A quasi-experimental investigation of message appeal variations on organ donor registration rates.

OBJECTIVE: Approximately 6,000 Americans die every year awaiting an organ transplant. Health promotion interventions may alleviate the shortage of viable organs by increasing the number of registered organ donors. This study is the first to evaluate the differential effectiveness of various organ donor messages in naturalistic settings. DESIGN: A 4 (Appeal)x4 (Exemplar)x4 (Location) counterbalanced quasi-experimental design was implemented. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The behavioral outcome measure was the number of individuals who registered to be organ donors at computer kiosks. RESULTS: A number of significant main effects and interactions emerged. Most notably, of the 4 different appeals (counterargument, emotional, motivating action, dissonance), counterargument was by far the most efficacious, especially in academic-type settings (library, university, community college); the emotional appeal was most successful in hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study have implications for both organ donor investigations and health campaign research in general. Statistical interactions highlight the importance of evaluating multiple exemplars in multiple locations for each type of appeal when conducting health campaign research.     

The KKK won't let me play: ostracism even by a despised outgroup hurts

Previous research has shown that ostracism even by outgroup members is aversive. In this study we examined whether ostracism by a particular type of outgroup, a despised outgroup, was sufficient to inflict emotional distress. We manipulated ostracism using Cyberball, an on-line ball toss game. Ostracized participants reported lower levels of belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence, and more negative mood, than included participants. Moreover, ostracism by despised outgroup members was no less aversive than ostracism by rival outgroup or ingroup members. Participants differentiated between the groups, however; ostracized individuals reported greater outgroup negativity than included participants only when their co-players were members of the despised outgroup. We interpret these results as evidence for the powerful impact of ostracism and the potential importance of distinguishing between qualitatively different outgroups. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disappearance of afterimages at 'impossible' locations in space

An eccentrically positioned afterimage, viewed in the dark, will disappear if the eye is positioned so that the afterimage now projects to a more extreme location relative to straight ahead. It was found that the afterimage disappeared when it projected to a location which corresponded to the edge of the visual field defined by the brow, cheek, and nose. This suggests that visibility of stimuli from those retinal regions shadowed by the head is influenced by eye-position information.     

Improving Delivery Behaviors During Exposure for Pediatric OCD: A Multiple Baseline Training Trial With Community Therapists

This study tested whether a new training tool, the Exposure Guide (EG), improved in-session therapist behaviors (i.e., indicators of quality) that have been associated with youth outcomes in prior clinical trials of exposure therapy. Six therapists at a community mental health agency (CMHA) provided exposure therapy for 8 youth with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design with random assignment to baseline lengths of 6 to 16 weeks, therapists received gold-standard exposure therapy training with weekly consultation (baseline phase) followed by addition of EG training and feedback (intervention phase). The primary outcome was therapist behavior during in-session exposures, observed weekly using a validated coding system. Therapist behavior was evaluated in relation to a priori benchmarks derived from clinical trials. Additional outcomes included training feasibility/acceptability, therapist response to case vignettes and beliefs about exposure, and independent evaluator-rated clinical outcomes. Three therapists reached behavior benchmarks only during the EG (intervention) phase. Two therapists met benchmarks during the baseline phase; one of these subsequently moved away from benchmarks but met them again after starting the EG phase. Across all therapists, the percentage of weeks meeting benchmarks was significantly higher during the EG phase (86.4%) vs. the baseline phase (53.2%). Youth participants experienced significant improvement in OCD symptoms and global illness severity from pre- to posttreatment. Results provide initial evidence that adding the EG to gold-standard training can change in-session therapist behaviors in a CMHA setting.     

Theodicy in a Deterministic Universe: God and the Problem of Suffering in Vyāsatīrtha’s Tātparyacandrikā

International Journal of Hindu Studies - The classical traditions of Vedānta in India explored the problem of why an omnipotent being like God would permit sentient beings to suffer in His...