Does post-event cognitive load undermine thought suppression and increase intrusive memories after exposure to an analogue stressor?

Ironic process theory has been used in part to explain the phenomenon of intrusive memories in various disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder. How thought suppression interacts with other cognitive processes believed to be instrumental in the development of traumatic intrusive memory was tested. In an analogue design 120 participants were randomised to five conditions, four of which also required participants to attempt to suppress intrusive memories after viewing a film of traumatic content. Participants in three conditions were also required to perform concurrent tasks that acted as a cognitive load during suppression. Intrusive memories were recorded during the experimental phase and at 1-week follow-up. Contrary to predictions, post-film processing did not undermine suppression success. There was some suggestion that post-film processing resulted in those participants experiencing intrusions of shorter duration than the no-suppression control group in two 5-minute intrusion monitoring intervals at the initial and follow-up phase of the experiment, but this was not reflected in a 1-week diary measure of intrusions. All experimental groups performed in a similar fashion in terms of memory testing of the film's content. The findings are discussed in the context of ironic process theory and cognitive models of post-traumatic stress.     

Event familiarity influences memory detection using the aIAT

The developers of the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) describe it as a possible memory detection tool. This claim rests on the assumption the aIAT can reliably and automatically detect the accuracy of autobiographical events. However, the aIAT may be susceptible to factors that affect the assessment of truth vs. falseness, such as the relative familiarity of those events. We compared aIAT performance when participants reported recent vs. childhood autobiographical events, and when participants imagined vs. did not imagine a fabricated autobiographical event. The aIAT was less effective at distinguishing between real and fabricated events from childhood, compared to recent real and fabricated events. Imagining a fabricated event did not affect aIAT performance; however, there was a trend in the data suggesting imagination may have reduced the effect of event recency. Our results provide further evidence that reducing or enhancing source confusion—via familiarity—can influence the predictive value of the aIAT.     

Psychological Treatment Improves Hemoglobin A1c Outcomes in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Adolescents diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus often exhibit reduced adherence to their medical regimen and poor glycemic control. A retrospective study examined longitudinal hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c) outcomes for adolescent patients referred to the psychology service embedded within an endocrinology clinic. Three patient groups were examined: (1) Treatment: 59 adolescents referred who engaged in psychotherapy; (2) No Treatment: 40 adolescents referred yet failed to initiate psychotherapy; (3) Control: 58 adolescents not referred for treatment and matched on demographics to the two treatment groups. Over 1 year, the Treatment group had a sustained decrease in HgbA1c while the No Treatment and Control groups had an overall increase in HgbA1c. At study end, the Treatment group had HgbA1c values that were not significantly different from patients who were not considered in need of psychological treatment (Control). Adolescents that utilized the pediatric psychology service saw decreased HgbA1c values over time.     

Personal (Non-)Religiosity and Policing

ABSTRACT

In many professions, personal religiosity can have a direct bearing on day-to-day practice and the implementation of policy. This article reviews fieldwork data from interviews with members of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, UK, and identifies the role that personal religiosity, or negative attitudes towards religion, can play in attitudes, practice, and expectations. Reflecting on debates about the nature of religious identity, the authors argue that in an arena where religion is increasingly seen to influence policy and practice, the personal religious or non-religious identity of the individual should not be seen as ‘outside’ the area of work but may require careful negotiation and articulation to avoid normative constructions of religion being applied inappropriately to local communities.     

Unraveling Whiteness

In unraveling whiteness I attempt to make visible that which remains hidden and unnamed. I deconstruct whiteness from historical, political, and psychoanalytic perspectives. I explore the psychic mechanisms used to maintain socially constructed racial identities and the processes that assist one in shifting toward an antiracist position.     

Searching for the Ethical: Reply to Commentaries

In replying to the commentaries I challenge the notion that the analyst can remain an apolitical or dehistoricized subject. As relational analysts our work is to keep broadening our reach, and expanding our thinking including addressing the ethical imperatives of our times. I raise the philosophical issue of collective responsibility which deals with moral rather than causal responsibility and the concept of metaphysical guilt, guilt based on who one is rather than what one has done. I also address the need for more innovative forms of writing in psychoanalysis, and my own style of writing in which language attempts to perform the theory. In creating a more narrative driven style of writing I hope that the reader will be able to experience from the inside, rather than solely from a theoretical position, the concepts I am exploring.     

Mixture Factor Analysis for Approximating a Nonnormally Distributed Continuous Latent Factor With Continuous and Dichotomous Observed Variables

Mixture factor analysis is examined as a means of flexibly estimating nonnormally distributed continuous latent factors in the presence of both continuous and dichotomous observed variables. A simulation study compares mixture factor analysis with normal maximum likelihood (ML) latent factor modeling. Different results emerge for continuous versus dichotomous outcomes. For dichotomous outcomes, normal ML path estimates have bias that worsens as latent factor skew/kurtosis increases and does not diminish as sample size increases, whereas the mixture factor analysis model produces nearly unbiased estimators as sample sizes increase (500 and greater) and offers near nominal coverage probability. For continuous outcome variables, both methods produce factor loading estimates with minimal bias regardless of latent factor skew, but the mixture factor analysis is more efficient. The method is demonstrated using data motivated by a study on youth with cystic fibrosis examining predictors of treatment adherence. In summary, mixture factor analysis provides improvements over normal ML estimation in the presence of skewed/kurtotic latent factors, but due to variability in the estimator relating the latent factor to dichotomous outcomes and computational issues, the improvements were only fully realized, in this study, at larger sample sizes (500 and greater).     

The Confusion of Fear and Surprise: A Developmental Study of the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis Using Eye Movements

The goal of the present study was to test the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis in children and adults by manipulating the distinctiveness between expressions and recording eye movements. Children 3–5 and 9–11 years old as well as adults were presented pairs of expressions and required to identify a target emotion. Children 3–5 years old were less accurate than those 9–11 years old and adults. All children viewed pictures longer than adults but did not spend more time attending to the relevant cues. For all participants, accuracy for the recognition of fear was lower than for surprise when the distinctive cue was in the brow only. They also took longer and spent more time in both the mouth and brow zones than when a cue was in the mouth or both areas. Adults and children 9–11 years old made more comparisons between the expressions when fear comprised a single distinctive cue in the brow than when the distinctive cue was in the mouth only or when both cues were present. Children 3–5 years old made more comparisons for brow only than both. The results of the present study extend on the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis showing an importance of both decoder and stimuli, and an interaction between decoder and stimuli characteristics.     

Children’s social cognition about proactive aggression

In this study, 6- and 9-year-old children (N = 258) observed two instances of proactive aggression (one relational and the other direct aggression) that were committed by members of a group toward out-group members. Participants were either members of the group or independent observers. Analyses of participants’ social cognition about the aggressor and the aggression (cause of aggression, moral judgment of aggression, attitudes toward the aggressor, and exclusion of the aggressor) indicated that, overall, group members were more positive toward aggressors than were independent observers. Although intergroup competition was perceived to be the cause of the aggression, participants disapproved of both types of aggression (especially direct aggression), disapproval increased with age, and girls disapproved of relational aggression more than did boys. Group members’ social cognition about the aggressor and the aggression comprised a coherent cognitive process for both types of aggression, but the observers’ process was simpler and differed by aggression type.     

Antecedents and Civic Consequences of Choosing Real versus Ersatz Social Activities

Social capital (Coleman, 1990 Coleman, J. S. 1990. Foundations of social theory, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  [Google Scholar]), democracy's wellspring (Putnam, 1993 Putnam, R. D. 1993. Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.  [Google Scholar]; Tocqueville, 1835 Tocqueville, A. 1835. Democracy in America, Edited by: Mansfield, H. C. and Winthrop, D. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.  [Google Scholar]/2000), must now accrue within a social fabric that has been changed by the ubiquitous adoption of technologies such as television and the Internet. Three studies (N = 313) of college students supported a theory of ersatz social behavior, which proposed that: a) the use of technological (replacement/ersatz) alternatives to real social interaction may be less conducive to the skill building and opinion formation that foster social capital; b) ersatz activities involve fewer costs (effort, risk of rejection) than real interactions; and c) ersatz alternatives are regularly chosen, even though real interaction is ostensibly preferred. The results provide increased understanding of when and how mediated interaction can be detrimental to social capital formation.