Capture of kinesthesis by a competing cutaneous input

In four experiments, blindfolded participants were presented with pairs of stimuli simultaneously, one to each index finger. Participants moved one index finger, which was presented with cutaneous and/or kinesthetic stimuli, and this movement caused a raised line to move underneath the other, stationary index finger in a yoked manner. The stimuli were 180o rotations of each other (e.g., < and >), and thus when a < was traced with the moving finger, it caused a > to be felt at the stationary finger. When asked to report the experience, participants predominantly reported the cutaneous stimulus, seemingly being ignorant of the kinesthetic stimulus. This appears to be an intrahaptic capture phenomenon, which is of interest because it suggests that conflict between intrahaptic sensory stimuli can go unnoticed; sometimes we are unaware of how we moved, and sometimes we do not know what we touched. The results are interpreted in light of optimal integration, perceptual suppression, reafference suppression, and inattentional blindness.     

Risk perception,illusory superiority and personal responsibility during COVID-19: An experimental study of attitudes to staying home

Little is known about how different government communication strategies may systematically affect people’s attitudes to staying home or going out during the COVID-19 pandemic, nor how people perceive and process the risk of viral transmission in different scenarios. In this study, we report results from two experiments that examine the degree to which people’s attitudes regarding the permissibility of leaving one’s home are (1) sensitive to different levels of risk of viral transmission in specific scenarios, (2) sensitive to communication framings that are either imperative or that emphasize personal responsibility, or (3) creating ‘loopholes’ for themselves, enabling a more permissive approach to their own compliance. We find that the level of risk influences attitudes to going out, and that participants report less permissive attitudes to going out when prompted with messages framed in imperative terms, rather than messages emphasizing personal responsibility; for self-loopholes, we find no evidence that participants’ attitudes towards going out in specific scenarios are more permissive for themselves than for others. However, participants report they are more rigorous in staying home than others, which may cause moral licensing. Additionally, we find that age is negatively associated with permissive attitudes, and that male participants are more permissive to going out. Thus, during phases where it is important to promote staying home for all scenarios, including those perceived to be low-risk, imperative communication may be best suited to increase compliance.     

Are There Specific Relationships Between Symptom Patterns and Interpersonal Problems Among Psychiatric Outpatients?

Associations between symptoms and interpersonal problems, assessed with the Symptom Checklist–90 (SCL–90–R) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems–64-item version (IIP–64), are examined in a large psychiatric outpatient sample. On the basis of the IIP–64 scores, the sample was divided into 8 subgroups, made up of different types of predominant interpersonal problems. These octant groups were used as independent variables in analyses testing hypothesized associations with symptom subscales of the SCL–90–R. In general, strong associations between symptoms and interpersonal problems were found. In addition, hostile and paranoid ideation symptoms displayed significant differences among octant groups, and were associated with interpersonal problems of the vindictive/self-centered kind. Phobic anxiety was associated with interpersonal problems of the socially inhibited kind. Assessing specific combinations of symptoms and interpersonal problems might be useful in treatment planning and evaluation.     

Client perspectives and uses of psychotherapy

The present paper argues for the importance of studying user perspectives on ongoing psychotherapy. Four approaches to such studies are discussed. It is stressed that studies of user perspectives may allow us to develop a broader and more robust understanding of clients as the primary agents of their own change processes, and that if the studies focus on clients' everyday lives during the course of psychotherapy, they allow us a better understanding of how clients include their psychotherapy, give it a particular significance, fight over it, and transform it as a part of their changing everyday practice in other places than the session. the rationale and design of such a study is presented. It is a study of a small number of family therapies with the present author as a co-therapist. Some preliminary findings from this study are presented.     

Developing a Brief Sensation Seeking Scale for Children: Establishing Concurrent Validity With Video Game Use and Rule-Breaking Behavior

Despite the importance of life-cycle models to sensation seeking research, past studies have typically focused on adolescents and adults. This is especially problematic for researchers studying the role of media use in the development of risky behaviors (e.g., violent video game consumption and aggressive behavior). To facilitate research with child populations, a brief sensation seeking scale for children (BSSS-C) is developed and validated with a sample of fourth, fifth, and sixth graders (N = 136). The BSSS-C is found to be internally reliable (α = .82) as well as a strong predictor of several risky child behaviors. Higher sensation seeking children were more likely to play video games, including violent subgenres (e.g., shooters), and to enjoy playing video games that contained specific acts of violence (e.g., weapon use). Higher sensation seekers were also more likely to engage in rule-breaking behavior, such as bringing prohibited cell phones to school. The results suggest that sensation seeking may be related to risky behavior at a very young age.     

Dialogue on the hypothetical character of logical analysis

Reconstructing Popper's research programme for the Human Sciences, Noretta Koertge (Inquiry, Vol. 18 [1975]) has given a deductive‐nomological account of explanations of actions by means of a Rationality Principle. It is argued here that such a Rationality Principle is fundamentally redundant. Neither is it logically necessary in order to deduce a cognitive action‐explanandum, nor can it be given a semantic non‐empty interpretation, at least not within Koertge's own syllogism. Any attempt to save the Rationality Principle as unfalsifiablc but nevertheless indispensable for action explanations is rejected in the light of possible alternative action explanations by empirical and therefore in principle falsifiable psychological laws.     

Unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescent girls: a process model based on self-determination theory

This study used self-determination theory (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.) to examine predictors of body image concerns and unhealthy weight control behaviours in a sample of 350 Greek adolescent girls. A process model was tested which proposed that perceptions of parental autonomy support and two life goals (health and image) would predict adolescents’ degree of satisfaction of their basic psychological needs. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was hypothesised to negatively predict body image concerns (i.e. drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction) and, indirectly, unhealthy weight control behaviours. The predictions of the model were largely supported indicating that parental autonomy support and adaptive life goals can indirectly impact upon the extent to which female adolescents engage in unhealthy weight control behaviours via facilitating the latter's psychological need satisfaction.     

The adaptive effect of personal control when facing breast cancer: Cognitive and behavioural mediators

This prospective study examines the cognitive and behavioural mediators of the relation between personal control and the initial response to a breast cancer diagnosis as well as subsequent psychological adjustment. A total of 143 patients participated immediately after diagnosis (T1), after surgery (T2) and 2 months after the end of treatment (T3), of whom 92 also completed a questionnaire pre-diagnosis (T0). The buffering effect of personal control on psychological distress shortly after diagnosis was mediated by cancer-specific cognitions, i.e. threat appraisal and coping self-efficacy. Moreover, a strong sense of personal control predicted lower levels of anxiety 2 months after the end of treatment, but was unrelated to distress at T3. The adaptive effect on anxiety was mediated by threat appraisal and active engagement in social life after surgery, but not by active patient participation or coping self-efficacy. These results confirm and explain the adaptive effect of control. Apparently, women with a low sense of control appraise cancer and their personal coping skills more negatively, which makes them vulnerable to distress in response to diagnosis. Furthermore, women with a strong sense of control might regulate anxiety by remaining engaged in social life.     

Young adults' intention to eat healthy food: Extending the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

The present study predicts adults' intention to eat healthily, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and additive and moderating effects of role identity, group norms and group identification, derived from identity theory and self categorisation theory. A total of 735, 25 years old adults participated in a mailed questionnaire survey in 1997. The TPB explained 52% of the variance in young adults' decision to eat healthily, with perceived behavioural control and subjective norms being the strongest (β= .56, p < .001) and weakest (β = .05, p < .005) determinants, respectively. Although, role identity accounted for an additional amount of 4% of the variance in behavioral intention, past behaviour did not moderate the impact of role identity on intention, as hypothesised. Neither perceived group norm nor group identification added to the prediction of intention over and above the TPB. However, group identification was found to act as a moderator on the relation between group norm and behavioural intention in the predicted direction. The wider social context seems to play a stronger role for the formation of adults' healthy eating decisions than indicated by the TPB.     

Visual-Sequential and Visuo-Spatial Skills in Dyslexia: Variations According to Language Comprehension and Mathematics Skills

This study focused on visual-sequential and visuo-spatial functions in a group of 39 heavily dyslexic children, compared to a Control group. Mean age was 12.72 (SD 1.71). The dyslexia group was divided into three subgroups by language comprehension and mathematics skills. Only on a visual-sequential task was no difference seen between the groups. The main differences occurred between the two dyslexic subgroups with no language comprehension impairment, but with varying mathematics skills. Whereas the subgroup with good mathematics skills scored within the upper ranges, the mathematics-impaired subgroup showed significantly lower scores. The third dyslexic subgroup, with both language comprehension and mathematics impairments, performed within the norm. The study indicates a dissociation between language comprehension and visuo-spatial skills in dyslexia, which has implications for how variations in dyslexia should be understood. The results also show that the visuo-spatial impairments seen in one of the dyslexia subgroups lead to two ways of understanding mathematics impairment when it co-occurs with dyslexia: (1) as a visuo-spatial problem; (2) as a linguistic problem. These distinctions should imply different intervention strategies in dyslexia.