Selective attention determines emotional responses to novel visual stimuli

Distinct complex brain systems support selective attention and emotion, but connections between them suggest that human behavior should reflect reciprocal interactions of these systems. Although there is ample evidence that emotional stimuli modulate attentional processes, it is not known whether attention influences emotional behavior. Here we show that evaluation of the emotional tone (cheery/dreary) of complex but meaningless visual patterns can be modulated by the prior attentional state (attending vs. ignoring) used to process each pattern in a visual selection task. Previously ignored patterns were evaluated more negatively than either previously attended or novel patterns. Furthermore, this emotional devaluation of distracting stimuli was robust across different emotional contexts and response scales. Finding that negative affective responses are specifically generated for ignored stimuli points to a new functional role for attention and elaborates the link between attention and emotion. This finding also casts doubt on the conventional marketing wisdom that any exposure is good exposure.     

Compatibility of Adlerian Theory and Practice With the Philosophy and Practices of Alcoholics Anonymous

Tenets of Adlerian theory and practice are compatible with the philosophy and practices of Alcoholics Anonymous. Counselors can expect treatment approaches based on Adlerian counseling theory to be congruent with 12-Step practices of individuals who are in recovery from alcohol dependence.     

Counseling Women in Midlife: An Integrative Approach to Menopause

Menopause is a normative life transition that is experienced by virtually all women, yet remains poorly understood. The dominance of the biomedical model results in a unidimensional definition of menopause as a biological event, ignoring the influence of cultural and psychosocial factors. Counselors who use an integrative approach can not only provide accurate biomedical information but also conceptualize menopause as a normative midlife transition. The purpose of this article is to provide a foundation in biomedical issues and to consider how these independently, and in interaction with cultural and psychosocial factors, influence the experience of menopause.     

Perceived stress in prodromal Huntington disease

This study examines perceived stress and its relationship to depressive symptoms, life changes and functional capacity in a large sample of individuals who are positive for the Huntington disease (HD) gene expansion but not yet diagnosed. Participants were classified by estimated proximity to HD diagnosis (far, mid, near) and compared with a non-gene-expanded comparison group. Persons in the mid group had the highest stress scores. A significant interaction between age and time since HD genetic testing was also found. Secondary analyses using data from a different data collection point and including a diagnosed group showed the highest stress scores in the diagnosed group. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.     

Risk and Prisoner's Dilemma: A Reinterpretation of Coombs' Re‐parameterization

We propose a model to measure risk in a prisoner's dilemma based on Coombs' (1973) re‐parameterization of the game as an individual risk decision‐making task that chooses between a gamble of cooperation and another gamble of defection. Specifically, we propose an index, r, to represent the risk associated with cooperation relative to defection. In conjunction with Rapoport's (1967) index of cooperation (K), our formulation of risk allows us to construct games that vary in risk (as indexed by r) while controlling for cooperativeness (as indexed by K). Following utility analysis that models risk seeking as a convex utility function and risk averse as a concave function, we predict that risk‐seeking people cooperate more in games that the cooperation choice is more risky, whereas risk‐averse people cooperate more in games that the cooperation choice is less risky. In the three studies that we varied game parameters, used different measures of risk orientation and prosocial orientation and used different experimental procedures, we found robust results supporting our predictions. Theoretical analysis of our formulation further suggests that risk and cooperativeness of a prisoner's dilemma game is not entirely independent. Games that have a higher cooperativeness index are necessarily more risky. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Professional Counseling in Kenya: History,Current Status,and Future Trends

The authors examine the history and development of the counseling profession in Kenya. This profession is deeply rooted in responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the emergence of mental health needs created by the impact of political and community‐based violence, increasing student unrest in public institutions, and government efforts to provide social–emotional support for students in public schools and universities. The authors also examine the challenges for the profession and make recommendations for the future.     

Beneficiary or benefactor: are people more prosocial when they reflect on receiving or giving?

Research shows that reflecting on benefits received can make people happier, but it is unclear whether or not such reflection makes them more helpful. Receiving benefits can promote prosocial behavior through reciprocity and positive affect, but these effects are often relationship-specific, short-lived, and complicated by ambivalent reactions. We propose that prosocial behavior is more likely when people reflect on being a benefactor to others, rather than a beneficiary. The experience of giving benefits may encourage prosocial behavior by increasing the salience and strength of one's identity as a capable, caring contributor. In field and laboratory experiments, we found that participants who reflected about giving benefits voluntarily contributed more time to their university, and were more likely to donate money to natural-disaster victims, than were participants who reflected about receiving benefits. When it comes to reflection, giving may be more powerful than receiving as a driver of prosocial behavior.     

Quality of Life and Autonomy in Emerging Adults with Early-Onset Neuromuscular Disorders

Emerging adulthood is an important period in the development of one's identity and autonomy. The ways in which identity and autonomy are viewed by emerging adults and how they impact quality of life (QoL) in individuals with early-onset neuromuscular conditions is not yet known. This study focused on understanding and exploring relationships between self-perceptions of emerging adulthood, autonomy, and QoL. Five previously validated measures were incorporated into an online survey and distributed to young adults with early-onset neuromuscular conditions and unaffected controls. Topics explored included individuals' views regarding their overall QoL, disease-specific QoL, components of emerging adulthood, and autonomy. We found that a sense of higher disease impact was associated with a lower Overall General QoL. Additionally, perceptions of key autonomy factors "negativity" and "instability" were uniquely associated with Overall General QoL in the case group as compared to controls, whereas "attitudinal autonomy" (attaining the ability to plan and follow through with goals) was important to this age group regardless of health status. The specific factors of emerging adulthood and autonomy that were significantly correlated with Overall General QoL can be used for developing targeted counseling and interventions to improve QoL for individuals and their families.     

Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson’s Disease: A Psychosocial Perspective

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease primarily characterised by motor symptoms. However, another feature of PD which is receiving increasing attention is the phenomenon of impulse control disorders (ICDs), such as pathological gambling. To date, research into ICDs in PD has centred on a biomedical model of cause, related to the effects of dopamine replacement therapy. However, there are several areas of discrepancy in the current biomedical account of ICDs in PD. In addition, we argue that social and psychological factors also need to be considered to achieve a more complete understanding of the phenomenon. We present a novel conceptual model which combines biomedical and psychosocial factors in the genesis of ICDs in PD and use the model to identify a number of potential treatment intervention points and to highlight important outstanding questions concerning the inter-relationship between psychosocial and biomedical factors in the genesis of ICDs in PD.