Exploring the Judgment–Action Gap: College Students and Academic Dishonesty

This study examined differences between university students who were caught and sanctioned for cheating, students admitting to cheating but who were not caught, and students reporting that they had never cheated. Our findings showed that noncheaters are older, have better grade point averages, and have more sophisticated moral and epistemological reasoning skills. Qualitative analyses revealed that denial of responsibility and injury were the most common neutralization techniques and differed between the sanctioned and self-reported cheaters. We discuss the need to examine the extent to which reasoning skills have a causal impact on cheating behaviors.     

Patterns of emotion regulation and psychopathology

Abstract

Emotion regulatory strategies such as higher expressive suppression and lower cognitive reappraisal may be associated with increased psychopathology (Gross & John, 2003 Gross, J.J. and John, O.P. 2003. Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85: 348–362. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Yet, it is unclear whether these strategies represent distinct cognitive styles associated with psychopathology, such that there are individuals who are predominantly “suppressors” or “reappraisers.” Using cluster analysis, we examined whether women with and without exposure to potentially traumatic events evidence distinct patterns of emotion regulation frequency, capacity, suppression, and cognitive reappraisal. Four patterns emerged: high regulators; high reappraisers/low suppressors; moderate reappraisers/low suppressors; and low regulators. Individuals who reported infrequently and ineffectively regulating their emotions (low regulators) also reported higher depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In contrast, individuals who reported frequently and effectively using reappraisal and low levels of suppression (high reappraisers/low suppressors) reported the lowest levels of these symptoms, suggesting that this specific combination of emotion regulation may be most adaptive. Our findings highlight that the capacity to regulate emotions and the ability to flexibly apply different strategies based on the context and timing may be associated with reduced psychopathology and more adaptive functioning.     

Deepening the measurement of motivation in the physical activity domain: Introducing behavioural resolve

ObjectivesIntention is theorized as the proximal determinant of behaviour in many leading theories and yet tests of its absolute predictive utility show discordance. While one line of research has been investigating constructs that may augment intention, another possibility may be to improve measurement. The purpose of this study was to compare a typical measure of exercise intention with a measure that attempts to deepen the motivational domain via considerations of contextual barriers and other competing goals (named behavioural resolve).DesignTwo-week prospective.MethodParticipants were a random sample of university students who were subsequently randomized to groups who completed either measures of behavioural intention (n = 179) and behavioural resolve (n = 227) in relation to exercise and a 2-week follow-up of exercise behaviour.ResultsComparing the two measures showed that the behavioural resolve construct explained significantly more variance in exercise behaviour than the standard intention construct (q = .35). Further comparison of the two measures showed that absolute discordance with subsequent exercise behaviour was considerably lower with behavioural resolve (mean = ?.09) compared to behavioural intention (mean = ?1.28).ConclusionsThese findings indicate that at least some of the intention–behaviour gap may be from inadequate measurement of the motivational domain, and this can be partially rectified with shifting to a behavioural resolve measure.     

Connecting DSM-5 Personality Traits and Pathological Beliefs: Toward a Unifying Model

Dissatisfaction with the DSM-IV model of personality disorders has led to the development of alternative conceptualizations, including pathological trait models and models linked to particular theoretical approaches, such as Beck and Freeman’s (1990) cognitive framework. An important issue involves the potential to interweave such models into a single, parsimonious system that combines their distinct advantages. In this study, pathological trait and dysfunctional belief data from 616 individuals in a non-clinical sample were evaluated for commensurability using structural equation modeling. These models can be integrated via five higher-order factors, and that specific dimensions of dysfunctional beliefs can be differentiated based on features of the DSM-5 trait model. Overall, these results suggest that traits provide scaffolding for individual differences in pathological personality, within which dysfunctional beliefs offer specific vectors for clinical intervention in a cognitive framework. Implications of the empirical commensurability of trait and cognitive models are discussed.     

Woven together: advocacy and research as complementary

One of the many important contributions of second-wave feminist scholarship was the re-positioning of scholarly activity as being necessarily situated in relation to ‘I.’ This insistence on standpoint, or positionality, was coupled with a contribution from postmodernism, which challenged the notion that (universal) truths could circulate without specific attachments to people and places. Advocacy was a less used word, but the position taken in this paper is that every piece of research, in all science, carries with it the potential for advocacy. Drawing on the author's own experiences of advocacy as interwoven though her career as a lawyer and an academic, this paper examines various aspects of the intersection of advocacy and professional work.     

Learning foreign sounds in an alien world: videogame training improves non-native speech categorization

Although speech categories are defined by multiple acoustic dimensions, some are perceptually weighted more than others and there are residual effects of native-language weightings in non-native speech perception. Recent research on nonlinguistic sound category learning suggests that the distribution characteristics of experienced sounds influence perceptual cue weights: Increasing variability across a dimension leads listeners to rely upon it less in subsequent category learning (Holt & Lotto, 2006). The present experiment investigated the implications of this among native Japanese learning English /r/-/l/ categories. Training was accomplished using a videogame paradigm that emphasizes associations among sound categories, visual information, and players' responses to videogame characters rather than overt categorization or explicit feedback. Subjects who played the game for 2.5h across 5 days exhibited improvements in /r/-/l/ perception on par with 2-4 weeks of explicit categorization training in previous research and exhibited a shift toward more native-like perceptual cue weights.     

An evaluation of strengthening precursors to increase preschooler compliance

We evaluated the strategy of increasing precursors to compliance on the compliance of 2 preschool boys. Modeling and differential reinforcement were used to increase specific responses to his name being called prior to the opportunity to comply with an instruction. The precursors were stopping the ongoing activity and orienting to, making eye contact with, and saying "yes" to the instructor. High levels of precursors occurred during treatment, and increases in compliance also were observed, even though the consequences for compliance and noncompliance did not change.     

The Hispanic Americans Baseline Alcohol Survey (HABLAS): Acculturation, Birthplace and Alcohol-Related Social Problems Across Hispanic National Groups

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between acculturation, birthplace, and alcohol-related social problems across Hispanic national groups. METHOD: 5,224 Hispanic adults (18+ years) were interviewed using a multistage cluster sample design in Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis shows no association between acculturation and problems among men or women. Birthplace is a risk factor for social problems among both genders. Among men, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and South/Central Americans are more likely to report social problems than Cuban Americans. Other risk factors for men are unemployment, a higher volume of drinking, and a higher frequency of binge drinking. Among women, Mexican American origin and binge drinking are also risk factors for reporting problems. CONCLUSIONS: U.S.-born Hispanics may experience stress and other detrimental effects to health because of their minority status, which may increase the likelihood of more drinking and the development of alcohol-related problems.     

Somatoform Disorder: Treatment Utilization and Cost by Mental Health Professions

Administrative data from Cigna for 149 somatoform cases were analyzed to determine the cost, number of sessions, dropout rates, and recidivism rates. Comparisons on these outcomes were made between medical doctors, psychologists, master’s nurses, master’s social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors. Recidivism rates and number of sessions are higher than for other mental health problems. There were no significant difference in total cost by profession, but did indicate a significant difference in cost per session for MDs. Analyses indicate that masters and doctoral level providers produced the same drop out and recidivism rates.