Prediction of prosocial and emotional competence from maternal behavior in African American preschoolers

This research investigates whether individual differences in African American preschoolers' prosocial behavior and emotional regulation ability were differentially predicted by parenting practices around prosocial behavior and emotions, once variance due to SES was explained. Seventy African American preschoolers were visited at their preschools and their prosocial and emotion regulation behaviors were observed. Mothers' emotion and prosocial-related socialization behaviors were observed during a separate home visit. Positive prosocial-related maternal variables (i.e., social approval of the act and praise of the child) were positively associated with prosocial behavior, above and beyond SES. On the other hand, positive emotion-related maternal variables, such as matching and discussion of emotions were more strongly related to emotion regulation behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of the lack of research on higher SES African American children and the associated methodological challenges of conducting developmental research on diverse populations.     

Post‐It® Note Persuasion: A Sticky Influence

Four studies examine the influence of attaching a seemingly insignificant Post‐it^® note to a survey packet on the likelihood of completing the survey. Participants who received a packet with an affixed Post‐it note request had significantly higher return rates than participants who received the identical survey with (a) no sticky note, (b) the same message written on the cover sheet but without a Post‐it, or (c) a blank Post‐it with no message provided. Furthermore, they returned the materials more promptly with higher quality responses. A more personalized Post‐it appeal increased returns when the survey was long and time consuming but was no more effective than a nonpersonalized Post‐it when the survey was easy to complete. Results suggest that the Post‐it leads the request to be interpreted as a solicitation for a personal favor, facilitating a normative compliance response.     

Perceived stress,life events,dysfunctional attitudes,and depression in adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Hewitt, Flett, and Mosher (1992) examined the factor structure of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and its relation to depression in adult psychiatric patients. This study sought to replicate and extend their findings, using a sample of 203 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. All patients admitted to the adolescent unit in a psychiatric hospital over a 3-year period were administered the PSS, as well as measures of depression, life events, dysfunctional attitudes, and intellectual abilities. Consistent with Hewittet al., two factors were found in the PSS, reflecting perceived distress and perceived coping ability. Regression analyses indicated that, for males, both factors account for independent variance in depression, whereas for females, only the distress factor is related to depression. In addition, for both male and female, dysfunctional attitudes account for significant variance in depression in addition to PSS, but negative life events do not. None of the variables were related to intellectual abilities. Implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.     

Spiritual pain: a brief overview and an initial response within the Christian tradition

The author notes that spiritual pain is widespread, both within individuals and society. Drawing on personal experiences and a literature survey, he offers an overview of current work on spiritual pain. As distinct from palliative caregivers, he suggests that spiritual pain can be noticed, but is difficult to define. Drawing on some of the Church's spiritual masters, the author offers a broad typology for spiritual pain, claiming that current methods for attending to spiritual pain are too complex to be useful. He therefore offers, and briefly explores, the image of retreat for attending to spiritual pain--compassionate hospitality, tempered by a form of "tough love" that enables the retreatAnt to embrace, welcome, and dialogue with pain. He suggests that essential features within such an image include an experience of support; a safe and sacred space, a sense of freedom; appropriate expressions of reassurance, and opportunities for forgiveness and reconciliation.     

What's so funny about that?: The domains-interaction approach as a model of incongruity and resolution in humor

The domains-interaction approach, originally developed in metaphor research, was used to model humor processing. Using jokes of the structure A is the B of A's domain (e.g., John Candy is the hamburger of actors), this approach allows for precise operationalizations of incongruity and resolution in terms of between-domain and within-domain semantic distance, respectively. Distances between 26 terms used in 250 of these simple jokes were derived from semantic differential ratings. As predicted, humor ratings of the jokes were positively correlated with incongruity (between-domain distance) but not with resolution (within-domain distance). Also as predicted, a significant interaction revealed that jokes with both incongruity and resolution were rated as most humorous. These findings were replicated in a second study. A third study indicated that humor perception differs from metaphor appreciation, showing main effects for both types of semantic distance, but no interaction, when the sentences were presented as metaphors instead of jokes and rated for aptness.The authors wish to thank Richard Harshman and Albert Katz for their helpful suggestions in conducting this research.     

Effect of isotocin on shoaling behaviour of the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Animal Cognition - Pro-social effects of oxytocin and its homologues are well-documented in birds and mammals. However, in fishes, the effect of isotocin, the homologue of oxytocin, on social...