Experiences in virtual reality entail different processes of retrieval as opposed to conventional laboratory settings: A study on human memory

Current Psychology - Recently, it has been claimed that real-life, autobiographical events are processed differently compared to conventional laboratory events. Virtual reality might bridge the gap...     

The Challenge of Autism for Relational Approaches to Theological Anthropology

In this paper, I argue that autism places an important restraint upon the use of relationality in theological anthropology. This argument proceeds by outlining how the appropriation of dialectic personalism, which initiated ‘the relational turn’ in twentieth century theological anthropology, has struggled to escape the capacity or property‐based focus on individual subjects. As such, this relational account remains discriminatory against those who do not or cannot enact a particular kind of relationality, as some models of autism suggest. Moreover, attention to interpersonal relationships as a key human capacity within twentieth century theological anthropology closely parallels and may even have informed the development of autism within psychology as, in part, a social impairment. The devastating collision of these two intellectual trajectories is made apparent in explicit references by contemporary theologians to autism as a condition that prevents some humans from bearing the image of God, developing fully into persons, or receiving God’s grace by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.     

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Version of the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS)

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Distress tolerance represents the capacity to bear and manage negative psychological states associated with distress. Low distress tolerance...     

Hazard function effects on promoting self-control in variable interval time-based interventions in rats

The present experiments investigated properties of time-based interventions used to increase self-control. Rats received impulsive-choice assessments before and after interventions that consisted of different distributions of delays to reinforcement. In Experiment 1, rats received an intervention with an increasing hazard function where delays were more evenly distributed, a decreasing hazard function where delays were mostly short, or a constant hazard function where delays were exponentially distributed. Surprisingly, rats that received the decreasing hazard function made the most self-controlled choices. Response rates during intervention trials showed that rats anticipated reinforcement based on the shape of the distributions they received. In Experiment 2, rats received an intervention with a decreasing hazard function with a steep slope or a shallow slope. Both time-based interventions increased self-control and produced similar response-rate patterns, indicating that the slope of the decreasing hazard function may not play a strong role in intervention efficacy. While this research aligns with previous literature showing that time-based interventions improved self-control, exposure to short delays produced the biggest improvements. Ultimately, exposure to short delays may increase the subjective value of the larger–later choice while occasional long delays may promote the ability to wait, which may have important implications for translational applications.     

A Taxometric Analysis of Experiential Avoidance

Experiential avoidance, a trait-like construct referring to the tendency to rigidly avoid or change unpleasant internal experiences stemming from an unwillingness to experience them, is believed to contribute to the development and maintenance of various forms of psychopathology. Despite significant research on this construct, it remains unclear whether experiential avoidance is dimensional or categorical at the latent level. The current study examined the latent structure of experiential avoidance using three taxometric analytic approaches (MAXimum Eigenvalue, Mean Above Minus Below A Curve, Latent-Mode Factor Analysis) applied to data from two independent samples and using three widely used measures of experiential avoidance. The first sample (n = 922) completed the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (Gámez, Chmielewski, Kotov, Ruggero, & Watson, 2011), while the second sample (n = 615) completed the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (Gámez et al., 2014) and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (Bond et al., 2011). Across both samples and all three measures, experiential avoidance exhibited a dimensional structure. The clinical and research implications of this finding for experiential avoidance are discussed.     

Longitudinal treatment mediation of traditional cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety disorders

ObjectiveTo assess the relationship between session-by-session putative mediators and treatment outcomes in traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for mixed anxiety disorders.MethodSession-by-session changes in anxiety sensitivity and cognitive defusion were assessed in 67 adult outpatients randomized to CBT (n = 35) or ACT (n = 32) for a DSM-IV anxiety disorder.ResultsMultilevel mediation analyses revealed significant changes in the proposed mediators during both treatments (p < .001, d = .90–1.93), with ACT showing borderline greater improvements than CBT in cognitive defusion (p = .05, d = .82). Anxiety sensitivity and cognitive defusion both significantly mediated post-treatment worry; cognitive defusion more strongly predicted worry reductions in CBT than in ACT. In addition, cognitive defusion significantly mediated quality of life, behavioral avoidance, and (secondary) depression outcomes across both CBT and ACT (p < .05, R² change = .06–.13), whereas anxiety sensitivity did not significantly mediate other outcomes.ConclusionsCognitive defusion represents an important source of therapeutic change across both CBT and ACT. The data offered little evidence for substantially distinct treatment-related mediation pathways.     

The BlackBerry project: capturing the content of adolescents' text messaging

This article presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents' electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, e-mail, and instant messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid for by the investigators, and use of text messaging was examined when participants were 15 years old and in the 10th grade (N = 175; 81 girls). BlackBerries were configured so that the content of all text messages, e-mail messages, and instant messages was saved to a secure server and organized in a highly secure, searchable, online archive. This article describes the technology used to devise this method and ethical considerations. Evidence for validity is presented, including both information on use of text messaging to show that participants used these devices heavily and frequencies of profane and sexual language in a 2-day sample of text messaging to demonstrate that they were communicating openly.     

Is the Narcissistic Personality Inventory still relevant? A test of independent grandiosity and entitlement scales in the assessment of narcissism

Some scholars have called for the replacement of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) with more narrow scales measuring grandiosity and entitlement instead. In the current study, the authors examined the relations among the NPI and measures of grandiosity and entitlement, as well as in relation to a measure of the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The NPI manifested significant correlations with the alternative scales of entitlement and grandiosity and relatively similar patterns of correlations with the FFM traits. Of note, the NPI manifested significant incremental validity in the prediction of several FFM traits that are central to the conceptualization of narcissism. These findings suggest that some caution must be used before assuming that these lower-order scales can be used to replace the NPI in the assessment of narcissism.     

Religion,Spirituality, and Marriage and Family Therapy: A Study of Family Therapists' Beliefs about the Appropriateness of Addressing Religious and Spiritual Issues in Therapy

For many years the literature in the field of family therapy was silent as to the religious and spiritual aspects of clients' lives. During the past five years, however, many voices have come forth calling attention to the importance of bringing spirituality and religion into our conversations with clients. The result of these new voices has been a significant increase in attention to spirituality in journal articles, books, and presentations at national conferences. While there appears to be a strong movement in favor of bringing spirituality and religion into the therapy room, there have been no published studies in marriage and family therapy journals that explore marriage and family therapists' beliefs about the appropriateness of addressing spiritual issues in therapy. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap in the literature by examining the beliefs of a random sample of clinical members of AAMFT in respect to this issue.