Count out your intrusions: Effects of verbal encoding on intrusive memories

Peri-traumatic information processing is thought to affect the development of intrusive trauma memories. This study aimed to replicate and improve the study by Holmes, Brewin, and Hennessy (2004, Exp. 3) on the role of peri-traumatic verbal processing in analogue traumatic intrusion development. Participants viewed an aversive film under one of three conditions: counting backwards in 3s (“verbal interference”), verbalising emotions and thoughts (“verbal enhancement”), or without an extra task. A dual-process account of PTSD would predict that verbal interference would increase intrusion frequency compared to no task, whereas verbal enhancement would lead to a decrease. In contrast, mainstream memory theory predicts a decrease in intrusion frequency from any concurrent task that diverts attention away from the trauma film. The main finding was that the verbal interference task led to a decrease in intrusive memories of the film compared to the other two conditions. This finding does not support a dual-process account of PTSD, but is in line with general theories of memory and attention.     

The effects of action,normality, and decision carefulness on anticipated regret: Evidence for a broad mediating role of decision justifiability

Two distinct theoretical views explain the effects of action/inaction and social normality on anticipated regret. Norm theory (Kahneman & Miller, 1986) emphasises the role of decision mutability, the ease with which one can imagine having made a different choice. Decision justification theory (Connolly & Zeelenberg, 2002) highlights the role of decision justifiability, the perception that the choice was made on a defensible basis, supported by convincing arguments or using a thoughtful, comprehensive decision process. The present paper tests several contrasting predictions from the two theoretical approaches in a series of four studies. Study 1 replicated earlier findings showing greater anticipated regret when the chosen option was abnormal than when it was normal, and perceived justifiability mediated the effect. Study 2 showed that anticipated regret was higher for careless than for careful decisions. Study 3 replicated this finding for a sample holding a different social norm towards the focal decision. Finally, Study 4 found that, when decision carefulness, normality and action/inaction were all specified, only the former showed a significant effect on anticipated regret, and the effect was again mediated by perceived justifiability. Decision justification theory thus appears to provide a better account of anticipated regret intensity in this context than does norm theory.     

Implicit evaluation bias induced by approach and avoidance

We report a study in which faces with a neutral emotional expression were shown on a computer screen. By means of a joystick, participants pulled half of the faces closer (positive approach movement), and pushed the half away (negative avoidance movement). As a result, an operant evaluative conditioning effect occurred in a subsequent affective priming task: Participants responded more quickly to positive target words if they were preceded by a previously pulled face than a pushed face, and vice versa for negative target words. The effect became stronger the more often the faces had been trained to approach or to avoid. No effect was observed on explicit evaluations of the faces: Pushed faces were rated as sympathetic as pulled ones.     

Attentional and behavioural responses of spider fearfuls to virtual spiders

This study employed an immersed virtual environment (IVE) in the Nijmegen RIVERlab to study spider fearfuls’ attentional and motor reactions to virtual spiders. The participants were exposed to virtual spiders while completing an unrelated task, walking freely through a virtual museum. Compared to non-fearful controls, spider fearfuls showed an increase in state anxiety, they spent more time looking at spiders, and they exhibited spontaneous behavioural avoidance of spiders and visually similar objects. The results extend, and to some degree contradict, those of earlier studies with static pictures, and they speak to the usefulness of state-of-the-art IVEs in fundamental anxiety research.     

Disbelief and Christonomy of the World1

In recent years, the debate on the relation between religion and politics has attracted renewed attention. One of the reasons is a new awareness of the significance of religious sources for moral and political convictions. Within Western theology and philosophy this may cause a certain tension to a secular view on autonomy. In the ethics of Dietrich Bonhoeffer it is, however, possible to find a notion of Christonomy that exceeds this tension by maintaining the insights of the claim of autonomy and yet qualifying this in a specific Christological sense. Bonhoeffer's view on Christonomy may therefore serve as a basis for a common ground of moral deliberation and yet point to a qualification of this common ground that moves beyond a separation of the worldly and the Christian.     

Affective and health-related outcome expectancies for physical activity in older adults

This study tests the effects of affective and health-related outcome expectancies on physical exercise, assuming stronger direct and indirect (via intention) effects from affective outcome expectancy to physical exercise than from health-related outcome expectancy to exercise. Physical exercise and social cognitive variables were assessed at baseline, and 6- and 12-month follow-up in 335 older adults (60–95 years of age). Applying structural equation modelling, there was a direct effect from affective, but not from health-related outcome expectancy on intentions and behaviour. Also, the indirect effect from self-efficacy on physical exercise via affective outcome expectancy was significant, whereas the mediation via health-related outcome expectancy was not. These findings emphasise the relative importance of affective versus health-related outcome expectancies in predicting intentions and physical exercise in older adults and highlight the importance to separate these facets at a conceptual level to enhance both theory development and health promotion.     

Computer-Assisted Therapies: Examination of Therapist-Level Barriers to Their Use

Despite enthusiasm in the field for their potential ease of dissemination, little work has examined whether practicing clinicians are willing and able to use computer-assisted therapies (i.e., computerized treatments designed to be administered with therapist support). For therapists to use these tools, they require access to computer equipment, the skills needed to use the equipment, and willingness to adopt the technology in treatment. This study examined these three factors using survey data from a national sample of mental health clinicians (N = 1,067). Respondents reported on their access to technology and computer fluency, in addition to completing the Computer-Assisted Therapy Attitudes Scale (CATAS), a measure of therapist attitudes designed for this study. Overall, the majority of therapists (90.7%) reported access to at least one computer at work and self-reported computer fluency levels were high. On average, therapists held positive attitudes towards computer-assisted therapies, although expressed concern that these technologies might damage rapport and did not feel that these technologies would improve treatment outcomes. Predictors of positive attitudes included greater general openness toward new treatments, greater comfort with computers, and easier access to technology at work (all ps < .01). Results suggested that, on the whole, therapists may be likely to integrate computer-assisted therapies into their clinical practice. However, therapists vary both in their ability and willingness to use these tools. Implications for the dissemination of computer-assisted therapies are discussed.     

Seriousness checks are useful to improve data validity in online research

Nonserious answering behavior increases noise and reduces experimental power; it is therefore one of the most important threats to the validity of online research. A simple way to address the problem is to ask respondents about the seriousness of their participation and to exclude self-declared nonserious participants from analysis. To validate this approach, a survey was conducted in the week prior to the German 2009 federal election to the Bundestag. Serious participants answered a number of attitudinal and behavioral questions in a more consistent and predictively valid manner than did nonserious participants. We therefore recommend routinely employing seriousness checks in online surveys to improve data validity.     

Predictors of Response and Mechanisms of Change in an Organizational Skills Intervention for Students with ADHD

The purpose of the study was to evaluate predictors of response and mechanisms of change for the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention for middle school students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Twenty-three middle school students with ADHD (grades 6–8) received the HOPS intervention implemented by school mental health providers and made significant improvements in parent-rated materials organization and planning skills, impairment due to organizational skills problems, and homework problems. Predictors of response examined included demographic and child characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity, intelligence, ADHD and ODD symptom severity, and ADHD medication use. Mechanisms of change examined included the therapeutic alliance and adoption of the organization and planning skills taught during the HOPS intervention. Participant implementation of the HOPS binder materials organization system and the therapeutic alliance as rated by the student significantly predicted post-intervention outcomes after controlling for pre-intervention severity. Adoption of the binder materials organization system predicted parent-rated improvements in organization, planning, and homework problems above and beyond the impact of the therapeutic alliance. These findings demonstrate the importance of teaching students with ADHD to use a structured binder organization system for organizing and filing homework and classwork materials and for transferring work to and from school.     

Supporting Universal Prevention Programs: A Two-Phased Coaching Model

Schools are adopting evidence-based programs designed to enhance students’ emotional and behavioral competencies at increasing rates (Hemmeter et al. in Early Child Res Q 26:96–109, 2011). At the same time, teachers express the need for increased support surrounding implementation of these evidence-based programs (Carter and Van Norman in Early Child Educ 38:279–288, 2010). Ongoing professional development in the form of coaching may enhance teacher skills and implementation (Noell et al. in School Psychol Rev 34:87–106, 2005; Stormont et al. 2012). There exists a need for a coaching model that can be applied to a variety of teacher skill levels and one that guides coach decision-making about how best to support teachers. This article provides a detailed account of a two-phased coaching model with empirical support developed and tested with coaches and teachers in urban schools (Becker et al. 2013). In the initial universal coaching phase, all teachers receive the same coaching elements regardless of their skill level. Then, in the tailored coaching phase, coaching varies according to the strengths and needs of each teacher. Specifically, more intensive coaching strategies are used only with teachers who need additional coaching supports, whereas other teachers receive just enough support to consolidate and maintain their strong implementation. Examples of how coaches used the two-phased coaching model when working with teachers who were implementing two universal prevention programs (i.e., the PATHS^® curriculum and PAX Good Behavior Game [PAX GBG]) provide illustrations of the application of this model. The potential reach of this coaching model extends to other school-based programs as well as other settings in which coaches partner with interventionists to implement evidence-based programs.