Human risky choice in a repeated-gambles procedure: an up-linkage replication of Lakshminarayanan, Chen and Santos (2011)

Lakshminarayanan et al. (J Exp Soc Psychol 47: 689–693, 2011) showed that when choice is between variable (risky) and fixed (safe) food amounts with the same expected values, capuchins prefer the safe alternative if choice is framed as a gain, but the risky alternative if it is framed as a loss. These results seem similar to those seen in human prospect-theory tests in choice between variable and fixed gains or losses. Based on this similarity, they interpreted their results as identifying a between-species commonality in cognitive function. In this report, we repeat their experiment with humans as subjects (an up-linkage replication). Whether choices were rewarded with candy or nickels, choice approximated indifference whether framed as gains or losses. Our data mirror those of others who found that when humans make risky choices within a repeated-trials procedure without verbal instruction about outcome likelihoods, preference biases seen in one-shot, language-guided, prospect-theory tests such as Tversky and Kahneman’s (Science 211:453–458, 1981) reflection effect may not appear. The disparity between our findings and those of Lakshminarayanan et al. suggests their study does not evidence a cognitive process shared by humans and capuchins.     

Group Cohesion,Achievement Motivation,and Motivational Outcomes among Female College Students

Embedded in the theory of group cohesion and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice, the purpose of this study was to examine the predictive strengths of group cohesion on students’ motivation (expectancy-related beliefs and subjective task values) and motivational outcomes (exercise choice and class attendance) in college physical activity classes. Participants were 121 females enrolled in aerobics classes who completed questionnaires assessing group cohesion, motivational constructs, and exercise choice. Group cohesion constructs were significantly associated with motivation and motivational outcomes. These findings provide insight into how to design environments to promote motivation in physical activity classes.     

Virtual Empathy? Anxieties and Connections Teaching and Learning Pastoral Care Online

Is it possible to teach pastoral care online? McGarrah Sharp and Morris describe their process of transforming a residential on‐campus pastoral care course into the first online offering of the course at their seminary. They begin by describing a series of pedagogical choices made with the intent of facilitating dynamic movement between peer‐to‐peer, small group, and whole class discussions throughout the semester. Before and during the course, anxieties arose at many levels of instruction for the professor, teaching assistant, and students. Anecdotes and examples from the online course show how the online course design and facilitation was able to name and respond to anxieties as part of integrating pastoral care course content and practice – a key learning goal for the course. The authors are persuaded that online pedagogy can help identify how anxieties create space for developing empathy as much, if not more than, a traditional on‐campus format.     

Reflective minds and open hearts: Cognitive style and personality predict religiosity and spiritual thinking in a community sample

We examined associations between two psychological constructs, analytic cognitive style and the personality facet ‘Openness to Experience’, and several dimensions of religiosity: religious affiliation, strength of faith and spiritual epistemology. In a relatively large (N = 1093), older community sample (M = 55.4 years), analytic cognitive style was associated with a lower probability of affiliating with a religious denomination and a higher probability of possessing strong religious faith. Overall, openness was also associated with a lack of religious affiliation but was positively related to possessing a spiritual epistemology. A path‐analytic model revealed that openness had a positive relationship to both faith and religious denomination that was mediated by spiritual epistemology, but negative direct relationships with religiosity after the meditational effects were taken into account. Taken together, these results extend previous findings on the effect of cognitive style on religiosity and provide a new perspective on the complex relationship between cognitive and personality factors and different dimensions of religiosity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Comparison of Simultaneous Prompting and Constant Time Delay Procedures in Teaching State Capitals

This investigation compared the effectiveness and efficiency of constant time delay (CTD) and simultaneous prompting (SP) procedures in teaching discrete social studies facts to 4 high school students with learning and behavior disorders using an adapted alternating treatments design nested within a multiple probe design. The results indicated that both procedures were effective, with the simultaneous prompting procedure being slightly more efficient in terms of errors during instructional and maintenance phases. In addition, when interviewed about their preferences, both the instructor and participants preferred the simultaneous prompting procedure. This investigation extends current research as there are small numbers of studies comparing SP to other response prompting strategies, and to date, SP and CTD have not been compared with high school students with high-incidence disabilities. Future research issues are discussed.     

Sociosexual orientation, commitment, and infidelity: a mediation analysis

Individuals with an unrestricted sociosexual orientation (SO) are less committed to their romantic relationships and more likely to engage in infidelity. Furthermore, commitment is negatively associated with tendencies to cheat. However, no previous research has examined the possible mediating role of commitment in the relationship between SO and infidelity. The current study examined whether commitment mediated the relationship between SO and willingness to engage in three types of cheating behaviors (Ambiguous, Deceptive, and Explicit). Results suggested that commitment partially mediated the relationship between SO and infidelity, such that unrestricted individuals had lower commitment, which in turn led to a greater likelihood of cheating. Implications of this association and directions for future research are discussed.     

Spirituality Development for Homeless Youth: A Mindfulness Meditation Feasibility Pilot

Few resilience enhancement interventions are available to help homeless youth at high risk for mental health problems and substance abuse. Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated effectiveness in persons who deal with some of these issues. Our purpose was to examine the feasibility of delivering a spirituality development class—a minimally modified version of Yale University’s 8-session Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) program—to homeless youth in a shelter in an urban center in the Southeastern United States. We used a quasi-experimental, one group, pre- and post-intervention design with standardized self-report measures of impulsiveness, resilience, spirituality, mental wellness, and psychological symptoms. Seventy-one youth enrolled in the study; 39 of the youth attended at least four sessions of the class and completed the posttest. The spirituality development class was well received by the youth and, overall, participants demonstrated improvement on measures of spirituality, mental wellness, psychological symptoms, and resilience on the posttest. There were no statistically meaningful changes in impulsiveness scores. We concluded that mindfulness meditation programs are feasible for this population. Future studies of high-risk youth should use a randomized controlled trial design to examine the long-term impact of such training on psychological status and behavioral outcomes such as educational path, work attainment, and drug and alcohol abuse.     

Who Leaves Suicide Notes? A Six‐Year Population‐Based Study

Popular culture insists on the significance of suicide notes, but research has yielded conflicting results about who leaves notes. Utilizing 6 years of suicides from a comprehensive statewide data surveillance system, differences were examined between cases with suicide notes and those without in terms of demographics, circumstances of the suicide, and precipitating circumstances. Of the 2,936 suicides, 18.25% included a note. Demographics and circumstances did not differ for cases with a note compared to cases with no note. Results have implications for working with people bereaved by suicide in helping understand that the notes are uncommon and not systematic. However, it is also possible that for some individuals, the content of a note is meaningful and can help or hinder their course of bereavement.