The effect of humorous instructional materials on interest in a math task

Two studies tested the effect of humor, embedded in learning materials, on task interest. College student participants (N _{Study 1} = 359, N _{Study 2} = 172) learned a new math technique with the presence or absence of humor in the learning program and/or test instructions. Individual interest in math was measured initially and also tested as a factor. The results showed that the effect of humor in the learning program depended on individual interest in math. Humor raised task interest for those with low individual interest in math but slightly lowered task interest for those with high individual interest in math. Mediating variables of this effect were tested across both studies. Although the mediating variables showed inconsistency, humor may affect task interest through affective responses immediately following the instruction, rather than in subsequent interaction with the task.     

The Impact of Passing the Professional in Human Resources Exam on Early Career Success for Undergraduates Entering the Human Resource Field

This study investigates the impact of passing the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification exam on the early career success of recent college graduates. Data were gathered from alumni of three Midwestern universities who earned an undergraduate degree in business administration (i.e., BBA) with a major in human resources. The survey was designed to measure early career success indicators including finding a job in the HR field, starting salary, and number of promotions. Results reveal that the probability of one's first job after graduation being in human resources was significantly greater for those who had passed the PHR exam compared with those who did not pass or did not take the exam. Passing the PHR exam was not associated with significant differences in starting salary or early career promotions. Implications, study strengths and limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Emotional and cognitive information processing: relations to behavioral performance and hippocampal long-term potentiation in vivo during a spatial water maze training in rats

Emotionality as well as cognitive abilities contribute to the acquisition and retrieval of memories as well as to the consolidation of long-term potentiation (LTP), a cellular model of memory formation. However, little is known about the timescale and relative contribution of these processes. Therefore, we tested the effects of weak water maze training, containing both emotional and cognitive demands, on LTP in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. The population spike amplitude (PSA)-LTP was prolonged in all rats irrespective of whether they memorized the platform position or not, whereas the field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP)-LTP was impaired in good learners and enhanced in poor learners. We then dissociated the behavioral performance of rats during the water maze task by principal component analysis and by means of stress hormone concentrations into underlying "emotional" and "cognitive" factors. PSA-LTP was associated with "emotional" and fEPSP-LTP with "cognitive" behavior. PSA-LTP was depotentiated after the blockade of corticosterone binding mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) in trained animals, while fEPSP-LTP was unaffected. These results suggest that synaptic processing and encoding of emotional information in the hippocampal dentate gyrus is realized fast and further information transfer is detectable by the reinforcement of PSA-LTP, whereas that of cognitive memories is long lasting.     

A Blueprint for Social Cognitive Development

ABSTRACT— The field of social cognitive development (SCD) has historically failed to emerge as a dominant approach in developmental psychology. We take this opportunity to articulate the assumptions, goals, and contributions of SCD with the aim of invigorating research from this perspective. We begin by describing the current landscape of social and cognitive development, suggesting what they have and have not given us. We then outline major goals of the social cognitive developmental approach and walk through examples of successful SCD research. Finally, we examine the unique potential of the social cognitive approach to cross-fertilize social and cognitive development (as well as related fields such as social psychology and neuroscience) and to answer new questions about development.     

Integrating Social Information Processing and Attachment Style Research with Cognitive-behavioral Couple Therapy

The majority of the empirically validated interventions for relational distress focus primarily upon improving behavioral functioning, particularly couples’ communication patterns in conflict situations. However, although communication is highly predictive of relationship distress and later divorce, research on the effectiveness of premarital and marital interventions based on communication training has shown limited results. Therefore, although the skills-based approaches can be effective in treating relational discord and instability, they also often neglect another potentially powerful mechanism in the development of relational distress: the social cognitions and/or schemata regarding relationships that individuals carry into their marriages that stem from negative attachment experiences. Thus, this article describes how blending information gleaned from attachment style research with the body of literature addressing social information processing can enhance current methods for the treatment of relational discord. The existing research on adult romantic attachment styles is placed within a social-cognitive information processing framework and a case study demonstrating the utility of this approach with difficult couples is described.     

Judgments of the lucky across development and culture

For millennia, human beings have believed that it is morally wrong to judge others by the fortuitous or unfortunate events that befall them or by the actions of another person. Rather, an individual's own intended, deliberate actions should be the basis of his or her evaluation, reward, and punishment. In a series of studies, the authors investigated whether such rules guide the judgments of children. The first 3 studies demonstrated that children view lucky others as more likely than unlucky others to perform intentional good actions. Children similarly assess the siblings of lucky others as more likely to perform intentional good actions than the siblings of unlucky others. The next 3 studies demonstrated that children as young as 3 years believe that lucky people are nicer than unlucky people. The final 2 studies found that Japanese children also demonstrate a robust preference for the lucky and their associates. These findings are discussed in relation to M. J. Lerner's (1980) just-world theory and J. Piaget's (1932/1965) immanent-justice research and in relation to the development of intergroup attitudes.     

Book Review of Empathy in Counseling and Psychotherapy: Perspectives and Practices

Book reviewed in this article: Empathy in Counseling and Psychotherapy: Perspectives and Practices by Arthur J. Clark, 2007     

Family functioning in families of children with anxiety disorders.

The authors examined maternal and paternal reports of family functioning and their relationship with child outcomes as well as the association between anxiety and depression in family members and family functioning. Results reveal that maternal and paternal reports of family functioning were both significantly associated with worse child outcomes, including child anxiety disorder (AD) severity, anxiety symptoms, and child global functioning. Maternal and paternal anxiety and depression predicted worse family functioning, whereas child report of anxiety and depression did not. Parents of children with ADs reported significantly worse family functioning and behavior control, but only fathers reported worse problem solving and affective involvement compared with fathers of children with no psychological disorders. Findings from this study suggest that paternal as well as maternal anxiety and depression play a role in worse family functioning in children with ADs and that unhealthier family functioning is associated with worse child outcomes in this population.     

The UCLA Body Project I: Gender and Ethnic Differences in Self-Objectification and Body Satisfaction Among 2,206 Undergraduates

This study examined whether objectification theory is useful for understanding gender, body mass, and ethnic differences in body satisfaction among 2,206 US undergraduates who completed a body image survey. Women reported lower body satisfaction than men (d?=?.37) and this was true across the majority of the BMI continuum. Very slender men, however, were less satisfied than very slender women who approached the female thin-ideal. Differences in body satisfaction among White, Asian, and Hispanic participants were small to moderate (ds?=?.18 to .45). Consistent with the prediction that self-objectification has particularly negative effects on women who deviate from the slender White ideal, the association between body dissatisfaction and appearance surveillance was strongest for heavier and minority women.