Maternal and Infant Temperament Characteristics as Contributors to Parenting Stress in the First Year Postpartum

Although prominent models emphasize that maternal, child, and situational variables are associated with parenting stress, previous research has often neglected to examine associations between maternal and infant temperament characteristics and stress experienced in the parenting role. Additionally, while predictors of global parenting stress have been examined, predictors of stress related to specific aspects of the parenting role have been largely unexplored. The present study examined maternal and infant temperament characteristics as predictors of parenting stress, both globally and specifically. Mothers (n = 159) completed measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms and a measure of adult temperament when their infants were 4 months old. At 6 months postpartum, caregivers completed a measure of infant temperament, and at 8 months postpartum, a measure of parenting stress. Results indicated that maternal effortful control and infant negative emotionality predicted global maternal parenting stress. Additionally, all maternal and infant temperament variables, with the exception of maternal negative affectivity and infant surgency/extraversion, were uniquely predictive of at least one specific aspect of parenting‐related stress. Findings emphasize the importance of considering maternal and infant temperament characteristics as contributors to parenting stress in the first year postpartum. Implications of these findings for future research and intervention are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Judgments of Frequency and Recency in a Distributed Memory Model

TODAM is a theory of distributed associative memory based on the convolution-correlation formalism of A. Borsellino and T. Poggio (1973, Kybernetik, 122, 113-122), and TODAM2 is a revised version which includes context, auto-associations for binding, a dual basis for item information, and mediators for associative information. It can explain some complex interactions (differential forgetting and differential attention) between item and associative information. In this paper we derive the basic expressions for the memory-probe dot product for the 2x2 cases (item and pair study crossed with item and pair probe), and then we apply these expressions to judgments of frequency (JOF) and judgments of recency (JOR). We report an experiment which tests both JOF and JOR for single items with post-cuing to control for encoding strategies and suggest an attenuation factor for repetition to improve the fits. With attenuation, TODAM2 can fit the JOR data, but the JOF fits, while not too bad, consistently predict too much dependence between item and associative information. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

Using humor in systematic desensitization to reduce fear

Effectiveness of systematic desensitization for fear reduction, using humorous hierarchy scenes without relaxation, was tested. Participants were 40 students highly fearful of spiders. Using a 24-item behavioral approach test with an American tarantula, participants were matched on fear level and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: (a) systematic desensitization, (b) humor desensitization, and (c) untreated controls. Each participant was seen for 6 sessions, including pretest and posttest. Analyses of covariance of posttest scores revealed that the 2 treatment groups showed greater reduction in fear than the controls on 3 measures but did not differ from each other. Therefore, humor in systematic desensitization reduced fear as effectively as more traditional desensitization. This finding may have therapeutic applications; however, it may also be applicable in advertising to desensitize fear of a dangerous product, such as cigarettes.     

Category-based Effects in Clinical Judgment

Theories of social cognition predict that counselors, once their categories are primed, more accurately recall information that is category-consistent than information that category-inconsistent. Confirmatory bias may also prompt perceivers to seek information that confirms their category hypothesis, but previous research (Hoffman, Mischel & Mazze, 1981)also suggests that task instructions might influence the magnitude of this bias.

Counselor-participants were given one of two category sets (diagnoses) about a client and one of two instructional sets. They were then shown a videotape which contained symptoms from both categories. Recall for category-consistent and -inconsistent symptoms was assessed via an incidental memory task. Participants were also asked to confer a tentative diagnosis of the client, as well as to list questions they would like to ask the client. Results indicated that participants were not affected by the type of instructions they were given, but they did recall more category-consistent symptoms than category inconsistent symptoms. Significant differences were found across tentative diagnoses conferred by participants and questions participants thought would be useful in understnading the client, but these differences did not follow predictions derived from a confirmatory bias model. Finally, correlational data demonstrated a negative relationship between recall for category inconsistent information and counseling experience.     

The replacement effect: Repeating some items while replacing others

We performed three experiments on recognition learning that tested for the existence of a replacement effect (i.e., the benefit accruing to nonrecognized items, or targets, when recognized items are replaced in the next study trial). A reverse Rock substitution procedure was used, and the replacement effect occurred in all three experiments. The results were interpreted in terms of a distributed memory model, the matched-filter model of Anderson (1973), but several modifications were necessary. The original version cannot learn, and a closed-loop modification did not show the repetition effect that was clearly evident in the data. The most satisfactory version was one based on probabilistic encoding of features in the item vectors, and it seemed capable of explaining most aspects of the data.     

Lifelong estrogen exposure and cognitive performance in elderly women

Fluctuating endogenous and exogenous estrogens influence cognition in women. In this study, cognitive functioning in elderly women was examined by applying methodology used in understanding the effects of chronic estrogen exposure on hormone-sensitive tissue other than the brain. An index, combining menstrual, reproductive, and physical markers associated with estrogen levels, was developed for elderly, nondemented, predominantly Caucasian women (n = 87). This index related to better performance on two verbal factors, one attentional and one global in nature. Findings suggest that estrogen exposure across the life span plays a role in brain aging. Possible physiological mechanisms for this effect are discussed.     

Development of a tool to assess suicide risk factors in urban adolescents

Dramatic increases in the adolescent suicide rate over the past three decades have underscored the need for risk-assessment tools. The tools that do exist are oriented to older populations and their application to adolescents is questionable. A project was initiated at the University of Utah's Health Education Department to develop a pilot instrument to examine the differences between adolescents who have attempted suicide and other teenagers. Eighty-two subjects between the ages of 14 and 19 participated in the test of this instrument. Twenty-five subjects were identified by a physician or psychologist as having failed in a sincere suicide attempt within the previous 18 months. Fifty-seven nonsuicide attempters with similar demographic profiles served as a comparison group. An 86-item questionnaire was administered to both groups. Questions were generated from a review of the literature of the past three decades for problems associated with suicide in this population. Questions were sorted into three domains (family environment, social environment, and self-perceptions), with each domain having several subdomains. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences for each of the three domains and on 55 of 86 questions. The results were used to create a streamlined instrument for assessing suicide risk that can be administered in 20 minutes.     

The effect of a subsidiary task on iconic memory

Memory & Cognition - Using a subsidiary task technique, Doest and Turvey (1971) concluded that iconic memory was independent of the central processing system. However, they did not control the...     

A parallel-processing model for scanning

A parallel-processing model for scanning is proposed wherein all items in the display set are processed together but with different time constants. The time constant for each item depends upon its serial position and is an additive combination of primacy and recency effects. The primacy effect is linear, and the recency effect is logarithmic. Scanning can either be exhaustive or self-terminating, and “multiple looks” may occur with negative probes. It is shown that this model predicts a linear relationship between reaction time and set size, parallel or 2∶1 slope ratios depending upon the proportion of multiple looks, and serial position effects if the scanning is self-terminating.