Older Workers with Disabilities: Job Satisfaction Differences in the Public and Private Sectors in Europe

This study analyzes the differences in job satisfaction of older European people (aged 50-64), with or without disabilities, who are employed in either the public or the private sector. Using the data taken from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for the years 2004, 2007 and 2011, job satisfaction equations are estimated for workers from both the public and private sectors, with panel data techniques that include variables related to the worker's degree of disability (nondisabled, non-limited disabled, and limited disabled), among others. The results show that the disabled workers who are limited in their everyday activities are less satisfied in both the public and private sectors than those who are non-disabled and non-limited. In addition, the levels of job satisfaction for non-limited disabled people are higher than their non-disabled counterparts but only in the public sector. From a point of view of public policies, it is necessary to design and undertake measures and actions that would contribute to improving the levels of job satisfaction of older workers with disabilities, especially among those who are limited in their everyday activities.     

Validation of the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety-Revised and school refusal across anxiety profiles

Background/Objectives

This paper aimed to validate the Spanish version of scores of the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety-Revised (VAA-R) in child population, and to verify the existence of anxiety profiles and to relate them to school refusal.

The Role of Surface Similarity in Analogical Retrieval: Bridging the Gap Between the Naturalistic and the Experimental Traditions

Blanchette and Dunbar (2000) have claimed that when participants are allowed to draw on their own source analogs in the service of analogical argumentation, retrieval is less constrained by surface similarity than traditional experiments suggest. In two studies, we adapted this production paradigm to control for the potentially distorting effects of analogy fabrication and uneven availability of close and distant sources in memory. Experiment 1 assessed whether participants were reminded of central episodes from popular movies while generating analogies for superficially similar versus superficially dissimilar target situations. In Experiment 2, we modified this procedure to assess the retrieval of autobiographic memories, more familiar to participants than fictional episodes. Both studies revealed a strong effect of surface similarity on the retrieval of participants' own sources, thus suggesting that the superficial bias typically observed in experimental studies—and simulated by most computational models—does not originate in a lack of ecological validity.     

Cross-modal working memory binding and learning of visual-phonological associations in children with reading difficulties

Reading decoding requires the association of a visual input (the printed word) with a verbal output (the spoken word), and the learning of visual-phonological associations via repeated exposure occurs both explicitly (by instruction and training) and implicitly (by exposure to written material). However, a general ability to implicitly learn visual-phonological associations (or cross-modal bindings) in children with reading difficulties (RD) has not been deeply explored. The present paper examined this issue in two studies comparing groups of children with RD with matched groups of control children in a working memory binding task involving sequences of variable combinations of nonsense shapes and nonwords (odd trials), as well as fixed combinations (even trials). Stimuli presentation was followed by a recognition test in which the nonwords were given one at a time and the children were required to mouse click on their respective shapes. In Study 1, fixed bindings were presented in random sequences across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords at random. In Study 2, fixed bindings were presented in the same order across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords following the same sequence order. In both studies, a consistent and strong learning effect of fixed bindings was observed for the control groups, with significantly better performance than the groups with RD. Such results suggest that poor cross-modal binding learning is associated with reading difficulties. Implications for the study and treatment of dyslexia are discussed.     

Training Addiction Counselors to Implement an Evidence-Based Intervention: Strategies for Increasing Organizational and Provider Acceptance

One barrier to widespread public access to empirically supported treatments (ESTs) is the limited availability and high cost of professionals trained to deliver them. Our earlier work from 2 clinical trials demonstrated that front-line addiction counselors could be trained to deliver a manualized, group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) for depression, a prototypic example of an EST, with a high level of adherence and competence. This follow-up article provides specific recommendations for the selection and initial training of counselors, and for the structure and process of their ongoing clinical supervision. We highlight unique challenges in working with counselors unaccustomed to traditional clinical supervision. The recommendations are based on comprehensive feedback derived from clinician notes taken throughout the clinical trials, a focus group with counselors conducted 1 year following implementation, and interviews with key organization executives and administrators.     

We should screen for major depression

This article is a response to Coyne, Thompson, Palmer, Kagee, and Maunsell's (2000) article, “Should We Screen for Depression? Caveats and Potential Pitfalls.” We address four points that we view as central to their argument: (1) current screening measures are inadequate; (2) correct identification of depressed patients does not result in improved clinical outcomes; (3) screening is too expensive; and (4) screening may have harmful negative effects. We discuss the following important issues: (1) screening and prevention are still in the research and development phase; (2) the kindling phenomenon is an important reason to screen; (3) there is a need to focus screening and prevention efforts on ethnic minorities; and (4) high depressive symptoms have a substantial public health impact. Finally, we present reasons why screening is advisable, both for prevention and treatment purposes, and provide our recommendations. Our stance is that, in order for screening and prevention to become practical, they need to be implemented in both research and practice contexts. Therefore, we should make screening for major depression a priority.     

On the perception of a class of bilaterally symmetric forms

Two experiments were performed to determine the manner in which people perceive a class of bilaterally symmetric forms. In the first experiment, paired, comparison dissimilarity judgments and unidimensional single stimulus ratings were collected from the Ss. The second experiment involved the collecting of semantic differential and paired comparison dissimilarity judgments from two groups of Ss. The judgments and ratings from both experiments were compared to each other and to a set of objective measures of the forms by a series of multivariate statistical techniques. It was found that three primary attributes, orientation, convexity-concavity, and curvature, accounted for the perceptual reports, but the manner in which the attributes were used differed for different response procedures and for the same response on different occasions.     

Punishment of Schedule-Induced Drinking by Lick-Dependent Delays in Food Presented at Different Frequencies

The Psychological Record - Three food-deprived rats (80% of their free-feeding weights) developed schedule-induced drinking after being exposed to a multiple fixed-time schedule (FT 60-s FT 18-s)...     

The neural bases of sport fan reactions to teams: Evidence from a neuroimaging study

This study uses neuroimaging methods to identify patterns of brain activation among sport fans in reaction to team stimuli. In a whole-brain analysis without selected regions in advance, the purposes were to identify the structures involved when fans are exposed to positive, neutral, and negative events and to learn what events activate more limbic networks. A total of 53 individuals participated in and functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment involving the presentation of videos in various situations. Findings indicate the activation of the cingulate gyrus and other structures of the limbic system, as the hippocampus and parahippocampus. We also found involvement of the ventral tegmental area of the reward system. Additionally, brain activity in emotional regulation and memory areas were more influenced by positive than neutral and negative videos. It was also found the involvement of other areas not directly included in the limbic or reward systems. This study provides the neural basis of fan reactions to team-related stimuli. Sport clubs should be aware that negative content seems to be suppressed from emotional memory and positive videos trigger more emotion and memory areas than neutral and negative videos.