Compliance, conversion, and category induction

When children hear an object referred to with a label that is moderately discrepant from its appearance, they frequently make inferences about that object consistent with the label rather than its appearance. We asked whether 3-year-olds actually believe these unexpected labels (i.e., conversion) or whether their inferences simply reflect a desire to comply with the considerable experimental demands of the induction task (i.e., compliance). Specifically, we asked how likely children would be to pass an unexpected label on to another person who had not been present during the labeling event. Results showed that children who used an unexpected label as the basis for inference passed that label on to another person about as often as they could remember it. This suggests that children’s label-based inferences do reflect conversion rather than mere compliance.     

The influence of haptic guidance on the production of spatio-temporal patterns

Haptic guidance by a robot is a recent technology to support motor learning. Its mechanisms and effects are not yet well understood. One of the hypotheses is that learning of temporal characteristics is particularly susceptible to the beneficial effects of robotic guidance. In this study we investigate the influence of robotic guidance on the production of spatio-temporal patterns. Participants practiced to draw circles with the velocity profile of ellipses. Performance during the practice phase, when participants were assisted by a robotic device, as well as during the test phase, when assistance was switched off, was compared to a control group. During practice participants with robotic assistance performed better on all three dependent measures, shape, timing of the velocity modulation, and modulation amplitude. However, these differences between groups largely disappeared in the test phase. Only the difference in the amplitude of the velocity modulation remained, which was more accurate in the robot-guidance group than in the control group. This remaining difference likely results from a secondary effect of robotic guidance, namely the experience of smaller visual errors and weaker velocity modulations during practice.     

��I��ll Get That for You��: The Relationship Between Benevolent Sexism and Body Self-Perceptions

Benevolent sexism has been shown to have negative consequences for women. In the present study, we investigated whether there were differences in reports of body self-perceptions between 93 college women in the southeastern United States who either witnessed or did not witness a staged act of benevolent sexism. Because we believed that benevolent sexism could make beauty norms more salient, we hypothesized that women who witnessed benevolent sexism would report higher levels of self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame. Women who witnessed benevolent sexism did report higher levels of surveillance and shame, constructs associated with self-objectification, but not higher general levels of self-objectification. This research provides more evidence of the negative effects benevolent sexism has on women.     

Factor structure of the BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form

The BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Student Form (Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007) is a recently developed youth self-report rating scale designed to identify students at risk for behavioral and emotional problems. The BESS Student Form was derived from the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition Self-Report of Personality (BASC-2 SRP; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) using principal component analytic procedures and theoretical considerations. Using 3 samples, the authors conducted exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to understand the underlying factor structure of the BESS Student Form. The results of the EFA suggested that the SRP contained a 4-factor (i.e., Personal Adjustment, Inattention/Hyperactivity, Internalizing, School Problems) emergent structure, which was supported by CFA in 2 additional samples. Practical and research implications are discussed.     

The evolving vocabulary of the social sciences: the case of "socialization"

While the term "socialization" stands as a common and clearly understood term regularly used in social science and lay conversations alike, its history is complex. In the 19th century, socialization was introduced to refer to societal activities or projects, and only in the early 20th century did it gain usage as a term describing psychological processes transpiring within the individual. The architecture of the newer meaning harbored ambitions and problems of modern social science, including ideals of interdisciplinary theory and theoretic resolution of the individual/society dualism. Nevertheless, socialization became a central object of social scientific inquiry after World War II. This significant social scientific object was repeatedly altered: initially representing a vision of conforming citizens who were free from certain troubling characteristics depicted in psychoanalysis and well-suited to democracy, it later was engaged to create a vision of autonomous, resilient, and cognitively active actors able to negotiate a complex social world.     

Relations between Loss of Services and Psychiatric Symptoms in Urban and Non-Urban Settings following a Natural Disaster

Disasters have been associated with both acute and prolonged distress and significant post-disaster psychiatric symptoms. These outcomes may be further complicated by extended periods without vital services and supplies, such as electricity and drinking water. The present study investigated the relations between post-disaster loss of services and psychiatric symptoms in urban/non-urban disaster victims. Random-digit?Cdial methodology was used to interview 1,249 victims of Hurricane Ike, a strong storm that hit Galveston, TX in 2008. Findings demonstrated significant relations between loss of services and post-disaster symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and worry. These relations varied by urban/non-urban settings; there were significant positive relations between loss of services and symptoms of depression in non-urban settings, but not in urban settings. Similarly, a stronger relation between loss of services and symptoms of PTSD also was demonstrated in non-urban compared to urban settings. Findings highlight the potential importance of pre-disaster preparation, post-disaster restoration of services, and post-disaster community support in post-disaster psychiatric outcomes, with a particular emphasis in non-urban settings.     

Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Guide Exposure-Based Interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Exposure is considered one of the most effective interventions for PTSD. There is a large body of research for the use of imaginal and in vivo exposure in the treatment of PTSD, with prolonged exposure (PE) therapy being the most researched example. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has sometimes been called an exposure-based treatment, but how exposure is implemented in ACT for PTSD has not been well articulated. Although support for the use of ACT in PTSD treatment is limited to a handful of case studies and open trials, research suggests ACT is particularly useful in flexibly targeting avoidance behavior—arguably the most important process in the continued maintenance of PTSD symptoms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of exposure within ACT in PTSD treatment. Through an overview of PE and ACT, and with the use of case examples, we describe how ACT principles and techniques may inform exposure-based treatments for PTSD in order to create more flexible approaches. In addition, understanding exposure within an ACT framework may also contribute to clarifying processes of change.     

Friend or foe? Postdivorce hostility among recently divorced individuals

High levels of hostility often occur during and postdivorce and may significantly affect the quality of life, parent–child relationships, and social functioning of divorcees. Moreover, hostility may predict aggressive and violent behavior. This study sought to (a) compare average general hostility levels of a large sample of Danish divorcees to the norms of the general adult Danish population, (b) compare general hostility levels between male and female divorcees, and (c) investigate the explanatory value of various sociodemographic and divorce-related factors on postdivorce general hostility and whether these factors differ across gender. Cross-sectional baseline data (N = 1,856) from a larger randomized controlled trial study was used in this study. Normative data from a general sample of Danish adults (N = 2,040) was used for comparisons of hostility levels between our study sample and the Danish background population. This study found that male and female divorcees did not report significantly different hostility levels. However, participants reported significantly higher hostility levels postdivorce than the comparative Danish norm sample. Significant predictors of postdivorce hostility were lower age, lower educational level, infidelity as a reason for divorce, higher degree of postdivorce conflict, worse communication with the former spouse, the former spouse as the initiator of the divorce, and new partner status with neither divorcees having a new partner, or only the former spouse having a new partner. The predictive strength of the factors did not differ across gender. The findings may be especially relevant for interventions targeting problematic outcomes postdivorce (e.g., preventing aggressive behavior).     

Being a good witness: The roles of benevolence and working memory capacity in rapport’s effect on eyewitness memory

Prior studies suggest that building rapport with eyewitnesses can produce measurable recall improvements, but the underlying mechanisms of rapport’s possible effects on recall remain underexplored. The present study investigated two possible mechanisms for rapport’s impact: (1) improved working memory capacity and (2) increased benevolence. Participants (N = 105) viewed a mock theft video, followed by one of two possible pre-interview interactions: rapport-building or a control interaction. Next, participants completed measures of working memory, altruism, and benevolence (pre-interview and post-interview), before recalling details of the theft. Analyses revealed that, when controlling for the effects of the interaction duration and participants’ pre- and post-interview benevolence, rapport did not affect eyewitness recall directly. However, rapport building did increase benevolence measured after and associated with the substantive eyewitness interview, which in turn predicted more accurate and new details reported, and fewer subjective/other details reported. These findings support benevolence toward the interviewer as a mechanism behind rapport’s effect on eyewitness recall. Implications for investigative interviews in relation to benevolence and motivating reciprocation are discussed.