Self-Efficacy in the Face of Threats to Entrepreneurial Success: Mind-Sets Matter

Results from two studies, extending implicit theories to entrepreneurship, demonstrated that incremental theorists (entrepreneurial ability is malleable), compared to entity theorists (entrepreneurial ability is fixed), reported more self-efficacy after threats to personal ability and business success. In Study 1, women induced to hold an incremental theory reported more self-efficacy regarding future entrepreneurial endeavors, compared to women induced to hold an entity theory, after being told entrepreneurial ability is primarily driven by masculine traits (threat condition). Results from Study 2, a sample of business owners, replicated this incremental buffering effect after threats to both men and women's entrepreneurial success (i.e., poor business performance). We discuss results in terms of how mind-sets matter for entrepreneurial endeavors, especially in the face of challenges.     

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Vietnamese Refugees With PTSD and Comorbid Panic Attacks

For Vietnamese refugees, we describe (a) how headache- and orthostasis-focused panic attacks are generated, (b) a culturally sensitive treatment for PTSD with comorbid headache- and orthostasis-focused panic attacks, and (c) the outcome of a treatment series. In a multiple-baseline, across-subjects design (N = 3), all patients demonstrated treatment-related improvement of headache- and orthostasis-associated panic attacks; and in the repeated-measures, within-subjects design, all patients greatly improved across treatment on measures of psychopathology. One treatment case is presented.     

Memory and learning in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: evidence for ventral and dorsal stream disruption?

This study examined memory functioning in children and adolescents with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (DS; velocardiofacial syndrome). An overall verbal better than nonverbal memory pattern was evident on the Test of Memory and Learning (TOMAL), with children with 22q11.2 DS performing significantly below their siblings and children with low average IQ but similar to children with autism on facial memory. Children with 22q11 DS also performed significantly below their siblings on tests of verbal working memory. Children with autism performed significantly poorer than the siblings of children with 22q11.2 DS only on their recall of stories. Delayed recall was significantly poorer in children with 22q11.2 DS and children with autism, compared to sibling controls. Although there were no significant group differences on tests of multiple trial verbal or visual learning, a relative weakness was noted with multiple trial visual learning in children with 22q11.2 DS and their siblings, suggesting that an alternative or interactive factor other than the deletion may account for the relatively better verbal compared to nonverbal memory abilities. Deficits in facial memory in children with both 22q11.2 DS and autism suggest disruptions in ventral temporal pathways such as between fusiform gyrus and parahippocampal/hippocampal regions whereas deficits in verbal working memory in children with 22q11.2 DS implicates dorsolateral prefrontal regions, both intimating aberrant white matter pathways.     

The SF-36 Among Cambodian and Vietnamese Refugees: An Examination of Psychometric Properties

Among traumatized Cambodian (N=90) and Vietnamese (N=94) refugees attending a psychiatric clinic, the study examined the validity and psychometric properties of the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), a measure of self-perceived mental and physical health. In both patient samples, all eight SF-36 scales displayed excellent internal consistency (item-scale correlations and Cronbach's α). But, similar to other studies of Asian samples, (a) the Vitality (VT) scale did not separate from the Mental Health (MH) and General Health (GH) scales, as evidenced by item-scale and interscale correlations, and (b) the VT scale loaded as strongly (Vietnamese sample) or more strongly (Cambodian sample) than the MH scale on the so-called Mental Factor in a two-factor solution of the eight scales (with the GH scale also loading heavily on the same factor).     

Visual acuity in children as a function of hue

Ninety-six suburban school children, 7 to 14 years old, were tested, with colored parallel bars as acuity targets, to assess relative effects of hue, age, and intelligence on visual acuity. The main effects of color and age were found to be significant but with no significant interaction. A one-way analysis of variance for each color indicated blue and black acuity improved with age while red did not. Since natural myopia for blue light may have accounted for the effect with blue, a second experiment was undertaken with focusing being introduced as a variable. Focusing eliminated the effect of age, but the color effect remained significant. Lowest resolution thresholds were obtained with black, next red, and blue highest. There was no relationship between acuity and intelligence nor were there any sex differences.     

Citalopram for social anxiety disorder: an open-label pilot study in refractory and nonrefractory patients

There is limited systematic data assessing alternate pharmacotherapy of social anxiety disorder in patients failing to tolerate or fully respond to initial treatment; no data specifically address the efficacy of citalopram in this scenario. We present a prospective open-label trial of citalopram in 10 patients with generalized social anxiety disorder, 6 of 10 of whom had not responded to or not tolerated a prior treatment intervention for the disorder. Citalopram, at a mean dose of 55 mg (SD+/-12.7 mg) was well tolerated, and patients improved significantly on all outcome measures. Results of this study suggest that citalopram may be a safe and effective treatment for generalized social anxiety disorder, including patients who have failed to tolerate or respond to a prior treatment trial.     

Enhancing professional performance through organizational change

Transferring the technology derived from research into the routine operation of professionals serving developmentally disabled clients may present a challenge. Assuming this is due in part to the contingencies operating within the system, methods need to be sought to alter the way they are arranged. Performance management (PM) lends itself to this type of organizational change. In the present case example, the management of psychological services at an institution for developmentally disabled people was reorganized to incorporate the key elements of PM: Selecting contextually relevant and appropriate goals (i.e., consonant with the state, institution, departmental, unit and individual client objectives), devising and applying measures of relevant performances, and intervening with feedback, reinforcement and goal setting while evaluating ongoing change. The self-selection and completion of goals among the 40 professionals participating in 4 groups was supported by biweekly review and reinforcement sessions plus occasional delivery of extrinsic rewards. Professionals increased the number of goals they reported accomplishing and the number they planned to achieve gradually began to match more closely the number reported accomplished. Results were sufficiently promising to encourage future functional analyses of such an organizational operation as well as of the components that might contribute most heavily to its success.     

Effect of contrast level and temporal order on the Ebbinghaus circles illusion

Forty-eight undergraduates between 17 and 24 years of age judged the size of the central circle in Ebbinghaus figures presented under either simultaneous or successive viewing conditions. Successive presentation diminished the magnitude of illusion produced by the underestimated Ebbinghaus figure and totally eliminated the illusion normally produced by the overestimated figure. Variations in lightness contrast of the central and surrounding circles significantly altered the magnitude of illusion produced by both simultaneous Ebbinghaus figures as well as that produced by the successive underestimated figure. These data suggest the presence of a contour interaction process in both simultaneous Ebbinghaus illusions.     

Effects of age and asymmetrical stimulation on the subjective median plane

Changes in subjective median plane (SMP) as a result of asymmetrical visual and bodily stimulation were measured for a total of 260 Ss, age 5–17. Asymmetrical visual stimulation resulted in a readjustment of the SMP in the direction of stimulation, with a decline in magnitude of response as a function of age. Asymmetrical bodily stimulation was assimilated to by the younger children (SMP adjusted in the direction of stimulation), . and counteracted by the older children (age 8 and older). In the combination of the two, the effects of visual stimulation dominated those of bodily stimulation throughout the age range, possibly due to insufficient exposure to the asymmetrical bodily stimulation. Correlational analysis showed that CA, rather than MA, was the major variable associated with the results. The results are in general agreement with sensory-tonic theory, and are discussed in this light.