Mirroring Activity in the Brain and Movement Determinant in the Rorschach Test

Human movement (M) responses to the Rorschach are related to cognitive sophistication, creativity, and empathy. Recent studies also link Ms to EEG-mu suppression, an index of mirroring activity in the brain. In this article, we further investigate the link between Ms and mu suppression by testing some clinical interpretative distinctions. Previously collected EEG data recorded during the administration of the Rorschach were reanalyzed. We hypothesized that (a) among several responses investigated, only M would be associated with mu suppression, and (b) Ms with active movement, ordinary form quality, or whole human figures would be most strongly associated with mu suppression. Hypothesis 1 was fully confirmed, thus supporting that the traditional interpretation of M has a neurobiological foundation. Hypothesis 2 was partially confirmed; that is, active Ms were associated with mu suppression more strongly than passive Ms (p < .05), but no other significant differences emerged. Clinical implications are discussed.     

The Relation Between Mechanical Ability Tests and Verbal and Non-Verbal Intelligence Tests

The present study examined the verbal imitative performance of normal and retarded children at four mental ages (MAs 5, 6, 7, and 8 years). Three dependent measures of imitation were taken: total, mimical, and conceptual. The results indicated that both IQ and mental age were significant factors in imitative performance. Retardates primarily demonstrated mimical imitation at the MA 5 level and conceptual imitation at the MA 7 level, while normals emitted primarily mimical responses at MA7. Retardates and normals differed in total imitation only at MA 5.     

Investigating the interface of the investment model and adult attachment theory

We examined whether the extent to which individuals accord importance to components of the investment model varies by attachment. In Study 1, rewards and costs in a hypothetical relationship were experimentally manipulated, and participants (single and dating undergraduates) reported perceptions of rewards, costs, and satisfaction. In Study 2, investments and alternative quality were manipulated, and participants reported perceptions of investments, alternatives, satisfaction, and commitment. Study 1 revealed that relative to others, individuals high in both anxiety and avoidance (i.e., fearful) accord less weight to rewards when determining satisfaction. Study 2 revealed that relative to others, individuals low in anxiety and high in avoidance (i.e., dismissing) accord more weight to investments and alternatives, and less weight to satisfaction when determining commitment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The organizational structure and function of La Nuestra Familia within Colorado state correctional facilities

This article addresses the organizational structure and function of La Nuestra Familia, a prison-based Chicano crime group (gang) that formed in California in 1968 and has gradually moved eastward across the United States and into the Colorado prison system (Colorado Department of Corrections [DOC]). I argue that researchers of La Nuestra Familia have misinterpreted, or been unaware of, many of the vital functions of the organization to its membership. I demonstrate that Familia's organizational structure operates with a strong consensus of the Familianos (members) and that La Nuestra Familia functions, in most situations, as a mutual aid society.     

Risk and resilience: The moderating role of social coping for maternal mental health in a setting of political conflict

Violence can threaten individual wellbeing and tear at the social fabric of communities. At the same time, suffering can mobilize social coping and mutual support. Thus, the backdrop of political violence increases risk factors and stimulates resilience. The current study examined the moderating role of social coping as reflective of risk and resiliency in Northern Ireland, a setting of protracted conflict. Specifically, structural equation modeling was used to investigate whether social coping protects from or exacerbates the negative impact of sectarian crime and nonsectarian crime on maternal mental health (N = 631). Nonsectarian crime predicted greater psychological distress for mothers in Belfast. Mixed support was found for the buffering and depletion moderation hypotheses; social coping functioned differently for nonsectarian crime and sectarian crime. Greater social coping buffered mothers’ psychological distress from the negative effects of nonsectarian crime, but exacerbated maternal mental health problems when facing sectarian crime. Results suggest that social coping is a complex phenomenon, particularly in settings of protracted political violence. Implications for interventions aimed at alleviating psychological distress by enhancing mothers’ social coping in contexts of intergroup conflict are discussed.     

Influence of Source Liking and Personality Traits on Perceptions of Bias and Future News Source Selection

This study examined news selection intentions that followed judgments of story bias and the extent to which those intentions were influenced by source liking. The study also examined the extent to which two personality traits, argumentativeness and need for cognition, affected perceptions of story bias and intent to select an offending source in the future. Participants were more likely to say they would return to the source of a “biased” story if they liked and had selected the source previously than they were if the source was unknown. Individuals high in argumentativeness were less likely than those low in argumentativeness to view a story with negative information about their group as biased. Need for cognition was weakly related to intent to return to an offending source. Implications for consumption of counterattitudinal information and source selection in the current news environment are discussed.     

More than Just Hand Waving: Review of Hearing Gestures: How Our Hands Help Us Think

Susan Goldin-Meadow's Hearing Gestures: How Our Hands Help Us to Think synthesizes findings from various domains to demonstrate that gestures convey meaning and comprise a critical and fundamental form of communication. She also argues convincingly for the cognitive utility of gesture for the gesturer. Goldin-Meadow presents an airtight case that gesture is more than just hand waving and serves as an essential tool for studying the mind.     

Job Satisfaction and Innovative Performance in Young Spanish Employees: Testing New Patterns in the Happy-Productive Worker Thesis—A Discriminant Study

We aimed to make a theoretical contribution to the happy-productive worker thesis by expanding the study to cases where this thesis does not fit. We hypothesized and corroborated the existence of four relations between job satisfaction and innovative performance: (a) unhappy-unproductive, (b) unhappy-productive, (c) happy-unproductive, and (d) happy-productive. We also aimed to contribute to the happy-productive worker thesis by studying some conditions that influence and differentiate among the four patterns. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 513 young employees representative of Spain. Cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were performed. We identified the four patterns. Almost 15 % of the employees had a pattern largely ignored by previous studies (e.g., unhappy-productive). As hypothesized, to promote well-being and performance among young employees, it is necessary to fulfill the psychological contract, encourage initiative, and promote job self-efficacy. We also confirmed that over-qualification characterizes the unhappy-productive pattern, but we failed to confirm that high job self-efficacy characterizes the happy-productive pattern. The results show the relevance of personal and organizational factors in studying the well-being-performance link in young employees.     

The impact of emotions on recall: An empirical study on social ads

Emotions are a complex phenomenon that entails a tricky problem regarding the measurement. To partially overcome this question, we assess emotions both using self‐report and measures commonly used in neuromarketing. This study assesses the accuracy of the recall after 4 months regarding two social advertising videos about female genital mutilation. Forty female participants were recruited. The skin conductance trend of the participants is different when viewing the two videos. The majority of participants (94.9%) reported that the two videos elicited different emotions (sadness for the first video and anger for the second one). Furthermore, according to arousal and valence model, these data are consistent with the literature that underlines the importance of psychophysiological indexes in measuring emotions and their associations with memory performances.