Left–right ideological differences in system justification following exposure to complementary versus noncomplementary stereotype exemplars

The capacity for victim‐derogating stereotypes and attributions to justify social inequality and maintain the status quo is well known among social scientists and other observers. Research conducted from the perspective of system justification theory suggests that an alternative to derogation is to justify inequality through the use of complementary stereotypes that ascribe compensating benefits and burdens to disadvantaged and advantaged groups, respectively. In two experimental studies conducted in Poland we investigated the hypothesis that preferences for these two routes to system justification would depend upon one's political orientation. That is, we predicted that the system‐justifying potential of complementary versus noncomplementary stereotype exemplars would be moderated by individual differences in left–right ideology, such that left‐wingers would exhibit stronger support for the societal status quo following exposure to complementary (e.g., “poor but happy,” “rich but miserable”) representations, whereas right‐wingers would exhibit stronger support for the status quo following exposure to noncomplementary (e.g., “poor and dishonest,” “rich and honest”) representations. Results were supportive of these predictions. Implications for theory and practice concerning stereotyping, ideology, and system justification are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Examining the Impact of Policy on Collaboration in Systems of Care

Since Jane Knitzer’s 1982 report on Unclaimed Children, many states and localities have been developing systems of care to more effectively serve children with serious emotional disturbance. We report on the methods and outcomes of a two-phase study designed to determine the relationship between the mechanisms that have been used to establish systems of care and their resulting levels of collaboration. A national survey of state mental health authorities revealed that, allowing for multiple approaches, 82% of respondents with systems of care used legislation, 15% used inducements, 41% used capacity building and 44% used other means of system change (e.g., blended funding). Cluster analysis was used to select 10 sites for visits. Multiple methods of collecting data at these sites were used including the administration of a scale on collaboration. Data were obtained from 302 respondents. Difference in beliefs about collaboration and collaborative behaviors were found, indicating that level of collaboration may be an important variable to consider in studies of outcomes of systems of care for children and families.     

Questioning the social intelligence hypothesis

The social intelligence hypothesis posits that complex cognition and enlarged "executive brains" evolved in response to challenges that are associated with social complexity. This hypothesis has been well supported, but some recent data are inconsistent with its predictions. It is becoming increasingly clear that multiple selective agents, and non-selective constraints, must have acted to shape cognitive abilities in humans and other animals. The task now is to develop a larger theoretical framework that takes into account both inter-specific differences and similarities in cognition. This new framework should facilitate consideration of how selection pressures that are associated with sociality interact with those that are imposed by non-social forms of environmental complexity, and how both types of functional demands interact with phylogenetic and developmental constraints.     

Progressive age-related changes in the attentional blink paradigm

Previous studies on aging and attention typically examine group differences between younger and older adults, rather than seeing aging as a continuous process. Using correlational analyses, this study examined progressive changes in the magnitude of the attentional blink (AB) associated with aging. Increased age was found to be significantly associated with the ability to detect the second target (T2), whereby older age was correlated with the production of a longer and more pronounced AB; this supports the proposition that aging is associated with reduced inhibitory processes and selective attention. It was also found that AB performance somewhat improves between ages 18-39 years, but tends to decline from 40 years of age onward, providing an interesting and novel finding that AB effects may become more sensitive at this point in time. The AB task may prove useful in the assessment of selective attention in normal healthy adults, as well as changes associated with pathological aging.     

Rethinking Classroom Diversity: Three Student Cultures in a Mainline Seminary

Abstract. Discussions on teaching and learning within theological seminaries often center on the question of student diversity, focused primarily upon issues of race, gender, and ethnicity. At the same time that seminaries are challenged to deal with a multitude of pedagogical suppositions emerging from increasingly diverse learning goals, seminaries must also pay attention to the ways their students challenge an institution's core mission to train ministers for service in churches and denominations. Based upon the author's experience teaching in a mainline Protestant seminary, the essay discusses three student cultures that often overlap among today's seminarians. These three student cultures, referred to here as “church seminarian,”“new paradigm seminarian,” and “vocational seminarian,” carry very different understandings of the seminary's role to prepare students for ministry. A critical discernment of these cultures might challenge seminary faculty to reevaluate their educational and missional suppositions amidst divergent student career objectives.     

Childhood poverty and health: cumulative risk exposure and stress dysregulation

A massive literature documents the inverse association between poverty or low socioeconomic status and health, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this robust relation. We examined longitudinal relations between duration of poverty exposure since birth, cumulative risk exposure, and physiological stress in two hundred seven 13-year-olds. Chronic stress was assessed by basal blood pressure and overnight cortisol levels; stress regulation was assessed by cardiovascular reactivity to a standard acute stressor and recovery after exposure to this stressor. Cumulative risk exposure was measured by multiple physical (e.g., substandard housing) and social (e.g., family turmoil) risk factors. The greater the number of years spent living in poverty, the more elevated was overnight cortisol and the more dysregulated was the cardiovascular response (i.e., muted reactivity). Cardiovascular recovery was not affected by duration of poverty exposure. Unlike the duration of poverty exposure, concurrent poverty (i.e., during adolescence) did not affect these physiological stress outcomes. The effects of childhood poverty on stress dysregulation are largely explained by cumulative risk exposure accompanying childhood poverty.     

Rubber hands feel the touch of light

Two experiments involving a total of 220 subjects are reported. The experiments document that "stroking" a false hand with the bright beam of light from a laser pointer can produce tactile and thermal sensations when the hand can be seen as one's own. Overall, 66% of subjects reported somatic sensations from the light. Felt hand location was recalibrated toward the location of the false hand for those subjects who felt the light. Moreover, the proprioceptive recalibration from the laser experience was comparable to that produced by actual coordinated brushing of the false hand and of the unseen real hand after 2 min of stimulation. The illusion may be experienced on one's real hand as well. The results are discussed in terms of multisensory integration.     

Performance in a computerized self-control task by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): The combined influence of effort and delay

The variables of delay and effort have been found to influence self-control predictably and in similar fashion when tested independently, but it is unclear how they influence self-control interactively. In the present study, I tested these two variables simultaneously to gain better understanding of their combined influence on self-control. A computerized task was employed in which monkey participants could sequence 1 or more digital images before “cashing-out,” after which they would receive their accumulated rewards. Delay was manipulated by adjusting the speed of the cursor used to select images. Cognitive effort was manipulated by presenting image sets that appeared in either a constant or a randomized configuration. For most monkeys, an interaction was found between the effects of delay and effort on the number of images selected before cashing-out. The results suggest that, when combined, these two variables have a complex influence on self-control.     

Women and Counseling: A Vision for the Future

The authors who worked to prepare this special issue on women and counseling (N. L. Kees, L. A. Carlson, R. Parmley, P. Dahlen, K. Evans, A. F. Marbley, et al., 2005) offer a vision for a just, equitable, and sustainable future for all. Recommendations for individual and systemic change needed to realize this future vision are offered. Implications for the American Counseling Association and members of the counseling profession are highlighted.