Overt and fantasized aggression toward parents by enuretic and nonenuretic children

This study compared the amount and direction of overt and fantasized aggression of enuretic and nonenuretic children. Following the dynamic approach, it was hypothesized that enuretic children would differ from nonenuretics in having more difficulty in expressing overt aggression toward their mothers than toward a neutral figure. In fantasy, enuretic children were expected to express more aggression feelings toward their parents than control subjects. Twenty-eight enuretic subjects and a matched group of control subjects were induced to aggress toward their mothers and toward a neutral figure. The experimental situation was a variation of the Buss (1961) technique for eliciting and measuring aggression. Aggressive fantasies were assessed, using Bene and Anthony's Family Relation Test (1957). A significant interaction was obtained between enuresis/nonenuresis and target figures. Enuretic subjects expressed more aggression toward a neutral figure than toward the mother (p=.05) and differed from the control group in expressing less aggression toward the mother (p=.10). On the fantasy level, a significantly opposite trend to the predicted one emerged: Enuretic subjects showed less aggression toward both parents. The results were discussed with respect to the dynamic and the behavioristic approach to enuresis, and further research directions were suggested.This study is based in part on an M.A. thesis submitted by the second author to the Department of Psychology, Tel-Aviv University,     

Behavioral and physiological measures in the detection of concealed information

The authors examined the incremental validity of the reaction time (RT) measure beyond that of skin conductance response (SCR) in the detection of concealed information. Participants performed a Stroop-like task in which they named the color of critical and neutral words. Results show that the SCR highly differentiated between the relevant and neutral words. However, the RT demonstrated a significant differentiation only when the critical words denoted personally significant items (e.g., one's own name) and not when they denoted crime-relevant items related to a simulated crime. In both cases, combining the 2 measures yielded no advantage over the use of SCR alone. Thus, although behavioral measures may differentiate between relevant and neutral information in some cases, their practical use is questionable.     

Subjective value determines initial dominance in binocular rivalry

Does subjective reward value influence early visual perception? During binocular rivalry, one eye receives an image that is incompatible with the image the other eye receives. People consciously experience perceiving one image; the other image is suppressed from conscious awareness. We tested if subjective value functions as an endogenous influence (i.e., one internal to the perceiver) on dominance during rivalry. Images associated with rewards achieved initial perceptual dominance more often than images associated with cost (Study 1, Methods, Participants and procedures, Stimuli and presentation, Experimental counterbalancing conditions, Results, Study 2, Methods, Participants, Stimuli and presentation, Procedure, Results, Reports of letters v. numbers seen as initial percept, Reports of dot location, Study 3). Value facilitated perception of rewarding images but did not inhibit perception of costly images (Study 3). Additionally, when rewards benefited a disliked person, no bias in perceptual dominance was observed. Subjective value biased dominance despite accuracy incentives and was not explained by frequency of exposure, implicit learning, response bias, or task-specific accessibility. We discuss implications for the influence of motivated influences on perception, a phenomenon we call wishful seeing.     

Third-Person Perception as an Impression Management Tactic

The current research aims at broadening the motivational explanations for the third-person perception (TPP) by documenting the role of impression management motives in this perception. In two experiments that were devised to explore this possibility, participants were asked to report in public or in private on their perceptions of how various advertisements affected them and others. In addition, their level of self-monitoring was measured, and they were divided into two categories—high and low. In line with the hypotheses, participants showed a larger TPP in public than in private. Moreover, while the public nature of the situation did not affect low self-monitors, high self-monitors reported a large TPP in public but no TPP at all in private. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the current findings for research on the causes and consequences of the TPP.     

The Measurement of Perimenstrual Distress

This study was undertaken to explore whether the implicit requirement of phase comparison in menstrual research influences the data obtained. One hundred fifty Israeli women responded to the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire in an altered procedure. They rated their experience of behaviors and feelings during the nonmenstrual phase. Later, on a separate form, they rated their experience of the same behaviors and feelings during the menstrual and premenstrual phases. With this altered procedure, nonmenstrual distress scores were consistently higher than the perimenstrual scores. This pattern of results is the reverse of what most studies using the questionnaire have shown and does not seem to justify treating the perimenstrual period as especially problematic.     

Impressions formed in response to public self-evaluation maintenance strategies

Two studies examined the impressions formed in response to public self-evaluation maintenance strategies. According to Tesser’s (1988) self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model, a person who has been outperformed by a close other perceives the field of performance as less relevant to preserve self-evaluation. Tesser and Paulhus (1983) showed that this same strategy is used for the purpose of impression management, or public self-evaluation maintenance. The present research examined the SEM model variables from the view of impression formation. In the first study, information regarding field relevance and psychological closeness was conveyed by the experimenter. In this context, field relevance had a significant impact on perception of competence. In the other study, in which the information was conveyed by the target person, relevance and closeness influenced the perception of manipulativeness and sociability. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of investigating the SEM processes from the impression formation perspective.     

The effect of exposure to thin models and digital modification disclaimers on women's body satisfaction

This study tests the effectiveness of public health initiatives aimed at reducing the adverse effects of exposure to thin images in advertising on women's body satisfaction. Using an online experiment with 195 Israeli adult women, we test the effects of message factors that are expected to influence body satisfaction—the model's body size, and the presence and size of disclaimers. Compared with advertisements featuring a thin model, exposure to an average sized model was indirectly and positively associated with body size satisfaction, through the perception of the model's body size. However, exposure to disclaimers regarding digital modification of the model did not influence body satisfaction. Moreover, irrespective of whether they were exposed to a disclaimer or not, most participants who viewed ads featuring thin models thought that the image had been digitally modified. The results call for further research on the effectiveness of disclaimer labels for promoting body satisfaction.     

Enhancing mothers' interactions with toddlers who have sensory‐processing disorders

The objective of the current study was to examine the effects of a brief Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers (the MISC‐SP) designed to enhance the quality of mothers' interaction with their toddlers who have sensory processing disorders (SPD). The basic assumption was that quality parent–child interactions can serve as a protective factor moderating the potential negative effects of toddlers' sensory processing and regulation difficulties on their development. The effects of the intervention were compared to those of another intervention designed to enhance children's sensory functioning (the SI group) and to a control group receiving no intervention. Participants were 86 toddlers (12–18 months old) with SPD and their mothers, who were randomly assigned to the aforementioned three research groups. Following the intervention period, mothers in the MISC‐SP group showed more sensitive behavior, supported their toddlers' communication behavior better, and used teaching behaviors more appropriately than did mothers in the two other groups.