“Doc,There's Something I Have To Tell You”: Patient Disclosure to Their Psychotherapist of Unprosecuted Murder and Other Violence

The current investigation examines the incidence of clients telling their psychotherapists of committing violent crimes for which they have not been prosecuted. Thirteen percent of the psychologists surveyed indicated that on at least one occasion a client self-disclosed to them during a psychotherapy session that he/she had murdered someone, not including the killing of another person in the line of duty in the military or as a public peace officer. One third of the psychologists had clients self-disclose an unprosecuted incident of a sexual assault, and more than two thirds had clients self-disclose an unprosecuted incident of a physical assault during a psychotherapy session. Data are reported on psychotherapists' views of the impact of such disclosures on the psychotherapy relationship, adequacy of being informed regarding legal obligations after hearing such reports of violence, and adequacy of graduate preparation to deal with these clinical situations.     

What is specific to music processing? Insights from congenital amusia

Musical abilities are generally regarded as an evolutionary by-product of more important functions, such as those involved in language. However, there is increasing evidence that humans are born with musical predispositions that develop spontaneously into sophisticated knowledge bases and procedures that are unique to music. Recent findings also suggest that the brain is equipped with music-specific neural networks and that these can be selectively compromised by a congenital anomaly. This results in a disorder, congenital amusia, that appears to be limited to the processing of music. Recent evidence points to fine-grained perception of pitch as the root of musical handicap. Hence, musical abilities appear to depend crucially on the fine-tuning of pitch, in much the same way that language abilities rely on fine time resolution.     

Task and Scheduling Self-efficacy as Predictors of Exercise Behavior

Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1995, 1997) has figured prominently among social psychological approaches taken to the investigation of exercise behavior. The present study validated two measures of self-efficacy (scheduling and task) through confirmatory factor analytic procedures. In a separate study, the resultant factors were then used as independent variables in the prediction of exercise behavior and behavioral intention in a structural equation model. Task self-efficacy was found to be more related to behavioral intention than scheduling self-efficacy. Scheduling self-efficacy was found to be more related to behavior than task self-efficacy or behavioral intention. Results support different types and motivational functions of self-efficacy for exercise intentions and behavior.     

Developmental Continuity in Teleo-Functional Explanation: Reasoning about Nature Among Romanian Romani Adults

Teleo-functional explanations account for objects in terms of purpose, helping us understand objects such as pencils (for writing) and body parts such as ears (for hearing). Western-educated adults restrict teleo-functional attributions to artifact, biological, and behavioral phenomena, considering such explanations less appropriate for nonliving natural entities. In contrast, children extend explanations of purpose to the nonliving natural domain. This cross-cultural study explores whether apparent restrictions in“promiscuous teleology” occur as a function of age and development, generally, or scientific literacy, more specifically. Using methodology from Kelemen (1999b Kelemen , D. ( 1999b ). Why are rocks pointy? Children's preference for teleo-functional explanations of the natural world . Developmental Psychology , 35 , 1440 – 1453 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), two groups of adult Romanian Roma from the same community selected explanations for properties of biological and nonbiological natural entities; one group had little or no science training, the other was formally schooled. Compared to their schooled peers and to Western-educated American adults, nonschooled Romani adults were more likely to endorse purpose-based explanations of nonbiological natural entities. Findings challenge assumptions of fundamental conceptual discontinuities between children and adults.     

A comparison of children with serious emotional disturbance served in residential and school settings

The National Adolescent and Child Treatment Study (NACTS) was designed to study children identified and served by the public mental health and special education systems as seriously emotionally disturbed. Children (N=812) and their parents (N=740) participated in the first wave of data collection in this longitudinal study. Subjects lived in six states, with approximately half in psychiatric residential treatment centers and the other half in public school special education programs. A multi-method, multi-source methodology was employed. The sample is characterized by externalizing problems, poor adaptive functioning, and substantial academic deficits. Residential children were more likely to have blended families, were more likely to have previously received residential treatment, and had higher rates of conduct disorder, anxiety, and attention deficit disorder, as measured by the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children. The two groups did not differ on intelligence, age of onset, or rates of schizophrenia or depression. The data suggest the presence of greater at-risk factors in the residential group and different paths of entry into special education and residential treatment programs.     

Fast Mapping and Exclusion (Emergent Matching) in Developmental Language,Behavior Analysis,and Animal Cognition Research

The Psychological Record - Researchers from behavior analytic, developmental, and comparative perspectives have all investigated the conditions under which new arbitrary (symbolic)...     

Telling tales in school: extended contact interventions in the classroom

Extended contact has demonstrated its effectiveness in promoting more positive intergroup attitudes among children in previous experimental research. The current project evaluates the use of extended contact interventions involving story‐telling in two novel school settings: the United States (N = 213) and Italy (N = 222) among children aged 5–12 years. Findings indicate support for the effectiveness of the interventions in these two locations among younger minority and majority children but call into question the durability of positive outcomes. Applications and implications are discussed.     

Evaluation of a Community-Based Peer-to-Peer Support Program for Parents of At-Risk Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

Parents of children with emotional and behavioral needs frequently experience difficulty navigating community-based services for their child, as well as experience increased stress and parental strain. Peer-to-peer support programs are an emerging approach to assist these parents, and evidence suggests that they are effective in increasing parents’ perceptions of social support, self-efficacy, and well-being. However, these programs often focus on parents of youth with diagnosed mental health disorders, despite the potential benefit for parents of youth who are at-risk for significant emotional and behavioral problems. In the current study, we used a pre-post design to evaluate a community-based, peer-to-peer support prevention program delivered via telephone to parents (N = 139) of youth with emerging behavioral and emotional difficulties. We evaluated (1) whether the intervention was delivered as designed, (2) the pre- and post-intervention gains in social support and concrete support, and (3) whether parents’ level of participation in the intervention and program adherence predicted outcomes. Results indicated that the intervention was delivered as intended and resulted in increased parental perceived social support and concrete support over time. Furthermore, higher levels of parental participation and intervention adherence were associated with increases in perceived social support. Thus, findings suggest that it may be beneficial for parents of at-risk youth with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties to engage in a peer-to-peer phone support prevention program.     

The Life Satisfaction of Dual-Earner Mothers and Fathers: Does Flexible Scheduling Matter?

Work and family scholarship emphasizes flexible scheduling policies as a key solution to the challenges faced by workers navigating the work–family interface. Despite making life easier for workers, very little research has considered how such policies relate to life satisfaction, especially in terms of how gender comes into play. This study examines how both the availability of flexible scheduling options and the actual use of such policies are differentially related to the life satisfaction of dual-earner mothers and fathers. To address this research question, we use data from the National Study of the Changing Workforce conducted in the United States (N = 211 dual-earner fathers and 284 dual-earner mothers). Results show that flexible scheduling availability is unrelated to the life satisfaction of fathers and mothers. In contrast, flexible scheduling use is significantly and positively related to life satisfaction for dual-earner mothers, but negatively related to the life satisfaction of dual-earner fathers. Explanations for these findings are discussed.