A partial matching theory of the mirror effect in immediate probed recognition

A set of experiments on immediate probed recognition of digit triples is reported in which the variables were list length (five, six, seven, or eight triples), the probability that a probe was old (.33, .5, or .67), and whether the digit triples were presented with an auditory component or articulatory suppression. Previous work had suggested that the false alarm (FA) rate in this paradigm was lower when auditory information was available than when it was not; this observation had led to the development of thepartial matching theory of immediate probed recognition, according to which FAs could arise not only as a result of unlucky guesses but also when new probes shared a first digit in common with a partially retained target triple. It was argued that partial memory representations were less likely following auditory presentation than following articulatory suppression. Partial matching theory is contrasted with therational response theory, according to which all FAs are unlucky guesses; partial matching theory gave a better account of the present experimental data than did rational response theory. However, a logical relationship between the two theories was suggested, a consequence of which was that rational response theory could be modified to include partial matching in such a way as to account for mirror effects, not only in unusually difficult immediate probed recognition tasks, but also in the more commonly studied mixed test list paradigm involving words of high or low frequency.     

Clients' experiences of online therapy in the early stages of a COVID-19 world: A scoping review

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 forced an abrupt shift in the modality through which psychotherapy was delivered and online therapy became the only viable option for clients. Research regarding experiences of online therapy during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic is minimal, however, and has largely focussed on therapists' experiences of delivering online treatment, as opposed to clients' experiences of receiving it. A scoping review was undertaken to establish what is known from the existing literature about clients' experiences of online therapy during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and identify gaps in the current knowledge. Searches were conducted across four academic databases: Scopus, EBSCO CINAHL Complete, EBSCO MEDLINE and OVID PsycInfo; the literature was excluded based on established PICOS criteria. Data were summarised through data charting and synthesised by way of inductive content analysis. A total of five articles were identified. All articles focussed on online therapy using video or audio conferencing, and four of the five studies examined clients with eating disorders. Inductive content analysis identified seven categories, as follows: preference for face-to-face therapy; appreciation of accessibility and convenience; online format hindered connection; positive experience of online therapy; individual client differences impacted experience; strong therapeutic alliance indicative of positive experience; and gratitude for continuation of treatment. Future research could explore clients' experiences of online therapy in a “post-pandemic” world and include a broader range of client populations and online therapy approaches in the COVID-19 context.     

Knowing what a novel word is not: Two-year-olds 'listen through' ambiguous adjectives in fluent speech

Three studies investigated how 24-month-olds and adults resolve temporary ambiguity in fluent speech when encountering prenominal adjectives potentially interpretable as nouns. Children were tested in a looking-while-listening procedure to monitor the time course of speech processing. In Experiment 1, the familiar and unfamiliar adjectives preceding familiar target nouns were accented or deaccented. Target word recognition was disrupted only when lexically ambiguous adjectives were accented like nouns. Experiment 2 measured the extent of interference experienced by children when interpreting prenominal words as nouns. In Experiment 3, adults used prosodic cues to identify the form class of adjective/noun homophones in string-identical sentences before the ambiguous words were fully spoken. Results show that children and adults use prosody in conjunction with lexical and distributional cues to ‘listen through’ prenominal adjectives, avoiding costly misinterpretation.     

Increasing social initiations in children with autism: effects of a tactile prompt

An ABAB design was used to assess the effects of a tactile prompting device (i.e., a vibrating pager) as a prompt for the social initiations of 3 children with autism during free-play activities with typically developing peers. Results indicated that the tactile prompt was effective in increasing verbal initiations for all 3 children, and responses to peers' initiations were higher for 2 participants when the tactile prompt was used. Efforts to reduce the frequency of prompts while still maintaining rates of initiations were partially successful for 1 participant.     

Validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness using visual analogue scales

To test the validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness samples included healthcare assistants working at a hospital (women=170, men=17), persons working with physically and mentally handicapped patients (women=530, men= 123), and two separate groups of healthcare students (a) women=91 and men=5 and (b) women=159 and men=10. Five components of physical fitness were self-assessed by Visual Analogue Scales with illustrations and verbal anchors for the extremes: aerobic fitness, muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. Convergent and divergent validity were evaluated by age-adjusted correlations stratified by sex with performance-based measures of physical fitness. Self-assessed aerobic fitness (r = .36 - .64) (women/men), muscle strength (r = .30 - .51), and flexibility (r = .36 - .31) showed moderate convergent validity. The divergent validity was satisfactory except for flexibility among men. The reliability was moderate to good (ICC = .62 - .80). Self-assessed aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility showed moderate construct validity and moderate to good reliability using visual analogues.     

Systemische Therapie bei Störungen des Erwachsenenalters

Background

Systemic therapy is a scientifically acknowledged form of psychotherapy in the US and many European countries, but not yet in Germany.

Method

All randomized (or parallelized) controlled trials (RCT) evaluating systemic couples/family/individual therapy with adult index patients published in English, German or Spanish up to the end of 2004 were identified via data base searches and cross-references in other meta-analyses and reviews. A meta-analysis of the identified RCT was performed.

Results

28 RCT (43 publications) evaluating systemic therapy with adult index patients suffering from clinical disorders (ICD-10) were identified. Systemic therapy is efficacious with regard to substance disorders, mental/social factors interacting with somatic disorders, schizophrenia, depression and eating disorders. The results are stable across follow-up periods of up to 5 years.

Conclusion

According to the criteria of the German Scientific Advisory Board Psychotherapy (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Psychotherapie) there seems to be good evidence for the efficacy of systemic therapy in at least four fields of application of adult psychotherapy.     

Memories of real-life decisions

Three studies investigated decision makers' memory representations of choice alternatives in most important real-life decisions. In Study 1, each participant recalled the most important decision that she or he had ever made and rated to what degree a number of characteristics could describe the decisions. In Study 2, the participants were asked to think about an important decision that they had made during the last 7-10 days. In Study 3, the memory representations of decisions of a group of action-oriented participants were compared with those of a group of state-oriented participants (Kuhl, 1983). Characteristics related to standard decision theory, like consequences, values, and likelihood, had high ratings of applicability as well as affect/feeling. When testing the applicability of a circumplex model, the fuzzy-trace theory of memory, and differences between state- and action-oriented decision makers, we found (1) that there was no support for the circumplex model of emotions. Instead, an important decision problem was characterised by both positive and negative affect/emotion and thus, a bipolar mapping was found inadequate; (2) that a comparison of abstract and concrete aspects showed that the abstract characteristics scored higher, thereby supporting the fuzzy-trace theory; and (3) that the prediction that action-oriented participants would score higher than state-oriented participants on the characteristic of activity was not supported. However, state-oriented decision makers rated passivity higher than action-oriented decision makers for the important decision of leaving a partner. State-oriented decision makers used perceptual/cognitive scenario representations to a greater extent than action-oriented participants. Finally, it was stressed that in the development of decision theories it is essential to find theoretical representations as close as possible to how decision makers themselves represent the decisions. The method used in this contribution is focused on the role of memory in decision making and gives further insights into how important real-life decisions are represented by different decision makers.