A unified fielder theory for interception of moving objects either above or below the horizon

A unified fielder theory is presented that explains how humans navigate to intercept targets that approach from either above or below the horizon. Despite vastly different physical forces affecting airborne and ground-based moving targets, a common set of invariant perception-action principles appears to guide pursuers. When intercepting airborne projectiles, fielders keep the target image rising at a constant optical speed in a vertical image plane and moving in a constant optical direction in an image plane that remains perpendicular to gaze direction. We confirm that fielders use the same strategies to intercept grounders. Fielders maintained a cotangent of gaze angle that decreases linearly with time (accounting for 98.7% of variance in ball speed) and a linear optical trajectory along an image plane that remains perpendicular to gaze direction (accounting for 98.2% of variance in ball position). The universality of maintaining optical speed and direction for both airborne and ground-based targets supports the theory that these mechanisms are domain independent.     

On the risk of being a cultural chameleon: variations in collective self-esteem across social interactions

In the present study the authors used an event-contingent daily recording strategy, the Rochester Interaction Record, to examine the relation of perceived evaluations of a multicultural person's heritage group to the nature and quality of his or her social interactions. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that having an interaction partner who positively evaluated one's heritage culture was associated with significantly enhanced interaction intimacy, disclosure, and quality, as well as with feelings of personal acceptance. Moderator analyses revealed that individuals who possessed a chameleon-like cultural identity and those who had low public collective self-esteem were particularly reactive to how their heritage group was being evaluated.     

DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms in South African youths: Their assessment and relationship with perceived parental rearing behaviors

This study investigated DSM-defined anxiety symptoms in South African youths. Children and adolescents (N = 701) from various cultural groups completed the SCARED and a questionnaire measuring perceived parental rearing behaviors. Results indicated that the psychometric properties of the SCARED were satisfactory in the total sample of South African youths, and acceptable in colored and black children and adolescents. Further, colored and black youths displayed higher SCARED scores than white youths, and there were also differences in the perceived parental rearing behaviors of the cultural groups. White youths generally rated their parents' rearing behaviors as less anxious, overprotective, and rejective, but more emotionally warm than colored and black youths. Finally, positive correlations were found between anxious rearing, overprotection, and rejection and anxiety symptoms. The clinical and research implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

A cognitive behavioral workshop for subclinical obsessions and compulsions

The present study investigates the effectiveness of a 3-h cognitive behavioral workshop for individuals, ages 18-22, with subclinical obsessions and compulsions. It was hypothesized that, compared to individuals in an assessment-only waitlist group (n = 42), individuals assigned to the workshop group (n = 43) would experience a significant decrease in obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptomatology, comorbidity, and thought action fusion endorsement at 1-month and 5-month follow-up assessments. An additional outcome of interest was the number of incident cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) over the course of the study. The results indicated that the workshop group reported a significantly fewer number of OC symptoms at 5-month follow-up and endorsed significantly less thought action fusion at both follow-up points. However, there were no differences between groups in severity of OC symptoms and number of comorbid diagnoses endorsed. Only one incident case of OCD was observed during the study, from a participant in the waitlist group. These results are discussed in reference to treatment of subclinical anxiety symptoms.     

Determinants of justification and self-control

The authors propose that people use 2 routes in justifying self-gratification: 1st through hard work or excellence (entitlement) and the 2nd through the attainment of vices without depleting income. This framework was tested using real tasks and choices adopted from prior research on self-control. The results indicate that (a) higher effort and (bogus) excellence feedback increase preferences for vice rewards, but these effects are reversed or attenuated when the interchangeability of effort and income is implied; (b) willingness to pay in effort is greater for vices than virtues, but willingness to pay in income is higher for virtues; and (c) these effects are magnified among individuals with stronger (chronic or manipulated) guilt. The authors discuss the ability of the justification routes to explain the findings of prior self-control research.     

CBT intensity and outcome for panic disorder in a primary care setting

A hybrid efficacy-effectiveness design in which participants (n = 91/93) were retained in the study regardless of whether or not they received treatment enabled evaluation of CBT intensity in relation to panic disorder in the primary care setting. CBT intensity was operationalized as number of cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions, number of follow-up booster phone calls, and secondarily, as number of cognitive behavioral coping and exposure strategies. Baseline psychosocial and demographic predictors of CBT intensity were analyzed first. Severity of anxiety sensitivity predicted number of cognitive behavioral sessions, but no baseline variables predicted number of follow-up booster phone calls or number of coping and exposure strategies. Multivariate logistic and linear regressions were used to evaluate the degree to which treatment intensity predicted 3-month and 12-month outcomes (anxiety sensitivity, phobic avoidance, depressive symptoms, disability, and medical and mental health functioning) after controlling for potential confounding baseline variables. Number of cognitive behavioral therapy sessions predicted lower anxiety sensitivity at 3 and 12 months, and number of follow-up booster phone calls predicted lower anxiety sensitivity, less phobic avoidance, and less depression at 12 months. These findings indicate that "dose" of psychotherapy was an important predictor of outcome. The significance of follow-up booster phone contact is discussed as an index of continued self-management of panic and anxiety following acute treatment.     

Age-related differences in ambulatory blood pressure during daily stress: evidence for greater blood pressure reactivity with age

Prior research on age and emotions has found that older adults may show better physiological regulation to stressful stimuli than do younger adults. However, the stress reactivity literature has shown that age is associated with higher cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress (J. R. Jennings et al., 1997). The authors investigated these conflicting findings further by examining daily ambulatory blood pressure in 428 middle-aged to older adults. Consistent with the age and reactivity literature, relatively old individuals showed significantly greater increases in ambulatory diastolic blood pressure compared with younger individuals when dealing with daily stressors. However, results also revealed that relatively old individuals reported less of an increase in negative affect during daily stress compared with their younger counterparts. The results of this study are consistent with the age-related increase in cardiovascular risk but highlight the complex links between stress and different facets of the aging process.     

Future orientation in the self-system: possible selves, self-regulation, and behavior

Possible selves are representations of the self in the future. Early theoretical accounts of the construct suggested that possible selves directly influence motivation and behavior. We propose an alternative view of possible selves as a component in self-regulatory processes through which motivation and behavior are influenced. We demonstrate the advantages of this conceptualization in two studies that test predictions generated from theoretical models of self-regulation in which the possible selves construct could be embedded. In one study, we show how viewing possible selves as a source of behavioral standards in a control-process model of self-regulation yields support for a set of predictions about the influence of possible selves on current behavior. In the other study, we examine possible selves in the context of an interpersonal model of self-regulation, showing strong evidence of concern for relational value in freely generated hoped-for and feared selves. These findings suggest that the role of possible selves in motivation and behavior can be profitably studied in models that fully specify the process of self-regulation and that those models can be enriched by a consideration of future-oriented self-representations. We offer additional recommendations for strengthening research on possible selves and self-regulation.     

Understanding the emotional aspects of escalation of commitment: the role of negative affect

Despite the importance of understanding the emotional aspects of organizational decision making, prior research has paid scant attention to the role of emotion in escalation of commitment. This article attempts to fill this gap by examining the relationship between negative affect and escalation of commitment. Results showed that regardless of whether negative affect was measured as a dispositional trait (Neuroticism) in Studies 1 and 2 or as a transient mood state in Study 3, it was negatively correlated with escalation tendency when one was personally responsible for a prior decision. This pattern of results is consistent with the predictions derived from the coping perspective, suggesting that people seek to escape from the unpleasant emotions that are associated with escalation situations.