Therapeutic activities and the assimilation model: A preliminary exploratory study on the Insight stage

The assimilation model describes the process of change assuming that the self is enriched when there is a dialogue between nondominant voices or problematic experiences and the dominant voices. This dialogue is best seen in the Insight stage. The aim of this paper is to study the Insight stage during the assimilation process in relation to the main therapeutic activities performed by the therapist. All the Insights from the assimilation process of a patient, María, were analysed. In assimilation terms, María could be described through the nondominant voices of “dizziness,” “tiredness,” and “inability to cope with daily demands,” and through the dominant voices of “control,” “overcome and solve,” and “why something is happening.” María showed a successful assimilation of her problematic experiences. The therapeutic context was the Linguistic Therapy of Evaluation (LTE), a kind of cognitive therapy based on the theory of General Semantics. María was considered a good outcome case in the LTE sample. Results showed that there were some general therapeutic activities related to these Insights. A high percentage of activities pointed to one of the main issues of LTE: the development of an extensional orientation. At the same time, some of these activities were related to María’s voices. Results are discussed in relation to the relevance of the development of an extensional orientation for the assimilation process; how voices are recognized or challenged in therapy, and to the importance of considering relationship issues during the assimilation process.     

Linking extreme response style to response processes: A cross‐cultural mixed methods approach

The aim of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of extreme response style in cross‐cultural research by integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence in a mixed methods design. In the quantitative phase, indexes of extreme response style, derived from quality of life measures from different international studies, were compared between Spain and the Netherlands. Results indicated that extreme responding was more common among Spanish than among Dutch in endorsement of items, but that the opposite was found for frequency scales including never as a response anchor. In the qualitative phase, cognitive interviews were conducted with 25 participants in each country. The integration of quantitative results and qualitative findings suggests that country differences in extreme response style may stem from various sources, including the more independent evaluation of each item by Dutch, the stronger connotations of never for Spanish and stronger emotions triggered by specific topics such as work satisfaction that was more strongly associated with insecurity for Spanish. It is concluded that the integration of quantitative and qualitative evidence can help to understand cross‐cultural similarities and differences in extreme response style.     

Typologies of Helicopter Parenting in American and Chinese Young-Adults’ Game and Social Media Addictive Behaviors

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Helicopter parenting has emerged as a prevalent phenomenon in families with adult children. Due to its developmentally inappropriate nature, helicopter...     

Eating habits, physical activity, consumption of substances and eating disorders in adolescents

The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences between adolescents with a high or low risk of developing an eating disorder (ED) in different health behaviors (eating habits, physical activity and the consumption of substances) per gender. The EAT-40 and the Inventory of Behavioral Health in Scholars were applied to 2142 middle school students from Alicante (Spain), of whom 52.8% were girls and 47.2% were boys, with an average age of 13.92 years old (Sd = 1.34). Results indicated that girls with a high risk of developing an ED consumed fewer meals, ate fewer unhealthy foods, followed more diets and paid more attention to nutritional components. Furthermore, they also performed more physical activity with the objective of losing weight, and consumed more tobacco, alcohol and medicines. Boys at high risk of developing an ED followed more diets and paid more attention to nutritional components. For boys, no more differences were found. These results suggest that any program directed at the prevention of ED should not only include nutritional education, but should also seek to promote regular physical activity with objectives other than weight loss or the burning of calories.     

Coping strategies and quality of life among liver transplantation candidates

The maintenance of self-reported quality of life (QL) among people on the liver transplantation waiting list is one of the priority objectives of transplantation teams. Although there are different determinant factors of QL, results are not conclusive. In our study, the goal was to evaluate both the influence of cirrhosis etiology (ethylic and non-ethylic) and the coping strategies used concerning QL. A sample of 93 patients was selected, divided into two groups: ethylic cirrhosis (EC) and non-ethylic cirrhosis (NEC). QL was evaluated through the SF-36 Health Survey, and coping strategies through the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire (MCMQ). Our results indicated that subjects with EC obtained similar QL levels to subjects with NEC, on all the SF-36 and MCMQ subscales. Furthermore, negative correlations were found between avoidance and acceptance-resignation coping strategies with the SF-36 components. Consequently, the acceptance-resignation strategy was associated with a worse perception of physical functioning, general and mental health, and vitality and role-emotional. Overall, these results suggest that cirrhosis etiology is not a determinant factor of QL, whereas the acceptance-resignation coping strategy might lead to lower self-perception of QL.     

Utility of a statistical model of cognitive styles in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The purpose of this study was to determine the best statistical model of cognitive styles, based on the MFFT-20, CEFT and Stroop tests to predict attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), analyzing the validity of the model for the diagnosis of the disease. We studied 100 ADHD cases (DSM-IV criteria) and 100 controls, age ranging between 7 and 11 years. Controls were randomly recruited and matched in age, gender and sociodemographic area with ADHD cases. On average, ADHD cases showed more impulsiveness (d: 1.28), less cognitive flexibility (d: 0.91) and more field dependence (d: 1.62) than controls. The logistic regression model that predicts ADHD best is made up of age, CEFT, MFFT-20 and Stroop tests and the formula derived from the model shows 85% sensitivity and 85% specificity for ADHD, regarding the DSM-IV criteria as the standard. The statistical model of cognitive styles presents valid indicators to diagnose ADHD, contributing to an increase in the objectivity of its analysis.     

The impact of feedback frequency on learning and task performance: Challenging the “more is better” assumption

Previous research on feedback frequency suggests that more frequent feedback improves learning and task performance (Salmoni, Schmidt, & Walter, 1984). Drawing from resource allocation theory (Kanfer & Ackerman, 1989), we challenge the “more is better” assumption and propose that frequent feedback can overwhelm an individual’s cognitive resource capacity, thus reducing task effort and producing an inverted-U relationship with learning and performance over time. We then propose that positive and negative affective states will moderate the inverted-U relationship between feedback frequency and task performance. We test these propositions in an experimental study where the frequency of task feedback is manipulated. Results show that feedback frequency exhibits an inverted-U relationship with task performance, and this relationship is mediated by task effort. This curvilinear relationship is then moderated by individual’s positive affective state.     

Indecision on decisional separability

The theoretical framework of General Recognition Theory (GRT; Ashby & Townsend, Psychological Review, 93, 154-179, 1986) coupled with the empirical analysis tools of Multidimensional Signal Detection Analysis (MSDA; Kadlec & Townsend, Multidimensional models of perception and recognition, pp. 181-228, 1992) have become one important method for assessing dimensional interactions in perceptual decision-making. In this article, we critically examine MSDA and characterize cases where it is unable to discriminate two kinds of dimensional interactions: perceptual separability and decisional separability. We performed simulations with known instances of violations of perceptual or decisional separability, applied MSDA to the data generated by these simulations, and evaluated MSDA on its ability to accurately characterize the perceptual versus decisional source of these simulated dimensional interactions. Critical cases of violations of perceptual separability are often mischaracterized by MSDA as violations of decisional separability.     

The costs of switching attentional sets

People prioritize those aspects of the visual environment that match their attentional set. In the present study, we investigated whether switching from one attentional set to another is associated with a cost. We asked observers to sequentially saccade toward two color-defined targets, one on the left side of the display, the other on the right, each among a set of heterogeneously colored distractors. The targets were of the same color (no attentional set switch required) or of different colors (switch of attentional sets necessary), with each color consistently tied to a side, to allow observers to maximally prepare for the switch. We found that saccades were less accurate and slower in the switch condition than in the no-switch condition. Furthermore, whenever one of the distractors had the color associated with the other attentional set, a substantial proportion of saccades did not end on the target, but on this distractor. A time course analysis revealed that this distractor preference turned into a target preference after about 250-300 ms, suggesting that this is the time required to switch attentional sets.     

The role of affective and cognitive empathy in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression of a Singaporean sample of boys

Bullying behavior is a serious form of school violence, affecting many children. This study investigated the contributions of 2 specific components of empathy (affective and cognitive empathy) on the 3 forms of aggressive behaviors in a sample of 241 Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys from Singapore. The 2 components of empathy differed in their relation with the 3 types of aggression. After accounting for cognitive empathy, affective empathy was associated with physical aggression. Neither affective empathy nor cognitive empathy was associated with verbal aggression. With control for affective empathy, cognitive empathy was associated with indirect aggression. Results suggest that empathy training based on specific deficits may be helpful in intervention and prevention of specific aggressive behaviors.