Spanish validation of the Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression scale (AMMSA)

Two studies were conducted with college students to validate the Spanish-language version of the "Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression" scale (AMMSA) (Gerger, Kley, Bohner & Siebler, 2007). This scale assesses modern myths about sexual aggression in a subtle way. In Study 1, 305 students completed the Spanish AMMSA and other scales with related content. In Study 2, 263 participants completed the Spanish AMMSA and answered questions about a hypothetical sexual assault perpetrated by a young man against a female acquaintance. The Spanish AMMSA showed high internal consistency and adequate evidence of validity in both studies. Compared to traditional scales of rape myth acceptance, mean scores on the AMMSA were higher and their distributions more closely approximated normality. These findings suggest that the Spanish version of the AMMSA scale is a useful instrument to study the social perception of sexual aggression.     

Bullying-victimization problems and aggressive tendencies in Spanish secondary schools students: the role of gender stereotypical traits

This paper presents data concerning culturally prescribed gender traits and their influence on bullying/victimization problems and aggressive tendencies from a wide sample of 1,654 Spanish adolescents. The aims of this study were to clarify the effect of masculine traits on male and female secondary students’ aggression, and also to explore the role of feminine traits in either the inhibition of aggression or the use of more covert forms. Results show that masculine stereotypical traits are related more strongly with bully perpetration, proneness to aggression and experience of anger and hostility in both sexes. In contrast, traditional feminine traits are negatively related with bullying perpetration and proneness to aggression. However, feminine traits are linked to male students’ victimization. Results are discussed in the light of previous findings and are taken into consideration in the design of intervention practices in secondary schools.     

Frühkindlicher Autismus

Eine kurze Geschichte der Diagnose des frühkindlichen Autismus leitet diesen übersichtsartikelein. Die autistische St?rung zeichnet sich durch drei Hauptsymptomgruppen aus: St?rung der sozialen Interaktion, St?rung der Kommunikation, und stereotype, eingeschr?nkte Verhaltensmuster und Interessen. Aktuelle Kenntnisse im Bereich der ?tiopathogenese wurden kurz zusammengefasst. Diagnostische und differenzialdiagnostische Grundlagen werden diskutiert. Ein kurzer überblick der Pharmakotherapie des Autismus schlie?t die übersicht.     

Mantra: an open method for object and movement tracking

Mantra is a free and open-source software package for object tracking. It is specifically designed to be used as a tool for response collection in psychological experiments and requires only a computer and a camera (a webcam is sufficient). Mantra is compatible with widely used software for creating psychological experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, we validated the spatial and temporal precision of Mantra in realistic experimental settings. In Experiments 3 and 4, we validated the spatial precision and accuracy of Mantra more rigorously by tracking a computer controlled physical stimulus and stimuli presented on a computer screen.     

Cultural Differences in the Subjective Experience of Emotion: When and Why They Occur

Cross‐cultural comparisons of subjective emotional experience are common, and virtually any comparison of nations or different ethnic groups is bound to yield some differences and some similarities. While nobody doubts the considerable intercultural variability in subjective or self‐reports of emotion, more attention needs to be given to when and why and these differences occur. In this article, we explore factors that accentuate or attenuate cultural differences in the subjective experience of emotion. We propose that cultural norms shape emotional experiences to different degrees depending on the time frame of the emotional experience, the valence of the emotion, and even the specific emotion being compared. We review the research that supports this view and we highlight new avenues of research that are likely to shed light on cultural differences in the subjective experience of emotions.     

Squeezing, striking, and vocalizing: Is number representation fundamentally spatial?

Numbers are fundamental entities in mathematics, but their cognitive bases are unclear. Abundant research points to linear space as a natural grounding for number representation. But, is number representation fundamentally spatial? We disentangle number representation from standard number-to-line reporting methods, and compare numerical estimations in educated participants using line-reporting with three nonspatial reporting conditions (squeezing, bell-striking, and vocalizing). All three cases of nonspatial-reporting consistently reproduced well-established results obtained with number-line methods. Furthermore, unlike line-reporting—and congruent with the psychophysical Weber–Fechner law—nonspatial reporting systematically produced logarithmic mappings for all nonsymbolic stimuli. Strikingly, linear mappings were obtained exclusively in conditions with culturally mediated elements (e.g., words). These results suggest that number representation is not fundamentally spatial, but builds on a deeper magnitude sense that manifests spatially and nonspatially mediated by magnitude, stimulus modality, and reporting condition. Number-to-space mappings—although ubiquitous in the modern world—do not seem to be rooted directly in brain evolution but have been culturally privileged and enhanced.     

Report on the Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS) 2010

The 2010 Advanced Research and Training Seminars (ARTS) program is described, with a history of the ARTS program, its reorganization in 2009, and implementation in 2010. ARTS is held every two years at a major international congress, and is designed to enhance research skills, promote attendance at international congresses, and provide networking possibilities for scholars from developing countries. From over 85 applicants, 46 psychologists from 18 countries, with a median age of 34, were selected to participate in one of three ARTS seminars, held in Melbourne, Australia in the summer of 2010. Each seminar was evaluated by participants and conveners. Program details and future directions are discussed.     

Parenting of 7‐month‐old infants at familial risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Patterns of interaction between parents and 7‐month‐old boys at familial risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a comparison group were studied during a warm‐up and two play episodes. The sample included 78 (47 at‐risk, 31 comparison) mother–child and 45 (27 at‐risk, 18 comparison) father–child dyads. A coding system developed by G. Kochanska (1997, 1998) was used. Infants in the risk group did not differ from the comparison group in the rate of emission of infant‐related events. However, they received less adequate responsivity from both their fathers and their mothers to these events, and specifically to negative emotions or distress, than did the comparison group. Maternal psychopathology did not account for these findings. Mothers were more adequately responsive than were fathers, especially for physiological needs. The association between nonoptimal interaction in infancy and the development of ADHD is discussed.     

Severe intimate partner violence risk prediction scale-revised

The aim of this study was to describe the psychometric properties of the Severe Intimate Partner Violence Risk Prediction Scale and to revise it in order to ponderate the 20 items according to their discriminant capacity and to solve the missing item problem. The sample for this study consisted of 450 male batterers who were reported to the police station. The victims were classified as high-risk (18.2%), moderate-risk (45.8%) and low-risk (36%), depending on the cutoff scores in the original scale. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=.72) and interrater reliability (r=.73) were acceptable. The point biserial correlation coefficient between each item and the corrected total score of the 20-item scale was calculated to determine the most discriminative items, which were associated with the context of intimate partner violence in the last month, with the male batterer's profile and with the victim's vulnerability. A revised scale (EPV-R) with new cutoff scores and indications on how to deal with the missing items were proposed in accordance with these results. This easy-to-use tool appears to be suitable to the requirements of criminal justice professionals and is intended for use in safety planning. Implications of these results for further research are discussed.     

Effect of ingroup membership on organizational meta-representation

The present study considers the importance of analyzing what very powerful or influential people think about their employees. We assumed that belonging to a specific category has a differential effect on the perception of others' thoughts in the organization ("meta-representation"). Therefore, experts in organization and human resources from diverse organizations and institutions assessed seven dimensions which structure the organizational image (context, structure, organizational processes, working climate, culture, satisfaction and efficacy). The results showed that belonging to a group (managers or leaders, academicians, consultants, technicians or employees' representatives) modulated the meta-representation, as the experts' opinion about what they think that the employees consider important was related to their group. This was specifically the case for the managers' and leaders' representations, which differed from the other groups and especially from that of the technicians and employees' representatives. The implications of the present findings are discussed.