The “contact hypothesis”: Critical reflections and future directions

Research on intergroup contact has grown exponentially over the past decade. Such research has typically extolled the benefits of positive interaction between members of historically divided communities, particularly on outcomes related to prejudice reduction. Emerging work in the field, however, has qualified this optimistic picture by identifying three gaps in the existing literature. First, in everyday life, contact may be construed as a negative experience that increases rather than decreases responses such as prejudice, anxiety, and avoidance. Second, in real‐life settings, contact is often circumscribed by informal practices of (re)segregation that are easily overlooked if researchers rely primarily on examining structured contact and explicit processes using primarily laboratory and questionnaire methods. Third, positive contact may have “ironic” effects on the political attitudes and behaviors of the historically disadvantaged, undermining their recognition of social injustice and decreasing their willingness to engage in collective action to challenge the status quo. Although it is now a truism that intergroup contact can reduce intergroup prejudice, these developments emphasize the importance of maintaining a critical perspective on the “contact hypothesis” as a model for promoting social change in historically divided and unequal societies. They also lay the foundations for future developments in the field.     

Five Perspectives on the Meaning of Meaning in the Context of Clinical Practices

What is meaningful in life? This is a question many individuals ask at least once in their lifetime. Many researchers have also asked this question, and a large body of literature seems to answer in theoretical and academic terms. But what is the meaning of meaning in clinical practice? That is, what is the role of meaning in psychotherapy, recovery, and positive mental health? And how could meaning in life be addressed in practices: What clinical competencies are needed? To answer these and other questions, a broad panel of researchers and practitioners met at the world conference of the International Network for Personal Meaning (INPM) in Toronto in July of 2016. A passionate debate followed, particularly on the question of the meaning of meaning in clinical practice. In this article, five panel members—Mick Cooper, Clara Hill, Robert Neimeyer, Kirk Schneider, and Paul Wong—elaborate their perspective on these two questions. At the end of the article, the moderator, Joel Vos summarizes, their differences and agreements, and suggests a pluralistic, multidimensional perspective on meaning for practitioners. Despite some fundamental differences, the authors report many similar perspectives on the meaning of meaning in clinical practice and on clinical competencies. This debate could be used as an example of how practitioners could also converse with their clients; the process of exploring the question, “What does meaning mean to you here and now, in our therapy room?” could be meaningful in itself.     

Analysis of Emotions and Dysfunctional Attitudes in Depression

The current study was designed to examine the role of basic emotions and dysfunctional attitudes in depression. Moreover, six models related to the organization of emotions were examined through confirmatory factor analysis. Two hundred individuals with major depressive disorder were recruited from three clinical psychology centers. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires measuring basic emotions, dysfunctional attitudes, and depressive. Results demonstrated that the dysfunctional attitude of “need for approval” and the basic emotions of disgust and sadness could predict depressive scores positively and significantly. It was also shown that the dysfunctional attitudes could positively and significantly predict the two negative emotions of disgust and sadness. Thus, the findings supported an analysis in which the two basic emotions of sadness and disgust were elevated in individuals with depressive disorders. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed basic emotions model and did not support alternative models, such as the positive affect and negative affect model.     

A review of environmental enrichment as treatment for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement

We reviewed studies that used environmental enrichment as treatment for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement. A search of behavior analytic journals produced 71 publications with a total of 265 applications of environmental enrichment used alone or in conjunction with alternative behavior manipulations (e.g., prompting, reinforcement) and problem behavior manipulations (e.g., blocking, restraint). Environmental enrichment, as a sole intervention, was efficacious in 41% of the sample. Alternative behavior manipulations, problem behavior manipulations, and a combination of both improved the overall efficacy of environmental enrichment. We discuss factors that may influence the efficacy of environmental enrichment, current trends in research on this topic, and implications for both practitioners and researchers.     

Role models in self-esteem of college women

This study examined the relationship between self-esteem and the existence of role models among a sample of 36 female college students. Participants completed a questionnaire which included demographic questions, the Self-esteem Inventory, and questions concerning use of childhood and contemporary role models. Independent t-test results indicated that participants who reported having current role models had higher self-esteem scores than participants who did not, suggesting that role models may contribute to higher self-esteem in college-age women. No significant differences in self-esteem were by sex of the role model.     

Cue gradient and cue density interact in the detection and recognition of objects defined by motion,contrast, or texture

The human visual system is able to extract an object from its surrounding using a number of cues. These include foreground/background gradients in disparity, motion, texture, colour, and luminance. We have investigated normal subjects' ability to detect objects defined by either motion, texture, or luminance gradients. The effects of manipulating cue density and cue foreground/background gradient on both detection and recognition accuracy were also investigated. The results demonstrate a simple additive relationship between cue density and cue gradient across forms defined by motion, luminance, and texture. The results are interpreted as evidence for the notion that form parsing is achieved via a similar algorithm across anatomically distinct processing streams.     

Therapists’ self-reported chronic strategies of disconnection in everyday life and in counselling and psychotherapy: an exploratory study

The aim of this study was to explore how therapists believe they may relationally disconnect from other people and their clients, with an overall objective of developing methods for enhancing relational depth in counselling and psychotherapy. Participants were 168 trainee and practicing therapists, who listed their chronic strategies of disconnections (CSoDs) in everyday relationships, and then rated the presence of these CSoDs in their therapeutic work. Thirty-nine categories of self-reported everyday CSoDs emerged, organised into seven domains. Most prevalent were behavioural, passive and intrapsychic strategies. Over half of the CSoDs were rated as being present in therapy to a minimal extent, most commonly passive CSoDs, disingenuous CSoDs and humour. Male therapists, and trainee therapists, were most likely to identify their CSoDs as present in therapy.     

A randomized trial of employment-based reinforcement of cocaine abstinence in injection drug users

High-magnitude and long-duration abstinence reinforcement can promote drug abstinence but can be difficult to finance. Employment may be a vehicle for arranging high-magnitude and long-duration abstinence reinforcement. This study determined if employment-based abstinence reinforcement could increase cocaine abstinence in adults who inject drugs and use cocaine during methadone treatment. Participants could work 4 hr every weekday in a workplace where they could earn about $10.00 per hour in vouchers; they were required to provide routine urine samples. Participants who attended the workplace and provided cocaine-positive urine samples during the initial 4 weeks were invited to work 26 weeks and were randomly assigned to an abstinence-and-work (n = 28) or work-only (n = 28) group. Abstinence-and-work participants had to provide urine samples showing cocaine abstinence to work and maintain maximum pay. Work-only participants could work independent of their urinalysis results. Abstinence-and-work participants provided more (p = .004; OR = 5.80, 95% CI = 2.03-16.56) cocaine-negative urine samples (29%) than did work-only participants (10%). Employment-based abstinence reinforcement can increase cocaine abstinence.     

The role of auditory memory traces in attention to frequency

Three cued signal detection experiments demonstrated a role for auditory memory traces in frequency selectivity. The extent to which the cue predicted the signal frequency affected the size of the advantage for signals at the cue frequency over those at distant frequencies when the cue-signal gap was 10 sec but not when it was 1 sec. Detection of occasional signals presented at uncued frequencies was enhanced when they matched the frequency of cues from recent trials. With "relative" cues, which were usually followed by signals at the musical fifth above the cue frequency, performance on occasional signals at the cue frequency was enhanced relative to other unexpected frequencies. These results suggest that, regardless of the listener's expectations and intentions, the detectability of a signal is enhanced if its frequency matches an existing memory trace. One form of voluntary attention to frequency may involve maintaining traces that would otherwise slowly decay.     

The challenge of counselling and psychotherapy research

Aims: The purpose of this commentary is to argue that the value of counselling and psychotherapy research lies, not only in what it teaches us as therapists, but also in its ability to challenge us and our assumptions. Method: The paper identifies eight beliefs that may be prevalent in sections of the counselling and psychotherapy community, and presents evidence that challenges them. Findings: While many of our beliefs may hold true for some clients some of the time, the research evidence suggests that they are unlikely to be true for all clients all of the time. Discussion: By questioning and challenging therapists' a priori assumptions, research findings can help counsellors and psychotherapists to be less set in their beliefs; and more open to the unique experiences, characteristics and wants of each individual client.