A deliberate practice account of typing proficiency in everyday typists

The concept of deliberate practice was introduced to explain exceptional performance in domains such as music and chess. We apply deliberate practice theory to intermediate-level performance in typing, an activity that many people pursue on a regular basis. Sixty university students with several years typing experience participated in laboratory sessions that involved the assessment of abilities, a semistructured interview on typing experience as well as various typing tasks. In line with traditional theories of skill acquisition, experience (amount of typing since introduction to the keyboard) was related to typing performance. A perceptual speed test (digit-symbol substitution) and a measure of motor abilities (tapping) were not significantly related to performance. In line with deliberate practice theory, the highest level of performance was reported among participants who had attended a typing class in the past and who reported to adopt the goal of typing quickly during everyday typing. Findings suggest that even after several years of experience engagement in an everyday activity can serve as an opportunity for further skill improvement if individuals are willing to push themselves.     

Reciprocal and complementary sibling interactions,relationship quality and socio‐emotional problem solving

Associations between reciprocal and complementary sibling interactions, sibling relationship quality, and children's socio‐emotional problem solving were examined in 40 grade 5–6 children (M age = 11.5 years) from middle class, Caucasian, Canadian families using a multi‐method approach (i.e. interviews, self‐report questionnaires, daily diary checklist, narrative task). Findings demonstrated that reciprocal sibling interactions were positively associated with warmth, mutual esteem, happy daily exchanges, and negatively related to rivalry and dominance, whereas complementary interactions were positively related to upsetting daily exchanges. Further, reciprocal and complementary interactions differed significantly in relation to several relationship qualities, with reciprocal interactions emerging as a significantly stronger correlate of happy exchanges. Only reciprocal interactions were positively correlated with socio‐emotional problem solving. Finally, birth order moderated the negative association of reciprocal interactions with rivalry and dominance and the positive association with socio‐emotional problem solving. In each case, the effect was stronger for younger members of the sibling dyad. Findings are discussed in light of recent theory on the sibling relationship and children's development. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Networks of Meaning: Intergroup Relations, Cultural Worldviews, and Knowledge Activation Principles

In this article, we bring advances in the fields of social cognition, personality, and culture to bear on the topic of intergroup relations. Specifically, principles of knowledge activation ( Higgins, 1996 ), and of the architecture of knowledge networks ( Cervone, 2005; Mischel & Shoda, 1995 ) are applied to understanding how cultural groups develop divergent worldviews. We discuss these principles within a recently proposed model of culture and person dynamics, the Cultural Cognitive-Affective Processing System ( Mendoza-Denton & Mischel, 2007 ). It is argued that the underlying psychological principles that govern knowledge acquisition and activation may be universal, but that the manifestations of these processes are culture specific. More precisely, culture impacts the availability, applicability, and accessibility of knowledge, as well as the organizational relationships among constructs. Together, these processes give rise to complex networks of meaning that, despite diverging across cultures, can nevertheless be communicated and understood by non-natives of that culture.     

Can the components of a cognitive model predict the severity of generalized anxiety disorder?

Over the past decade, a number of well-controlled studies have supported the validity of a cognitive model of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) that has four main components: intolerance of uncertainty, positive beliefs about worry, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Although these studies have shown that the model components are associated with high levels of worry in nonclinical samples and with a diagnosis of GAD in clinical samples, they have not addressed the question of whether the model components can predict the severity of GAD. Accordingly, the present study sought to determine if the model components are related to diagnostic severity, worry severity, and somatic symptom severity in a sample of 84 patients with a primary diagnosis of GAD. All model components were related to GAD severity, although positive beliefs about worry and cognitive avoidance were only modestly associated with the severity of the disorder. Intolerance of uncertainty and negative problem orientation had more robust relationships with the severity of GAD (and with worry severity, in particular). When participants were divided into Mild, Moderate, and Severe GAD groups, intolerance of uncertainty and negative problem orientation distinguished the Moderate and Severe GAD groups from the Mild GAD group, even when age, gender, and depressive symptoms were statistically controlled. Overall, the results lend further support to the validity of the model and suggest that intolerance of uncertainty and negative problem orientation are related to the severity of GAD, independently of sociodemographic and associated clinical factors. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Business owners' action planning and its relationship to business success in three African countries

A model of business success was developed with motivational resources (locus of control, self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and self-reported personal initiative) and cognitive resources (cognitive ability and human capital) as independent variables, business owners' elaborate and proactive planning as a mediator, and business size and growth as dependent variables. Three studies with a total of 408 African micro and small-scale business owners were conducted in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Structural equation analyses partially supported the hypotheses on the importance of psychological planning by the business owners. Elaborate and proactive planning was substantially related to business size and to an external evaluation of business success and was a (partial) mediator for the relationship between cognitive resources and business success. The model carries important implications for selection, training, and coaching of business owners.     

Type D personality as a prognostic factor in heart disease: assessment and mediating mechanisms

Type D personality, a synergy between negative affectivity and social inhibition, has established itself as a serious risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. In this review, we summarize studies on the validity of the assessment methods of Type D, emphasizing its role as an independent vulnerability factor in the progression of cardiovascular disease. We further present evidence on the physiological characteristics that accompany the 2 psychological traits negative affectivity and social inhibition and may mediate the relation between personality and prognosis in heart disease. Further research needs to determine the mechanisms by which Type D affects the course and outcome of cardiovascular disease as well as how Type D patients may benefit from psychosocial intervention.     

Regional history, Jewish memory: the purim of Narbonne

Records of traumatic events in the Jewish past provide the historian a rare glimpse at how community leaders interpreted and understood the historical conditions of diasporic Jews as well as their own immediate communities. In 1236 a violent altercation between a Jewish traveler and a local Christian precipitated a mass uprising against the city's Jewish community. Rapid intervention by the local viscount, Don Aymeric, restored peace to the Jewish quarter, averting loss of life or valuable property. Modern interpretations of this text have varied significantly since its discovery in the late nineteenth century. Scholars have struggled to reconcile it with their expectations of the shape and meaning of the Jewish past. Because the thirteenth-century author of this brief narrative suggested a typological link between the events in Narbonne and the story of Purim, the dominant modern interpretation has viewed this account as evidence of a very early Second Purim commemoration. However there is little evidence to support this claim. This article reads the narrative of the “Purim of Narbonne” against other medieval Jewish narratives about the history and legacy of Jewish Narbonne*.     

An Interpersonal Approach to Religiousness and Spirituality: Implications for Health and Well‐Being

The interpersonal tradition (Horowitz & Strack, 2011) provides a rich conceptual and methodological framework for theory‐driven research on mechanisms linking religiousness and spirituality (R/S) with health and well‐being. In three studies, we illustrate this approach to R/S. In Studies 1 and 2, undergraduates completed various self‐report measures of R/S, interpersonal style, and other aspects of interpersonal functioning. In Study 3, a community sample completed a wide variety of R/S measures and a measure of interpersonal style. Many, but not all, aspects of religiousness (e.g., overall religiousness, intrinsic religiousness) were associated with a warm interpersonal style, and most aspects and measures of spirituality were associated with a warm and somewhat dominant style. Spirituality and related constructs (i.e., gratitude, compassion) were associated with interpersonal goals that emphasize positive relationships with others, and with beneficial interpersonal outcomes (i.e., higher social support, less loneliness, and less conflict). However, some aspects of R/S (e.g., extrinsic religiousness, belief in a punishing God) were associated with a hostile interpersonal style. R/S have interpersonal correlates that may enhance or undermine health and emotional adjustment. This interpersonal perspective could help clarify why some aspects of religiousness and spirituality are beneficial and others are not.     

Resting gamma power is linked to reading ability in adolescents

Infants who have more power within the gamma frequency range at rest develop better language and cognitive abilities over their first 3 years of life (Benasich et al., 2008). This positive trend may reflect the gradual increase in resting gamma power that peaks at about 4 years (Takano & Ogawa, 1998): infants further along the maturational curve may exhibit both increased resting gamma power and more advanced language and cognitive function. Similar to other neural characteristics such as synaptic density, resting gamma power subsequently decreases with further development into adulthood (Tierney, Strait, O'Connell & Kraus, 2013). If previously reported relationships between resting gamma power and behavioral performance reflect variance in maturation, at least in part, negative correlations between resting gamma and behavior may predominate in later developmental stages, during which resting gamma activity is decreasing. We tested this prediction by examining resting gamma activity and language‐dependent behavioral performance, reflected by a variety of reading‐related tests, in adolescents between the ages of 14 and 15 years. Consistent with our predictions, resting gamma power inversely related to every aspect of reading assessed (i.e. reading fluency, rapid naming, and basic reading proficiency). Our results suggest that resting gamma power acts as an index of maturational progress in adolescents.