Music in dreams

Music in dreams is rarely reported in scientific literature, while the presence of musical themes in dreams of famous musicians is anecdotally reported. We did a systematic investigation to evaluate whether the occurrence of musical dreams could be related to musical competence and practice, and to explore specific features of dreamt pieces. Thirty-five professional musicians and thirty non-musicians filled out a questionnaire about the characteristics of their musical activity and a structured dream log on the awakening for 30 consecutive days. Musicians dream of music more than twice with respect to non-musicians; musical dreams frequency is related to the age of commencement of musical instruction, but not to the daily load of musical activity. Nearly half of the recalled music was non-standard, suggesting that original music can be created in dreams.     

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful: Anti-attractiveness bias in organizational evaluation and decision making

Within organizational judgment and decision making contexts, biases based on an evaluated person's attractiveness are among the most salient and frequently investigated. An enormous amount of research indicates favoritism for attractive people compared to unattractive ones. The current research demonstrates that the nature of this bias depends on whether one is evaluating a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. Experiment 1 (n = 2639) investigated selection of scholarship applicants and demonstrated that a pro-attractiveness bias held only for selection of opposite-sex scholarship applicants; no such bias was observed for highly attractive same-sex applicants. Experiment 2 (n = 622) investigated evaluations of prospective job candidates and demonstrated again that pro-attractiveness bias was observed only for opposite-sex candidates; participants discriminated against highly attractive same-sex candidates. Moreover, this bias was not observed among highly attractive participants; it held only for moderately attractive participants, those for whom highly attractive same-sex individuals can pose especially potent social threats. Findings suggest that attractiveness biases in organizational decision making are rooted partly in the social threats and opportunities afforded by attractive people.     

Association between alexithymia, neuroticism, and social desirability scores among Italian graduate students

An inverse correlation between social desirability and alexithymia has been observed in undergraduate students in Japan and Australia. It is not clear how this association is influenced by the personality dimension of neuroticism. This study examined the association of scores on social desirability with those on alexithymia controlled for neuroticism, in a sample of 111 Italian graduate students, with age range of 24 to 58 years. Students completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (short form) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). Social desirability scores inversely correlated with TAS-20 total scores, neuroticism scores, and the TAS-20 subscale, Difficulty identifying feelings. Neuroticism directly correlated with TAS-20 total score, Difficulty identifying feelings, and Difficulty describing feelings. Students with higher alexithymia and neuroticism scores seem to present themselves in less socially desirable ways. The correlation of social desirability with alexithymia was moderated by higher neuroticism scores.     

Undergraduate psychology students' experiences of volunteering at a chronic mental health facility

A volunteer program for undergraduate psychology students at a chronic mental health facility was evaluated. All 53 volunteers found the program beneficial, 96.2% reported improved understanding of psychopathology, 98.1% noted increased knowledge of the mental health care system, 86.8% reported increased interest in clinical psychology, and 47.2% felt less anxious about working with persons with mental illness as a result of the program.     

Darwinian ‘blind’ hypothesis formation revisited

Over the last four decades arguments for and against the claim that creative hypothesis formation is based on Darwinian ‘blind’ variation have been put forward. This paper offers a new and systematic route through this long-lasting debate. It distinguishes between undirected, random, and unjustified variation, to prevent widespread confusions regarding the meaning of undirected variation. These misunderstandings concern Lamarckism, equiprobability, developmental constraints, and creative hypothesis formation. The paper then introduces and develops the standard critique that creative hypothesis formation is guided rather than blind, integrating developments from contemporary research on creativity. On that basis, I discuss three compatibility arguments that have been used to answer the critique. These arguments do not deny guided variation but insist that an important analogy exists nonetheless. These compatibility arguments all fail, even though they do so for different reasons: trivialisation, conceptual confusion, and lack of evidence respectively. Revisiting the debate in this manner not only allows us to see where exactly a ‘Darwinian’ account of creative hypothesis formation goes wrong, but also to see that the debate is not about factual issues, but about the interpretation of these factual issues in Darwinian terms.     

Developing and Improving After-School Programs to Enhance Youth’s Personal Growth and Adjustment: A Special Issue of AJCP

Participating in after-school programs (ASPs) has become a common experience for children. This special issue provides a perspective on the current status of research on ASPs. This introductory article overviews the historical and current context of ASPs and then describes a developmental ecological model to guide research in this area. The model offers a framework from which to organize and synthesize the research presented in this issue. Key principles include a holistic view of development that recognizes interrelations between multiple domains of youth adjustment, attention to multiple, relevant factors within and outside of youth that affect development, examining the dynamic interplay between persons, program features, and other contexts over time, and understanding the active role of youth in affecting their own development. These principles are examined in relation to five main areas: youth characteristics, social ecologies, program features, participation, and short- and long-term outcomes. Recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Functional focal retrograde amnesia: Lost access to abstract autobiographical knowledge?

We describe three patients exhibiting an acute reversible amnesia characterised by an impaired recollection of past events with preserved anterograde memory, thus consistent with a focal retrograde amnesia (FRA). This occurred after variable events: state of fugue, road accident, post-traumatic headache. Retrograde amnesia affected autobiographical memory so severely as to cover all of the patients' lives and to erase knowledge of their own identity. The retrieval of public events was variably affected, ranging from normality to severe impairment. No lesions were found on neuroimaging, and neurophysiological findings were unimpressive. FRA subsided in a few days, leaving a gap for the onset. The hypothesis of a psychogenic amnesia is considered, but overcoming the organic/psychogenic dichotomy the episodes appear as examples of “functional” memory inhibition, potentially triggered by different conditions, including events classifiable as psychic trauma. The clinical and neuropsychological traits of functional FRA are discussed. According to a current theory of autobiographical memory, the memory profile may be explained by a lost access to abstract autobiographical knowledge. Given some analogies with the more common transient global amnesia, a mechanism of spreading depression may also be hypothesised for functional FRA.