Maternal attitudes and attachment styles in mothers of obese children

This study evaluated categories of attachment style and the maternal attitude toward educational role in a sample of 30 mothers of obese children and a control group of 80 mothers of children of normal weight. All mothers completed the 1994 Attachment Style Questionnaire and the 1958 Parental Attitude Research Instrument. 30 mothers (M age 37.4 yr., range 31 to 54 years; M yr. of education 11.6, range 5 to 18 years) of obese children (range 30 to 60% above normal weight) and a control group of 80 mothers (M age 37.1 yr., range 29 to 52 years; M yr. of schooling 11.4, range 5 to 18 years) of children with normal weight were contacted at the primary school attended by their children and joined the project voluntarily. Age and number of years of education were not significantly different between the two groups of women. There was a significant prevalence of the Insecure Attachment Style in the group of mothers with obese children (66.6%) as compared to the control group of mothers of children of normal weight (38.5%) and significantly higher scores on 6 subscales of the Parental Attitude Research Instrument of Obese compared to Nonobese children. These data indicate that obese children's mothers tend to make the family their exclusive centre of interest. They also tend to dedicate themselves to their children with possessiveness and hyperprotection. They seem to have an insistent requirement of idealisation of their own role as parent and reward expectations that confirm the efficiency of the care they provide their children. Consequently, these findings suggest that in addition to dietetic treatment, it may be important to include a psychological intervention, which involves the mother and aims to modify the relational dynamics between the mother and her obese child.     

Do not put the blame on me: Asymmetric responses to service outcome with autonomous vehicles versus human agents

The present study aims to examine customer responses to negative (vs. positive) service outcome with an autonomous vehicle (AV) vis-à-vis human agent. In the first study we manipulate the outcome of the service (negative vs. positive) and the type of service agent (AV vs. human) to evaluate customers' satisfaction with the service. Based on the results of the first study, in the second study we focus only on the negative outcome scenario and we examine how the perceived blame of the AV (vs. human agent) affects customers' satisfaction. Finally, in the third study we introduce another mediator, namely perceived competence, which explains why people attribute less blame to the AV (vs. human agent). Customers' satisfaction is higher for the AV only in the case of a negative service outcome, while no differences emerge when the service had a positive outcome. Additionally, AVs (vs. human agent) are perceived as less competent and blameworthy, leading to a higher customer satisfaction with the service in case of a negative outcome. These results show a customer under-reaction to negative service outcome with AVs. This has relevance for the design and policy implications related to AVs. Our results also provide insights into the psychological underpinnings of acceptance of AVs replacing human agents. This study extends previous literature by showing circumstances in which customers are more (or less) satisfied with an AVs (vs. human agents) and the psychological drivers of these asymmetrical responses.     

Gender differences in the perception of women in magazine advertising

Male and female college students (N=137) rated 10 control and 10 target magazine advertisements for appeal and for the perceived sexism displayed in the ads. Males did not differ in their ratings of target and control ad appeal. Females rated target ads as less appealing than control ads, and gave target ads lower appeal ratings than did males. Females also rated target ads as more sexist than did males, although both sexes rated target ads as more sexist than control ads. All subjects also completed the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, on which females displayed more liberal attitudes than males.     

Effect of luminance on perceptual alternation of ambiguous patterns

The perceptual alternation of the Necker cube, in its stationary phase, is studied as a function of the stimulus luminance down to the extreme condition in which the cones are completely inactivated so that the pattern of neural excitation reaching the primary visual cortex is very different from the normal one. No evident effect of luminance was found under passive observation either on the reversal rate or on the features of data distributions. Moreover, the complementary situation in which perception is based only on the cones does not affect the phenomenon either. These results permit the assumption that the perceptual alternation in its stationary phase, is a passive and automatic process, that is affected neither by a satiation of the first levels of the visual system nor by the psychological attitude of the subject consequent on dazzling the retina.     

Body perception in athletes and non-athletes

20 male athletes and 20 control subjects were required to make estimates of the length of their body dimensions and of external comparison objects. Athletes were more accurate in judging body dimensions than comparison objects while the reverse pattern was demonstrated by non-athletes. The results are discussed on the basis of the possible influence of sports activities on body perception.     

Author Index Volume 7

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 7     

Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire (LoPF-Q) 12–18 Turkish Version: Reliability,Validity, Factor Structure and Relationship with Comorbid Psychopathology in a Turkish Adolescent Sample

Levels of Personality Functioning Questionnaire (LoPF-Q 12–18) is a scale developed for adolescents to assess impairments in personality functioning inspired by criterion A in the Alternative Models for Personality Disorder (AMPD) in DSM-5 and the upcoming ICD-11. In this study, we aim to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Turkish culture-adaption of LoPF-Q 12–18. The study was conducted with a student (n?=?282) and a clinical sample (n?=?52), 41% of the participants were male, and 59% were female. The questionnaire showed good scale reliability alpha and a sound unidimensional factor structure build of four scales of functioning: Identity, Self-direction, Empathy, and Intimacy. Aspects of convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). There were medium to strong positive relationships between the LoPF-Q 12–18 and the SDQ scores reflecting pathology in line with theory. Clinical validity could be demonstrated, the LoPF-Q 12–18 total score differed significantly and with a large effect size of 1.2 standard deviations between the school sample and a sample of N?=?25 patients with diagnosed PD. In general, our results support the validity of the Turkish version of the LoPF-Q 12–18 and emphasize the benefits of using the dimensional severity concept for the classification of personality disorders already in adolescence.

     

De Finettian Logics of Indicative Conditionals Part II: Proof Theory and Algebraic Semantics

Journal of Philosophical Logic - In Part I of this paper, we identified and compared various schemes for trivalent truth conditions for indicative conditionals, most notably the proposals by de...     

Factor analysis of the Dutch-language version of the MCMI-III

We analyzed the factor structure of the Dutch-language version of the MCMI-III (Millon, Millon, Davis, & Grossman, 2006) using exploratory factor analysis on data obtained from a heterogeneous White sample (n = 1,210). We identified 4 factors: General Maladjustment, Aggression/Social Deviance, Paranoid/Delusional Thinking, and Emotional Instability/Detachment. This structure was invariant across scale composition (linear dependent vs. independent scales), factor analytic method (principal factor vs. principal component solutions), and sample characteristics (gender 'male-female' and setting 'clinical-forensic.' Studies that have used previous MCMI (Millon, 1969/1983b) versions have also found 4 similar factors, whereas studies that have used the American version of the MCMI-III have only found 3 factors. However, differences between the Dutch and American version were completely determined by factor analytic decisions. The factor structure of the MCMI-III appeared to be cross-culturally invariant.     

Anchoring in a novel bimanual coordination pattern

Anchoring in cyclical movements has been defined as regions of reduced spatial or temporal variability [Beek, P. J. (1989). Juggling dynamics. PhD thesis. Amsterdam: Free University Press] that are typically found at movement reversal points. For in-phase and anti-phase movements, synchronizing reversal points with a metronome pulse has resulted in decreased anchor point variability and increased pattern stability [Byblow, W. D., Carson, R. G., & Goodman, D. (1994). Expressions of asymmetries and anchoring in bimanual coordination. Human Movement Science, 13, 3-28; Fink, P. W., Foo, P., Jirsa, V. K., & Kelso, J. A. S. (2000). Local and global stabilization of coordination by sensory information. Experimental Brain Research, 134, 9-20]. The present experiment examined anchoring during acquisition, retention, and transfer of a 90 degrees phase-offset continuous bimanual coordination pattern (whereby the right limb lags the left limb by one quarter cycle), involving horizontal flexion about the elbow. Three metronome synchronization strategies were imposed: participants either synchronized maximal flexion of the right arm (i.e., single metronome), both flexion and extension of the right arm (i.e., double metronome within-limb), or flexion of each arm (i.e., double metronome between-limb) to an auditory metronome. In contrast to simpler in-phase and anti-phase movements, synchronization of additional reversal points to the metronome did not reduce reversal point variability or increase pattern stability. Furthermore, practicing under different metronome synchronization strategies did not appear to have a significant effect on the rate of acquisition of the pattern.