An internet survey of emotional health,treatment seeking and barriers to accessing mental health treatment among Chinese-speaking international students in Australia

The present internet survey examined the demographic characteristics of Chinese-speaking international students in Australia, psychological distress levels as measured by the Kessler-10 (K-10) Item scale, help-seeking history and preferences, as well as treatment barriers. Of the 144 respondents, 54% reported high psychological distress (mean K-10 score?=?23.96; SD?=?9.03). However, only 9% of those who were highly distressed reported they had sought mental health services in the past year. While the majority preferred help from informal social networks, they tended to favour mental health services over traditional culture-specific forms of help. Common barriers to accessing mental health services reported by respondents with high psychological distress included costs or transportation concerns, limited knowledge of available services, time constraints, the perception that symptoms were not severe enough to warrant treatment, language difficulties and lack of knowledge of symptoms of psychological distress. Although the majority preferred face-to-face treatments over internet treatments, a considerable percentage of respondents were willing to try either treatment modality. Chinese-speaking international students are a high risk group for developing psychological distress, yet they tend to underuse mental health services. Education about the effectiveness of face-to-face and online treatments may increase treatment seeking by this population.     

Effects of spatial filtering and lack of effects of visual imagery on pattern-contingent color aftereffects

Checkerboards contain fundamental two-dimensional Fourier components oriented 45° from the edges of individual checks. Previous studies have shown that contingent color aftereffects following adaptation to chromatic checkerboard stimuli were associated with the fundamental components rather than the edges, In the present experiments, we measured contingent color aftereffects, using the method of constant stimuli, after subjects adapted to unfiltered checkerboards and checkerboards with the fundamental Fourier components removed. The adaptation stimuli were magenta (or green) squares and green (or magenta) diamonds; the test stimuli were vertical or oblique sine-wave gratings with different saturations, After adaptation to unfiltered checkerboards, aftereffects contingent on the fundamental components were obtained. In contrast, after adaptation to filtered stimuli, aftereffects of smaller magnitude were found to be aligned with the edges. The data support the previous findings of spatial-frequency-contingent color after-effects with checkerboard adaptation stimuli and indicate that the aftereffects can be associated with edges if the fundamental components of adaptation stimuli are removed by spatial filtering. We reexamined the possibility of color aftereffects induced by imagery of checkerboards. Contrary to the previous reports, no significant aftereffects were obtained.     

Mental imagery, reasoning, and blindness

Although reasoning seems to be inextricably linked to seeing in the “mind's eye”, the evidence is equivocal. In three experiments, sighted, blindfolded sighted, and congenitally totally blind persons solved deductive inferences based on three sorts of relation: (a) visuo-spatial relations that are easy to envisage either visually or spatially, (b) visual relations that are easy to envisage visually but hard to envisage spatially, and (c) control relations that are hard to envisage both visually and spatially. In absolute terms, congenitally totally blind persons performed less accurately and more slowly than the sighted on all such tasks. In relative terms, however, the visual relations in comparison with control relations impeded the reasoning of sighted and blindfolded participants, whereas congenitally totally blind participants performed the same with the different sorts of relation. We conclude that mental images containing visual details that are irrelevant to an inference can even impede the process of reasoning. Persons who are blind from birth—and who thus do not tend to construct visual mental images—are immune to this visual-impedance effect.     

Visuospatial tasks suppress craving for cigarettes

The Elaborated Intrusion (EI) theory of desire posits that visual imagery plays a key role in craving. We report a series of experiments testing this hypothesis in a drug addiction context. Experiment 1 showed that a mental visual imagery task with neutral content reduced cigarette craving in abstaining smokers, but that an equivalent auditory task did not. The effect of visual imagery was replicated in Experiment 2, which also showed comparable effects of non-imagery visual working memory interference. Experiment 3 showed that the benefit of visual over auditory interference was not dependent upon imagery being used to induce craving. Experiment 4 compared a visuomotor task, making shapes from modeling clay, with a verbal task (counting back from 100), and again showed a benefit of the visual over the non-visual task.We conclude that visual imagery supports craving for cigarettes. Competing imagery or visual working memory tasks may help tackle craving in smokers trying to quit.     

Just the thought of it!: Effects of anticipating computer-mediated communication on gender stereotyping

A study investigated how anticipated communication mode affects the use of stereotypes in forming impressions and making task assignments. Participants rated male or female targets with whom they envisioned working on a business project using computer-mediated or face-to-face modes of communication. Results indicated that both men and women were characterized more stereotypically when participants anticipated working with them electronically than when they anticipated working with them face-to-face. Furthermore, task assignments were more often gender stereotype consistent when the communication mode was computer-mediated than when it was face-to-face. These findings suggest that the mere anticipation of computer-mediated communication, without the actual the experience of it, is enough to promote stereotypes and biased decision-making.     

Stimulating the creativity of elderly institutionalized women through works of art

The present article reports a controlled intervention study concerning the effects of a nondirected use of pictures of works of art as a way of stimulating creativity in elderly institutionalized women. Participants were randomly allocated either to the intervention (n = 20) or to the control (n = 20) group. After the intervention significant improvement in ratings between the groups was measured, with the intervention group more open and flexible and with a stronger deposition to a creative behavior than subjects in the control group. They also showed greater freedom and variation than the control group in drawing circles and making pictures. In puzzle tests the intervention group constructed increasingly imaginative, irregular, and open alternatives with colored patterns. The control group constructed closed and black forms. Importantly, the status of increased creativity continued to exist four months after the intervention. No changes were seen in the control group. This group showed a rational and precautious personality.     

Sex bias in evaluating nontraditional job applicants: reactions to women and men's interrupted college attendance

Two studies indicated that being a nontraditional job applicant due to voluntary interruption of college attendance had detrimental consequences for employment evaluation. These negative reactions were more severe for women than for men. Women with interrupted attendance received the most negative responses (Studies 1 and 2). Choosing to interrupt college attendance increased perceived instability and also positively affected perceived flexibility, and these characterizations were related to evaluative outcomes (Study 2). Moreover, both instability and flexibility characterizations contributed to the gender‐discrepant consequences of interrupted college attendance. Female applicants were rated more negatively on flexibility characterizations than were male applicants. Furthermore, although there were no gender differences in ratings of instability, instability ratings were found to negatively impact evaluations of female applicants, but not male applicants.