Transitive inference of social dominance by human infants

It is surprising that there are inconsistent findings of transitive inference (TI) in young infants given that non‐linguistic species succeed on TI tests. To conclusively test for TI in infants, we developed a task within the social domain, with which infants are known to show sophistication. We familiarized 10‐ to 13‐month‐olds (M = 11.53 months) to a video of two dominance interactions between three puppets (bear > elephant; hippo > bear) consistent with a dominance hierarchy (hippo > bear > elephant; where ‘>’ denotes greater dominance). Infants then viewed interactions between the two puppets that had not interacted during familiarization. These interactions were either congruent (hippo > elephant) or incongruent (elephant > hippo) with the inferred hierarchy. Consistent with TI, infants looked longer to incongruent than congruent displays. Control conditions ruled out the possibility that infants’ expectations were based on stable behaviors specific to individual puppets rather than their inferred transitive dominance relations. We suggest that TI may be supported by phylogenetically ancient mechanisms of ordinal representation and visuospatial processing that come online early in human development.     

Youth Empowerment in Context: Exploring Tensions in School-Based yPAR

In much of the youth empowerment literature, researchers focus on the relationship between youth and adults involved in empowerment programs while neglecting the broader social framework in which these relationships and the program itself functions. Utilizing an ecological model, the current research examines the tensions that surfaced in attempts to create an empowering setting in an after-school PAR program with fifth-graders. Challenging assumptions about youth, structural challenges, and conflicting theories of change are highlighted. Results examine the role of sociocultural context as PAR researchers attempt to create a setting in which students gain skills to become change agents within their school. The study suggests that youth empowerment is a context dependent process that requires attention to a multiplicity of factors that influence possibilities for empowerment via second order change.     

Reprint of: stuttering treatment control using P300 event-related potentials

Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study. Findings suggest that the group of stutterers presented a significant decrease in stuttering severity after the fluency treatment program. Regarding P300 measurements, stutterers and their controls presented results within normal limits in all testing situations and no significant statistical variations between pre and post treatment testing. When comparing individual results between the testing situations, stutterers presented a higher average decrease in wave latency for the right ear following treatment. The results are discussed in light of previous P300 event-related potentials and functional imaging studies with stuttering adults.Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of P300 event-related potentials in the study of stuttering; (2) differences between stuttering and non-stuttering adults; and (3) effects of behavioral fluency treatment on cerebral activity in stuttering speakers.     

Development of a therapists’ self-report measure of pluralistic thought and practice: the Therapy Pluralism Inventory

This study aimed to develop a self-report measure of pluralistic thought and practice. Following pilot development, a 23-item inventory was placed on an online survey site, and 474 participants satisfactorily completed the measure. Respondents were trainee or qualified therapists, predominantly female, based in the UK, and of a humanistic or integrative/eclectic orientation. A principal components analysis resulted in two scales, Pluralistic Philosophy and Pluralistic Practice, which had good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α?=?.72 and .80, respectively). Confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit for this two factor solution. The Therapy Pluralism Inventory (TPI) has potential for use in training and research, although additional validity and normative data are needed.     

Compulsive Internet Use Among Adolescents: Bidirectional Parent–Child Relationships

Although parents experience growing concerns about their children’s excessive internet use, little is known about the role parents can play to prevent their children from developing Compulsive Internet Use (CIU). The present study addresses associations between internet-specific parenting practices and CIU among adolescents, as well as the bidirectionality of these associations. Two studies were conducted: a cross-sectional study using a representative sample of 4,483 Dutch students and a longitudinal study using a self-selected sample of 510 Dutch adolescents. Results suggest that qualitatively good communication regarding internet use is a promising tool for parents to prevent their teenage children from developing CIU. Besides, parental reactions to excessive internet use and parental rules regarding the content of internet use may help prevent CIU. Strict rules about time of internet use, however, may promote compulsive tendencies. Finally, one opposite link was found whereby CIU predicted a decrease in frequency of parental communication regarding internet use.     

Parental Perceptions of Individual and Dyadic Adjustment as Predictors of Observed Coparenting Cohesion: A Cross‐National Study

Over the past 20 years, systemically guided approaches to understanding early family processes have helped to provide greater clarity concerning the interplay among individual, dyadic, and family level processes. Parental depression, marital functioning, and child adjustment in particular appear to be reliable predictors of coparental and family level functioning. Indeed, cohesion at the level of the family group covaries in theoretically meaningful ways with these indicators of individual and dyadic adjustment. In this study, two collaborating research groups (one in Switzerland, the second in the United States) partnered to examine whether similar patterns of relationships exist among individual and marital adjustment and coparenting processes in families of 4‐year‐old children. Using similar constructs but disparate and occasionally dissimilar measures, both groups measured parent‐reported depression, marital satisfaction, and child behavior problems. Coparenting cooperation and warmth were observed during family interactions. Despite differences between samples and evaluation tools, similar results were found for the Swiss and U.S. samples. A model with depression, marital satisfaction, and child symptoms as predictors of a latent factor of observed coparenting cooperation and warmth showed good fit to data in both samples, suggesting the model was relevant for each. Parameter estimation showed that higher coparenting cooperation and warmth was predicted by lower maternal depression and higher child internalizing symptoms. The common significant effects despite differences in assessment paradigms and instrumentation are of substantive interest. Future directions pertinent to the coparenting questions addressed in this research are discussed.     

Connections in the classroom: Separating the effects of instructor and peer relatedness in the basic needs satisfaction scale

When applying self-determination theory to educational settings, evidence suggests that the basic psychological need of relatedness is actually multi-dimensional, which could result in differential influences on intrinsic motivation. Thus, this study proposes a modification to the operationalization of relatedness. The relatedness items from the adapted Basic Satisfaction Needs at Work scale were altered so that items asked students to separately report the amount of connection they feel with their instructors and peers, as opposed to the original items that asked them to more broadly reflect on people in their course. College students (556 female, 321 male) completed a questionnaire assessing their basic psychological needs, including the two new relatedness subscales, motivation, and academic outcomes. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the original relatedness scale should, in fact, be treated as two-dimensional. In addition, of all the basic psychological needs, instructor relatedness was most predictive of student interest/enjoyment in the course and self-reported effort. Conversely, peer relatedness did not significantly predict any outcome variables. Study implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.

     

African-American Teenagers’ Stories of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Cultural differences in illness perceptions and treatment access of teens with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are evident yet under studied. The purpose of this qualitative paper is to explore how African-American teenagers describe and narrate stories about their lives with ADHD. Data were gathered from four African-American teens in the Southern United States through a qualitative experience sampling method, and stories were analyzed using narrative analysis framed within the context of African-American rhetorical traditions. We argue that the study of teen-constructed narratives and culturally-situated talk are tools that can improve communication between healthcare providers and teens by illuminating the ways teens construct their personalized realities of ADHD.     

Family metaphors and moral intuitions: how conservatives and liberals narrate their lives

This research examines life-narrative interviews obtained from 128 highly religious and politically active adults to test differences between political conservatives and liberals on (a) implicit family metaphors (G. Lakoff, 2002) and (b) moral intuitions (J. Haidt & C. Joseph, 2004). Content analysis of 12 key scenes in life stories showed that conservatives, as predicted, tended to depict authority figures as strict enforcers of moral rules and to identify lessons in self-discipline. By contrast, liberals were more likely to identify lessons learned regarding empathy and openness, even though (contrary to prediction) they were no more likely than conservatives to describe nurturant authority figures. Analysis of extended discourse on the development of religious faith and personal morality showed that conservatives emphasized moral intuitions regarding respect for social hierarchy, allegiance to in-groups, and the purity or sanctity of the self, whereas liberals invested more significance in moral intuitions regarding harm and fairness. The results are discussed in terms of the recent upsurge of interest among psychologists in political ideology and the value of using life-narrative methods and concepts to explore how politically active adults attempt to construct meaningful lives.     

Perceptions of Sexual Intent: The Impact of Condom Possession

This study examined whether knowing that a victim of a sexual assault was carrying a condom influenced perceptions of her sexual intention and subsequent judgments of the sexual assault. Participants  ( N = 165)  read a vignette describing a date that culminated in an alleged sexual assault. Condom possession (carrying a condom, not carrying a condom) of both the female and male target was systematically varied. When the woman was carrying a condom, the woman was perceived as more sexually willing and the sexual assault claim perceived as less valid. In contrast, the male target's condom possession had little impact on judgments.