How contact shapes implicit and explicit preferences: attitudes toward Roma children in inclusive and non‐inclusive environment

In two studies, the authors examined the effects of intergroup contact in inclusive and non‐inclusive environments on children's explicit and implicit prejudices. In both studies, supervised contact with Roma peers, instructed by inclusive program, led to a more positive explicit evaluation of Roma and less social distance, while it had no significant impact on implicit attitudes. In contrast, implicit attitudes were related to mere exposure to Roma (Study 2). Intergroup anxiety and self‐disclosure mediated the effect of inclusiveness level on explicit, but not on implicit attitudes. The results indicate that two types of attitudes might be formed via different routes, and that mere exposure and supervised contact influence them differently. This information could help tailor future prejudice reduction programs.     

Commentary: Using Potential Outcomes to Understand Causal Mediation Analysis

In this commentary, we demonstrate how the potential outcomes framework can help understand the key identification assumptions underlying causal mediation analysis. We show that this framework can lead to the development of alternative research design and statistical analysis strategies applicable to the longitudinal data settings considered by Maxwell, Cole, and Mitchell (2011).     

The first to know: A systemic analysis of confidentiality and the therapist's family

Abstract

One of the most common yet unrecognized breaches of confidentiality occurs when family therapists share confidential information with their own families. For many therapists, the boundaries between professional and private seem unclear, especially pertaining to disclosing clients' confidential information. Therapists are encouraged to examine their own practices concerning sharing confidential information with their families. Therapists' families have their own rules, patterns, boundary issues, and power struggles which affect therapists' behaviors. Therapists can discuss this issue with their families and develop postures that insure clients' privacy.     

Variability and standardized test profiles in typically developing children and children with Williams Syndrome

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder, which due to its specific cognitive profile, has been of interest to multidisciplinary research in order to study the pathways between cognition, brain, and genes. Previous studies investigating individual performance on cognitive tasks have reported large variability within the WS cognitive profile, which has encouraged the investigation of WS subgroups. The current study compared the variability in performance scores on five verbal and non‐verbal standardized tests in 33 children with WS and in 33 typically developing (TD) children of a similar chronological age (CA). In contrast to previous studies, the current study did not find significant differences in variability in performance on British Picture Vocabulary scale, Test Reception of Grammar and Digit span Forward between WS and TD groups when CA was controlled for. However, there was significantly less variability in younger WS participants for performance scores on Pattern Construction compared to the TD group. In light of these results, methodological issues and the importance of taking CA into account in analyses will be discussed.     

Stigma and beliefs of efficacy towards traditional Chinese medicine and Western psychiatric treatment among Chinese-Americans

In this study we examined community attitudes of efficacy and shame to investigate the factors that may underlie mental health service underutilization among Chinese Americans. We administered an experimental vignette to assess beliefs of efficacy and shame toward using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as opposed to Western health services in a sample of 90 Chinese Americans obtained through a national telephone survey. Contrary to predictions, beliefs of efficacy for treating mental disorders were found to be greater for Western psychiatric services when compared with TCM. As predicted however, Chinese Americans perceived greater community attitudes of shame when accessing Western psychiatric services as opposed to TCM to treat a mental disorder. Furthermore, these differences in community attitudes of shame only occurred among respondents who received a psychiatric condition vignette, but not with respondents who were administered a vignette of a physical disorder. These findings suggest that perceived shame may play an important role in help seeking and that integration of TCM with Western psychiatric care may have implications for reducing shame for Chinese Americans.     

Heterogeneous inhibition processes involved in different facets of self-reported impulsivity: evidence from a community sample

Whiteside and Lynam (Whiteside, S. P., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). The Five Factor Model and impulsivity: Using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 669-689) clarified the multifaceted nature of impulsivity by identifying four distinct facets of self-reported impulsive behaviors: urgency, (lack of) premeditation, (lack of) perseverance, and sensation seeking. Building on work by Bechara and Van der Linden (Bechara, A., & Van der Linden, M. (2005). Decision-making and impulse control after frontal lobe injuries. Current Opinion in Neurology, 18, 734-739), the main objective of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that perseverance and urgency map onto the two distinct inhibitory functions distinguished by Friedman and Miyake (Friedman, N. P., & Miyake, A. (2004). The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: A latent-variable analysis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 101-135): prepotent response inhibition and resistance to proactive interference. Participants (N = 126) completed the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale and three tasks: a recent-negatives task to assess proactive interference in working memory, and two Go/No-Go tasks at different paces, the slower of which also assessed task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs). Consistent with the hypothesis, TUTs were positively correlated with lack of perseverance, and multiple regressions revealed that urgency was specifically related to errors in prepotent response inhibition, and lack of perseverance to errors due to difficulties overcoming proactive interference.     

Rational model and justification model in ‘outcome bias’

The authors of this study suggest that the harm‐punishment link (‘outcome bias’) can be explained by the activation of different judgment processes depending on the outcome severity of an offense: (1) a rational model for mild outcomes in which punishment is necessarily linked to responsibility of the perpetrator; (2) a justification model for severe outcomes in which punishment and responsibility are linked only when assessment order allows the latter to rationalize the former. Participants (126 university students) considered an unintentional road accident with mild or severe outcomes and made judgments of responsibility, punishment, and perceived seriousness of the offense. The results support the authors' hypothesis. In the discussion, the authors suggest different motives of punishment (preventive or compensative justice) which explain why responsibility and punishment are not necessarily linked. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.