that dual motivational and cognitive processes, which may be activated by different kinds of situational and intergroup dynamics, may underlie 2 distinct dimensions of prejudice.     

Is visual short-term memory object based? Rejection of the "strong-object" hypothesis

Is the capacity of visual short-term memory (VSTM) limited by the number of objects or by the number of features? VSTM for objects with either one feature or two color features was tested. Results show that capacity was limited primarily by the number of colors to be memorized, not by the number of objects. This result held up with variations in color saturation, blocked or mixed conditions, duration of memory image, and absence or presence of verbal load. However, conjoining features into objects improved VSTM capacity when size-orientation and color-orientation conjunctions were tested. Nevertheless, the number of features still mattered. When feature heterogeneity was controlled, VSTM for conjoined objects was worse than VSTM for objects made of single features. Our results support a weak-object hypothesis of VSTM capacity that suggests that VSTM is limited by both the number of objects and the feature composition of those objects.     

Global mobility for psychologists: the role of psychology organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other regions

Global mobility for psychologists is rapidly improving because of an emerging consensus on recognition standards, the demand for cross-border mobility both internal and external to the profession, and the efforts of membership, credentialing, and regional organizations to promote mobility. In the United States, multiple credentialing organizations promote mobility, primarily through individual endorsement of credentials. The Canadian regulatory boards signed a mutual recognition agreement implementing fast-track mechanisms for licensed psychologists seeking mobility and a competency-based assessment for initial registration. Europe plans to reduce barriers to mobility through mutual recognition of qualifications via a EuroPsy diploma that provides a benchmark for professional psychology education and training. Other regions have not made as much progress with regard to promoting mobility, as many do not yet even regulate the practice of psychology. The authors examine who seeks mobility, which geographic regions promote mobility, and by which mechanisms.     

Associative learning improves visual working memory performance

The ability to remember visual stimuli over a short delay period is limited by the small capacity of visual working memory (VWM). Here the authors investigate the role of learning in enhancing VWM. Participants saw 2 spatial arrays separated by a 1-s interval. The 2 arrays were identical except for 1 location. Participants had to detect the difference. Unknown to the participants, some spatial arrays would repeat once every dozen trials or so for up to 32 repetitions. Spatial VWM performance increased significantly when the same location changed across display repetitions, but not at all when different locations changed from one display repetition to another. The authors suggest that a major role of learning in VWM is to mediate which information gets retained, rather than to directly increase VWM capacity.     

Boundary distortions for neutral and emotional pictures

In two experiments, we examined Safer, Christianson, Autry, and Osterlund's (1998) claim that when emotional material is remembered, tunnel memory (i.e., the tendency to remember less of a scene than was actually shown) occurs. In Experiment 1, 81 undergraduate students drew photographs from memory after having briefly seen either four neutral or four emotional photographs. Both neutral and emotional drawings revealed boundary extension (i.e., the tendency to remember more of a scene than was actually shown). Experiment 2 relied on the camera distance paradigm (Intraub, Bender, & Mangels, 1992). In a recognition test, 60 undergraduate students judged the camera distance of previously seen neutral or emotional photographs. The majority of them demonstrated accurate judgments and neither extended nor restricted picture boundaries. Those participants who made an error more often displayed a boundary extension than a tunnel memory error. Taken together, our results suggest that boundary extension for neutral and emotional photographs is a more robust phenomenon than its counterpart, tunnel memory.     

EFFECTS OF NONCONTINGENT MUSIC ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY AND TOY MANIPULATION IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Noncontingent music has been shown to reduce engagement in vocal stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorders, but its effects on appropriate collateral behavior remain unknown. Given that noncontingent music is typically implemented during periods of free play, clinicians may be concerned with the effects of the intervention on toy manipulation. Thus, we examined the immediate and subsequent effects of noncontingent music on engagement in vocal stereotypy and toy manipulation in four children with autism spectrum disorders by using a three‐component multiple schedule combined with a multi‐element design. The results suggest that noncontingent music (i) reduced immediate engagement in vocal stereotypy for three of four participants, (ii) never increased subsequent engagement in vocal stereotypy, and (iii) produced idiosyncratic effects on immediate and subsequent engagement in toy manipulation for two participants. The clinical implications of the results are discussed in terms of improving the treatment of vocal stereotypy using noncontingent music. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-year follow-up of an interdisciplinary cognitive-behavioral intervention program for obese adults

Intervention programs for treating adiposity which focus on dietary change and physical exercise often do not lead to the desired long-term reduction in weight. This article reports on the effectiveness of M.O.B.I.L.I.S., a standardized theory-driven intervention program. Participants are taught cognitive-behavioral strategies of goal setting, action planning, barrier management, and self-monitoring. Persons with obesity (N=316) responded to a public advertisement to participate in the intervention program (IG) or comparison group (CG; quasi-experimental design). Assessments were conducted at four time points, with the last assessment being conducted two years after baseline. At the 24-month follow-up, the IG showed weight loss of 5.57%, whereas the CG lost 1.12% of their weight (t1-t4, p < .01). The results yielded significant interaction terms (group x time), indicating that the intervention had a substantial effect on food choice and level of physical exercise (p < .01). The IG showed significantly enhanced self-efficacy, stronger goal intentions, and more detailed implementation intentions than the CG at follow-ups. The intervention program has the potential to evoke enduring changes in the cognitions we hypothesized to be responsible for inducing obese adults to begin and continue regular exercise and healthy eating behavior, resulting in substantial weight loss.     

Self-reported experience of bullying of students who stutter: relations with life satisfaction, life orientation, and self-esteem

Self-reported self-esteem, life orientation, satisfaction with life, and bullying were examined in relation to victimization experiences among 54 students who stuttered and 54 students who did not stutter. Those who stuttered reported greater, i.e., clinically significant, victimization (44.4%) than students who did not stutter (9.2%). Significant differences were found between means for self-esteem and life orientation, with students who stuttered reporting lower self-esteem and less optimistic life orientation than those who did not stutter. In both groups of students, high victimization scores had statistically significant negative correlations with optimistic life orientation, high self-esteem, and high satisfaction with life scores. Given the increased likelihood of students who stuttered being bullied, the negative relation of adjustment variables and bullying, and the potentially negative long-term effects of bullying, increased vigilance and early intervention are discussed.