Testing the Effectiveness of Family Therapeutic Assessment: A Case Study Using a Time-Series Design

This study reports normative data for the Peebles Rorschach content scoring system. Group Rorschach protocols from undergraduates were scored and reliably classified by quadrant. Frequencies were obtained by sex and by quadrant. Social desirability was demonstrated to vary across quadrants. The validity of quadrant classification was suggested by self-reports and MMPI scales. MMPI profile code predictions were made by experts for each quadrant and compared with obtained mean profile codes. The scoring system was evaluated and theoretical origins were discussed.     

The concept norm: Enduring but indefensible

This article examines the link between men's personal fear of crime and men's fear of crime for others. Previous work finds men fear crime less than women and that men fear crime for others, especially spouses. Gender role socialization is a key reason men lack personal fear. Few works consider the connection between personal fear and vicarious fear for men. Analyzing in-depth interviews with fourteen married couples, this study relies on marriage as a context to understand the relationship between personal fear and fear for spouses among married men. Narratives with married men demonstrate a heightened sense of personal fear and fear for spouses due to a new sense of “responsibility” for spousal safety and protection.     

Low Self-Control Versus the Desire-For-Control: An Empirical Test of White-Collar Crime and Conventional Crime

Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime has been used to explain a wide variety of criminal and analogous behaviors, yet the few studies that have tested its ability to account for white-collar and corporate offending have yielded mixed results. One response to these mixed findings has been to explore the possibility that unique attributes may predict white-collar and corporate offending. In this vein, limited research examining the relationship between desire-for-control, a similar yet competing construct as low self-control, and corporate crime has revealed desire-for-control to be a stronger predictor of corporate crime than low self-control. The current study expands on existing research by examining the relationship between desire-for-control and low self-control in predicting conventional offending, white-collar or occupational offending, and corporate offending. Results indicate that desire-for-control is a stronger predictor of white-collar and corporate offending than low self-control, but that, as expected, this relationship does not hold true for conventional crime. Theoretical implications and future research directions are also discussed.     

Reduced short-term memory capacity in Alzheimer's disease: The role of phonological,lexical, and semantic processing

Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are often reported to have reduced verbal short-term memory capacity, typically attributed to their attention/executive deficits. However, these individuals also tend to show progressive impairment of semantic, lexical, and phonological processing which may underlie their low short-term memory capacity. The goals of this study were to assess the contribution of each level of representation (phonological, lexical, and semantic) to immediate serial recall performance in 18 individuals with AD, and to examine how these linguistic effects on short-term memory were modulated by their reduced capacity to manipulate information in short-term memory associated with executive dysfunction. Results showed that individuals with AD had difficulty recalling items that relied on phonological representations, which led to increased lexicality effects relative to the control group. This finding suggests that patients have a greater reliance on lexical/semantic information than controls, possibly to make up for deficits in retention and processing of phonological material. This lexical/semantic effect was not found to be significantly correlated with patients’ capacity to manipulate verbal material in short-term memory, indicating that language processing and executive deficits may independently contribute to reducing verbal short-term memory capacity in AD.     

Relation of positive memory recall count and accessibility with post-trauma mental health

ABSTRACT

Positive memory encoding and retrieval deficits have an empirical relation with several post-trauma outcomes. Drawing from the Contractor et al. model, we examined relations between positive memory characteristics and post-trauma mental health indicators. A trauma-exposed community sample of 203 participants (M_age?=?35.40 years; 61.10% female) was recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants completed measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; PTSD Checklist for DSM-5), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), posttraumatic cognitions (Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory), affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), count/number of recalled specific positive memories (Autobiographical Memory Test) and accessibility of a specific positive memory (i.e., subjective ease of recalling details of a memory; Memory Experiences Questionnaire-Short Form). Linear regression results indicated that PTSD intrusion severity, PTSD negative alterations in cognitions and mood (NACM) severity, PTSD alterations in arousal and reactivity (AAR) severity, self-blame, and positive affect significantly and negatively predicted the count of specific positive memories. Further, PTSD NACM severity, PTSD AAR severity, negative cognitions about the self, and negative affect significantly and negatively predicted accessibility of a specific positive memory. Thus, count/accessibility of specific positive memories was associated with several post-trauma mental health indicators; this highlights the relevance and potential impact of integrating positive memories into trauma treatment.     

Pervasiveness and correlates of implicit attitudes and stereotypes

http://implicit.harvard.edu/ was created to provide experience with the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a procedure designed to measure social knowledge that may operate outside awareness or control. Significant by-products of the website's existence are large datasets contributed to by the site's many visitors. This article summarises data from more than 2.5 million completed IATs and self-reports across 17 topics obtained between July 2000 and May 2006. In addition to reinforcing several published findings with a heterogeneous sample, the data help to establish that: (a) implicit preferences and stereotypes are pervasive across demographic groups and topics, (b) as with self-report, there is substantial inter-individual variability in implicit attitudes and stereotypes, (c) variations in gender, ethnicity, age, and political orientation predict variation in implicit and explicit measures, and (d) implicit and explicit attitudes and stereotypes are related, but distinct.     

Semantic Elaboration through Integration: Hints Both Facilitate and Inform the Process

Semantic knowledge can be extended in a variety of ways, including self-generation of new facts through integration of separate yet related episodes. We sought to promote integration and self-generation by providing “hints” to help 6-year-olds (Experiment 1) and 4-year-olds (Experiment 2) see the relevance of separate episodes to one another. Varying the timing of presentation of the hints—whether provided between episodes or before test—afforded insights into the processes responsible for self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration. In both experiments, hints provided immediately before testing facilitated performance relative to a control condition. In contrast, hints provided between episodes did not. The findings imply that integration of distinct experiences is not an automatic process set into motion based on shared elements. Even when integration is primed through a hint that a prior episode is relevant to a forthcoming experience, shared elements apparently are not sufficient to promote self-generation of new semantic knowledge. Instead, the process seems to occur upon demand, such as in response to a question. These findings can be used to guide interventions designed to promote enrichment of semantic memory and also further our understanding of the basic cognitive processes involved in extension of knowledge.     

Is John Henryism a resilience factor in women experiencing intimate partner violence?

Background: Research suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are two common mental health problems in intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Research has found that while Black women consistently report higher rates of victimization than White women, they also report less severe PTSD and depressive symptoms, suggesting that Black IPV survivors might be more resilient to PTSD and depression than are White survivors. Design: We implemented a correlational study with 81 Black and 100 White female survivors of IPV to determine if John Henryism (JH; i.e., a predisposed active coping mechanism) contributes to the resilience observed in Black IPV survivors. Methods: Participants completed the John Henryism Active Coping Scale, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Davidson Trauma Scale, and the Abusive Behavior Inventory. Results: Results demonstrated that White woman endorsed more severe depressive symptoms as compared to Black women. Severity of PTSD symptoms and JH was not significantly different between races. JH did not moderate the relationship between race and depression; however, for PTSD, JH was found to be protective of PTSD in White women, while demonstrating little impact on Black women. Conclusions: The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the minority stress model.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Perpetration of Violence: The Moderating Role of Gender

This study sought to increase specificity in our knowledge of links among child sexual abuse (CSA), aggression, and physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration by criminal offenders, with particular interest in gender. Participants were 202 men and 72 women (N = 274), who were recruited from an urban pretrial supervision program. Women reported higher rates of CSA than men. After controlling for relevant covariates, CSA was associated with general aggression and severe IPV. We found a gender by CSA interaction; CSA was associated with aggression and severe IPV for women, but not men. Findings provide preliminary evidence that CSA impacts aggression and IPV perpetration differently for female offenders compared to male offenders and gender-specific treatment might be warranted in pretrial settings.