Evaluation of a behaviour analysis and treatment of progressive myoclonus epilepsy, type Unverricht-Lundborg: a case study

This case study evaluates the clinical effectiveness of a psychological treatment within a behaviour medicine approach to epilepsy of a subject with progressive myoclonic epilepsy. The pattern of seizure behaviour was identified in the behaviour analysis. Self-management skills were taught to the client and in vivo exposure was subsequently used in a desensitization process. The main findings in this study were that the debilitating effects of the myclonic jerks can be reduced and functioning level improved when fear of seizures is reduced. These results indicate that psychological treatment can increase the level of functioning in clients with progressive myoclonic epilepsy.     

Asymmetries in the processing of emotionally valenced words

Earlier research has shown a valence dependent encoding asymmetry of emotional words (e.g., Pratto & John, 1991; White, 1996; Stenberg, Wiking & Dahl, 1998). To further study this asymmetry, two word detection experiments were performed based on the following hypothesis: when there is a more thoroughly processing of the valence, in this case a valence categorisation, there will be, in a subsequent task, prolonged latencies for negative words, compared to positive words. The result gave significantly prolonged response latencies for negative words compared to positive ones in the subsequent detection task when using an affective orienting task, something not found using a non-affective orienting task. The results support the Mobilization-Minimization hypothesis (Taylor, 1991), according to which negative events and stimuli occupy more cognitive resources, but with some limitation: the affective asymmetry, with prolonged latencies for negative words, occurs only when there is a deepened encoding of the affective component of the words.     

A machine learning approach to infant distress calls and maternal behaviour of wild chimpanzees

Animal Cognition - Distress calls are an acoustically variable group of vocalizations ubiquitous in mammals and other animals. Their presumed function is to recruit help, but there has been much...     

Entitativity and social identity complexity: The relationship between group characteristics and personal characteristics on group identification

The current study extends previous works on group identification by focusing on how social identity complexity and entitativity interact to impact group identification. The purpose of the current study is to test the hypothesis that people with a simple social identity identify more strongly with a highly entitative group and people with complex social identity identify more strongly with a group low in entitativity. Participants’ social identity complexity and entitativity about a group were manipulated, and with that group was measured. Results demonstrated that participants primed with a simple social identity identified more strongly with a more highly entitative group, whereas identification with the high and low entitativity groups did not differ for participants primed with a complex social identity.     

In search of meaning: values in modern clinical behavior analysis

Skinner described behavior analysis as the field of values and purpose. However, he defined these concepts in terms of a history of reinforcement and failed to specify whether and how human and nonhuman values might differ. Human values have been seen as theoretically central within a number of nonbehavioral traditions in psychology, including humanism and positive psychology. However, these approaches have failed to provide explanations of the behavior-environment relations involved in valuing that might allow prediction and influence with respect to this phenomenon. Modern clinical behavior analysis in the form of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), however, succeeds in providing a functional definition of human values that meets this latter criterion. ACT is rooted in behavior analysis and relational frame theory (RFT) and defines values in terms of verbally established motivation. ACT empirical research into values has begun to blossom in recent years, and ACT-RFT researchers are currently investigating the concept at the most basic empirical level as well as in the applied clinical arena, heralding new interest in and insight into values within clinical behavioral psychology.     

Reward-related brain function as a predictor of treatment response in adolescents with major depressive disorder

The present study provides preliminary evidence that pretreatment reward-related brain function in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) could have relevance for predicting both final level and rate of change of clinical characteristics in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Adolescents with depression underwent a functional MRI scan during a monetary reward task, participated in an 8-week open trial of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or CBT plus selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and completed reports of anxiety and depressive symptoms before, during, and after treatment. Clinicians rated adolescents’ improvement and severity at the same time points. Growth models were used to examine change in clinical characteristics and its association with brain function. Severity, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms decreased over treatment. Final levels of severity and anxiety symptoms were associated with pretreatment striatal reactivity, and rate of anxiety symptom reduction was associated with greater striatal reactivity and lower medial PFC reactivity.     

Predictors of Racial Prejudice in White American Counseling Students

This study extends the research on racial prejudice by combining previously identified predictors into 1 study to determine their relative importance in contributing to racial prejudice. Results revealed that White racial identity significantly predicted racial prejudice when demographic variables were controlled. Implications of reducing racial prejudice of White American counseling students are discussed. Este estudio extiende la investigación sobre el prejuicio racial combinando pronosticadores previamente identificados en 1 estudio para determinar su importancia relativa a contribuir al prejuicio racial. Los resultados revelaron que la identidad racial Blanca apreciablemente predijo el prejuicio racial cuando los variables demográficas son controladas. Las implicaciones para reducir el prejuicio racial de estudiantes Americano Blanco que aconsejan es discutido.     

To Be or Not Be? The Influence of Dissociative Reference Groups on Consumer Preferences

The current research explores the effects of dissociative reference groups on consumer preferences. Males had more negative evaluations of, and were less inclined to choose, a product associated with a dissociative (i.e., female) reference group than a neutral product (Study 1). This finding was moderated by whether the product was consumed in public or private (Study 2) and public self‐consciousness (Study 3). We suggest the mechanism underlying our effects is a desire to present a positive self‐image to others. The role of dissociative reference groups in marketing communications is discussed.