Accuracy in parameter estimation for ANCOVA and ANOVA contrasts: sample size planning via narrow confidence intervals

Contrasts of means are often of interest because they describe the effect size among multiple treatments. High-quality inference of population effect sizes can be achieved through narrow confidence intervals (CIs). Given the close relation between CI width and sample size, we propose two methods to plan the sample size for an ANCOVA or ANOVA study, so that a sufficiently narrow CI for the population (standardized or unstandardized) contrast of interest will be obtained. The standard method plans the sample size so that the expected CI width is sufficiently small. Since CI width is a random variable, the expected width being sufficiently small does not guarantee that the width obtained in a particular study will be sufficiently small. An extended procedure ensures with some specified, high degree of assurance (e.g., 90% of the time) that the CI observed in a particular study will be sufficiently narrow. We also discuss the rationale and usefulness of two different ways to standardize an ANCOVA contrast, and compare three types of standardized contrast in the ANCOVA/ANOVA context. All of the methods we propose have been implemented in the freely available MBESS package in R so that they can be easily applied by researchers.     

Clinical Reflection and Ritual as Forms of Participation and Interaction: Reply to Bass and Stern

We agree with the commentaries that Relational psychoanalysis has stood firmly against dichotomizing clinical reflection, on one hand, and interactional processes, on the other. Still, we wonder whether the relational literature has skewed toward interaction at the expense of concentrated attention to patients’ internal worlds. Predispositions toward interaction may diminish reflective space and quiet inwardness, which are themselves forms of analytic relating. We raise the possibility that the Relational model’s inclusive breadth, valuable as it is, might sometimes impede and even devalue discussions of specific technical matters. We consider clinical conceptualizations of ritual, “relating,” and “being in contact.”     

Police Overestimation of Criminal Career Homogeneity

Police presumptions about criminal career trajectories have been little studied. The exploratory study reported here involved 42 police staff of varying rank and experience. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked them to predict the type of offence that an individual with a specified prior record would most probably commit next. Participating police personnel substantially overstated the homogeneity of criminal careers, that is, the nature of prior offences determined their prediction of their next offence more than available official data would deem reasonable. An incidental finding was that officers who rated the probability of further offending highest were also those who thought criminal careers most specialised. The implications for operational police decision‐making were discussed and held to be profound. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional context at learning systematically biases memory for facial information

Emotion influences memory in many ways. For example, when a mood-dependent processing shift is operative, happy moods promote global processing and sad moods direct attention to local features of complex visual stimuli. We hypothesized that an emotional context associated with to-be-learned facial stimuli could preferentially promote global or local processing. At learning, faces with neutral expressions were paired with a narrative providing either a happy or a sad context. At test, faces were presented in an upright or inverted orientation, emphasizing configural or analytical processing, respectively. A recognition advantage was found for upright faces learned in happy contexts relative to those in sad contexts, whereas recognition was better for inverted faces learned in sad contexts than for those in happy contexts. We thus infer that a positive emotional context prompted more effective storage of holistic, configural, or global facial information, whereas a negative emotional context prompted relatively more effective storage of local or feature-based facial information     

Differences in neuronal activity explain differences in memory forming abilities of different populations of Lymnaea stagnalis

The ability to learn and form long-term memory (LTM) can enhance an animal's fitness, for example, by allowing them to remember predators, food sources or conspecific interactions. Here we use the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, to assess whether variability between natural populations (i.e., strains) in memory forming capabilities correlates with electrophysiological properties at the level of a single neuron, RPeD1. RPeD1 is a necessary site of LTM formation of aerial respiratory behaviour following operant conditioning. We used strains from two small, separate permanent ponds (TC1 and TC2). A comparison of the two populations showed that the TC1 strain had enhanced memory forming capabilities. Further, the behavioural phenotype of enhanced memory strain was explained, in part, by differences in the electrophysiology of RPeD1. Compared to RPeD1 from the naive TC2 strain, RPeD1 from the TC1 strain has both a decreased resistance and decreased excitability. Moreover, 24h after a single 0.5h training session, those membrane properties, as well as the firing and bursting rate, decrease further in the TC1 strain but not in the TC2 strain. The initial differences in RPeD1 properties in the TC1 strain coupled with their ability to further change these properties with a single training session suggests that RPeD1 neurons from the TC1 strain are "primed" to rapidly form memory.     

Statistical Bias and Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories

Previous research proposes that endorsement of anomalous beliefs is associated with proneness to conjunction error. This supposition ignores important differences between belief types. Correspondingly, the present study examined the degree to which components of statistical bias predicted conspiratorial ideation and belief in the paranormal. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling revealed that conjunction error was associated with conspiratorial ideation, whilst perception of randomness most strongly predicted belief in the paranormal. These findings opposed the notion that anomalous beliefs, by virtue of possession of common characteristics, relate similarly to conjunction error. With regard to conspiracy, conjunction‐framing manipulations produced only minor variations in relationship strength. This supported the notion that conspiratorial ideation was associated with a domain‐general susceptibility to conjunction error. Framing, however, did influence the relationship between belief in the paranormal and conjunction; whilst paranormal conjunctions were generally easier to solve, performance declined as level of paranormal belief increased.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frequency of stuttering during challenging and supportive virtual reality job interviews

This paper seeks to demonstrate the possibility of manipulating the frequency of stuttering using virtual reality environments (VREs). If stuttering manifests itself in VREs similarly to the way it manifests itself in real world interactions, then VREs can provide a controlled, safe, and confidential method for treatment practice and generalization. Though many researchers and clinicians recognize the need for generalization activities in the treatment of stuttering, achieving generalization in a clinical setting poses challenges to client confidentiality, safety, and the efficient use of a professionals’ time. Virtual reality (VR) technology may allow professionals the opportunity to enhance and assess treatment generalization while protecting the safety and confidentiality of their clients. In this study, we developed a VR job interview environment which allowed experimental control over communication style and gender of interviewers. In this first trial, persons who stutter (PWS) experienced both challenging and supportive VR job interview conditions. The percentage of stuttered syllables was calculated for both interviews for each participant. Self-reported ratings of communication apprehension and confidence were also obtained, and were not significantly correlated with stuttering severity. Results indicated that interviewer communication style affected the amount of stuttering produced by participants, with more stuttering observed during challenging virtual interviews. Additionally, the amount of stuttering observed during the VR job interviews was significantly, positively correlated with the amount of stuttering observed during an interview with the investigator prior to VR exposure. Participants’ subjective reports of the VR experience indicate reactions similar to those they report experiencing in the real world. Possible implications for the use of VR in the assessment and treatment of stuttering are discussed.

Educational objectives: After reading this article, the reader will be able to—(1) list some of the challenges to treatment generalization; (2) describe how virtual reality technology can assist in alleviating some of these challenges; (3) describe how the frequency of stuttering varies across two different virtual environments.     

Preventing Depression Among Early Adolescents in the Primary Care Setting: A Randomized Controlled Study of the Penn Resiliency Program

This study evaluated the Penn Resiliency Program's effectiveness in preventing depression when delivered by therapists in a primary care setting. Two-hundred and seventy-one 11- and 12-year-olds, with elevated depressive symptoms, were randomized to PRP or usual care. Over the 2-year follow-up, PRP improved explanatory style for positive events. PRP's effects on depressive symptoms and explanatory style for negative events were moderated by sex, with girls benefiting more than boys. Stronger effects were seen in high-fidelity groups than low-fidelity groups. PRP did not significantly prevent depressive disorders but significantly prevented depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders (when combined) among high-symptom participants. Findings are discussed in relation to previous PRP studies and research on the dissemination of psychological interventions. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Stance Width Influences Postural Stability and Motion Sickness

We examined the influence of stance width (the distance between the feet) on postural sway and visually induced motion sickness. Stance width influences the magnitude of body sway, and changes in sway precede the subjective symptoms of motion sickness. Thus, manipulation of stance width may influence motion sickness incidence. Participants (healthy young adults) were exposed to complex, low-frequency oscillation of a moving room. Participants stood with their feet 5 cm, 17 cm, or 30 cm apart. During exposure to visual motion, the widest stance (30 cm) was associated with reduced incidence of motion sickness. For all stance widths, motion sickness was preceded by significant changes in motion of the head and torso. The results support the postural instability theory of motion sickness and suggest practical implications for the prevention of motion sickness. Adoption of wider stance may decrease the risk of motion sickness in operational situations.     

The Relation Between Early Adolescents’ Trust Beliefs in Peers and Reactions to Peer Provocation: Attributions of Intention and Retaliation

The authors examined the relation between early adolescents’ trust beliefs in peers and both their attributions for, and retaliatory aggression to, peer provocation. One hundred and eight-five early adolescents (102 male) from the United Kingdom (M age = 12 years, 2 months, SD = 3 months) completed the Children's Generalized Trust Beliefs in peer subscale (K. J. Rotenberg, C. Fox, et al., 2005) and reported the intentions of, and their retaliatory aggression to, hypothetical peer provocation. A curvilinear relation was found between trust beliefs in peers and retaliatory aggression but not for attributions of intention. Early adolescents with low and those with very high trust beliefs in peers reported greater retaliatory aggression than did early adolescents with the middle range of trust beliefs. The findings supported the conclusion that early adolescents who are high trusting, as well as those are very low trusting, are at risk for psychosocial maladjustment. Support was not obtained for a hostility attribution bias interpretation of those patterns.