Improved set‐size labeling mediates the effect of a counting intervention on children's understanding of cardinality

How does improving children's ability to label set sizes without counting affect the development of understanding of the cardinality principle? It may accelerate development by facilitating subsequent alignment and comparison of the cardinal label for a given set and the last word counted when counting that set (Mix et al., 2012). Alternatively, it may delay development by decreasing the need for a comprehensive abstract principle to understand and label exact numerosities (Piantadosi et al., 2012). In this study, preschoolers (N = 106, M_age = 4;8) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) count‐and‐label, wherein children spent 6 weeks both counting and labeling sets arranged in canonical patterns like pips on a die; (b) label‐first,wherein children spent the first 3 weeks learning to label the set sizes without counting before spending 3 weeks identical to the count‐and‐label condition; (c) print referencing control. Both counting conditions improved understanding of cardinality through increases in children's ability to label set sizes without counting. In addition to this indirect effect, there was a direct effect of the count‐and‐label condition on progress toward understanding of cardinality. Results highlight the roles of set labeling and equifinality in the development of children's understanding of number concepts.     

Internet-Delivered Exposure-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents With Functional Abdominal Pain or Functional Dyspepsia: A Feasibility Study

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) and functional dyspepsia (FD) are common in adolescents and associated with low quality of life. Exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficient for adult and adolescent irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but has never been evaluated for adolescent FAP/FD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a novel disorder-specific Internet-delivered CBT (Internet-CBT) for adolescents with FAP or FD, using an uncontrolled open pilot including 31 adolescents. The Internet-CBT consisted of 10 weekly online modules, which focused mainly on exposure to abdominal symptoms. Parents received modules to help them reduce unhelpful parental behaviors. Participants reported the treatment to be credible, and an overall satisfaction with the treatment. Data attrition rate was low (7%) and adherence to treatment was acceptable. We saw a significant and large effect on the primary outcome, pain intensity, at posttreatment (d = 1.20, p < .001) that was further improved after 6 months (d = 1.69, p < .001). Participants also made significant and large improvements on gastrointestinal symptoms (d = 0.84, p < .001) and quality of life (d = 0.84, p < .001) that were sustained or further improved at follow-up 6 months after treatment. This study demonstrated that exposure-based Internet-CBT, tailored for adolescents with FAP or FD, is a feasible treatment that potentially improves pain intensity, gastrointestinal symptoms, and quality of life.     

Mediators of Change in Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Clinical Burnout

Evidence supporting the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for stress-related illness is growing, but little is known about its mechanisms of change. The aim of this study was to investigate potential mediators of CBT for severe stress in form of clinical burnout, using an active psychological treatment as comparator. We used linear mixed models to analyze data from patients (N = 82) with clinical burnout who received either CBT or another psychological treatment in a randomized controlled trial. Potential mediators (i.e., sleep quality, behavioral activation, perceived competence, and therapeutic alliance) and outcome (i.e., symptoms of burnout) were assessed weekly during treatment. The results showed that the positive treatment effects on symptoms of burnout favoring CBT (estimated between-group d = 0.93) were mediated by improvements in sleep quality, ab = -0.017, 95% CI_asymmetric [-0.037, -0.002], and increase in perceived competence, ab = -0.037, 95% CI_asymmetric [-0.070, -0.010]. Behavioral activation, ab = -0.004 [-0.016, 0.007], and therapeutic alliance, ab = 0.002 [-0.006, 0.011], did not significantly mediate the difference in effects between the treatments. Improving sleep quality and increasing perceived competence may thus constitute important process goals in order to attain symptom reduction in CBT for clinical burnout.     

Mentoring in Caribbean Theological Education

This article addresses the issue of mentoring in theological education, drawing against the context of the Caribbean and the insights of Pan‐African Women, such as in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, as well as support and accountability groups such as Caribbean Women Theologians for Transformation and the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission. Drawing on biblical models of mentoring, the article argues that while the ways that individuals are mentored during their theological education programmes can and will vary, women in leadership can be sounding boards, cheerleaders, advocates, facilitators, coaches, guides, role models, and even critics as they help to shape and develop other women leaders in the church.     

The Modal Logic of Bayesian Belief Revision

In Bayesian belief revision a Bayesian agent revises his prior belief by conditionalizing the prior on some evidence using Bayes’ rule. We define a hierarchy of modal logics that capture the logical features of Bayesian belief revision. Elements in the hierarchy are distinguished by the cardinality of the set of elementary propositions on which the agent’s prior is defined. Inclusions among the modal logics in the hierarchy are determined. By linking the modal logics in the hierarchy to the strongest modal companion of Medvedev’s logic of finite problems it is shown that the modal logic of belief revision determined by probabilities on a finite set of elementary propositions is not finitely axiomatizable.

     

Are You Ready to Have Fun? The Spanish State Form of the State–Trait–Cheerfulness Inventory

Although cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood as traits have been widely studied as the basis of sense of humor, data are scarce regarding the same dimensions as states. In this study, we adapted the state form of the State–Trait–Cheerfulness Inventory (STCI–S) into Spanish. At the same time, we empirically tested new predictions. We assessed 5 independent samples accounting for 1,029 participants (647 women) with ages ranging from 18 to 78 years. We confirmed the 3-dimensional structure as well as a strong measurement invariance between men and women. The internal consistency of the scale was satisfactory, the expected intercorrelations emerged, and the convergence between states and traits was corroborated. We also confirmed that the STCI–S's items were sensitive to affective changes in the environment. A longitudinal stability study of the state–trait dimensions using latent state–trait (LST) models revealed that all three trait measures capture mostly stable interindividual differences, with occasion-specific effects mainly in the state dimensions. Finally, we found that the STCI–S dimensions were related to state well-being. The results suggest that the STCI–S is a valid option for measuring the state basis of sense of humor in the Spanish population.     

Effortful Control and Interpersonal Behavior in Daily Life

The Cognitive-Affective Processing System (CAPS) was used to examine effortful control (EC) as a moderator of daily interpersonal behavior. Participants (N = 240) were nonclinical young adults who completed a 7-day event-contingent experience sampling study of interpersonal perception and affect. Multilevel linear models indicated that EC moderated within-person covariation of interpersonal warmth and affect activation; high EC individuals reported greater momentary warm behaviors when perceiving others as affectively activated. EC also amplified between-person covariation of interpersonal warmth between self and others; high EC individuals generally responded to perceptions of another's warmth with a greater degree of warm behavior. Varying levels of EC predict responses to interpersonal perceptions and affect in daily life, suggesting an important dimension for interpersonal functioning.     

Emotional sharing and the extended mind

Synthese - This article investigates the relationship between emotional sharing and the extended mind thesis. We argue that shared emotions are socially extended emotions that involve a specific...     

Two sides of the same coin: The differentiating role of need satisfaction and frustration in passion for screen-based activities

Rooted in Self-Determination Theory, the present research sought to investigate whether the “bright” and “dark” side of human functioning (need satisfaction and need frustration, respectively) would, as determinants, differentially predict harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP) for screen-based activities such as Facebook use, TV series watching, online gaming, and smartphone gaming. For this purpose, four cross-sectional studies were carried out (N_total = 1,065). Results showed that, across all activities, need satisfaction was negatively related to OP, but not HP. A similar pattern emerged with need frustration: It was positively related to OP, but not HP. Moreover, even after controlling for the self-reported amount of time spent on the activities, HP predicted adaptive, activity-specific outcomes, whereas OP predicted maladaptive ones. These findings suggest that general need satisfaction may be a protective factor against the compensatory function of OP, but need frustration may be a potential risk factor of OP and both should be taken into account in the case of passion for screen-based activities.