Examining the role of psychological inflexibility,perspective taking,and empathic concern in generalized prejudice

Research to‐date on generalized prejudice has focused primarily on personality factors. Further work is needed identifying manipulable variables that directly inform antiprejudice interventions. This study examined three such variables: empathic concern, perspective taking, and psychological inflexibility/flexibility with prejudiced thoughts, as a test of the flexible connectedness model. A sample of 604 undergraduate students completed online surveys. A model indicated prejudice measures loaded onto a latent variable of generalized prejudice. In a second model, psychological inflexibility, flexibility, empathic concern, and perspective taking were all significant, independent predictors of generalized prejudice. Psychological inflexibility also predicted prejudice above and beyond personality and general inflexibility variables. Results suggest the three components of the flexible connectedness model may be important targets for prejudice interventions.     

Natural sequence of recovery from child post-traumatic amnesia: A retrospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to determine the sequence of skills recovery during post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) in children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Setting: Fifty children aged 8 to 15 years consecutively admitted to a children’s hospital with TBI and PTA>24 were tested in a retrospective cohort study where the main measure was the Westmead PTA Scale (WPTAS). The group analyses show that orientation to time took longer to recover than orientation to person and place, but not memory, while the individual analyses revealed that when orientation to time was grouped with memory, 94% of children recovered orientation to person and place before orientation to time and memory (examiner and pictures). Correlation coefficients between age and the number of days taken to recover skills were not found to be significant. It was established that, in terms of the natural sequence of skills recovery in children aged 8 to 15 years following moderate to severe TBI, recovery of orientation to time is more closely aligned to memory than to orientation to person and place. It was also established that WPTAS items are developmentally appropriate for children aged 8 to 15 years who have sustained TBI. These findings are clinically important because monitoring recovery from PTA both impacts the rehabilitation offered to individuals during acute care and aids discharge planning.     

A Mixed Methods Study of the Stages of Implementation for an Evidence-Based Trauma Intervention in Schools

A mixed methods study was conducted to examine the implementation process of 26 urban school-based mental health clinics that took part in a training and implementation support program for an evidence-based school trauma intervention. Implementation process was observed using the Stages of Implementation Completion (SIC) measure. Qualitative interviews were conducted with clinic leaders in order to gain insight into clinic processes related to the SIC. Results showed that almost all of the clinics engaged in some activities related to pre-implementation (engagement, feasibility, and readiness), but only 31% of the sites formally started delivering the program to youth. Completing more pre-implementation activities, particularly those related to readiness, predicted program start-up. Qualitative analysis comparing those that implemented the program to those that did not revealed critical differences in decision-making processes, leadership strategies, and the presence of local champions for the program. This study documented the patterns of clinic behavior that occurs as part of large-scale training efforts, suggests some unique challenges that occur in schools, and highlights the importance of engaging in particular implementation activities (i.e., readiness planning, stakeholder consensus and planning meetings) as part of program start-up. Findings indicate that pre-implementation and readiness-related consultation should be employed as part of broad-scale implementation and training efforts.     

The testing effect in recognition memory: a dual process account

The testing effect, or the finding that taking an initial test improves subsequent memory performance, is a robust and reliable phenomenon--as long as the final test involves recall. Few studies have examined the effects of taking an initial recall test on final recognition performance, and results from these studies are equivocal. In 3 experiments, we attempt to demonstrate that initial testing can change the ways in which later recognition decisions are executed even when no difference can be detected in the recognition hit rates. Specifically, initial testing was shown to enhance later recollection but leave familiarity unchanged. This conclusion emerged from three dependent measures: source memory, exclusion performance, and remember/know judgments.     

Values in Family Therapy Practice and Research: An Invitation for Reflection

Values have been shown to be a pervasive part of both marriage and family therapy (MFT) clinical practice and research. Yet, many therapists and researchers remain unclear about how values affect their work. This article examines the influence of Western philosophical assumptions and therapy traditions in light of current understandings of values in therapy. The influence of values in MFT research processes is similarly examined. Implications for how family therapy professionals can be more reflective and sophisticated in their understanding of values in clinical practice and scientific inquiry are discussed. Suggestions for addressing values in MFT training also are given.     

Separating sustained from transient aspects of cognitive control during thought suppression

Cognitive theories of how people regulate their thoughts have suggested the involvement of two control processes that occur over different time courses. These cognitive accounts parallel recent neural models of executive control, which suggest that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) mediates sustained changes in the allocation of control processes, whereas the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) relays a transient need for additional control. Combining these cognitive and neural models of control, we used recently developed analysis techniques to distinguish transient from sustained changes in brain activation while subjects attempted to suppress an unwanted thought. Results were consistent with both models: Dorsolateral PFC demonstrated sustained increases in activation during attempts at thought suppression, whereas bilateral ACC demonstrated transient increases associated with occurrences of unwanted thoughts. These data support proposals regarding the different contributions made by the PFC and ACC to executive control and provide initial neuroimaging support for dual-process models of how individuals regulate their thoughts.