Early Reminiscing in Cultural Contexts: Cultural Models,Maternal Reminiscing Styles,and Children's Memories

The present study examined conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts when reminiscing with their 3-year-old children. We chose samples based on their sociodemographic profiles, which represented three different cultural models: (1) autonomy (urban middle-class families from Western societies), (2) relatedness (rural farming families from non-Western societies), and (3) autonomy-relatedness (urban middle-class families from non-Western societies). The results showed that mothers from the autonomous contexts predominantly adopted an elaborative-evaluative reminiscing style (variable-oriented approach) and pattern (person-oriented approach). Mothers from the relational contexts mainly adopted a repetitive reminiscing style and pattern. There was greater heterogeneity for style variables among mothers from autonomous-relational contexts; in addition, the person-oriented approach revealed that the majority of mothers from autonomous-relational contexts showed hybrid style patterns. Thus, the cultural models, and their respective orientations towards autonomy and relatedness, were reflected in the way mothers reminisced with their children. The children's provision of memory elaborations was high in the autonomous contexts, low in the relational contexts, and moderate in the autonomous-relational contexts. Across contexts, maternal evaluations prompted children to contribute memory elaborations. Maternal elaborations were an additional predictor for children's memory, but only for families from the relational cultural model.     

Using Habituation of Looking Time to Assess Mental Processes in Infancy

Habituation of looking time has become the standard method for studying cognitive processes in infancy. This method has a long history and derives from the study of memory and habituation itself. Often, however, it is not clear how researchers make decisions about how to implement habituation as a tool to study processes such as categorization, object representation, and memory. This article describes the challenges for implementing this tool and describes a set of best practices for its use to study perception and cognition in infancy.     

A Developmental Vocabulary Assessment for Parents (DVAP): Validating Parental Report of Vocabulary Size in 2- to 7-Year-Old Children

Measuring individual differences in children's emerging language abilities is important to researchers and clinicians alike. The 2 most widely used methods for assessing children's vocabulary both have limitations: Experimenter-administered tests are time-consuming and expensive, and parent questionnaires have only been designed for children up to 37 months of age. Here, we test the validity of a new assessment to fill this gap: the Developmental Vocabulary Assessment for Parents (DVAP). In 4 experiments, we assess the reliability of this measure and its concurrent and predictive validity in samples of 2- to 7-year-old children. We found that the DVAP provides a rapid, cost-effective alternative to experimenter-administered vocabulary tests for children.     

A home of her own: (Writing) a family story of separation and second chances

Abstract

On March 16, 1996, the author interviewed her mother, Beth Tillmann, about Beth's parents' divorce and her life as a foster child. From detailed notes taken during this phone conversation and from family stories told to the author throughout tier life, the author constructed a narrative titled “A Home of Her Own” Its structure and tone mimic the way her mother speaks about the dissolution of her family of origin and her attachments to and separations from those who tried to lielp her rebuild a sense of home. After the story is a discussion of what narrative representations of loss offer the writer, the subject, and the reader.     

Dogs demonstrate perspective taking based on geometrical gaze following in a Guesser–Knower task

Currently, there is still no consensus about whether animals can ascribe mental states (Theory of Mind) to themselves and others. Showing animals can respond to cues that indicate whether another has visual access to a target or not, and that they are able to use this information as a basis for whom to rely on as an informant, is an important step forward in this direction. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) with human informants are an ideal model, because they show high sensitivity towards human eye contact, they have proven able to assess the attentional state of humans in food-stealing or food-begging contexts, and they follow human gaze behind a barrier when searching for food. With 16 dogs, we not only replicated the main results of Maginnity and Grace (Anim Cogn 17(6):1375–1392, 2014) who recently found that dogs preferred to follow the pointing of a human who witnessed a food hiding event over a human who did not (the Guesser–Knower task), but also extended this finding with a further, critical control for behaviour-reading: two informants showed identical looking behaviour, but due to their different position in the room, only one had the opportunity to see where the food was hidden by a third person. Preference for the Knower in this critical test provides solid evidence for geometrical gaze following and perspective taking in dogs.     

Can voicing conflict within experiential learning groups facilitate connection? building and developing effective multi-disciplinary team-working skills

In the UK, Clinical Psychologists (CPs) work in a variety of settings within the National Health Service (NHS), often within Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs). Problem-Based Learning (PBL) within CP training at the University of Hertfordshire (UH) offers unique opportunities to combine scientist-practitioner and reflective-practitioner models to learn about group dynamics from the personal experience of working within an experiential learning group.

Further, given Trainees work three days per week on placement within MDTs in the NHS, the learning gained within a ‘safer’ PBL context can be utilised within these clinical settings. For two years, Trainees at UH have to work in small PBL groups with five or six members learning to work together to achieve a goal (four assessed presentations) negotiating their own personal and professional journey, as well as a group journey. Consequently, PBL offers trainees opportunities to learn (1) how individuals work within a group; (2) how personal experiences influence this process; (3) how others influence them and are influenced by them; and (4) how a group of diverse individuals conceptualise, understand and convey case vignettes to an audience. Within these groups, many Trainees learn to speak out, reflect, listen attentively, empathise, validate and accept diverse experiences. Further, when differences dominate they often learn to negotiate these, finding a way to maintain effective team working in order to complete the presentation. Focusing on the conflict that can occur within (any) group, this paper explores themes from the reflective narratives of six trainees: parallels and differences between MDTs and PBL groups, striving for and achieving authenticity; and conflict as a ‘swear’ word. We conclude that exploring the role PBL can play in training individuals to work effectively in teams may be of benefit within the training of other professional groups.     

Psychometric characteristics of the Transgender Identity Survey in an Italian sample: A measure to assess positive and negative feelings towards transgender identity

Transgender people experience systematic oppression due to societal endorsement of binary notions of gender. As a result, they are at risk for self-stigmatization via the internalization of negative attitudes about being transgender. Thus, researchers need instruments to assess the multilayered nature of transgender identity and its role in the experience of mental health and well-being. This study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Transgender Identity Survey (TIS) in an Italian sample of 149 transgender people. The TIS assesses levels of pride, shame, alienation, and passing in transgender populations, providing researchers and clinicians with an instrument that can evaluate both positive aspects of transgender identity and internalized transphobia. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the original four-factor model had adequate fit to the data obtained from the Italian sample, with the exception of one item. Both convergent and predictive validity were assessed and partially confirmed, indicating that the TIS is significantly correlated with some of the enacted stigma and mental health outcome measures (perceived stress, depression, and anxiety). This study provides both clinicians and researchers with a tool to assess positive and negative aspects of identity in transgender populations.     

Radial bisection of words and lines in right‐brain‐damaged patients with spatial neglect

The bisection of lines positioned radially (with the two ends of the line close and far, with respect to the participant's body) has been less investigated than that of lines placed horizontally (with their two ends left and right, with respect to the body's midsagittal plane). In horizontal bisection, patients with left neglect typically show a rightward bias for both lines and words, greater with longer stimuli. As for radial bisection, available data indicate that neurologically unimpaired participants make a distal error, while results from right‐brain‐damaged patients with left spatial neglect are contradictory. We investigated the bisection of radially oriented words, with the prediction that, during bisection, linguistic material would be recoded to its canonical left‐to‐right format in reading, with the performance of neglect patients being similar to that for horizontal words. Thirteen right‐brain‐damaged patients (seven with left spatial neglect) and fourteen healthy controls were asked to manually bisect 40 radial and 40 horizontal words (5–10 letters), and 80 lines, 40 radial and 40 horizontal, of comparable length. Right‐brain‐damaged patients with spatial neglect exhibited a proximal bias in the bisection of short radial words, with the proximal part corresponding to the final right part of horizontally oriented words. This proximal error was not found in patients without neglect and healthy controls. For bisection, short radial words may be recoded to the canonical orthographic horizontal format, unveiling the impact of left neglect on radially oriented stimuli.     

Ethical Guidelines for Mass Trauma and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

Issues pertaining to trauma, especially mass trauma and complex humanitarian emergencies, are explored through the lens of ethical counseling guidelines. In mass trauma, particular attention must be paid to the experiences of both survivors and counselors to enhance understanding of ethical best practices and to emphasize the importance of contextual factors in framing effective responses to trauma and humanitarian crises. Recommendations regarding ethical guidelines for counseling practice, clinical involvement, and training are offered.     

Is there room for criticism of studies of psychodynamic psychotherapy?

Comments on the original article, "The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy," by J. Shedler (see record 2010-02208-012). Shedler declared unequivocally that "empirical evidence supports the efficacy of psychodynamic therapy" (p. 98). He did not mention any specific criticisms that have been made of evidence on psychodynamic psychotherapies or address possible distinctions between evidence for short-term versus long-term psychodynamic psychotherapies. Instead, he attributed dissenting views to biases in evidence dissemination and review, which he suggested are rooted in a "lingering distaste in the mental health professions professions for past psychoanalytic arrogance and authority" related to a "hierarchical medical establishment that denied training to non-MDs and adopted a dismissive stance toward research" (Shedler, 2010, p. 98). Shedler (2010) justified his blanket dismissal of criticisms of evidence supporting psychodynamic psychotherapy on the basis of several published meta-analyses. The validity of conclusions from metaanalyses depends on the quality of the evidence synthesized, the nature of the studies included, and the rigor of the statistical analyses employed. Many meta-analyses, however, are not performed rigorously, which can result in treatment efficacy estimates that obscure important intertrial differences and that are unlikely to be replicated in clinical practice.