Misperception of exocentric directions in auditory space

Previous studies have demonstrated large errors (over 30 degrees ) in visually perceived exocentric directions (the direction between two objects that are both displaced from the observer's location; e.g., Philbeck et al. [Philbeck, J. W., Sargent, J., Arthur, J. C., & Dopkins, S. (2008). Large manual pointing errors, but accurate verbal reports, for indications of target azimuth. Perception, 37, 511-534]). Here, we investigated whether a similar pattern occurs in auditory space. Blindfolded participants either attempted to aim a pointer at auditory targets (an exocentric task) or gave a verbal estimate of the egocentric target azimuth. Targets were located at 20-160 degrees azimuth in the right hemispace. For comparison, we also collected pointing and verbal judgments for visual targets. We found that exocentric pointing responses exhibited sizeable undershooting errors, for both auditory and visual targets, that tended to become more strongly negative as azimuth increased (up to -19 degrees for visual targets at 160 degrees ). Verbal estimates of the auditory and visual target azimuths, however, showed a dramatically different pattern, with relatively small overestimations of azimuths in the rear hemispace. At least some of the differences between verbal and pointing responses appear to be due to the frames of reference underlying the responses; when participants used the pointer to reproduce the egocentric target azimuth rather than the exocentric target direction relative to the pointer, the pattern of pointing errors more closely resembled that seen in verbal reports. These results show that there are similar distortions in perceiving exocentric directions in visual and auditory space.     

Real Scenarios and Complementary Lectures: A Classroom Training Approach to Increase Counselor Awareness,Knowledge, and Skill

The purpose of this article is to describe a classroom approach for training counseling students in the area of cross‐cultural competence. The authors describe real scenarios that form the foundation for an intensive classroom discussion and lecture format regarding cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills.     

Employability of Genetic Counselors with a PhD in Genetic Counseling

The development of a PhD in genetic counseling has been discussed for more than 20 years, yet the perspectives of employers have not been assessed. The goal of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the employability of genetic counselors with a PhD in genetic counseling by conducting interviews with United States employers of genetic counselors. Study participants were categorized according to one of the following practice areas: academic, clinical, government, industry, laboratory, or research. All participants were responsible for hiring genetic counselors in their institutions. Of the 30 employers interviewed, 23 envisioned opportunities for individuals with a PhD degree in genetic counseling, particularly in academic and research settings. Performing research and having the ability to be a principal investigator on a grant was the primary role envisioned for these individuals by 22/30 participants. Employers expect individuals with a PhD in genetic counseling to perform different roles than MS genetic counselors with a master's degree. This study suggests there is an employment niche for individuals who have a PhD in genetic counseling that complements, and does not compete with, master's prepared genetic counselors.     

Mechanisms of change in ERP treatment of compulsive hand washing: does primary threat make a difference?

The present study sought to examine patterns of habituation in exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment of compulsive hand washing. Sub-clinical compulsive washers (n=27) with illness or non-illness primary threats were compared in order to detect potential differences in response to a single session of ERP. Changes in anxiety, disgust, and urge to wash were analyzed, and significant reductions in both anxiety and disgust were noted. Urge to wash significantly declined among washers primarily concerned with illness; among those concerned with non-illness threats, urge to wash did not significantly decline. Moreover, anxiety was found to decline when controlling for disgust and vice versa. Lastly, when both anxiety and disgust were entered into a model predicting changes in urge to wash, anxiety but not disgust predicted urge to wash for those with illness-related threats; for washers with non-illness threats, the findings were the reverse. Several clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Age differences in resistance to peer influence

Prior research describes the development of susceptibility to peer pressure in adolescence as following an inverted U-shaped curve, increasing during early adolescence, peaking around age 14, and declining thereafter. This pattern, however, is derived mainly from studies that specifically examined peer pressure to engage in antisocial behavior. In the present study, age differences and developmental change in resistance to peer influence were assessed using a new self-report instrument that separates susceptibility to peer pressure from willingness to engage in antisocial activity. Data from four ethnically and socioeconomically diverse samples comprising more than 3,600 males and females between the ages of 10 and 30 were pooled from one longitudinal and two cross-sectional studies. Results show that across all demographic groups, resistance to peer influences increases linearly between ages 14 and 18. In contrast, there is little evidence for growth in this capacity between ages 10 and 14 or between 18 and 30. Middle adolescence is an especially significant period for the development of the capacity to stand up for what one believes and resist the pressures of one's peers to do otherwise.     

Effects of internet-based voucher reinforcement and a transdermal nicotine patch on cigarette smoking

Nicotine replacement products are commonly used to promote smoking cessation, but alternative and complementary methods may increase cessation rates. The current experiment compared the short-term effects of a transdermal nicotine patch to voucher-based reinforcement of smoking abstinence on cigarette smoking. Fourteen heavy smokers (7 men and 7 women) completed the four 5-day phases of the study: baseline, patch treatment, voucher treatment, and return to baseline. The order of the two treatment phases was counterbalanced across participants. In the patch treatment condition, participants wore a 14-mg transdermal nicotine patch every day. In the voucher treatment condition, participants received vouchers contingent on abstinence from smoking, defined as producing carbon monoxide (CO) readings of < or =4 parts per million. Participants e-mailed two video clips per day showing them breathing into a CO monitor and the resulting CO reading to clinic staff. In the voucher treatment, 24% of samples were negative, and 5% of samples were negative in the patch treatment. Results suggest that contingent vouchers were more effective than transdermal nicotine patches in promoting abstinence.     

Is death really the worm at the core? Converging evidence that worldview threat increases death-thought accessibility

According to terror management theory, if the cultural worldview protects people from thoughts about death, then weakening this structure should increase death-thought accessibility (DTA). Five studies tested this DTA hypothesis. Study 1 showed that threatening Canadian participants' cultural values (vs. those of another culture) increased DTA on a word-fragment completion task. Study 2 showed that when participants could dismiss the threat, DTA remained low. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 1, but DTA was measured using a lexical decision task. Response latencies to death, negative, and neutral content were measured. Worldview threat increased DTA relative to accessibility for negative and neutral content. Study 4 showed that the DTA effect emerged independently of the arousal of anger or anxiety. Finally, Study 5 demonstrated that participants with a pro-creation (vs. pro-evolution) worldview had higher DTA after reading an anti-creation article. Discussion focused on theoretical implications and directions for further research.     

The eureka error: inadvertent plagiarism by misattributions of effort

The authors found that the feeling of authorship for mental actions such as solving problems is enhanced by effort cues experienced during mental activity; misattribution of effort cues resulted in inadvertent plagiarism. Pairs of participants took turns solving anagrams as they exerted effort on an unrelated task. People inadvertently plagiarized their partners' answers more often when they experienced high incidental effort while working on the problem and reduced effort as the solution appeared. This result was found for efforts produced when participants squeezed a handgrip during the task (Experiment 1) or when the anagram was displayed in a font that was difficult to read (Experiments 2, 3a, and 3b). Plagiarism declined, however, when participants attended to the source of the effort cues (Experiments 3a and 3b). These results suggest that effort misattribution can influence authorship processing for mental activities.     

A comparative test of work-family conflict models and critical examination of work-family linkages

This paper is a comprehensive meta-analysis of over 20 years of work-family conflict research. A series of path analyses were conducted to compare and contrast existing work-family conflict models, as well as a new model we developed which integrates and synthesizes current work-family theory and research. This new model accounted for 40% of the variance in job satisfaction, 38% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 35% of the variance in life satisfaction. In a critical examination of work-family linkages, a series of analyses excluding work-family conflict constructs and pathways resulted in a well-fitting and more parsimonious model that still accounted for 39% of the variance in job satisfaction, 37% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 33% of the variance in life satisfaction. Results indicate that direct effects drive work-family conflict models while indirect effects provide little incremental explanation in regards to satisfaction outcomes.     

Does prior exposure to interpersonal violence increase risk of PTSD following subsequent exposure?

Research has generally found a “dose relationship” between potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and the likelihood of developing PTSD, with greater number of events associated with greater likelihood. Most of these studies have been cross-sectional, however. A recent prospective study (Breslau, Peterson, & Schultz, 2008) found that PTSD response to prior potentially traumatic event (PTE) exposure, rather than prior exposure itself, acts as a risk factor for PTSD in response to subsequent PTE; however, this analysis combined many different types of events, and the unique contribution of specific events (e.g., assault) that may be associated with differential risk of PTSD was indeterminable. The present study examined the effects of cumulative PTE exposure prospectively using a two-wave design in the National Survey of Adolescents (N = 1703). History of assault and witnessing serious violence were the focal PTEs examined. Wave I assault without PTSD was found to predict PTSD at Wave II following exposure to new assault or witnessed violence; however, among those without prior PTSD, Wave I witnessed violence did not increase risk of subsequent PTSD following exposure.