Latent Inhibition and Asymmetrical Visual-Spatial Attention in Children with ADHD

The research was designed to determine whether the purported hemispheric asymmetries that are associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect performance on a selective attention visual search task, and whether any obtained asymmetry will be modulated by methylphenidate. Two groups of children (8–15 years) with ADHD, one with methylphenidate treatment (ADHD+) and one without (ADHD+), were compared to matched controls on a two-stage visual search task. The task assessed right–left visual field asymmetries and the effects of changing a previous distractor into a target. Such a procedure, related to latent inhibition (LI; poorer performance to a previously irrelevant stimulus than to a novel one), can provide evidence for dysfunctional processing of irrelevant stimuli. All three groups exhibited the LI effect. The ADHD group, however, exhibited less LI for left- than right-side targets, an effect absent in the control and ADHD+ groups, suggesting a lateralized attentional deficit for ADHD+ that was normalized by methylphenidate.     

Attitudes toward accompanied driving: The views of teens and their parents

In Israel, a new driver must be accompanied by an experienced driver for the first 3 months after licensure. In the case of teens, the accompanying driver is usually one of the parents. However, no previous study set to examine the relationship between parents’ and offsprings’ attitudes toward accompanied driving (ATAD), and the associations between the way parents habitually drive and their offsprings’ ATAD. The current study examined the associations between young drivers’ ATAD on the one hand, and parents’ ATADs, driving styles, and driving history, on the other. One hundred and twenty-nine young drivers completed a questionnaire assessing their ATAD, and their principal accompanying driver completed the same ATAD scale along with the Multi-dimensional Driving Style Inventory. The findings indicate a correspondence between parents’ and children’s ATAD scores, as well as significant associations between teens’ ATADs and their parents’ driving styles and involvement in car crashes. Specifically, higher Tension, Relatedness, Avoidance, Disapproval, and Anxiety reported by the young driver were positively correlated with higher reports on the same attitudes by parents. In addition, parents’ maladaptive driving styles were positively associated with their offspring’s Tension, Avoidance, Disapproval and Anxiety ATADs, whereas parents’ careful driving style was related to offspring’s higher relatedness and lower negative ATADs. Higher involvement of parents in car crashes contributed significantly to teens’ higher Tension, Disapproval, and Anxiety, and lower relatedness. The results are discussed in respect to the relationship between the parental model and the young driver’s attitude toward accompanied driving, pointing to the importance of parents’ role in promoting young drivers’ safety attitudes and behaviors.     

Teaching Social Interaction Skills Using Cool Versus Not Cool

We evaluated the cool versus not cool procedure to teach social behaviors to three children diagnosed with autism. The researchers demonstrated each targeted behavior four times (two appropriate and two inappropriate demonstrations). Each participant then had to discriminate and state why the demonstration was appropriate or inappropriate. This was followed by the participant role-playing the targeted behavior with the researchers. We utilized a multiple baseline design to evaluate the procedure and the results indicated that the procedure was effective in teaching each targeted social behavior.     

A multi-factorial framework for understanding reckless driving—appraisal indicators and perceived environmental determinants

The current study adopted an approach, in which reckless driving is perceived as related to both personal and environmental factors. Young drivers (N = 295) reported on reckless driving related threat and challenge appraisals, their perceived control over reckless driving, their disregard for negative consequences of this specific behavior, positive feedback received on their driving, environmental driving-climate and negative driving modeling. The dependent measure was self-reported frequency of reckless driving. Findings indicated that challenge and self-efficacy appraisals, along with negative environmental influences were related to higher frequency of risky driving, whereas threat appraisals, as well as positive feedback, were related to a lower frequency of reckless driving. In addition, whereas for men, self-efficacy in driving strongly predicted reckless driving, disregard for negative consequences was an important predictor for women. The results are discussed in view of an evaluating process of personal cognitive-emotional resources and environmental support proposed by Lazarus. Recommendations are made regarding the potential effectiveness of using positive appeals in prevention interventions.     

Embracing Chance Tactically: A Different Perspective on Risk Taking

Although they value certainty, people are willing to take risks to avoid losses. Consequently, they are risk‐seeking in the domain of losses but risk‐avoidant in the domain of gains. This behavior, frequently demonstrated in framing experiments, is traditionally explained in terms of prospect theory. We suggest a different account whereby involving chance in one's decisions may serve a strategic impression‐formation function. In the domain of losses actors may embrace chance to distance themselves from the outcomes and deflect possible blame. Given potential gains, however, actors may avoid uncertainty to enhance their association with valued outcomes. We test this idea by manipulating the level of actors' personal responsibility for the decision outcomes. The results of four studies consistently showed that when personal responsibility is high, the original framing effect is replicated (i.e., greater risk‐taking when choices are framed in terms of losses rather than gains). However, when because of assigned role or decision circumstances, actors experience low personal responsibility for the outcomes, and the classic framing effect is eliminated. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is the Meaning of Life Also the Meaning of Death? A Terror Management Perspective Reply

The human quality of self-awareness makes individuals aware of their inventible death. How does this knowledge influence meaning in life and is influenced by it? Four studies examined the association between meaning in life and awareness of death, through a Terror Management Theory perspective. Study 1 assessed the effects of a mortality reminder on self-reports of meaning in life, while exploring the moderating role of self-esteem. The findings indicate a trend in which after a mortality salience induction, high self-esteem individuals tend to view their lives as more meaningful. Studies 2 and 3 examined the effect of thinking about the meaning of life on death-thought accessibility, and found it to be higher in both the mortality and meaning salience conditions, as compared to a control condition. Study 4 sought to discover whether reminders of one’s meaning in life would yield cultural worldview validation, and indeed revealed a more severe perception of social transgressions following both mortality and meaning salience. Findings highlight the understanding that meaning in life is a basic existential concept closely related to awareness of death’s inevitability.     

Others' anger makes people work harder not smarter: the effect of observing anger and sarcasm on creative and analytic thinking

The authors examine whether and how observing anger influences thinking processes and problem-solving ability. In 3 studies, the authors show that participants who listened to an angry customer were more successful in solving analytic problems, but less successful in solving creative problems compared with participants who listened to an emotionally neutral customer. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors further show that observing anger communicated through sarcasm enhances complex thinking and solving of creative problems. Prevention orientation is argued to be the latent variable that mediated the effect of observing anger on complex thinking. The present findings help reconcile inconsistent findings in previous research, promote theory about the effects of observing anger and sarcasm, and contribute to understanding the effects of anger in the workplace.     

The Moral Reasoning of Genetic Dilemmas Amongst Jewish Israeli Undergraduate Students with Different Religious Affiliations and Scientific Backgrounds

The main objective of this study was to shed light on the moral reasoning of undergraduate Israeli students towards genetic dilemmas, and on how these are affected by their religious affiliation, by the field they study and by their gender. An open ended questionnaire was distributed among 449 undergraduate students in institutions of higher education in Israel, and their answers were analyzed according to the framework described by Sadler and Zeidler (Science Education, 88(1), 4–27, 2004). They were divided into two major categories: those whose reasoning was based on the consideration of moral consequences (MC), and those who supported their opinion by citing non-consequentialist moral principles (MP). Students’ elaborations to questions dealing with values towards genetic testing showed a correlation between the students’ religious affiliation and their reasoning, with religious students’ elaborations tending to be more principle based than those of secular ones. Overall, the students’ elaborations indicate that their main concern is the possibility that their personal genetic information will be exposed, and that their body’s personal rights will be violated. We conclude the paper by offering several practical recommendations based on our findings for genetic counseling that is specifically tailored to fit different patients according to their background.     

Shared Traumatic Reality and Boundary Theory: How Mental Health Professionals Cope With the Home/Work Conflict During Continuous Security Threats

ABSTRACT

In a shared traumatic reality, mental health professionals and their clients are exposed to the same communal disaster. Both living and working in the same high-stress community can create a conflict between the professional's work and his or her private life. The author analyzed three focus groups consisting of 30 mental health professionals who worked with traumatized populations in a missile-stricken area in southern Israel. The professionals’ experience was explored through the lens of boundary theory by examining the ways in which they created and maintained boundaries between the different domains of their lives. Findings demonstrated that these professionals presented a continuum of segmentation and integration of the domains as suggested by boundary theory, when both living and working in a highly stressed environment. The discussion deals with possible costs and benefits of the boundary theory continuum.     

Directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories

In 6 experiments, the authors investigated list-method directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories. Reliable directed forgetting effects were observed across all experiments. In 4 experiments, the authors examined the impact of memory valence on directed forgetting. The forget instruction impaired recall of negative, positive, and neutral memories equally, although overall, participants recalled fewer unemotional memories than emotional memories. The preexisting organization of memories enhanced the directed forgetting effect, and a release from forgetting occurred only when the forgotten memories were directly cued. The authors discuss the roles of emotion, retrieval dynamics, and organization in these effects and suggest that the directed forgetting of recently recalled autobiographical memories may reflect the inhibition of recently formed memories of remembering, that is, episodic inhibition. The authors consider the implications of these findings for the control of autobiographical remembering in everyday life.