Blushing after a moral transgression in a prisoner's dilemma game: appeasing or revealing?

This study investigated the alleged remedial effects of blushing in the context of real‐time interactions. Therefore, 30 pairs of prosocial individuals participated in a prisoner's dilemma ‘game’. The experiment was framed as an objective test of moral behaviour. To elicit a shameful moral transgression, one individual of each pair was instructed to select the non‐habitual cheat‐option on a pre‐defined target trial. Supporting the idea that violation of shared rules elicits blushing, the defectors displayed a blush on the target trial. Yet, unexpectedly, there was a negative relationship between the observed blush intensity and the trustworthiness attributed to the defectors. One explanation might be that the ‘victims’ used the blush response to deduce and interpret the defector's motive. As the antecedent behaviour involved in the present context was not completely unambiguous with respect to the perpetrators' motive (e.g. innocent playing around vs. maximizing outcomes) the observers might have interpreted blushing as signaling that the situation should be interpreted as an intentional violation of a social standard. Together the available evidence suggests that only in the context of unambiguous antecedent behaviours blushing has remedial effects, whereas in ambiguous situations blushing has undesirable revealing effects. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fear reactivity and effortful control in overt and relational bullying: a six-month longitudinal study

This study examined the roles of fear reactivity and emotional regulatory abilities in overt and relational bullying behaviors. Survey data were collected from 124 middle school students (mean age=10.3 years, 47% males, 61% Caucasian) and their teachers in the fall and spring of a school year. Surveys included teacher- and self-rated measures of students' overt and relational bullying along with self-reported fear reactivity and effortful control. Findings show that low levels of fear reactivity and effortful control predict higher future levels of overt bullying, but not relational bullying. These results suggest that despite high correlations between overt and relational bullying, these two forms of aggression develop through different processes. The findings from this investigation are discussed with respect to their implications for theory on the development of aggression as well as prevention and intervention programming for youth aggression.     

Sidney w. Bijou: the illinois years, 1965-1975

Sidney W. Bijou is among the founders of behavior analysis, but the record of his contributions is incomplete. It has not systematically described his contributions beyond his tenure at the University of Washington (1948-1965). The purpose of this paper is to describe his contributions over the course of the next decade-his years at the University of Illinois (1965-1975). I begin by reviewing his education and training, contributions at Washington, and why he left and moved to Illinois. Then, I describe his Illinois years: his appointments, colleagues, and service; the Child Behavior Laboratory; grant funding and publications; further service, awards, and recognition; and influence on his colleagues, students, classroom teachers and research supervisors, and visiting scholars. Bijou is modest about his contributions at Illinois, but he advanced the field in many ways over the course of the decade, especially the careers of his colleagues and students.     

Dispositional and situational coping and mental health among Palestinian political ex-prisoners

We examined, first, differences in dispositional and situational coping, and psychological distress between political ex-prisoners and their matched controls, and second, coping effectiveness in protecting mental health from impacts of imprisonment and military trauma. Thirdly, we tested the hypothesis that compatibility ("goodness of fit") between dispositional and situational coping would predict low psychological distress. Participants were 184 men recruited from a Palestinian community sample, 92 were former political prisoners and 92 non-prisoners. The dispositional coping was assessed as a general response style to hypothetical stressors and situational coping as responses to their own traumatic experiences. Psychological distress was measured by SCL-90-R, and posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and somatoform symptoms by scales based on CIDI 2.1 diagnostic interview. The results showed that, compared to non-prisoners, the political ex-prisoners employed less avoidant, denying, and emotion-focused coping strategies. Military trauma was associated with avoidant and denying coping only among non-prisoners. The ex-prisoners showed more mental health and medical problems, especially when exposed to military trauma. None of the coping styles or strategies were effective in protecting the mental health in general or in either groups. However, main effect results revealed that the high level of active and constructive and low level of emotion-focused coping were associated with low levels of psychiatric symptoms and psychological distress.     

Fast pairs: a visual word recognition paradigm for measuring entrenchment, top-down effects, and subjective phenomenology

When word pairs having a familiar order are sequentially flashed on a computer in their non-familiar order, (code zip), observers have a strong phenomenology of seeing them in familiar order (zip code). Reversal errors remained frequent even when participants obtained perceptual experience of reverse-display items by beginning with a block of longer-duration trials. A forced-choice order-detection procedure reduced but did not eliminate reversal errors, showing that "fast pairs" is a robust perceptual illusion. Even adjective + noun pairs (green skirt) showed reversal errors, and reversal errors increased with the log frequency of the word pair, consistent with a strong role for statistical processing at the level of multi-word units.     

Coping with Exposure to Violence: Relations to Emotional Symptoms and Aggression in Three Urban Samples

Relations among exposure to violence, coping, and adjustment were examined in three urban samples. In study 1, which took place in a southeastern city, children ages 6–16 (N = 35; M age = 10.7 years) completed measures of adjustment, exposure to violence, and coping with violence. In study 2, which took place in one southern Midwestern city and one Northeastern city, children ages 8–15 (N = 70; M age = 11.3 years) completed similar measures with the addition of a measure assessing normative beliefs about aggression. Results are in line with the pathologic adaptation model and provide preliminary evidence for two hypothesized pathways explaining the effects of exposure to violence on adjustment: a normalization pathway in which exposure leads to more aggression-supporting beliefs and in turn to greater aggression, and a distress pathway in which exposure leads to avoidant coping and in turn to emotional symptoms.     

Emotional Reaction to Fragile X Premutation Carrier Tests Among Infertile Women

Female fragile X premutation carriers are at ∼10-fold increased risk of premature ovarian failure (follicle stimulating hormone >40 mIU/mL, amenorrhea, age <40). A milder degree of premature ovarian aging (diminished ovarian reserve, where follicle stimulating hormone levels are typically 10–20 mIU/mL) results in infertility. Approximately 10% of fertility clinic patients have this diagnosis. A cohort of 20 women diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve provided a blood specimen (confidential results), and completed structured questionnaires that assessed emotional reactions to potentially being a premutation carrier (pretest questionnaire, n = 20) and the posttest known carrier status (3 month follow-up questionnaire, n = 18 non-carriers). Responses were measured using 9-point scales, and analyzed with Fisher exact and Wilcoxon exact tests. While most participants did not view fragile X premutations as a serious medical condition, perceptions of seriousness were positively correlated with anger and regret about not knowing sooner of the potential association of these premutations with infertility. Overall, when women (pretest) imagined themselves as carriers, their self-esteem and Health Orientation Scale responses were unchanged with the exception of feeling more afraid (p = 0.004). Despite strongly wishing for negative test results, they were glad to know there might be a medical explanation for their infertility. Financial Support: This work was financially supported by a University of Virginia School of Medicine Research & Development Award.     

Socialized reflexivity and self‐exertion: Mandala Model of Self and its role in mental health

The Mandala Model of Self (MMS) refers to the well‐functioning self leading to ultimate happiness in various cultures. This research provides the first empirical examination of the role of MMS in mental health in Confucian societies. The MMS Scale (MMSS) was developed, and its psychometric properties are described. A correlational study demonstrated that the MMSS, along with its two factors—socialized reflexivity and self‐exertion—validly measures certain mental health constructs. A quasi‐experimental study reliably distinguished persons engaged in the cultivation of the Mandala self from those who had not. Finally, a study with adolescents demonstrated that the scores of the MMSS are a better predictor of resilience than is extroversion or neuroticism. The present research provides empirical support for the theory underlying the MMS and its key contribution to mental health.     

An analysis of autobiographical tools in written reflection: implications for teaching critical thinking and goal-setting

This paper analyzes the results of an 18 month study of a variety of participants involved in written reflection on their learning, both in classes at two universities in the Southern US or in voluntary focus groups. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of including autobiographical tools in written reflection. Participants used three tools from the genre of autobiography as they reflected on their learning inside either course content, internship experiences, experiential learning, or goal-setting. Over 500 samples were gathered, offering a large data set for analysis of what kinds of best practice produce quality reflective writing. Through analysis of the data and student surveys and interviews, results show increased attention to critical thinking and metacognition; expressed flexibility, adaptability, and ability to handle ambiguity; and value in connection to others/empathy-building as a result of incorporating autobiographical tools in reflective prompts. The study indicated that reflections using the same autobiographical tool over the course of several sessions seemed to produce deeper levels of reflection and more engagement with the autobiographical tool. Of the three autobiographical tools used in the study, the tool that seemed most helpful to participants was reflection as storytelling that revealed aspects of the self.