Temporal reproductions are influenced by an internal reference: Explaining the Vierordt effect

Several findings from duration perception literature suggest that when making decisions about time, participants rely on an internal reference memory for time rather than merely on the current physical stimuli. According to a recent account, such an internal reference is formed by a continuous dynamic updating process that integrates duration information from previous trials and the current trial. In the present work, we show how such a dynamic mechanism can account for the classical yet unresolved Vierordt effect, which refers to the overestimation of relatively short and the underestimation of relatively long temporal intervals. We conducted an experiment to examine this and related predictions by means of a temporal reproduction task. Specifically, participants were presented with two successive time intervals — a standard s with constant duration and a comparison c with variable duration. Instead of performing a comparison judgment, however, the participants were subsequently cued to reproduce one of the two presented stimuli. Reproductions were affected not only by the temporal position of the to-be-reproduced stimulus, but also by the stimuli presented on earlier trials. These results support the notion of a dynamically updated internal reference underlying our judgments about the time elapsed, which might also be the basis of the Vierordt effect.     

Possible competences to be aimed at in ethics education – Ethical competences highlighted in educational research journals

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present varieties of ethical competence that are highlighted in ethics and moral education research articles, and to discuss them in the light of competences stressed in the Swedish curriculum, understood as an example of ethics education in compulsory school. The material consists of 1,940 educational research articles published between 2000 and 2015, and the method of analysis is inductive, focusing on ethical competence. One finding is the similarity between the study’s tentative formulation of identified ethical competences in four categories, and Rest’s understanding of acting morally, captured in the four components: sensitivity, judgement, motivation and implementation. Based on the analysis of the articles, broader understandings of these focuses are developed, and later discussed in relation to Swedish ethics education, characterised as both a conservative and liberal values education. The analyses and comparison show the importance of the components of moral sensitivity and moral implementation and their relative absence in the Swedish curriculum, but also how moral judgement must include a competence to evaluate moral motivations, where empirically testable reasons are also central. Moreover, the risk of neglecting contextual, situational and knowledge-related aspects of ethical competence is highlighted.     

Increased skills usage statistically mediates symptom reduction in self-guided internet-delivered cognitive–behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety: a randomised controlled trial

Cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for clinical and subclinical symptoms of depression and general anxiety, and increases life satisfaction. Patients’ usage of CBT skills is a core aspect of treatment but there is insufficient empirical evidence suggesting that skills usage behaviours are a mechanism of clinical change. This study investigated if an internet-delivered CBT (iCBT) intervention increased the frequency of CBT skills usage behaviours and if this statistically mediated reductions in symptoms and increased life satisfaction. A two-group randomised controlled trial was conducted comparing internet-delivered CBT (n = 65) with a waitlist control group (n = 75). Participants were individuals experiencing clinically significant symptoms of depression or general anxiety. Mixed-linear models analyses revealed that the treatment group reported a significantly higher frequency of skills usage, lower symptoms, and higher life satisfaction by the end of treatment compared with the control group. Results from bootstrapping mediation analyses revealed that the increased skills usage behaviours statistically mediated symptom reductions and increased life satisfaction. Although skills usage and symptom outcomes were assessed concurrently, these findings support the notion that iCBT increases the frequency of skills usage behaviours and suggest that this may be an important mechanism of change.     

Aggression Predicts Changes in Peer Victimization that Vary by Form and Function

Peer victimization is predictive of serious problems in adjustment, especially among children who are both victimized and aggressive. This study investigated how different types of aggression contribute to later victimization. Specifically, we examined prospective relationships between the types of aggression that children perpetrated and the types that they experienced at the hands of others. Trained observers coded schoolyard behavior of 553 children in grades 3–6 during the initial year of a bullying intervention program. Both observed aggression and victimization were specified by form (direct, indirect) and function (proactive, reactive). Total hourly rates of victimization were highest in the upper grades. Direct-reactive aggression uniquely predicted increases in victimization, while direct-proactive aggression predicted decreases, particularly in direct-proactive victimization. Indirect-proactive aggression (e.g., derogatory gossip) predicted increases in indirect-proactive victimization only in the control group. Indirect-reactive aggression and victimization occurred too rarely to detect change. Aggression-victimization relationships did not differ for boys and girls. Discussion considers why children might risk direct reactive aggression in the face of increased victimization. Different sequelae for different forms and functions of aggression highlight the need to resolve theoretical ambiguities in defining proactive and reactive aggression.     

Gegenübertragung im stationären Therapie-Setting

Background

Countertransference is seen as an instrument of research into a patient’s unconscious and is therapeutically useful in furthering psychodynamic work. For inpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy, where patients are treated by a team of psychotherapists, countertransference is much more complex and makes consideration and integration of different countertransference feelings necessary. Using the first German translation of the countertransference questionnaire (CTQ, Zittel Conclin and Westen, the countertransference questionnaire, 2005) an attempt was made to identify differences in countertransference phenomena in a team of psychotherapists and to show the impact countertransference has on therapy outcome.

Materials and methods

A total of t multiprofessional teams of psychotherapists (15 physicians, 5 psychologists and 9 body and art therapy psychotherapists) took part in the study and completed the CTQ for 137 patients (100 female, 37 male) at the beginning and at the end of inpatient psychotherapy. In addition, the patients completed two questionnaires, the Symptom Check List Revised 90-R (SCL-90) for the severity of symptoms and the Assessment of DSM-IV Personality Disorders Questionnaire (ADP-IV) for personality disorders.

Results

Body and art therapy psychotherapists expressed more positive, protective and involved countertransference feelings whereas psychotherapists for single and group therapy expressed more aggressive and hopeless feelings. Countertransference has an impact on therapy outcome and feelings of a lack of interest, aggression and resignation at the beginning of therapy can point to a poor outcome. Patients with personality disorders activate more negative countertransference reactions than patients without personality disorders but at the same time they may also evoke parent-like feelings of protection.

Conclusions

Using the CTQ it is possible to differentiate countertransference phenomena in a team of psychotherapists treating inpatients with psychodynamic psychotherapy. The timely perception and integration of countertransference feelings has a positive influence on the therapeutic process and therapy outcome.     

Deleterious Consequences of Change in Newcomers’ Employer-Based Psychological Contract Obligations

Purpose

This study examines the issue of change in newcomers’ employer-based psychological contract obligations over time, viewing change as a potentially important determinant of perceived contract breach and subsequent employee attitudes and behaviors.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected using a three-wave longitudinal design from newly hired faculty members (N = 106).

Findings

Newcomers’ perceptions of employer-based relational obligations significantly decreased during their first year on the job. Newcomers reacted negatively to these changes, subsequently reporting increased contract breach and more negative work attitudes (i.e., increased turnover intentions and reduced job satisfaction and organizational loyalty).

Implications

This study provides evidence of the negative effects of perceived changes to a newcomer’s psychological contract. Practitioners should implement interventions to ensure a realistic set of psychological contract obligations are developed from the start in order to minimize the likelihood that newcomers will modify these obligations downward; and, therefore, experience these negative attitudes toward the organization.

Originality/Value

Drawing from the realistic job preview and socialization literatures, this study examines a topic that has received little empirical attention in the extant psychological contract research, yet has important implications to the management of employees’ psychological contracts. Using both a three-wave longitudinal field design and a more rigorous statistical analysis for assessing change (i.e., latent growth curve modeling), we add a unique contribution to the extant research by identifying the negative consequences of psychological contract change on newcomers’ subsequent work perceptions and attitudes.     

Motivation to Lead: Research on the Motives for Undertaking Leadership Roles in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Sustained flight operations are likely to produce fatigue and performance decrement in aviators. We assessed changes in cognitive performance using a workhest schedule modeled on successive long-range attack missions. Twelve subjects performed several subtests of the Unified Tri-Service Cognitive Performance Assessment Battery and the Walter Reed Performance Assess- ment Battery 18 times during a simulated sustained operation. The scenario consisted of a 9-hr planning session followed by a 4-hr rest period and a 14-hr daytime mission. After 6 hr of rest, subjects repeated this schedule with a nighttime mission. For two spatial tests, subjects showed linear increases in response rate and one of its components, error rate. Subjects appeared to change strategy as the study progressed, possibly exchanging a higher failure rate for a savings in time. Any tendency to take chances when fatigued may have serious implications for aircrew in sustained operations.