Lens on International Clinical Supervision: Lessons Learned from a Cross-National Comparison of Supervision

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Clinical supervision is an essential mechanism for training psychologists internationally. But although it is performed globally, scholarship has primarily...     

The Effect of State and Trait Self-Critical Rumination on Acute Distress: An Exploratory Experimental Investigation

Self-critical rumination is a process whereby individuals focus attention on past failures and inadequacies without consideration for improvement or problem-solving. Past research has demonstrated that self-critical rumination is a separate process from the experience of having intrusive self-critical thoughts and that engaging in self-critical rumination is strongly correlated with beliefs that it is uncontrollable or represents a weakness of character. What is less clear at this time, however, is the impact that self-critical rumination has on levels of distress when faced with failure. Thirty volunteers who were not experiencing significant levels of depression were randomly assigned across three groups: one rumination and two controls. Acute distress was measured prior to and immediately following a task, as well as upon debrief. Individuals expected to complete an impossible task, who experienced simulated self-critical rumination experienced greater levels of acute distress than controls immediately following the task. There was also a significant correlation between reported levels of trait self-critical rumination, negative metacognitive beliefs and self-esteem with levels of distress following debrief when controlling for initial levels of distress and group membership. The use of subjective self-reports and small sample size limits the findings of this exploratory study. Engaging in self-critical rumination, and associated negative metacognitive beliefs, may have a significant impact on levels of acute distress following a recent failure.

     

How do Lithuanian adolescents address identity questions? A four-wave longitudinal study on change and stability in identity styles

Abstract

The present investigation evaluated multiple patterns of change and stability in Berzonsky’s identity styles (informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant) in a four-annual-wave longitudinal study with 468 adolescent boys and girls from Lithuania. A combination of mean level changes, high rank-order stability, and high profile stability has been found in this study. First, levels of informational and normative identity styles remained stable for girls, but decreased significantly for boys; levels of diffuse-avoidant identity styles remained stable for girls and boys. Second, the rank-order stability of the normative and diffuse-avoidant styles was lower for boys, than for girls. Third, the mean profile stability was high for girls and moderate for boys. In general, our findings highlighted substantial gender differences in multiple indices of change and stability of identity styles.     

Extension Properties and Subdirect Representation in Abstract Algebraic Logic

This paper continues the investigation, started in Lávi?ka and Noguera (Stud Log 105(3): 521–551, 2017), of infinitary propositional logics from the perspective of their algebraic completeness and filter extension properties in abstract algebraic logic. If follows from the Lindenbaum Lemma used in standard proofs of algebraic completeness that, in every finitary logic, (completely) intersection-prime theories form a basis of the closure system of all theories. In this article we consider the open problem of whether these properties can be transferred to lattices of filters over arbitrary algebras of the logic. We show that in general the answer is negative, obtaining a richer hierarchy of pairwise different classes of infinitary logics that we separate with natural examples. As by-products we obtain a characterization of subdirect representation for arbitrary logics, develop a fruitful new notion of natural expansion, and contribute to the understanding of semilinear logics.     

A Short Measure of the Revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory – RSQ17

The need for a research and practical tool, such as a short, reliable, and valid personality assessment test, suggests researchers to create shortened versions of original instruments. Reinforcement sensitivity questionnaire (RSQ) was created in line with some basic premises of revised Reinforcement sensitivity theory, which proposes three motivational and emotional systems: Behavioral inhibition system (BIS), responsible for scanning environment for potential threats, Behavioral activation system (BAS), responsible for aproaching behavior, and the Fight/Flight/Freeze system (FFFS), responsible for behavior in the present threat. RSQ comprises five scales: BIS, BAS, Fight, Flight, and Freeze. The aim of this study was to develop a short version of RSQ, which would be beneficial to both research and practical purposes. Item response theory analyses were used for item selection. The study comprised two samples of participants, whereby Sample 1 (N = 837, 34.6% male, aged 18 – 82, M = 31.63, SD = 13.54) served as the derivation sample, while Sample 2 (818 participants, 43.6% male, 18?75 years, M = 29.65, SD = 12.52) served as validation sample. Factorial validity of the short RSQ was examined on both Sample 1 and Sample 2. Convergent and divergent validity of the short RSQ was examined using RST-PQ, Jackson-5, BIS/BAS scales, and Big Five Inventory. The results point to satisfactory internal consistency, factorial validity, and construct validity of the short RSQ, suggesting that it is an adequate measure for research settings or other contexts which require the use of short personality questionnaires.     

How Accurate Are National Stereotypes? A Test of Different Methodological Approaches

We compared different methodological approaches in research on the accuracy of national stereotypes that use aggregated mean scores of real people's personality traits as criteria for stereotype accuracy. Our sample comprised 16,713 participants from the Central Europe and 1,090 participants from the Baltic Sea region. Participants rated national stereotypes of their own country using the National Character Survey (NCS) and their personality traits using either the Revised NEO Personality Inventory or the NCS. We examined the effects of different (i) methods for rating of real people (Revised NEO Personality Inventory vs. NCS) and national stereotypes (NCS); (ii) norms for converting raw scores into T‐scores (Russian vs. international norms); and (iii) correlation techniques (intraclass correlations vs. Pearson correlations vs. rank‐order correlations) on the resulting agreement between the ratings of national stereotypes and real people. We showed that the accuracy of national stereotypes depended on the employed methodology. The accuracy was the highest when ratings of real people and national stereotypes were made using the same method and when rank order correlations were used to estimate the agreement between national stereotypes and personality profiles of real people. We propose a new statistical procedure for determining national stereotype accuracy that overcomes limitations of past studies. We provide methodological recommendations applicable to a wider range of cross national stereotype accuracy studies. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

They do what they are told to do: the influence of instruction on (chess) expert perception-commentary on linhares and brum (2007)

Linhares and Brum (2007) argue that they provide evidence for analogy as the main principle behind experts' acquisition of perceptual knowledge. However, the methodology they used—asking players to pair positions using abstract similarity—raises the possibility that the task reflects more the effect of directional instructions than the principles underlying the acquisition of knowledge. Here we replicate and extend Linhares and Brum's experiment and show that the matching task they used is inadequate for drawing any conclusions about the nature of experts' perception. When expert chess players were instructed to match problems based on similarities at the abstract level (analogy), they produced more abstract pairs than pairs based on concrete similarity. However, the same experts produced more concrete pairs than abstract ones when instructed to match the problems based on concrete similarity. Asking experts to match problems using explicit instructions is not an appropriate way to show the importance of either analogy or similarity in the acquisition of expert knowledge. Experts simply do what they are told to do.     

The effect of the observer vantage point on perceived distortions in linear perspective images

Some features of linear perspective images may look distorted. Such distortions appear in two drawings by Jan Vredeman de Vries involving perceived elliptical, instead of circular, pillars and tilted, instead of upright, columns. Distortions may be due to factors intrinsic to the images, such as violations of the so-called Perkins's laws, or factors extrinsic to them, such as observing the images from positions different from their center of projection. When the correct projection centers for the two drawings were reconstructed, it was found that they were very close to the images and, therefore, practically unattainable in normal observation. In two experiments, enlarged versions of images were used as stimuli, making the positions of the projection centers attainable for observers. When observed from the correct positions, the perceived distortions disappeared or were greatly diminished. Distortions perceived from other positions were smaller than would be predicted by geometrical analyses, possibly due to flatness cues in the images. The results are relevant for the practical purposes of creating faithful impressions of 3-D spaces using 2-D images.     

A Room with an Overview: the Effects of Schematic Processing,Mood and Exposure Duration on Memory Accuracy

Studies often posit the processing dichotomy of positive vs. negative affect. People in a negative mood tend to process information in a more systematic manner while those in a positive mood tend to adopt a more heuristic, schema-directed processing style. A 3 (mood: negative vs. neutral vs. positive) × 2 (exposure duration: one vs. five minutes) × 2 (schema-consistent vs. schema-inconsistent items) experimental design was employed in a real-life setting and, using the incidental learning paradigm, to test recognition memory for objects in a typical office. Following the affect-as-information approach, we hypothesized that induced positive mood would lead participants to engage in a more schema-directed processing leading to less accurate memory, while induced negative mood will lead to a more analytic and detailed processing, leading to higher memory accuracy and fewer memory errors. Results revealed a significant effect of duration, indicating that participants made more schema-consistent errors when their stay in the office was shorter. The significant interaction of mood and exposure duration suggests that effect of the exposure on memory accuracy applies to people in negative and neutral mood, while people in positive mood tend to maintain schema-directed processing style for longer period of time.