Medical Students’ Efforts to Integrate and/or Reclaim Authentic Identity: Insights from a Mask-Making Exercise

Medical students’ mask-making can provide valuable insights into personal and professional identity formation and wellness. A subset of first- and second-year medical students attending a medical school wellness retreat participated in a mask-making workshop. Faculty-student teams examined student masks and explanatory narratives using visual and textual analysis techniques. A quantitative survey assessed student perceptions of the experience. We identified an overarching theme: “Reconciliation/reclamation of authentic identity.” The combination of nonverbal mask-making and narrative offers rich insights into medical students’ experience and thinking. This activity promoted reflection and self-care, while providing insight regarding personal and professional development.     

The Protective Effects of Religious Beliefs on Behavioral Health Factors Among Low Income African American Adolescents in Chicago

Religious involvement has long been argued to have protective effects for negative behavioral health outcomes for vulnerable youth. This study builds on the existing resilience literature and need for more studies that examine protective factors associated with behavioral health. A sample of 638 low-income African American adolescents in Chicago to examine within group variations of the influence of religious involvement on delinquency, school engagement, substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and whether such relationships differ by gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Logistic regression findings documented that greater religious involvement was protective with regards to lower rates of delinquency, drug use, risky sexual behaviors and higher rates of school engagement, and that gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status varied for several of these relationships. Overall findings are discussed with regards to future research.     

A Cross‐Cultural Exploration of Perceptions of Altruism of Counselors‐in‐Training

This study explored altruistic development as perceived by counselors‐in‐training from diverse cultures. Twenty‐two counselors‐in‐training from 4 countries participated in semistructured interviews about altruism. Using consensual qualitative research methodology, the authors identified 6 domains: biological, cognitive, social learning, religious/spiritual, counseling, and empathy. Findings and implications for counselor education are discussed.     

When Practice Does Not Make Perfect: Effects of Strategic Cognitive Processes on Errors During Skill Development

This study looked at the contribution of strategic cognitive processes such as frequency gambling and speed and accuracy trade‐off in the production of errors during skill development. We developed a novel psychomotor task and trained participants on the task. We predicted that practice would change the nature of errors and be driven by strategic processes, rather than just change the overall number of errors. The first experiment investigated the effects of frequency gambling on errors during skill development by manipulating stimulus probability. The second experiment tested the separate effects of speed versus accuracy instructions to clarify the strategic contribution of response‐criterion setting. The results of these two studies refute the widespread assumption that skill development invariably reduces errors. Rather, errors can be a strategic feature of skill acquisition (e.g. gambling on low probability events), which, although results in speedy performance, would be a dangerous practice in many real‐life contexts. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of awareness in delay and trace fear conditioning in humans

Expression of conditional fear without awareness has been previously demonstrated during delay conditioning, a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) overlap. However, less is known about the role of awareness in trace fear conditioning, where an interval of time separates the CS and UCS. The present study assessed skin conductance response (SCR) and UCS expectancy during delay and trace conditioning. UCS predictability was varied on a trial-bytrial basis by presenting perithreshold auditory CSs. Differential UCS expectancies were demonstrated only on perceived delay and trace trials. Learning-related SCRs were observed during both perceived and unperceived delay CSs. In contrast, differential SCRs were demonstrated only for perceived trace CSs. These data suggest that awareness is necessary for conditional responding during trace, but not delay, fear conditioning.     

Confucius's Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism

The prevailing interpretation of ren (humanness) in the Analects is ethical. One consequence of this interpretation is the one-dimensional image of the Confucian junzi (noble man) as a rigid moralist, a fastidious observer of li (ritual). But there are numerous passages in the Analects that resist such a one-sided representation of the junzi, especially Confucius's remarks related to the (Book of) Songs and music. My basic thesis is that Confucius's concept of junji is aesthetic. This is implied by his notion of junji ru (noble scholar) as opposed to xiaoren ru (common scholar). The noble man is one awakened to the beauty of humanness. It is because of this awareness that he ‘sets his mind on the Way, depends on virtue, relies on ren and enjoys the arts.’ Confucius included the Songs and music in his curriculum precisely for the purpose of cultivating in his pupils this aesthetic sensibility.     

Heart Rate and Affective Reactions to State Self-Objectification as a Function of Gender

The purpose of the present study was to examine heart rate (HR) and affective reactions to state self-objectification as a function of gender. We examined negative affect, positive affect, guilt, and HR at 6-second and 5-minute intervals across baseline, control, high objectification, low objectification, and cologne conditions in men (n = 53) and women (n = 57). Mixed factorial MANOVA results indicated a statistically significant Gender × Condition interaction. Both men and women showed a cardiac orienting response to high versus low objectification. Cardiac stress reactions to objectification were higher among women. Negative affective reactions to objectification were more pervasive across conditions among women.     

Subgroup Differences in Situational Judgment Test Performance: A Meta-Analysis

In this article, we describe a systematic review of mean race and sex differences in situational judgment test (SJT) performance. On average, White test takers perform better on SJTs than Black, Hispanic, and Asian test takers. Female examinees perform slightly better than male test takers on SJTs. We investigate two moderators of these differences: loading of g or personality on the SJT, and response instructions. Mean race differences between Black, Hispanic, Asian and White examinees in SJT performance are largely explained by the cognitive loading of the SJT such that the larger the cognitive load, the larger the mean race differences. Regarding the effect of personality loadings of SJTs on race differences, Black–White and Asian–White differences are smaller to the extent that the SJT is correlated with emotional stability and Hispanic–White differences are smaller to the extent that SJTs are correlated with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Cognitive loading has minimal effect on male–female SJT score differences; however, SJT score differences are larger, favoring women, when SJTs are correlated with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Concerning response instructions, knowledge response instructions showed greater race differences than behavioral tendency instructions. The mean correlations show that these differences are largely because of the greater g loading of knowledge instructions. A second study showed that when used in hiring, SJTs are likely to have adverse impact by race but not by sex.