How Children Determine the Size of 3D Structures: Investigating Factors Influencing Strategy Choice

This study explores changes in students’ strategies as they solve different types of volume problems. Fifth graders were presented with pictures showing 3D objects and a unit cube; they determined how many cubes made up the object and explained their responses. We examined whether children transferred strategies across problem types, varying in terms of (a) availability of grids that divided objects into individual unit cubes, (b) order of items, (c) object shape, and (d) availability of the unit cube. Children's strategy choices varied systematically with object and task characteristics. They were more likely to use conceptually appropriate strategies when presented with grids. With non-gridded objects, they were more likely to treat a 3D object as a collection of 2D faces. Presenting gridded items first increased the use of conceptually appropriate strategies on the non-gridded items. We discuss findings in the context of Siegler's theory of strategy choice and address educational implications.     

Examining mental simulations of uncertain events

A great deal of research into the experiential nature of language has demonstrated that our understanding of events is facilitated through mental simulations of the described linguistic input. However, to date little is understood about how contextual uncertainty about the described event might influence the content and strength of these mental representations or the cognitive effort involved. In this article, we report a single experiment in which participants read sentences such as “The old lady [knows/thinks] that the picnic basket is open.” Following a delay of 250 or 1,500 ms, they responded to pictures that varied in the physical form of the target object (matching vs. mismatching). Results revealed an expected facilitation effect for matching images, but more important, they also showed interference effects (longer reaction times) at the shorter interstimulus interval (ISI; 250 ms) following the uncertain verb thinks, as compared with the certain verb knows. At the longer ISI, this effect was no longer present. This suggests that at the short ISI, uncertain conditions required extra time to construct and map a simulation of events onto the available image. Results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms involved in representing possible events and with reference to related literature on perspective taking.     

Beyond Cultivation: Exploring the Effects of Frequency,Recency, and Vivid Autobiographical Memories for Violent Media

Using Shrum's (1996) heuristic processing model as an explanatory mechanism, we propose that people who hold vivid autobiographical memories for a specific past experience with media violence will overstate the prevalence of real-world crime versus individuals without vivid memories. We also explore the effects of frequency and recency on social reality beliefs. A survey was administered to 207 undergraduate students who were asked to recall one violent television program or movie seen in the past. Participants were asked to write essays describing the violence, which were coded for vividness. Results support not only cultivation theory, but also the effects of memory vividness: participants with more vivid memories of blood and gore gave higher prevalence estimates of real-world crime and violence than participants with less vivid memories. Findings also suggest that females had more vivid memories for prior media violence than males. Implications for cultivation, the heuristic processing model, and vividness research are discussed.     

Factors Associated With Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in Locally Recruited Aid Workers Assisting Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) serve Iraqis living in Jordan as “guests.” In 2008, 258 Jordanian humanitarian staff and Iraqi volunteers working for NGOs completed a needs assessment survey. Work characteristics, stressors, and support variables were evaluated regarding their influence on depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and burnout through multivariate logistic regressions. There was a significant difference in depression, anxiety, and burnout across nationality. Traumatic exposure increased the risk for anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Working longer in the humanitarian sector was associated with less risk of anxiety and depression, and lower social support was a risk for anxiety. Managers were at higher risk for burnout, and low team cohesion was a risk for burnout. Implications for aid organizations are discussed.     

The interactive effects of person-focused citizenship behaviour,task interdependence,and virtuality on team performance

A multifactorial between-groups experiment examined the effects of person-focused organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBP) on the performance of teams characterized by different levels of virtuality and task interdependence. Results reveal in low virtual teams the moderating effects of task interdependence on the OCBP–team performance relationship are positive; however, these effects are reversed in high virtual teams. Using social presence and task–technology fit theories, our results indicate that task context affects how OCBP impacts team performance, particularly across different levels of team virtuality. The implications for research on OCB and the management of virtual teams are discussed.     

Knowledge junkies or careerbuilders? A mixed-methods approach to exploring the determinants of students' intention to earn a PhD

What are the determinants of students' interest in earning a PhD? In this study, we use a mixed-methods approach to pursue this question. Based on qualitative interview data, we develop a model in which academic motivation and academic achievement interact with contextual factors such as working conditions to influence career intentions. We then test this model using a sample of 229 students currently enrolled in master-level courses of study at a German university. Our results speak to the role of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivations in the context of PhD intentions. In contrast to our expectations, results suggest that while intrinsic life aspirations and the intellectual challenge of gaining a PhD play a significant role for students' intention to pursue a PhD, extrinsic life aspirations and contextual determinants seem to be less influential. Furthermore, results highlight the importance of gaining familiarity and experience with academic work for students' career decisions.     

Transference,relationship and the analyst as object: Findings from the North American Comparative Clinical Methods Working Party

Data from the North American Comparative Clinical Methods (CCM) Working Party a is used to 1) explore how psychoanalysts in North America conceive and address the transference and the relationship between analyst‐analysand and 2) to study what kinds of ‘objects’ psychoanalysts become, explicitly and implicitly, within psychoanalytic treatments. The North American CCM Working Party closely studied 17 clinical cases presented by North American psychoanalysts across the spectrum of analytic schools at their meetings. We found that the 17 analysts fell into three different groupings according to the internal consistency of their method and their approaches to transference, relationship and analyst‐as ‐object. We also found that analysts' individual work, while heavily influenced by their schools of thought, also involved unique interpretations of their particular paradigms.     

Attachment in Adolescence and Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been conceptualized as a constellation of symptoms related to problems in self-functioning, emotion regulation, and interpersonal relationships. Its etiology has been connected to individuals’ early childhood environment, caregiving relationships, and traumatic life events. Recent literature has noted the potential presence of BPD beginning in adolescence, or even earlier in childhood. Attachment theory offers a lens for understanding the symptoms of borderline personality disorder and identifying potential aspects of treatment that may be specifically valuable for adolescent patients. Adolescence marks a time when the attachment system has increased relevance due to the importance of identity formation, peer relationships, body representations and the development of autonomy at this time, in the face of physical changes and academic challenges. This article will summarize research on attachment, body representations, personality disorders, and features of development in adolescence, in order to enhance clinical understanding of patients who presenting with these types of difficulties.     

The Object of One’s Desire: How Perceived Sexual Empowerment Through Objectification is Related to Sexual Outcomes

There is a debate as to whether or not gaining a sense of sexual empowerment through being an object of sexual desire results in empowerment. This debate has been largely theoretical, but there are now operationalizations of self-sexualization, enjoying sexualization, and perceiving sex as a source of personal power which allow for the collection of data on this topic. The current study examined whether these constructs were related to attitudinal and behavioral indicators of sexual satisfaction and sexual agency. An online sample of young, heterosexual, sexually active women was recruited. Our constructs of interest were related to some positive sexual outcomes, including sexual esteem and sexual assertiveness. At the same time, these constructs were related to having faked orgasm, and both self-sexualization and the belief that sex can be a source of power were related to greater frequency of having faked an orgasm. Additionally, none of the variables was significantly related to sexual satisfaction or ease of orgasm. Thus, while there may be some positive sexual outcomes associated with these variables, there are other indicators that a sense of empowerment through objectified sexuality may interfere with true sexual subjectivity.