Universal Prevention Exposure as a Moderator of the Community Context: Findings from the PROSPER Project

This study examined how participation in a universal family skills‐building program may interact with community risks and resources to produce youth outcomes. Prior research has noted community‐level variability in risk and protective factors, but thus far no study has examined the role that participation on a community‐wide intervention may play in moderating the effects of community risks or resources. The study included 14 communities (seven in Iowa, seven in Pennsylvania) that implemented a family focused evidence‐based program as part of the PROSPER project. Community level variables included both risk factors (percent of low income families, the availability of alcohol and tobacco, norms regarding adolescent substance use, incidence of drug‐related crimes) and community resources (proactive school leadership, availability of youth‐serving organizations, and student involvement in youth activities). The proximal youth and family outcomes included youth perceptions of their parents’ management skills, parent–child activities, and family cohesion. Results indicated that the Strengthening Families Program:10–14 may have moderated the impact of the community risks and resources on community‐level youth outcomes; risk levels meaningfully associated with community‐level change in program participants, though these results varied somewhat by outcome. Generally, higher levels of resources also meaningfully associated with more positive change after participating in the family‐focused intervention. These results suggest that the effect of some evidence‐based programs may be even stronger in some communities than others; more research in this area is needed.     

Token Causal Powers

This paper proposes that the relation between property instances and token causal powers is akin to the relation between primary substances and property instances on the Aristotelian account of property instantiation. This view permits an individual to have two tokens of the same type of causal power. Paul Audi has argued that this cannot be: two tokens of the same power type are discernible, he claims, only if they are borne by discernible individuals (Audi 2012, 666). In the context of this criticism, he proposes that power tokens are individuated in part by the individuals bearing them. This paper responds to Audi’s criticism and argues against his preferred view. This paper thus establishes a theory of token causal powers where previously the literature contained only a presumed view and Audi’s objections.     

Sequential detection of learning in cognitive diagnosis

In order to look more closely at the many particular skills examinees utilize to answer items, cognitive diagnosis models have received much attention, and perhaps are preferable to item response models that ordinarily involve just one or a few broadly defined skills, when the objective is to hasten learning. If these fine‐grained skills can be identified, a sharpened focus on learning and remediation can be achieved. The focus here is on how to detect when learning has taken place for a particular attribute and efficiently guide a student through a sequence of items to ultimately attain mastery of all attributes while administering as few items as possible. This can be seen as a problem in sequential change‐point detection for which there is a long history and a well‐developed literature. Though some ad hoc rules for determining learning may be used, such as stopping after M consecutive items have been successfully answered, more efficient methods that are optimal under various conditions are available. The CUSUM, Shiryaev–Roberts and Shiryaev procedures can dramatically reduce the time required to detect learning while maintaining rigorous Type I error control, and they are studied in this context through simulation. Future directions for modelling and detection of learning are discussed.     

Gender differences in supervisors’ multidimensional performance ratings: Large sample evidence

We examined gender differences in supervisor ratings of overall job performance and 37 performance dimensions. Based on data from a large, diverse sample of managers (N = 3,367) and nonmanagers (N = 9,670), we found that gender had only minimal effects on ratings for a small number of specific job performance dimensions. This was generally true regardless of whether the job performance dimension was more agentic or communal in nature, whether the job was a managerial or a nonmanagerial position, and regardless of the proportion of men or women that traditionally occupy a specific job. Overall, our results are more consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis than the agency/communion paradigm, role congruity theory, and the lack of fit model. We discuss future research avenues and implications.     

Therapists’ Perspectives of the Cotherapy Experience in a Training Setting

The experience of cotherapy has been sparsely addressed in the literature. This qualitative study’s goals were to explore (a) the usefulness of cotherapy as a training model (b) the impact of cotherapy on services provided; (c) the impact of being trained in a cotherapy model; and (d) factors that both facilitated and hindered the process of cotherapy. The authors conducted a focus group interview with seven participants who graduated from a COAMFTE accredited MFT master’s program. Participants unanimously reported they believed cotherapy impacted client outcomes and training. They also expressed that cotherapists’ unwillingness to address issues within the cotherapy team negatively impacted the cotherapy relationship and client outcomes. Data analysis yielded four main themes, including cotherapy as a vehicle for personal growth, accountability in the cotherapy relationship, need for safety in the cotherapy relationship, and cotherapy team’s need for supervision.     

Interpreting confidence intervals: A comment on Hoekstra,Morey, Rouder,and Wagenmakers (2014)

Hoekstra, Morey, Rouder, and Wagenmakers (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 21(5), 1157–1164 2014) reported the results of a questionnaire designed to assess students’ and researchers’ understanding of confidence intervals (CIs). They interpreted their results as evidence that these groups “have no reliable knowledge about the correct interpretation of CIs” (Hoekstra et al. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 21(5), 1157–1164 2014, p. 1161). We argue that their data do not substantiate this conclusion and that their report includes misleading suggestions about the correct interpretations of confidence intervals.     

A Positive Psychology Intervention for Patients with an Acute Coronary Syndrome: Treatment Development and Proof-of-Concept Trial

Positive psychological constructs are associated with superior outcomes in cardiac patients, but there has been minimal study of positive psychology (PP) interventions in this population. Our objective was to describe the intervention development and pilot testing of an 8-week phone-based PP intervention for patients following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Initial intervention development and single-arm proof-of-concept trial, plus comparison of the PP intervention to a subsequently-recruited treatment as usual (TAU) cohort. PP development utilized existing literature, expert input, and qualitative interview data in ACS patients. In the proof-of-concept trial, the primary outcomes were feasibility and acceptability, measured by rates of exercise completion and participant ratings of exercise ease/utility. Secondary outcomes were pre-post changes in psychological outcomes and TAU comparisons, measured using effect sizes (Cohen’s d). The PP intervention and treatment manual were successfully created. In the proof-of-concept trial, 17/23 PP participants (74 %) completed at least 5 of 8 exercises. Participants rated the ease (M = 7.4/10; SD = 2.1) and utility (M = 8.1/10, SD = 1.6) of PP exercises highly. There were moderate pre-post improvements (ds = .46–.69) in positive affect, anxiety, and depression, but minimal effects on dispositional optimism (d = .08). Compared to TAU participants (n = 22), PP participants demonstrated greater improvements in positive affect, anxiety, and depression (ds = . 47–.71), but not optimism. A PP intervention was feasible, well-accepted, and associated with improvements in most psychological measures among cardiac patients. These results provide support for a larger trial focusing on behavioral outcomes.     

The role of visual imagery in autobiographical memory

Visual imagery plays a fundamental role in autobiographical memory, but several aspects of this role remain unclear. We conducted three experiments to explore this relationship. In the first experiment, we examined the relation between the phenomenological properties of autobiographical memory and several measures of visual-imagery ability. We found no significant positive relation between imagery ability and autobiographical memory, except on a measure of cognitive style. In a second experiment, we examined the autobiographical memories of people with different cognitive styles—namely, visualizers and verbalizers. We found that, for both kinds of participant, visual imagery was correlated with the feeling that they were reliving their memories, but auditory imagery played a greater role in verbalizers. In a third experiment, we examined the memories of individuals who had a congenital absence of visual imagery. We found that they had a deficit of auditory imagery, as well; moreover, they were much less likely than controls to feel as though they were reliving their memories. The results support the idea that visual imagery plays a vital and irreplaceable role in autobiographical recall.     

Nonlinear analyses in sales research: theoretical bases and analytical considerations for polynomial models

Despite theoretical bases that may support nonlinear relationships, there is a relative paucity of studies testing these effects in organisational and behavioural research. Theories hypothesising linear associations among variables in sales research found to have low predictive validity are prime candidates for re-conceptualisation with theories predicting nonlinear relationships. In the sales domain, while nonlinear-oriented theories have been advanced and many nonlinear associations have been explored, myriad additional variables may possess theoretically-based nonlinear relationships with key sales-related outcomes. Further, nonlinear integration can be useful in improving linear analyses involving moderation. The purpose of this article is to expound upon and promote the utilisation of theoretically-driven nonlinear analyses in sales research. In this pursuit, the article delineates the rationale for nonlinear examinations and provides an extensive review of nonlinear research conducted in the extant sales literature. Based on this review, theoretical bases used to support nonlinear hypotheses are advanced and types of polynomial tests are identified. Additionally, guidelines in conducting and interpreting main effect and moderated polynomial analyses are provided along with future research opportunities for nonlinear analyses in sales research.     

The effects of grace interventions in church communities*

Grace remains little studied though several recent studies have developed promising ways to measure grace. Here we report two studies involving grace interventions as part of an ongoing investigation of positive psychology in the context of Christian church communities, Study One used a crossover design in which two congregations were measured on grace and other variables at the outset, and again after phases one and two. One congregation received a grace intervention during phase one and the second during phase two. Results showed increased scores on grace but not an expected increase in marital satisfaction among married participants. Study Two used a similar design with two additional congregations to assess effects of a grace intervention on self-forgiveness. As expected, congregants receiving the grace intervention showed increases in trait self-forgiveness when compared to those in the wait-list.