Relationship between food habituation and reinforcing efficacy of food

Reinforcing value and habituation are two processes that have been used to study eating behaviors, but no research has examined their relationship, how they relate to energy intake, and whether they respond in a similar manner to food deprivation. Twenty-two female subjects were randomized to food deprived or non-deprived conditions, and assessed for food reinforcement, habituation to food and ad libitum eating. Results showed food reinforcement and habituation are correlated (r = 0.62, p = 0.002) and both independently predict energy intake. Hierarchical regression showed that the rate of habituation accounted for 30 percent of the variance in eating (p = 0.008), and adding food reinforcement increased the amount of variance accounted for up to 57.5 percent (p < 0.05). This suggests that both processes may influence energy intake in a meal.     

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of Police Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) on Response-to-Resistance in a Large Metropolitan Police Department

The current study provides a statistically rigorous program evaluation of the impact of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police response-to-resistance (e.g., use of force). Results indicate that BWC officers’ mean frequency of response-to-resistance decreased by 8.4% from the 12 months pre-BWC implementation to the 12 months post-BWC implementation compared with a 3.4% increase observed for the matched sample of non-BWC officers. Police departments should consider adopting BWCs alongside other strategies to reduce police response-to-resistance, and to improve transparency and accountability. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Evaluation of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity

Anxiety sensitivity, or the belief that anxiety-related sensations can have negative consequences, has been shown to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of panic disorder and other anxiety-related pathology. Aerobic exercise involves exposure to physiological cues similar to those experienced during anxiety reactions. The present study sought to investigate the efficacy of a brief aerobic exercise intervention for high anxiety sensitivity. Accordingly, 24 participants with high anxiety sensitivity scores (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised scores >28) were randomly assigned to complete either six 20-minute sessions of aerobic exercise or a no-exercise control condition. The results indicated that individuals assigned to the aerobic exercise condition reported significantly less anxiety sensitivity subsequent to exercise, whereas anxiety sensitivity scores among non-exercisers did not significantly change. The clinical research and public health implications of these findings are discussed, and several potential directions for additional research are recommended.     

Does the Thought Count? Gratitude Understanding in Elementary School Students

Gratitude, although studied throughout history by scholars from diverse backgrounds, has been largely understudied in psychology until recently. The psychological literature on gratitude is expanding, but it is still particularly limited with children. The authors compared younger (first- and second-grade students; n = 30) and older (fourth- and fifth-grade students; n = 27) children on gratitude-related ratings surrounding gift giving vignettes that included either a desirable (e.g., a birthday cupcake) or an undesirable (e.g., a melted ice cream cone) gift. Empathy was also measured. Hierarchical regressions revealed different patterns of predictors for desirable and undesirable gifts. For desirable gifts, liking significantly predicted gratitude and liking predicted effort. For undesirable gifts, older children and those who perceived the target as liking the gift more predicted higher gratitude ratings. Finally, higher gratitude rating predicted both higher ratings of giver effort (i.e., intention or how hard did the giver try to give a nice gift) and liking of the undesirable gifts. More research on children's understanding of gratitude is needed but these results suggest that school-aged children take into account givers’ intentions and thoughts behind gift giving in determining feelings of gratitude. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

A systematic evaluation of token economies as a classroom management tool for students with challenging behavior

A two-part systematic review was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of token economies in increasing rates of appropriate classroom behavior for students demonstrating behavioral difficulties. The first part of the review utilized the recently published What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards for evaluating single-subject research to determine the extent to which eligible studies demonstrated sufficient evidence to classify the token economy as an evidence-based practice. The second part of the review employed meta-analytic techniques across four different types of effect sizes to evaluate the quantitative strength of the findings. Methodological strengths and weaknesses across the studies were systematically investigated. Results indicated that the extant research on token economies does not provide sufficient evidence to be deemed best-practice based on the WWC criteria.     

Tampering with Tradition: Rationales Concerning Women��s Married Names and Children��s Surnames

Despite advances in gender equality in recent decades, the majority of women continue to change their names upon marriage and parents overwhelmingly opt to give children the father??s surname. In two correlational studies, both involving undergraduate samples from Toronto, Canada, we examined gender differences in naming preferences and in justifications underlying a traditional name choice. Men were more likely to prefer traditional choices in both women??s married names (Study 1; N?=?68) and children??s surnames (Study 2; N?=?63), and were also more likely to endorse most potential rationales for these choices. Traditional choices were associated with such factors as concern regarding family dynamics, whereas nontraditional choices were associated with such factors as a desire to increase gender equality.     

Parental Psychological Control and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

Parental psychological control has consistently been linked to greater engagement in problem behaviors among adolescents, including over-eating behaviors, under-eating behaviors, risky cyber behaviors, and substance use. Previous research has suggested that child characteristics, such as temperament, may moderate this association. However, little research has examined characteristics of the adolescent that may place them at greater risk for experiencing such problem behaviors as a result of psychologically controlling parenting. Therefore, the current study examined the role of adolescents’ depressive symptoms as a risk factor (moderator) for the association between parental psychological control and adolescent problem behaviors. Participants included 161 adolescents (M_age?=?14.42, SD?=?1.73; 80.7% Caucasian; 59.6% female) living in a University city in a Mid-Atlantic state. Participants completed survey questionnaires about parental psychological control, problematic eating behaviors, risky cyber behaviors, substance use, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that psychological control was significantly and positively associated with under-eating behaviors. Psychological control was also found to be associated positively with risky cyber behaviors and substance use, but only for adolescents who reported greater depressive symptoms. The findings provide support for the role of depressive symptoms as a risk factor for the associations between psychological control and problem behaviors among adolescents.     

Situation selection is a particularly effective emotion regulation strategy for people who need help regulating their emotions

Situation selection involves choosing situations based on their likely emotional impact and may be less cognitively taxing or challenging to implement compared to other strategies for regulating emotion, which require people to regulate their emotions “in the moment”; we thus predicted that individuals who chronically experience intense emotions or who are not particularly competent at employing other emotion regulation strategies would be especially likely to benefit from situation selection. Consistent with this idea, we found that the use of situation selection interacted with individual differences in emotional reactivity and competence at emotion regulation to predict emotional outcomes in both a correlational (Study 1; N?=?301) and an experimental field study (Study 2; N?=?125). Taken together, the findings suggest that situation selection is an effective strategy for regulating emotions, especially for individuals who otherwise struggle to do so.     

Effects of the Copy-Cover-Compare Strategy on Acquisition,Maintenance, and Generalization of Spelling Sight Words for Elementary Students With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often struggle with spelling. Research shows this population benefits from self-management interventions, structured practice opportunities, and immediate feedback—all components of the copy-cover-compare strategy. This empirical investigation used a multiple-baseline experimental design to determine the effects of the copy-cover-compare strategy on acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of spelling words for four students with ADHD in Grades 1 through 3. Results showed a functional relation between copy-cover-compare and mastery, maintenance, and generalization of three sets of spelling words for each student. Limitations, implications for practice, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Factors Predicting the Inclusion of Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Affirmative Content Taught in Couple and Family Therapy Courses

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between Couple and Family Therapy (CFT) faculty members’ Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) clinical competence and the level of LGB affirmative therapy content they teach in their courses. Hierarchical regression analyses of 117 faculty in accredited CFT programs suggest that faculty members’ own reported competence to work with LGB clients predicted their inclusion of LGB affirmative course content in the courses they teach. Important gender effects also emerged suggesting that women faculty are more likely than men to teach LGB affirmative course material. Results suggest important implications for CFT faculty, training programs, and accreditation standards.