Cognitive bias via the Internet: a comparison of Web-based and standard emotional Stroop tasks in social phobia

There is accumulating evidence to suggest that social phobia is associated with attentional bias for words related to social threat. Information processing in individuals with social phobia (n = 87) was investigated in the present study using 2 versions of the emotional Stroop task. Results from a standard emotional Stroop task indicated delayed colour naming of socially threatening words relative to neutral words, in line with previous research, whereas results from a Web-based emotional Stroop task indicated a facilitation effect, with faster manual indication of colour choice for socially threatening words than for neutral words. Possible explanations for these contrasting findings and issues for further research are discussed.     

Interactive decision-making: effects of consultation before personal decisions on postdecision consolidation

Pre- and postdecision processes were studied in triads of participants, dyads of participants, and for individual decision-makers in two experiment (N = 57 and 50). Participants were students volunteering to take part in the study (21 men and 36 women with a mean age of 24 yr. and 25 men and 25 women with a mean age of 27 yr.). The purpose was to examine how much interactive versus individual social interaction (consultation with others before making a personal decision) affects postdecision consolidation. Predecision differentiation and postdecision consolidation have been defined as attractiveness changes over time in favour of the chosen alternative. Participants were coded into three categories (noncompensatory, compensatory, and nonclassified) according to their different decision strategies. For Exp. 1, postdecision consolidation effects were significant for participants who used a noncompensatory (no comparisons across attributes) decision strategy. For Exp. 2, postdecision consolidation effects were significant for participants who made a personal decision but not those who made an interactive decision. The differing results in these two experiments were discussed.     

Joint attention in term and preterm infants at 12 months corrected age: the significance of gender and intervention based on a randomized controlled trial

This study tested the effects of optimized neonatal mother–infant transactions on joint attention performance at 12 months. Surviving infants <2000 g from a geographically defined area were randomly assigned to a preterm intervention (n = 71) or preterm control group (n = 69). Comparisons were made between preterm groups, secondary with a term group (n = 75). Joint attention was measured using the Early Social Communication Scales. Preterm intervention infants scored significantly higher than preterm control infants on elements Initiating Joint Attention (p < 0.05), Initiating Object Requests (p < 0.05), and Responding to Social Interaction (p < 0.0005). Intervention was not associated with performance on elements Responding to Joint Attention, or on Responding to Requests. ELBW infants scored significantly lower than VLBW and LBW infants on imperative functions. Girls outperformed boys on all communication elements. An intervention implemented during the neonatal period can be of advantage for certain aspects of joint attention performance in preterm infants.     

Change during and after long-term analytic group psychotherapy

There are very few empirical studies of long-term, analytic group psychotherapy. Sixty-nine patients in long-term analytic group psychotherapy were evaluated from pretherapy to posttherapy, and one year after termination. The primary outcome measures were the Symptom Checklist-90 (Revised) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems. In addition, the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) was scored independently by two evaluators. The average time in treatment was 32.5 months. The patients improved significantly during treatment, up to 30 months, on all measures. The improvement continued during the follow-up period. Sixty to 86% of the patients were recovered or significantly changed at follow-up.     

Internet-based treatment for panic disorder

Increasingly, the internet is being used as a source of mental health information as well as structured treatment programs for people with mental health concerns or problems. The present review focuses mainly on research conducted at the University of Ballarat in Australia, and Uppsala University in Sweden, on internet-based treatment for panic disorder, one of the more common and disabling anxiety disorders. Our studies suggest that internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy is an effective intervention for panic disorder, and that it is more effective than some other self-help therapies. We have found that this mode of intervention is associated with clinically significant change, improved psychological well-being and functioning, and low participant attrition, provided that timely, limited therapist assistance is also provided. This review also discusses treatment credibility and participant satisfaction, as well as assessment and crisis management issues. Although promising as a form of intervention, there is a need for more research on the efficacy of internet-based treatment for PD and on comparisons with evidence-based face-to-face therapies.     

Erratum: Stimulus familiarity and the delayed emergence of stimulus equivalence or consistent nonequivalence

The Psychological Record -     

Is Consumer Culture Theory research or realpolitik? A sociology of knowledge analysis of a scientific culture

When Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) was introduced by Arnould and Thompson ( 2005 ) it was part of a strategy to create legitimacy for interpretive research. It was argued that interpretive researchers needed to be more pragmatic in their attitude. This was a fundamental change in the scientific culture in this stream of research. This paper analyses these changes and studies how CCT represents a new and pragmatic attitude. It is shown how the changes intended by CCT can imply a shift from a focus on new groundbreaking research to an awareness of the consequences of realpolitik. This strategic move can be seen as an example of how scientific cultures try to move from a marginal position to the mainstream. The consequences of this attempt to manage science are analysed, and solutions to problems created by these changes are developed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RETENTION OF SIZE CONTRAST

S chioldborg P. Retention of size contrast. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1972, 13 , 133–135.—Five subjects estimated areal size of a standard object presented singly and in serial contexts as the smallest, largest, or equally large among three objects. The contrast effect amounted to a difference of approximately three j.n.d.'s between estimates of St as the smallest or the largest object. There was no difference between estimates of St in series with identical objects and St alone. When estimation took place ten seconds after the presentation, the contrast effect disappeared. Since memory estimates proved significantly smaller when St initially was viewed singly than when viewed in a serial context, it is concluded that the disappearance of the contrast effect seems unrelated to memory decay as such.     

TRAINING OF PERIPHERAL VISUAL ACUITY

An experiment was performed to investigate whether the duration of exposure and the size of the test objects are factors critical for obtaining a training effect in peripheral visual acuity. Contrary to previous results it is shown that considerable improvement may be obtained even under conditions of flash stimulation, provided that the test object used for training is sufficiently small to be just discriminable. The results are interpreted in terms of shifts in the maximum momentary level of attention from the central to the peripheral area of the visual field.