Can contesting orientations predict grittier,more self-controlled athletes?

Grit and self-control are highly desired qualities of character in the sport arena. This two-study investigation used a new theoretical approach, contesting theory, to examine whether contesting orientations could predict these characteristics among intercollegiate athletes. Contesting theory identifies two distinct modes of cognitively processing the meaning and purpose of contesting, one rooted in a contest-is-partnership metaphor and the other a contest-is-war metaphor. Study 1 (N = 799) found that contesting orientations added incremental utility beyond demographic and control variables to the prediction of the two dimensions of grit (perseverance and consistency). Specifically, the partnership orientation positively predicted higher grit scores. Study 2 (N = 1179) replicated the findings of Study 1 with only minor variations and also demonstrated that contesting orientations add to the prediction of self-control. Results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for sport practitioners and, more broadly, the value of contesting theory to positive psychology.     

Alternative Psychopharmakatherapie im Alter

In ?sterreich steigt der Anteil von ?lteren Menschen in der Bev?lkerung stetig an. Besonders die Anzahl der Mitbürger über 85 Jahre zeigte in den letzten 20 Jahren einen überproportionalen Zuwachs. Alterstypische Erkrankungen gewinnen deshalb zunehmend an sozialmedizinischer und volkswirtschaftlicher Bedeutung. Zu den h?ufigsten Alterserkrankungen z?hlen psychiatrische St?rungen, wie die Delir, Demenz und Depression, die ihrerseits wieder mit psychotischer Symptomatik, wie Wahn und Halluzinationen, Pers?nlichkeitsver?nderungen, Verhaltensauff?lligkeiten und gest?rtem Schlaf-Wachrhythmus einhergehen. Die h?ufigsten Gründe für eine Institutionalisierung gerontopsychiatrischer Patienten sind kognitive St?rungen begleitet von der Unf?higkeit, sich selbst zu versorgen, sich ausreichend zu pflegen und zu orientieren, sowie dem Auftreten einer Inkontinenz und von wahnhafter Symptomatik mit Aggressivit?t, Verhaltensst?rungen und n?chtlichen Unruhephasen. Da es durch falsche Diagnose und Therapie der im Alter überproportional h?ufigen Schlaf- und Verhaltensst?rungen bei Demenz sehr oft zu einem Circulus vitiosus mit kognitiver Verschlechterung, zunehmender Inkontinenz, Immobilit?t, Sturz- und Frakturneigung kommt, ist es wesentlich, das ?rztliche „Primum nil nocere“ zu beachten – die schonendsten Medikamente in niedrigster Dosierung über einen erforderlichen Zeitraum, aber nicht darüber, hinaus zu verordnen. Alternative Ma?nahmen k?nnen sowohl bei der Behandlung der h?ufigen Schlaf-Wachrhythmusst?rungen, als auch bei Verhaltensauff?lligkeiten bei Demenz sehr hilfreich für eine Verbesserung der Lebensqualit?t von Patient, Betreuer und Umgebung sein.     

Alternative Psychopharmakatherapie im Alter

In ?sterreich steigt der Anteil von ?lteren Menschen in der Bev?lkerung stetig an. Besonders die Anzahl der Mitbürger über 85 Jahren zeigte in den letzten 20 Jahren einen überproportionalen Zuwachs. Alterstypische Erkrankungen gewinnen deshalb zunehmend an sozial-medizinischer und volkswirtschaftlicher Bedeutung. Zu den h?ufigsten Alterserkrankungen z?hlen psychiatrische St?rungen wie Delir, Demenz und Depression, die ihrerseits wieder mit psychotischer Symptomatik wie Wahn und Halluzinationen, Pers?nlichkeitsver?nderungen, Verhaltensauff?lligkeiten und gest?rtem Schlaf-Wachrhythmus einhergehen. Die h?ufigsten Gründe für eine Institutionalisierung gerontopsychiatrischer Patienten sind kognitive St?rungen begleitet von der Unf?higkeit, sich selbst zu versorgen, sich ausreichend zu pflegen und zu orientieren sowie dem Auftreten einer Inkontinenz und von wahnhafter Symptomatik mit Aggressivit?t, Verhaltensst?rungen und n?chtlichen Unruhephasen. Da es durch falsche Diagnose und Therapie der im Alter überproportional h?ufigen Schlaf- und Verhaltensst?rungen bei Demenz sehr oft zu einem Circulus vitiosus mit kognitiver Verschlechterung, zunehmender Inkontinenz, Immobilit?t, Sturz- und Frakturneigung kommt, ist es wesentlich, das ?rztliche “Primum nil nocere” zu beachten - die schonendsten Medikamente in niedrigster Dosierung über einen erforderlichen Zeitraum, aber nicht darüber hinaus, zu verordnen. Alternative Ma?nahmen k?nnen sowohl bei der Behandlung der h?ufigen Schlaf-Wachrhythmusst?rungen, als auch bei Verhaltensauff?lligkeiten bei Demenz sehr hilfreich für eine Verbesserung der Lebensqualit?t von Patient, Betreuer und Umgebung sein.     

Spatial navigation in complex and radial mazes in APP23 animals and neurotrophin signaling as a biological marker of early impairment

Impairment of hippocampal function precedes frontal and parietal cortex impairment in human Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neurotrophins are critical for behavioral performance and neuronal survival in AD. We used complex and radial mazes to assess spatial orientation and learning in wild-type and B6-Tg(ThylAPP)23Sdz (APP23) animals, a transgenic mouse model of AD. We also assessed brain content of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). Performance was alike in wild-type and APP23 animals in the radial maze. In contrast, performance in the complex maze was better in wild-type than APP23 animals. Contrary to the wild-type, hippocampal BDNF levels decreased on training in APP23 animals. Hippocampal and frontal cortex NGF levels in APP23 animals correlated with the time to solve the complex maze, but correlated inversely with escape time in wild-type animals. NT-3 levels were alike in wild-type and APP23 animals and were unchanged even after training. Both types of mazes depend on hippocampal integrity to some extent. However, according to the cognitive mapping theory of spatial learning, the complex maze because of the increased complexity of the environment most likely depends more strongly on preserved hippocampal function than the radial maze in the working memory configuration applied here. Greater impairment in complex maze performance than in radial maze performance thus resembles the predominant affliction of the loss of hippocampal function in human AD. NGF and BDNF levels on maze learning are different in wild-type and transgenic animals, indicating that biological markers of AD may be altered on challenge even though equilibrium levels are alike.     

Task preparation and stimulus-evoked competition

The authors investigated how task competition evoked by a stimulus that affords both a currently relevant and a temporarily irrelevant task is affected by invalid preparation, i.e., preparation for the irrelevant task. Although invalid preparation was associated with a general performance cost, effects of stimulus-cued task competition were not enhanced on invalidly prepared trials. This result suggests that either preparation activates representations different from the ones by which stimulus cuing is mediated or that stimulus processing is postponed until invalid preparation has been corrected. In addition, invalid preparation resulted in impaired performance of the respective task when it became relevant on a subsequent trial. This result is consistent with the idea that competition due to invalid preparation is countered by task-specific inhibition.     

Thin slices of behavior as cues of personality and intelligence

Self-reports, peer reports, intelligence tests, and ratings of personality and intelligence from 15 videotaped episodes were collected for 600 participants. The average cross-situational consistency of trait impressions across the 15 episodes was .43. Shared stereotypes related to gender and age were mostly accurate and contributed little to agreement among judges. Agreement was limited mainly by nonshared meaning systems and by nonoverlapping information. Personality inferences from thin slices of behavior were significantly associated with reports by knowledgeable informants. This association became stronger when more episodes were included, but gains in prediction were low beyond 6 episodes. Inferences of intelligence from thin slices of behavior strongly predicted intelligence test scores. A particularly strong single predictor was how persons read short sentences.     

Changing Beliefs About Corporal Punishment: Increasing Knowledge About Ineffectiveness to Build More Consistent Moral and Informational Beliefs

Although the effectiveness of corporal punishment (CP) has received little empirical support, public support for this disciplinary method continues despite calls for its abandonment by researchers. Even among educators, favorable attitudes toward the use of CP are prevalent. We measured education majors beliefs about CP before and after they read about CP research on its effectiveness and side effects. Students who changed their behavioral intent regarding whether they would use CP as a parent increased their knowledge about its ineffectiveness, resulting in greater consistency between their moral and informational beliefs (Wainryb, 1998). Persons who are likely to change from defending to opposing CP regard it as being similar to bad-tasting medicine—not very pleasant but nonetheless necessary. Recommendations concerning implementation and changing other beliefs are discussed.     

Sociability and positive emotionality: genetic and environmental contributions to the covariation between different facets of extraversion

The relation between sociability and positive affect is one of the most often replicated results of research on personality and subjective well-being. It is shown how behavior genetics can contribute to our understanding of the covariance between sociability and positive emotionality. The results of a multimethod behavior-genetic study with 158 monozygotic and 120 dizygotic twins are reported. In this study, sociability and two components of positive emotionality (positive affect, energy) were assessed by self-report and other report. Additionally, positive state affect was assessed in five situations and aggregated across situations. The results showed that there are strong genetic correlations between all variables. Furthermore, there are substantive correlations between the nonshared environmental components of the different variables. Shared environmental influences, however, seemed to be unimportant for explaining the correlations between sociability and the different components of positive emotionality. The results are discussed with respect to their implications for future research on sociability and positive emotionality.