The Sibling Resource Dilution Theory: An Analysis

In this study, I examined relationships between sibling variables and children's family educational resources at different levels of family social status and children's intellectual ability. Data were collected from 900 eleven-year-old Australian children (450 boys, 450 girls) and their parents. Relationships among the variables were examined by plotting regression surfaces generated from models that included terms to test for possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear associations. Although results from some of the regression models provided tentative support for the sibling resource dilution theory, overall results suggest that acceptance of the theory must be treated with some caution. In general, the analysis indicated the possible complexity of relationships between sibling variables and family educational resources.     

Convergent Evidence for Basic Motivational Dimensions

Subjects (N = 217) rated the attractiveness of 56 general goals and then completed 3 theory-based tests of personality or motivation. Two goal factors—labeled Social-Economic Status and Competitive Achievement—seemed to reflect two broad domains of status-seeking motivation, and two other factors—labeled Growth Orientation and Interpersonal Security—pointed to separate domains of cooperative motivation. Thus, there was confirmation for the widespread assumption of two primary types of interpersonal motivation (solidarity and status) in our culture but also for important distinctions within each type. Canonical and direct correlations with the theoretically-grounded measures strongly supported that interpretation of the factors. Meaningful relationships between factors obtained from the questionnaire and the more rationally-based test scores indicated convergence in mappings of motivational space.     

No evidence of racial discrimination in criminal justice processing: Results from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

One of the most consistent findings in the criminological literature is that African American males are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated at rates that far exceed those of any other racial or ethnic group. This racial disparity is frequently interpreted as evidence that the criminal justice system is racist and biased against African American males. Much of the existing literature purportedly supporting this interpretation, however, fails to estimate properly specified statistical models that control for a range of individual-level factors. The current study was designed to address this shortcoming by analyzing a sample of African American and White males drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Analysis of these data revealed that African American males are significantly more likely to be arrested and incarcerated when compared to White males. This racial disparity, however, was completely accounted for after including covariates for self-reported lifetime violence and IQ. Implications of this study are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.     

Teacher–child relationship,child withdrawal and aggression in the development of peer victimization

The study examined pre-kindergarten teacher–child relationship as a predictor of peer victimization up to first grade, assessed whether this role moderated risks from children's social withdrawal and/or aggression. Participants were 377 Australian children from 12 schools. Parent ratings of victimization in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade were used, as well as prekindergarten self-ratings of parenting. Teacher-ratings of conflict and closeness, child aggression and social withdrawal were collected in pre-kindergarten. Two-part growth curve analyses conjointly modeled the likelihood of being victimized and severity of victimization. Teacher–child conflict in prekindergarten predicted the likelihood of concurrent and first grade victimization; closeness in prekindergarten was protective of more severe victimization over time. Conflict also moderated the relationship between social withdrawal and growth in severity of victimization. Discussion focuses on elucidating the ‘invisible hand’ of the teacher in peer dynamics, and on interventions for reducing conflict and promoting closeness in the classroom.     

Emotional and non-emotional memories are suppressible under direct suppression instructions

Research on retrieval suppression has produced varying results concerning whether negatively valenced memories are more or less suppressible than neutral memories. This variability may arise if, across studies, participants adopt different approaches to memory control. Cognitive and neurobiological research points to two mechanisms that achieve retrieval suppression: thought-substitution and direct suppression (Benoit & Anderson, 2012; Bergström, de Fockert, & Richardson-Klavehn, 2009). Using the Think/No-think paradigm, this study examined whether participants can inhibit neutral and negatively valenced memories, using a uniform direct suppression strategy. Importantly, when strategy was controlled, negative and neutral items were comparably inhibited. Participants reported high compliance with direct suppression instructions, and success at controlling awareness predicted forgetting. These findings provide the first evidence that direct suppression can impair negatively valenced events, and suggest that variability in forgetting negative memories in prior studies is unlikely to arise from difficulty using direct suppression to control emotionally negative experiences.     

Memory for emotional faces in major depression following judgement of physical facial characteristics at encoding

The aim of the present study was to establish if patients with major depression (MD) exhibit a memory bias for sad faces, relative to happy and neutral, when the affective element of the faces is not explicitly processed at encoding. To this end, 16 psychiatric out-patients with MD and 18 healthy, never-depressed controls (HC) were presented with a series of emotional faces and were required to identify the gender of the individuals featured in the photographs. Participants were subsequently given a recognition memory test for these faces. At encoding, patients with MD exhibited a non-significant tendency towards slower gender identification (GI) times, relative to HC, for happy faces. However, the GI times of the two groups did not differ for sad or neutral faces. At memory testing, patients with MD did not exhibit the expected memory bias for sad faces. Similarly, HC did not demonstrate enhanced memory for happy faces. Overall, patients with MD were impaired in their memory for the faces relative to the HC. The current findings are consistent with the proposal that mood-congruent memory biases are contingent upon explicit processing of the emotional element of the to-be-remembered material at encoding.     

The motivational effects of thinking and worrying about the effects of smoking cigarettes

We tested a strategy to encourage cigarette smokers to think more frequently about the negative consequences of smoking, reasoning that increased thought might lead to greater worry and motivation to quit. College students who smoked daily were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which they wore watches for one week that sounded an alarm randomly four times each day. When alerted, the students read one of eight cards that either had a written statement about studying (control condition), a statement about the negative effects of smoking behaviour (text condition), or a negative smoking statement accompanied by a picture (e.g., a blackened lung; image condition). Measures collected at week's end revealed that the smoking cards had no effects on perceived risk, but they increased worry and reports of intrusive thoughts, and had a small but reliable effect on plans to quit. Correlational data also supported the relationship between worry and motivation to quit, and we discuss the possible benefits of “normal” worrying and strategies for capitalising on the worry–motivation relationship to encourage smokers to abandon cigarettes.     

Commentary: “A Fundamental Polarity in Psychoanalysis: Implications for Personality Development,Psychopathology, and the Therapeutic Process” by Sidney J. Blatt

A commentary on Dr. Sidney J. Blatt's article, “A Fundamental Polarity in Psychoanalysis: Implications for Personality Development, Psycho-pathology, and the Therapeutic Process” is presented by articulating Dr. Blatt's significant contribution to psychoanalysis, developmental and attachment theory, and therapeutic process research. According to Blatt's theory, normal maturation involves a complex reciprocal transaction between two developmental lines throughout the life cycle: (a) the establishment of stable, enduring, mutually satisfying interpersonal relationships and (b) the achievement of a differentiated, stable, and cohesive identity. He has applied this theory to understand both normal and pathological psychological phenomena, the latter resulting from disruptions in these developmental lines, resulting in an overemphasis on relational (anaclitic) or self-definitional (introjective) issues. Further, Dr. Blatt has evaluated his theoretical model through empirical study and demonstrated that relationally oriented and self-definitionally oriented persons have differential responses to psychotherapy. Finally, areas of question and potential for future research are outlined. Specifically, it is argued that although anaclitic and introjective configurations are easy to discuss as distinct types, relevant evidence from attachment theory raises the issue of whether these types may be better conceptualized as dimensions, with different configurations located within two-dimensional space. Further, findings of a group evidencing mixed anaclitic and introjective features raise additional questions about how these configurations relate to one another, and evidence from the attachment literature is used to shed light on this issue.