Selectively friending: Racial stereotypicality and social rejection

Three studies show that people whose physical features are seen as more (versus less) racially stereotypical are more vulnerable to social rejection and exclusion from those outside their group. In Study 1, which used an online social networking site, Blacks perceived as more physically stereotypical were found to have fewer non-Black friends, compared to less-stereotypical Blacks. In Study 2, which used an experimental paradigm, requests for friendship made to non-Blacks by more-stereotypical Blacks were more likely to be rejected than those made by less-stereotypical Blacks. Finally, in a college dormitory, people judged to have more (vs. less) racially stereotypical physical features were found to interact less often with outgroup members. This work substantiates a growing body of research demonstrating that people who are perceived as more physically stereotypical of their racial group are particularly vulnerable to discriminatory treatment by outgroup members across a variety of life domains.     

Teacher and observer views on student-teacher relationships: convergence across kindergarten and relations with student engagement

Most studies regarding the role of teacher-child relationships for children's early school adjustment use only teacher ratings of relationship quality. The current study examines (a) the agreement between teacher and observer ratings, (b) whether similar patterns of relations with behavioral engagement are obtained across informants, and (c) which informant matters the most in the prediction of engagement. Teacher and observer ratings of teacher-child closeness, conflict, and dependency were gathered for a sample of 148 kindergartners and their teachers at three measurement occasions. Teacher and observer reports converged to a moderate degree but only when considering multiple occasions and ruling out occasion-specific variance. Although some relations with behavioral engagement were similar, only teacher ratings had unique, added value in this prediction.     

Infancy research,infant mental health,and adult psychotherapy: Mutual influences

This article considers the influence of infant research on psychodynamic theory and practice. Infant research highlights the dramatic effects of the early caregiving relationship on development throughout the life span. It also provides important perspectives on psychotherapeutic processes. This article highlights such elements as empathy, mutual recognition and attachment, along with elaborating the intersubjective and transactional systems perspectives. In addition, it stresses the powerful role of nonverbal, implicit communication and meaning‐making, which play a greater role in human relational experience–and therefore in the therapeutic process–than previously understood. In addition to clarifying these general orientations, the article describes specific therapeutic strategies based on the expanded developmental knowledge.     

Effects of a Multilevel Resilience-Based Intervention on Mental Health for Children Affected by Parental HIV: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The present study aimed to examine the efficacy of the Child-Caregiver-Advocacy Resilience (ChildCARE) intervention, a multilevel resilience-based psychosocial...     

The sandwich model: The ‘music and dance’ of therapeutic action

My premise is that a ‘layered’ approach is necessary to understand the process of exchanges that result in therapeutic change. I imagine these processes occurring in three layers – although the number of domains in which change is taking place is actually infinite – such as in a sandwich. The top layer, or top slice of bread of the sandwich, represents a broad view of the change process; it is non‐linear and includes the feature of uncertainty, a general principle of dynamic systems theory. The middle layer, or the meat of the sandwich, is explained by theories that are immediately and clinically useful to a therapist, such as psychoanalytic theories. These are primarily linear theories and use language and symbols to ‘tell a story of what happened’. The bottom layer, or bottom slice of bread of the sandwich, is the micro‐process; this layer includes the moment‐to‐moment patterns of coordinated rhythms that both communicate meaning and provide the essential scaffold for all higher‐level change processes. The micro‐process also requires a non‐linear theory to make sense of its variability and emergent properties. Taking a bite out of the sandwich will include a ‘polysemic bundle of communicative behaviors’ (Harrison and Tronick, 2011). I will illustrate the ‘sandwich model’ with the clinical case of the analytic treatment of a 5 year‐old boy.     

What Do the Theologically Educated Look Like?

What do the theologically educated look like? Nine outcomes of a theological education are suggested that respond to this question, outcomes particularly pertinent to the contemporary cultural setting and mission challenge of Western Europe. These outcomes are compared with the nine learning outcomes that the Church of England uses at the present time to assess candidates for ordained ministry. In the light of this comparison some broad recommendations are made for future emphases in theological education.     

ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF ORAL PRODUCTIONS OF INFANTS LATER DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM AND THEIR MOTHER

Research on early signs of autism in social interactions often focuses on infants’ motor behaviors; few studies have focused on speech characteristics. This study examines infant‐directed speech of mothers of infants later diagnosed with autism (LDA; n = 12) or of typically developing infants (TD; n = 11) as well as infants’ productions (13 LDA, 13 TD). Since LDA infants appear to behave differently in the first months of life, it can affect the functioning of dyadic interactions, especially the first vocal productions, sensitive to expressiveness and emotions sharing. We assumed that in the first 6 months of life, prosodic characteristics (mean duration, mean pitch, and intonative contour types) will be different in dyads with autism. We extracted infants’ and mothers’ vocal productions from family home movies and analyzed the mean duration and pitch as well as the pitch contours in interactive episodes. Results show that mothers of LDA infants use relatively shorter productions as compared to mothers talking to TD infants. LDA infants’ productions are not different in duration or pitch, but they use less complex modulated productions (i.e., those with more than two melodic modulations) than do TD. Further studies should focus on developmental profiles in the first year, analyzing prosody monthly.     

Examining the Spatiotemporal Disruption to Gaze When Using a Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand

The aim of this study was to provide a detailed account of the spatial and temporal disruptions to eye-hand coordination when using a prosthetic hand during a sequential fine motor skill. Twenty-one able-bodied participants performed 15 trials of the picking up coins task derived from the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure with their anatomic hand and with a prosthesis simulator while wearing eye-tracking equipment. Gaze behavior results revealed that when using the prosthesis, performance detriments were accompanied by significantly greater hand-focused gaze and a significantly longer time to disengage gaze from manipulations to plan upcoming movements. The study findings highlight key metrics that distinguish disruptions to eye-hand coordination that may have implications for the training of prosthesis use.     

The Role of Neighborhood in the Development of Aggression in Urban African American Youth: A Multilevel Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of neighborhood disadvantage and perceptions of neighborhood on the development of aggressive behavior among a sample of urban low‐income African American middle school aged youth (mean age = 11.65 years). Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that youth experienced significant changes in rates of aggression across the three middle school years, and that on average, negative youth perceptions of neighborhood predicted increases in aggression. Both parent and youth perceptions of neighborhood disadvantage trended toward significance as a moderator between objective neighborhood characteristics and aggression. These results are in accordance with past research, which suggests that personal evaluations of the disadvantage of a neighborhood influence child development and behavior. Future studies should examine the role that perceptions play in youth development, as well as in interventions geared towards thwarting youth aggression.     

Consumer perceptions of bundles and time‐limited promotion deals: Do contracts matter?

Marketers use various types of deals to positively influence consumers' product evaluations. Across two experiments, we manipulated print advertisements to examine whether the commonly used deal content of both bundling and time‐limited promotions affect consumers' perceived confusion, risk and value. In study 1, the influence of this content was tested in the context of a 2‐year telecommunications (telco) contract. Here, consumers associated a three‐item bundle with greater perceived value than a single item, but perceived value was reduced and risk heightened when it was only available for a limited time. We speculate that this is because of the long‐term nature of the contract. Study 2 removed the contract restriction, examining the bundling of a video game console and game(s), again with a time‐limited promotion. However, in this context, we failed to locate any interaction effects. It appears that consumers further appraise the drawbacks of a long‐term telco contract when accompanied by a time‐limited promotion and may perceive the switching costs for study 1 three‐item telco bundle to be particularly risky. Our studies represent the first empirical investigation of the effect on consumers' perceptions of offering a bundle in conjunction with a time‐limited promotion. Testing these effects in contract and no contract conditions adds to the contribution of our studies by delineating a boundary condition. From a managerial perspective, our findings are thought‐provoking in respect to information integration, or how consumers process different deal content together. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.