Partiality and prejudice in trusting

You can trust your friends. You should trust your friends. Not all of your friends all of the time: you can reasonably trust different friends to different degrees, and in different domains. Still, we often trust our friends, and it is often reasonable to do so. Why is this? In this paper I explore how and whether friendship gives us reasons to trust our friends, reasons which may outstrip or conflict with our epistemic reasons. In the final section, I will sketch some related questions concerning trust based on the trustee’s race, gender, or other social identity.     

Incidental encoding of enclosure geometry does not require visual input: evidence from blindfolded adults

Although spatial orientation with respect to the geometric properties of an environment appears to be an ability shared across various species, debate remains concerning potential similarities and differences with respect to the underlying mechanism(s). One prominent theoretical account of orientation with respect to the environment suggests that participants match visual memories to their current visual perception and navigate to reduce the discrepancy between the two. We tested whether visual input was necessary to incidentally encode the geometric properties of an environment, by training disoriented and blindfolded adult participants to search by touch for a target object hidden in one of four locations, marked by distinctive textural cues, located in the corners of a rectangular enclosure. Following training, we removed the distinctive textural cues and probed the extent to which the participants had learned the geometry of the enclosure. Even in the absence of vision and unique textural cues, search behavior was consistent with evidence for the encoding of enclosure geometry. A follow-up experiment in which participants were trained in a rectangular enclosure but were tested in a square enclosure provided converging evidence that search behavior was influenced by the geometric properties of the enclosure. Collectively, these results suggest that even in the absence of vision, participants incidentally encoded the geometric properties of the enclosure, indicating that visual input is not required to encode the geometric properties of an environment.     

The Still-Face Paradigm and bidirectionality: Associations with maternal sensitivity,self-esteem and infant emotional reactivity

The Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) is a structured stressful event within which researchers have investigated the influence of maternal psychological and behavioral characteristics on infant behavior. The present investigation contributes to this body of work by examining the joint contributions of maternal and child behavioral and affective characteristics on subsequent behaviors and affectations following the SFP. A sample of non-clinically depressed mothers and their infants (n = 31) engaged in a modified Still-Face Paradigm (SFP), followed by a period of toy play. These interactions were videotaped and behaviorally coded along the following dimensions: maternal sensitivity prior to the SFP and during toy play, infant negative emotional reactivity during the still-face, and infant resistance during the reunion phase. Additionally, mothers reported global self-esteem and this was examined as a predictor of infant behavior. Results revealed significant bidirectional influences such that maternal self-esteem predicted infant emotional reactivity, maternal sensitivity pre-SFP predicted infant resistance during the reunion phase, and infant resistance predicted subsequent levels of maternal sensitivity. Indirect effects were also examined, and provided additional support for bidirectionality in mother–infant interactions. Implications for clinical practice are discussed in light of these findings.     

The locus of self-inhibition in sequential retrieval

Self-inhibition refers to the suppression of a representational node following its use in a sequential task. Two general models of self-inhibition exist in the literature: one that models suppression following activation of a node (Houghton & Tipper, 1994), and one that models suppression following motor production of a node (MacKay, 1986). These two models make opposite predictions for units that are activated but not produced, with the post-activation model predicting interference and the post-production model predicting facilitation. These predictions were tested using operand--answer priming in two mental addition experiments. Addition problems with sums <10 were primed with addition problems that contained the correct sum as one of the operands (e.g., 5 + 8 preceding 3 + 2). Experiment 2 included an additional manipulation of prime-target discriminability to rule out episodic retrieval accounts of the interference effect. Both experiments indicated interference following operand-answer primes relative to control primes, consistent with the predictions of the post-activation model of self-inhibition.     

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Promoting Change in the Quality of Teacher–Child Interactions

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between characteristics of early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) and changes in the quality of teacher–child interactions. One hundred forty‐one early childhood teachers, serving 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds in publically funded early education programs in the state of Arkansas, participated in this study. All childcare sites and preschool programs participating in the study received ECMHC through the Arkansas Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Project over a period of 3 years. Findings from this study suggest that teachers exposed to ECMHC through their employment at one of the project sites made significant gains toward high‐quality teacher–child interactions relative to their initial levels of quality. In particular, delivery aspects of ECMHC and teachers’ experiences of ECMHC predicted change in quality of teacher–child interactions. Findings suggest that ECMHC may be a promising professional development intervention for teachers in early childhood settings and that specific characteristics of consultation may be particularly influential in impacting change in those settings.     

School readiness in children living in non-parental care: Impacts of Head Start

The current study examines the effects of Head Start on the development of school readiness outcomes for children living in non-parental care. Data were obtained from the Head Start Impact Study, a randomized controlled trial of Head Start conducted with a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs and families. The sample included 253 children living in non-parental care (defined as a primary caregiver who self-identified as someone other than a biological, adoptive, or step-parent), who experienced elevated rates of child and family risk factors. Results revealed modest direct short-term and indirect longer-term impacts of Head Start on school readiness outcomes (increased pre-academic skills, more positive teacher–child relationships, and reductions in behavior problems) for children living in non-parental care. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Clinical Application of the Advantages of Technology in Couple and Family Therapy

While couples may be holding hands with one another, they are also holding their cell phones in the other hand. Technology is so woven into the fabric of our society that it is hard to separate it from the relationship itself. As such, the role of the marriage and family therapist demands that it attends to technology within the practice of couple therapy. This article describes strategies for couple and family therapists to use in the context of their treatment. The strategies are grounded in both theoretical and empirical knowledge and cover three categories of application: relationship initiation, relationship maintenance, and relationship enhancement.     

Why does lag affect the durability of memory-based automaticity: Loss of memory strength or interference?

In Rickard, Lau, and Pashler's (2008) investigation of the lag effect on memory-based automaticity, response times were faster and proportion of trials retrieved was higher at the end of practice for short lag items than for long lag items. However, during testing after a delay, response times were slower and proportion of trials retrieved was lower for short lag items than for long lag items. The current study investigated the extent to which the lag effect on the durability of memory-based automaticity is due to interference or to the loss of memory strength with time. Participants repeatedly practiced alphabet subtraction items in short lag and long lag conditions. After practice, half of the participants were immediately tested and the other half were tested after a 7-day delay. Results indicate that the lag effect on the durability of memory-based automaticity is primarily due to interference. We discuss potential modification of current memory-based processing theories to account for these effects.     

Talking to Children About Maternal BRCA1/2 Genetic Test Results: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perceptions and Advice

Family communication is the primary, initial means of educating the next, at-risk generation about hereditary cancer risk. In this study, in-depth parent narratives provided self-report of motivations, planning, satisfactions and regrets associated with sharing or not sharing maternal BRCA1/2 test results with young children and advice for parents considering disclosure and for genetic counselors. Interviews were conducted with 32 mothers tested for BRCA1/2 with children ages 8–21 years and 24 of their co-parents; interview narratives were analyzed qualitatively. Parents were concerned with both protecting and educating children about hereditary cancer risk. They expressed confidence that parents can constructively convey genetic information to minor children. Telling relieved most parents and satisfied a sense of parental duty. Parents strongly advised child-specific, age-appropriate tailoring of genetic information and emphasized conveying the positive, preventive utility of genetic information to children. Immunizing effects of disclosure were viewed as providing forewarning about and preparation for possible later family cancer diagnoses. Parents choosing not to tell children were advised to consider future disclosure. Narratives about parental sharing of BRCA1/2 test results with minor children support the feasibility of parental discussion of maternal genetic test results to the next at-risk generation. Results suggest development of intervention tools for parents would support decision-making and family communication and potentially reduce parental worry and regret. Recommendations are made for more active involvement by genetic counselors with tested parents around the topic of delivery of genetic information to children.