Pancultural Gender Stereotypes Revisited: The Five Factor Model

Williams and Best's (1982, 1990a) cross-culturalgender stereotype data from 25 countries, previouslyanalyzed in terms of affective meanings, ego states, andpsychological needs, were re-analyzed in terms of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality.In each country, participants were approximately 100university students, equally divided by gender. Withresults averaged across all countries, it was found that the pancultural male stereotype was higherthan the pancultural female stereotype on Extraversion,Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness toExperience while the pancultural female stereotype was higher on Agreeableness. Re-analysis of thestereotype data from Japan and Pakistan, which had beenfound relatively atypical in previous analyses, revealedFFM profiles generally similar to the pancultural profiles. The evaluative nature of each factoris discussed and related to the stereotypes associalization models.     

Applying Utilization Management Principles to a Comprehensive Service System for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Their Families: A Feasibility Study

The Comprehensive Services Act for At Risk Youth and Families of Virginia (CSA), is a service, funding, and organizational reform initiative designed to improve the provision of child centered and family focused services within a community setting. We conducted this study in order to assess the feasibility of applying utilization management principles to the CSA in order to improve the appropriateness, quality, and cost effectiveness of this service delivery system. Data were gathered through focus groups, surveys, clinical profiling, and analysis of costs, and service utilization. While overall program costs increased since inception of the program, the costs per child served rose less than the rate of inflation. CSA appeared to be serving children with a high degree of emotional and behavioral difficulties. There was considerable variation among localities in placement patterns. A majority of survey and focus group respondents were willing to consider the application of utilization management principles to the CSA as long as decision making remained within localities. We concluded that there is a constructive role for utilization management approaches to improve the appropriateness and quality of services as well as enhancing efficiency in child mental health.     

Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Jewish Adolescents Following a Brief Exposure to Concentration Camps

We investigated the psychological impact of an organized visit to Polish concentration camps on Jewish-American adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents who participated in a B'nai B'rith memorial visit to concentration camps in Poland completed measures of general psychological adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four time-points: pretest, posttest, 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Measures included the SCL-90-R, the Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) for PTSD. On the SCL-90-R, changes in somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety were observed over time, with peak symptom scores at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Scores on the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the IES Intrusion subscale also increased at 6-months. Predictors of PTSD symptoms on the Mississippi Scale included previous psychiatric treatment and SCL-90-R symptoms of paranoia, depression, and psychosis. Elevated psychotic symptoms on the SCL-90-R predicted PTSD symptoms on the IES. Jewish adolescents with preexisting symptoms of generalized distress or psychoticism appeared at increased risk for PTSD symptoms following exposure to Holocaust stimuli. This study contributes a prospective, multi-measure assessment of trauma reactions in adolescents.     

The impact on pastoral care of structural, organisational and statutory changes in schooling: Some empirical evidence and a discussion

Against the historical background of institutionalised pastoral care in schools, the results are reported of a questionnaire survey of 159 members of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) with regard to the impact of post-1988 changes on pastoral care and personal and social education (PSE). Five hypotheses are generated concerning the likely effects of the 1988 Education Reform Act, the National Curriculum and associated developments in educational policy and management. The data reveal that, for the sample surveyed, the importance, time and resources given to pastoral care and PSE are considered not to have declined in the way predicted. Respondents were also more positive than expected about the impact of a range of related changes, including school-centred initial teacher training, teacher mentoring, the introduction of statutory training days, National Curriculum cross-curricular elements, and SCAA and OFSTED guidance. However, there were some developments which were considered to have had a negative effect. These included the National Curriculum programmes of study and key-stage assessments, published league tables and collective acts of worship. Respondents were divided as to the impact of other developments, including the advent of local financial management (LMS), grant-maintained status and OFSTED inspections. There was little visible effect on the role structures in schools, with traditional 'horizontal' arrangements of years and schools-within-schools predominating. In sum, the picture as regards the impact on pastoral care and PSE of a decade of educational policy change is more optimistic than might have been supposed.     

Exergaming immediately enhances children's executive function

The current study examined an important aspect of experience--physical activity--that may contribute to children's executive function. The design attempted to tease apart 2 important aspects of children's exercise by examining the separate and combined effects of acute physical activity and cognitive engagement on an aspect of children's executive functioning. In a 2 × 2 within-subject experimental design, children (N = 33, 6 to 10 years old) completed activities that varied systematically in both physical activity (physically active video games versus sedentary video activities) and cognitive engagement (challenging and interactive video games versus repetitive video activities). Cognitive functioning, including executive function, was assessed after each activity by a modified flanker task (Rueda et al., 2004). Whereas cognitive engagement had no effect on any aspect of task performance, physical activity (i.e., exergaming) enhanced children's speed to resolve interference from conflicting visuospatial stimuli. Age comparisons indicated improvements with age in the accuracy of resolving interference and in overall response time. The results extend past research by showing more precisely how physical activity influences executive function and how this effect differs from the improvements that occur with development.     

Multiple trials may yield exaggerated effect size estimates

Published psychological research attempting to support the existence of small and medium effect sizes may not have enough participants to do so accurately, and thus, repeated trials or the use of multiple items may be used in an attempt to obtain significance. Through a series of Monte-Carlo simulations, this article describes the results of multiple trials or items on effect size estimates when the averages and aggregates of a dependent measure are analyzed. The simulations revealed a large increase in observed effect size estimates when the numbers of trials or items in an experiment were increased. Overestimation effects are mitigated by correlations between trials or items, but remain substantial in some cases. Some concepts, such as a P300 wave or a test score, are best defined as a composite of measures. Troubles may arise in more exploratory research where the interrelations among trials or items may not be well described.     

Do procedures for verbal reporting of thinking have to be reactive? A meta-analysis and recommendations for best reporting methods

Since its establishment, psychology has struggled to find valid methods for studying thoughts and subjective experiences. Thirty years ago, Ericsson and Simon (1980) proposed that participants can give concurrent verbal expression to their thoughts (think aloud) while completing tasks without changing objectively measurable performance (accuracy). In contrast, directed requests for concurrent verbal reports, such as explanations or directions to describe particular kinds of information, were predicted to change thought processes as a consequence of the need to generate this information, thus altering performance. By comparing performance of concurrent verbal reporting conditions with their matching silent control condition, Ericsson and Simon found several studies demonstrating that directed verbalization was associated with changes in performance. In contrast, the lack of effects of thinking aloud was merely suggested by a handful of experimental studies. In this article, Ericsson and Simon's model is tested by a meta-analysis of 94 studies comparing performance while giving concurrent verbalizations to a matching condition without verbalization. Findings based on nearly 3,500 participants show that the "think-aloud" effect size is indistinguishable from zero (r = -.03) and that this procedure remains nonreactive even after statistically controlling additional factors such as task type (primarily visual or nonvisual). In contrast, procedures that entail describing or explaining thoughts and actions are significantly reactive, leading to higher performance than silent control conditions. All verbal reporting procedures tend to increase times to complete tasks. These results suggest that think-aloud should be distinguished from other methods in future studies. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

How does frustration make you feel? A motivational analysis in exercise context

Not all exercisers experience the same psychological benefits. The understanding of motivational processes and their relation with emotional consequences of exercise should be considered in the context of the exercisers motivation. This was a cross-sectional study of 153 gym users (M?=?36.21 years, SD?=?8.44; 44.9% men, 55.1% women; M years exercise?=?8). Weekly attendance averaged 4.3 (SD?=?2.6) sessions per week; reported exertion intensity was 5.6 (SD?=?2.1) (scale: 0–11). The basic psychological needs (BPNs) posited by self-determination theory, motivational regulation, and emotional response to physical activity, were measured. Possible mediators of BPN-emotion relationships were analyzed. BPN satisfaction was associated with a positive emotional response to exercise which was partially mediated by the effect of autonomous regulation on positive activation and psychological well-being. Mediation models indicated that the negative effects of BPN frustration were counteracted by autonomous regulation. Exercise professionals should be able to create psychologically supportive contexts and identify behaviors associated with need frustration so as to enhance emotional responses to exercise.     

Seeing it differently: visual processing in autism

Several recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies have documented an impairment in face processing in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It remains unknown, however, what underlying mechanism gives rise to this face processing difficulty. One theory suggests that the difficulty derives from a pervasive problem in social interaction and/or motivation. An alternative view proposes that the face-processing problem is not entirely social in nature and that a visual perceptual impairment might also contribute. The focus of this review is on this latter, perceptual perspective, documenting the psychological and neural alterations that might account for the face processing impairment. The available evidence suggests that perceptual alterations are present in ASD, independent of social function.