Paranormal Believers' Susceptibility to Confirmatory Versus Disconfirmatory Conjunctions

This study examines paranormal believers' susceptibility to the conjunction fallacy for confirmatory versus non‐confirmatory conjunctive events. Members of the UK public (N = 207) read 16 hypothetical vignettes before judging the likelihood that each constituent and their conjunction would (co) occur. Event type (paranormal versus non‐paranormal), outcome type (confirming versus disconfirming) and level of paranormal belief (in either extrasensory perception, psychokinesis or life after death)—plus relevant interaction terms—were entered into a linear mixed model analysis. As hypothesised, paranormal belief was associated with more conjunction errors regardless of event type with, in general, more errors made for confirmatory over disconfirmatory conjunctions. These trends existed for extrasensory perception and psychokinesis believers with those for life after death believers approaching significance. Consistent with Crupi and Tentori's Confirmation–Theoretical Framework, current findings suggest that paranormal believers are prone to a generic and confirmatory conjunction fallacy. Theoretical implications, methodological limitations and future research ideas are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fragility,uncertainty, and healthcare

Medicine seeks to overcome one of the most fundamental fragilities of being human, the fragility of good health. No matter how robust our current state of health, we are inevitably susceptible to future illness and disease, while current disease serves to remind us of various frailties inherent in the human condition. This article examines the relationship between fragility and uncertainty with regard to health, and argues that there are reasons to accept rather than deny at least some forms of uncertainty. In situations of current ill health, both patients and doctors seek to manage this fragility through diagnoses that explain suffering and provide some certainty about prognosis as well as treatment. However, both diagnosis and prognosis are inevitably uncertain to some degree, leading to questions about how much uncertainty health professionals should disclose, and how to manage when diagnosis is elusive, leaving patients in uncertainty. We argue that patients can benefit when they are able to acknowledge, and appropriately accept, some uncertainty. Healthy people may seek to protect the fragility of their good health by undertaking preventative measures including various tests and screenings. However, these attempts to secure oneself against the onset of biological fragility can cause harm by creating rather than eliminating uncertainty. Finally, we argue that there are good reasons for accepting the fragility of health, along with the associated uncertainties.     

Dissociable effects of basolateral amygdala lesions on decision making biases in rats when loss or gain is emphasized

Individuals switch from risk seeking to risk aversion when mathematically identical options are described in terms of loss versus gains, as exemplified in the reflection and framing effects. Determining the neurobiology underlying such cognitive biases could inform our understanding of decision making in health and disease. Although reports vary, data using human subjects have implicated the amygdala in such biases. Animal models enable more detailed investigation of neurobiological mechanisms. We therefore tested whether basolateral amygdala (BLA) lesions would affect risk preference for gains or losses in rats. Choices in both paradigms were always between options of equal expected value—a guaranteed outcome, or the 50:50 chance of double or nothing. In the loss-chasing task, most rats exhibited strong risk seeking preferences, gambling at the risk of incurring double the penalty, regardless of the size of the guaranteed loss. In the betting task, the majority of animals were equivocal in their choice, irrespective of bet size; however, a wager-sensitive subgroup progressively shifted away from the uncertain option as the bet size increased, which is reminiscent of risk aversion. BLA lesions increased preference for the smaller guaranteed loss in the loss-chasing task, without affecting choice on the betting task, which is indicative of reduced risk seeking for losses, but intact risk aversion for gains. These data support the hypothesis that the amygdala plays a more prominent role in choice biases related to losses. Given the importance of the amygdala in representing negative affect, the aversive emotional reaction to loss, rather than aberrant estimations of probability or loss magnitude, may underlie risk seeking for losses.     

Development of the reflective practice questionnaire: preliminary findings

This study introduces a new reflective practice questionnaire (RPQ) that can be used to assess self-reported measures for investigating the experiences, benefits, and potential pitfalls of reflective practice and reflective supervision. This questionnaire sets itself apart from previous self-report measures of reflective practice by the ability to administer to individuals working in any service industry (e.g. psychology, nursing, education, and others). This will allow for future investigations that can compare and contrast across different contexts and professions. This will further the understanding of how reflective practice impacts those engaged with the process. The present study provides preliminary evaluation of the questionnaire with samples from the general public (Study 1), and mental health practitioners (Study 2). The questionnaire includes a number of short four-item sub-scales for evaluating reflective practice including: reflective-inaction; reflective-on-action; reflective with others self-appraisal; desire for improvement; confidence (general); confidence (communication); uncertainty; stress interacting with clients; and job satisfaction. A six-item attitude towards reflective supervision scale is also included in the research. Results suggest that reflective practice can foster confidence and further a desire for self-improvement. However, results also indicate how reflective practice might increase uncertainty and stress in some individuals. Study 2 reveals that a more positive appraisal of reflective supervision is associated with greater selfreported reflection, desire for improvement, and confidence.     

Detection of Feigned ADHD across Two Domains: The MMPI-2-RF and CAARS for Faked Symptoms and TOVA for Simulated Attention Deficits

Psychological assessments of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) must consider possible feigning of ADHD symptoms and simulated deficits on attentional measures. Studies have consistently found that motivated examinees can easily feign ADHD with little research focused on its detection. Via a between-subjects simulation design, the current study investigated the MMPI-2-RF and the Conners Infrequency Index (CII) in a university sample by comparing four groups: feigned ADHD, feigned mental disorders, genuine ADHD, and non-ADHD controls. Encouragingly, the CII evidenced moderate discriminability between feigned ADHD and (a) genuine ADHD (d?=?0.97) as well as (b) feigned mental disorders (d?=?0.96). Because the MMPI-2-RF F-family scores did not differentiate ADHD feigners from other feigners or genuine ADHD, a Dissimulation (Ds) ADHD (Ds-ADHD) scale was developed by utilizing erroneous stereotypes as the detection strategy. While requiring cross-validation, the initial data demonstrated good discriminant validity in distinguishing feigned ADHD from both genuine ADHD and general feigning. As noted in the Discussion, ADHD assessments must systematically take into account examinees’ level of effort and actively evaluate the possibility of feigned ADHD.     

Individual Personality and Emotional Readiness Characteristics Associated with Marriage Preparation Outcomes of Perceived Helpfulness and Change

Little is known about the characteristics of individual participants for whom particular marriage preparation interventions are most helpful and change producing. Data collected from 1,655 intervention participants via the online RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE) were used to analyze the association of eight individual personality characteristics with perceived helpfulness and positive change resulting from participation in four marriage preparation interventions (classes, community workshops, premarital counseling, self-directed) and whether this association would also be related to gender, age, and education of the participants. General linear modeling (GLM) analysis revealed different patterns of prediction for each type of intervention. Kindness was identified most often, predicting perceived change in individual, couple, and context areas among community workshop participants, perceived couple-level change, and helpfulness among self-directed participants, and perceived individual-level change among class participants. No factors significantly predicted perceived helpfulness and change among premarital counseling participants. Implications for premarital interventions are discussed.     

A Classroom-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Elementary Student On-Task Behavior

Few youths engage in the recommended amount of physical activity (PA). Many educators have concerns about increasing PA in schools, including taking time from academics, though studies show that school-based PA can be beneficial to academics. This study extends previous research on the relationship between school-based PA and time on task (TOT) by engaging students in teacher-led PA breaks in the classroom and observing students' on-task behavior for a longer period than previous studies. A third-grade class of 23 students from a rural New England public school was observed as part of a single-subject withdrawal design study. The class, therefore, served as its own control. Student on-task behavior was observed for 45 min following both inactive and active conditions using systematic direct observation procedures. The intervention consisted of 10 min of whole-body movement: 1–2 min of warm-ups, 6–8 min of moderate PA, and 1–2 min of cool-downs. Multiple measures of effect indicate that simple, 10-min, breaks for PA can improve TOT rates among elementary students. This study supports the use of brief breaks for PA to improve student TOT while also indicating that the effects persist for at least 45 min. This is valuable to educators who wish to increase TOT with a simple classroom intervention and for those who wish to help students meet the recommended amount of daily PA.     

Anxiety,depression, and the suicidal spectrum: a latent class analysis of overlapping and distinctive features

ABSTRACT

Anxiety and depression diagnoses are associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours. However, a categorical understanding of these associations limits insight into identifying dimensional mechanisms of suicide risk. This study investigated anxious and depressive features through a lens of suicide risk, independent of diagnosis. Latent class analysis of 97 depression, anxiety, and suicidality-related items among 616 psychiatric outpatients indicated a 3-class solution, specifically: (1) a higher suicide-risk class uniquely differentiated from both other classes by high reported levels of depression and anxious arousal; (2) a lower suicide-risk class that reported levels of anxiety sensitivity and generalised worry comparable to Class 1, but lower levels of depression and anxious arousal; and (3) a low to non-suicidal class that reported relatively low levels across all depression and anxiety measures. Discriminants of the higher suicide-risk class included borderline personality disorder; report of worthlessness, crying, and sadness; higher levels of anxious arousal and negative affect; and lower levels of positive affect. Depression and anxiety diagnoses were not discriminant between higher and lower suicide risk classes. This transdiagnostic and dimensional approach to understanding the suicidal spectrum contrasts with treating it as a depressive symptom, and illustrates the advantages of a tripartite model for conceptualising suicide risk.     

Development and Validation of the Parental Assistance with Child Emotion Regulation (PACER) Questionnaire

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Caregivers play a central role in promoting emotion regulation throughout infancy, childhood, and adolescence. However, there are no existing...