Similarity predicts liking in 3-year-old children

Two studies examined the influence of similarity on 3-year-old children’s initial liking of their peers. Children were presented with pairs of childlike puppets who were either similar or dissimilar to them on a specified dimension and then were asked to choose one of the puppets to play with as a measure of liking. Children selected the puppet whose food preferences or physical appearance matched their own. Unpacking the physical appearance finding revealed that the stable similarity of hair color may influence liking more strongly than the transient similarity of shirt color. A second study showed that children also prefer to play with a peer who shares their toy preferences, yet importantly, show no bias toward a peer who is similar on an arbitrary dimension. The findings provide insight into the earliest development of peer relations in young children.     

Spectral information in nonspeech contexts influences children’s categorization of ambiguous speech sounds

For both adults and children, acoustic context plays an important role in speech perception. For adults, both speech and nonspeech acoustic contexts influence perception of subsequent speech items, consistent with the argument that effects of context are due to domain-general auditory processes. However, prior research examining the effects of context on children’s speech perception have focused on speech contexts; nonspeech contexts have not been explored previously. To better understand the developmental progression of children’s use of contexts in speech perception and the mechanisms underlying that development, we created a novel experimental paradigm testing 5-year-old children’s speech perception in several acoustic contexts. The results demonstrated that nonspeech context influences children’s speech perception, consistent with claims that context effects arise from general auditory system properties rather than speech-specific mechanisms. This supports theoretical accounts of language development suggesting that domain-general processes play a role across the lifespan.     

Healing the Attachment Injury of Marital Infidelity Using Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy: A Case Illustration

This case illustration is a demonstration of a therapist handling the betrayal of infidelity through the application of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), specifically utilizing the attachment injury resolution model. An actual dialogue from a key couples session is included as it applies to the model, providing clinicians with an example for how EFT can be applied to the common clinical occurrence of infidelity.     

Continuity in Representation Between Children and Adults: Arithmetic Knowledge Hinders Undergraduates' Algebraic Problem Solving

This study examined if solving arithmetic problems hinders undergraduates' accuracy on algebra problems. The hypothesis was that solving arithmetic problems would hinder accuracy because it activates an operational view of equations, even in educated adults who have years of experience with algebra. In three experiments, undergraduates (N = 184) solved addition facts or participated in one of several control conditions. Those who solved addition facts were less likely to solve prealgebra equations (e.g., 6 + 8 +4 = 7 + __) correctly under speeded conditions. In a fourth experiment, the negative effects of solving arithmetic problems extended to undergraduates (N = 74) solving algebra problems with no time pressure. Taken together, results suggest that arithmetic activates knowledge that hinders performance on algebra problems. Thus, an operational view of equations, which is prevalent in children, does not seem to be revised or abandoned, even after years of experience with algebra.     

My Disaster Recovery: a pilot randomized controlled trial of an Internet intervention

Abstract

This pilot study tested the efficacy of the My Disaster Recovery (MDR) website to decrease negative affect and increase coping self-efficacy. Fifty-six survivors of Hurricane Ike were recruited from a larger study being conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch at the first anniversary of the storm. Restricted randomization was used to assign participants to the MDR website, an information-only website, or a usual care condition. Group×time interactions indicated that MDR reduced participant worry more than the other conditions. A similar trend was also identified for depression. Both websites were accessed a small to moderate amount and participants reported mixed satisfaction for both websites. Although the effect sizes for worry and depression were in the moderate to large range, small sample size and timing of the intervention qualify the findings. These preliminary findings encourage further evaluation of MDR with a larger, demographically diverse sample and indicate that the MDR website might be helpful in reducing worry and depression.     

A Comparison of Latent Inhibition and Learned Irrelevance Pre-Exposure Effects in Rabbit and Human Eyeblink Conditioning

The learning of an association between a CS and a US can be retarded by unreinforced presentations of the CS alone (termed latent inhibition or LI) or by un-correlated presentations of the CS and US (termed learned irrelevance or LIRR). In rabbit eyeblink conditioning, there have been some recent failures to replicate LI. LIRR has been hypothesized as producing a stronger retardation effect than LI based on both empirical studies and computational models. In the work presented here, we examined the relative strength of LI and LIRR in eyeblink conditioning in rabbits and humans. In both species, a number of preexposure trials sufficient to produce LIRR failed to produce LI (Experiments 1 & 3). Doubling the number of CS pre-exposures did produce LI in rabbits (Experiment 2), but not in humans (Experiment 4). LI was demonstrated in humans only after manipulations including an increased inter-trial interval or ITI (Experiment 5). Overall, it appears that LIRR is a more easily producible pre-exposure retardation effect than LI for eyeblink conditioning in both rabbits and humans. Several theoretical mechanisms for LI including the conditioned attention theory, stimulus compression, novelty, and the switching theory are discussed as possible explanations for the differences between LIRR and LI. Overall, future work involving testing the neural substrates of pre-exposure effects may benefit from the use of LIRR rather than LI.     

Treatment, Age, and Time-Related Predictors of Behavioral Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors

The research has shown that children surviving cancer are at risk for long-term emotional and behavioral problems secondary to the cumulative effects of cranial irradiation and chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the emotional and behavioral outcome of children diagnosed with brain tumor and treated with cranial irradiation and chemotherapy by looking at the association between treatment, time, age, and cognitive-related variables on externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 3 years posttreatment. Fifty-four brain tumor survivors were administered a neuropsychological test battery, whereas the parents filled out the CBCL and Conners' Parent Rating Scale. The results indicate that chemotherapy treatment with vincristine, cytoxan, cisplantinum, and/or VP16 was related to poorer internalizing and externalizing behavioral outcome, especially attention, social withdrawal, and anxious–depressive symptomatology. Age at time of diagnosis or treatment, time since discontinuation of treatment, type and/or total dose of radiation therapy was not significantly correlated with any of the behavioral outcome scales. Verbal memory and learning deficits accounted for a significant portion of the variance in social withdrawal, whereas lower scores in overall intellectual functioning and verbal fluency was related to disturbances in attention, inhibition, and social functioning. The findings suggest that children treated with 1 or a combination of any of the aforementioned chemotherapy agents who exhibit declines in intellectual functioning and memory are at increased risk for long-term behavioral problems 3 years after treatment cessation. These findings support the importance for early psychotherapeutic and supportive intervention services immediately after treatment cessation, with the goal of circumventing these potentially debilitating emotional problems.     

Psychosocial variables, external barriers, and stage of mammography adoption.

Guided by H. Triandis's (1980) theory of behavior and the transtheoretical model, the study purpose was to examine differences in psychosocial variables and external conditions by stage of mammography adoption. Sampled from a statewide population, participants (N=509) were women aged 51-80. They had been contacted by telephone, screened for eligibility (e.g., no history of cancer or recent mammogram), and interviewed 3-6 months later. Higher utility beliefs, social influences, and practitioner interactions about mammography were associated with improved stage of adoption, as were lower negative affect and external barriers regarding mammography. Higher decisional balance scores, with and without negative affect toward mammography were associated with improved stage. Controlling for variables reflecting pros and cons, negative affect toward mammography further distinguished among stages. A richer set of pros and cons measures could explain screening more fully.