Modeling the Information Preferences of Parents of Children with Mental Health Problems: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Experiment

Although materials informing parents about children’s mental health (CMH) problems can improve outcomes, we know relatively little about the design factors that might influence their utilization of available resources. We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model the information preferences of parents seeking mental health services for 6 to 18 year olds. Parents completed 30 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of 20 four-level CMH information content, transfer process, and outcome attributes. Latent class analysis revealed three segments with different preferences. Parents in the Action segment (43%) chose materials providing step-by-step solutions to behavioral or emotional problems. They preferred weekly meetings with other parents and coaching calls from a therapist. The Information segment (41%) chose materials helping them understand rather than solve their child’s problems. These parents were more sensitive to logistical factors such as receiving information in groups, the location where information was available, the modality in which the information was presented, and the time required to obtain and use the information. The Overwhelmed segment (16%) reported more oppositional and conduct problems, felt their children’s difficulties exerted a greater adverse impact on family functioning, and reported higher personal depression scores than those in the Action or Information segments. Nonetheless, they did not choose information about, or solutions to, the problems their children presented. Simulations predicted that maximizing utilization and realizing the potential benefits of CMH information would require knowledge transfer strategies consistent with each segment’s preferences.

Face detection in normal and prosopagnosic individuals

Face detection, the process of finding a face in a visual scene, is a critical step in face processing, yet it has received relatively little attention compared with other face processes. The present study addresses this crucial first stage by investigating the effect of inversion on face detection and by examining how individuals with developmental prosopagnosia perform on face detection tasks. Fourteen control participants and fourteen individuals with developmental prosopagnosia (DPs) were tested with two face detection tasks: (1) Face versus Non‐Face, where arrays of small images were presented, one of which could contain a face and (2) Face versus Face Parts, where a two‐tone face could be embedded in a larger array of similar two‐tone face parts. On each trial, participants made a speeded response if a face was present in the visual display. On almost all measures both normal and prosopagnosic individuals showed strong inversion effects with significantly worse performance with inverted faces. This shows that the simple task of detection can show inversion effects comparable to those seen for other face tasks, including recognition. Finally, while there were prosopagnosics who were well within the normal range for detection, there were significant group differences, particularly for the case of the Face versus Face Parts, where prosopagnosics were worse than controls on upright but not on inverted face detection.     

Kitchener's Principle Ethics: Implications for Counseling Practice and Research

This extensive literature review examining the influence of K. S. Kitchener's (1984) introduction of principle ethics on counseling and psychology ethics notes the ultimate practicality of principle ethics. The authors maintain that although a strong influence of principle ethics in the area of counselor education emerges through the review, there is little clear evidence of influence in the areas of counseling research or practice. A primary reliance in the counseling professional literature on K. S. Kitchener's original work has likely resulted in a static understanding of the concepts and a concomitant theory–to–application knowledge gap. Implications include a more thorough and ongoing bridging between counseling ethics, philosophical ethics and practice, and a more overt presence of principle ethics.     

The Main Problem with USC Libertarianism

Libertarians like Robert Kane believe that indeterminism is necessaryfor free will. They think this in part because they hold both (1) thatmy being the ultimate cause of at least part of myself is necessary forfree will and (2) that indeterminism is necessary for this ``ultimateself-causation'. But seductive and intuitive as this ``USCLibertarianism' may sound, it is untenable. In the end, nometaphysically coherent (not to mention empirically valid) conception ofultimate self-causation is available. So the basic intuition motivatingthe USC Libertarian is ultimately impossible to fulfill.     

Attention shifts and the Simon effect: a failure to replicate Stoffer (1991)

The Simon effect refers to the intrusion of an irrelevant spatial dimension in the selection of a response to a stimulus. Recently, Stoffer (1991) proposed a specific role for attention orienting in the Simon effect. According to Stoffer, attentional shifts from an initial fixation point to a stimulus location are associated with the generation of a spatial code which specifies the position of the stimulus in relation to the last attended location. This spatial code forms the basis for the Simon effect because it is used to specify the selection of the right or left response. Three experiments were performed to examine further the attention-shift hypothesis forwarded by Stoffer. Experiment 1 was an attempt to replicate Stoffer (1991), but failed to do so. Experiments 2 and 3 were designed to optimize conditions for replicating crucial aspects of Stoffer's findings, but also failed to yield support for the attention-shift account.