Non‐Bayesian Noun Generalization in 3‐ to 5‐Year‐Old Children: Probing the Role of Prior Knowledge in the Suspicious Coincidence Effect

It is unclear how children learn labels for multiple overlapping categories such as “Labrador,” “dog,” and “animal.” Xu and Tenenbaum (2007a) suggested that learners infer correct meanings with the help of Bayesian inference. They instantiated these claims in a Bayesian model, which they tested with preschoolers and adults. Here, we report data testing a developmental prediction of the Bayesian model—that more knowledge should lead to narrower category inferences when presented with multiple subordinate exemplars. Two experiments did not support this prediction. Children with more category knowledge showed broader generalization when presented with multiple subordinate exemplars, compared to less knowledgeable children and adults. This implies a U‐shaped developmental trend. The Bayesian model was not able to account for these data, even with inputs that reflected the similarity judgments of children. We discuss implications for the Bayesian model, including a combined Bayesian/morphological knowledge account that could explain the demonstrated U‐shaped trend.     

Religiosity, self-control, and virginity status in college students from the “Bible Belt”: a research note

Using a sample of college students (N = 904) from the "Bible Belt," this study examines the effect of religiosity and self-control on late adolescents' delay in initiating sexual intercourse or oral sex. Findings from logistic regressions provide evidence that for each one unit increase in self-control, the odds of a male remaining a virgin or of delaying oral sex increased by a factor of 1.82 and 2.84, respectively, while for females, the odds of not engaging in oral sex increased by a factor of 1.67. In addition to the effect of self-control, a one unit increase in religiosity results in the odds of a male remaining a virgin by a factor of 3.86 and 3.30, respectively. For females the odds are increased by a factor of 4.13 and 2.60, respectively. Mediation tests also provided evidence that self-control mediated the effects by religiosity on both dependent measures. Thus, both religiosity and self-control independently and additively function as key social control mechanisms that promote late adolescent health.     

Applied Roles and the Future of Community Psychology

The roles for community psychologists have changed over the past several decades. These changes have implications for training, traditional academic roles, and the capacity of the field to maintain its integrity and further development. Changes in the scope of community psychology as a field as well as the roles of community psychologists are described with consideration of how they may affect participation in the field, retention of membership in SCRA, and potential directions for training.     

Empathy as dialectic imagination

Abstract

The importance of relationship processes for humanistic and psychodynamic therapists makes empathy a critical concept in psychotherapy. Experimental work suggests that learning occurs only when the subject is actively and cooperatively engaged in the learning process. Similarly, psychotherapy is only effective when the client is willingly active in the therapeutic process. A crucial aspect of the therapist's activity is empathic imagination, defined here as the use of “dialectic” thinking capacities‐the recognition of conceptual alternatives in a given situation. These processes are at the heart of a humanistic view of agency. The therapist's use of this capacity allows imaginative projection into aspects of the client's experience, helping the client to feel understood in the relationship and emboldened to consider new possibilities in life.     

Parental Responses to School-aged Children’s Sibling Conflict

The goals of this study were: (1) to describe and compare parental responses to school-aged siblings’ conflicts; (2) to explore the sibling relationship structural correlates of the parental responses; and (3) to assess the links between type of parental response and sibling relationship quality and children’s psychosocial and physical well being. One parent from eighty-two families (mothers = 68; fathers = 13; 1 missing) of firstborn (Mage = 9.84 years old) and secondborn (Mage = 7.16 years old) children completed an anonymous survey. Parents employed a child-centered strategy most often and sanctioned sibling aggression least often in response to siblings’ conflicts. Closer age spacing among siblings was related to parents’ sanction of physical aggression. Parental response type was associated with sibling relationship quality and children’s psychosocial and physical well being. The differential associations between parental response type, sibling experiences and children’s mental and physical well being are discussed.     

Treatment approaches for sleep difficulties in college students

College students face many challenges and live experiences that may lead to sleep difficulties, including: varied and changing schedules, repeated deadlines, increased freedom and self-responsibility, and group living arrangements, to name but a few. A high frequency of sleep difficulties is commonly reported among college student and others who encounter similar life experiences. The prevalence of sleep difficulties is explored and a rationale provided for treatment. It is suggested that interventionists need to consider the impact of sleep difficulties on their clients' immediate and long-term functioning. To help psychologists, counsellors, and therapists better ameliorate sleep problems a number of proven techniques are reviewed which are applicable to individuals in both clinical and non-clinical settings.     

Therapist responses to requests for disclosure of therapeutic records: An introductory study

This paper describes a questionnaire survey of therapists in the UK who have been subject to requests for disclosure of client records as part of a legal process. Therapist responses are outlined in terms of the perceived effect of such disclosure on the client, therapist and the therapeutic relationship. Negative effects included the experience of exposure of sensitive client material in an adversarial legal system, of powerful emotional responses by therapists, and a sense of feeling professionally de‐skilled in an unfamiliar and often challenging legal environment. Positive effects for the client included the achievement of valued outcomes such as compensation, and, for the therapist, the facilitation of support for the client in this process. These findings are discussed in terms of a contrast between therapist perceptions of consensual and contested disclosure. In the former, therapist and client are in agreement about the restorative value and outcome of disclosure. In contested disclosure, the process is experienced as disrupting therapeutic privacy, undermining professional self‐confidence and introducing an unwelcome element of critical re‐evaluation of client motives for undertaking therapy.