Problems of Communication in Inter-American Programs

We use our own culture as a basis for interpreting the behavior of others and their failure to make responses we expect. Sometimes the nature of the problem soon becomes apparent but in other situations the causes may remain invisible. Certain problems may relate particularly to two characteristics of Latin American countries: the absence of our “puritanical” tradition and the presence of an elaborate system of “extended family” relationships we do not have. Counseling and guidance specialists may be affected by (1) the fact that teacher-pupil relationships include less of the “surrogate parent” element than in the U.S.; (2) difficulties students encounter in moving from one career choice to another; (3) the power of student organizations; and (4) an expectation that the specialist will provide definitive advice rather than help the student solve his own problems. Many Latin American students have negative images of North Americans; they “remember” history and tend to think in longer time blocks than are customary with us. A 10-year aid program, for example, may be seen as a short-range venture.     

Legitimizing Paltry Contributions: On-the-spot vs. Mail-in Requests1

Two versions of the legitimization-of-paltry-contributions technique (Cialdini & Schroeder, 1976) were compared with respect to their effectiveness in generating compliance with requests for charitable donations. When immediate, on-the-spot donations were requested, the technique significantly increased compliance rates relative to control conditions; but when the respondents were asked to mail in their contributions, virtually none did. The results offered some support for an image-maintenance explanation of the technique and were viewed as indicating that the effectiveness of the technique is reliable, but primarily under conditions that impose a high degree of situational constraint upon respondents. Implications of the results for door-to-door fundraising and for future research were discussed.     

Measuring Change in Motor Memory

Two points were made in support of the compression-block technique as a useful tool in motor-control research. The effect of motor impairment (if any) can be controlled (a) by only making direct comparisons between results obtained under block, and (b) by keeping muscle exertion during the entire course of the block to an absolute minimum to avoid muscle fatigue.     

Unicorn Atheism

Kripshe treats `god’ as an empty natural kind term such as `unicorn’. She applies Saul Kripke's fresh views about empty natural kinds to `god’. Metaphysically, says Kripshe, there are no possible worlds in which there are gods. Gods could not have existed, given that they do not actually exist and never did. Epistemologically, godlessness is an a posteriori discovery. Kripshe dismisses the gods in the same breath that she dismisses mermaids. Semantically, the perspective Kripshe finds most perspicacious, no counterfactual situation is properly describable as one in which there are gods. Perhaps it is not quite a necessary truth that there are no gods. According to Saul Kripke, failed natural kind terms are ill‐defined. Incorporating ill‐defined terms into declarative sentences yields only mock propositions. Just as the meteorologist has no professional interest in mock thunder, the logician has no professional interest in mock propositions. Kripshe disagrees with agnostics who assign a low probability to `There is at least one god’. The bearers of probabilities must be propositions. Despite this deference to science, Kripshe agrees with the a priori atheist that, necessarily, no future experience could constitute an encounter with a god. Divine revelation is impossible. Kripshe's a posteriori necessary atheism compares favorably to familiar forms of atheism and to non‐cognitivists. It reveals interesting challenges to a coherent formulation of atheism.     

Applying Attention Restoration Theory to Understand and Address Clergy’s Need to Restore Cognitive Capacity

Attention Restoration Theory is applied to explore the causes and consequences of mental fatigue in clergy and suggest practical interventions to restore cognitive wellbeing. Previous research has investigated the physical and emotional health and wellbeing of clergy, but has largely neglected clergy cognitive wellbeing. Due to the demanding nature of their work, clergy are particularly susceptible to mental fatigue and depletion of their capacity to maintain attention. Symptoms include inability to focus attention, inhibit distractions, make decisions or solve problems. Mental fatigue can be overcome, and cognitive capacity restored, by spending time in restorative environments that allow directed attention to rest.     

The Centrality of the Response Process in Construct Validity: An Illustration via the Rorschach Space Response

Recently, psychologists have emphasized the response process—that is, the psychological operations and behaviors that lead to test scores—when designing psychological tests, interpreting their results, and refining their validity. To illustrate the centrality of the response process in construct validity and test interpretation, we provide a historical, conceptual, and empirical review of the main uses of the background white space of the Rorschach cards, called space reversal (SR) and space integration (SI) in the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. We show how SR and SI's unique response processes result in different interpretations, and that reviewing their literatures with these distinct interpretations in mind produces the expected patterns of convergent and discriminant validity. That is, SR was uniquely related to measures of oppositionality; SI was uniquely related to measures of cognitive complexity; and both SR and SI were related to measures of creativity. Our review further suggests that the Comprehensive System use of a single space code for all uses of white space likely led to its lack of meta-analytic support as a measure of oppositionality (Mihura, Meyer, Dumitrascu, &; Bombel, 2013 *Mihura, J. L., Meyer, G. J., Dumitrascu, N., &; Bombel, G. (2013). The validity of individual Rorschach variables: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the Comprehensive System. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 548–605. doi:10.1037/a0029406[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We close by discussing the use of the response process to improve test interpretation, develop better measures, and advance the design of research.     

A Couple-Based Psychological Treatment for Chronic Pain and Relationship Distress

Chronic pain impacts individuals with pain as well as their loved ones. Yet, there has been little attention to the social context in individual psychological treatment approaches to chronic pain management. With this need in mind, we developed a couple-based treatment, “Mindful Living and Relating,” aimed at alleviating pain and suffering by promoting couples’ psychological and relational flexibility skills. Currently, there is no integrative treatment that fully harnesses the power of the couple, treating both the individual with chronic pain and the spouse as two individuals who are each in need of developing greater psychological and relational flexibility to improve their own and their partners’ health. Mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based action exercises were used to promote psychological flexibility. The intervention also targets relational flexibility, which we define as the ability to interact with one’s partner, fully attending to the present moment, and responding empathically in a way that serves one’s own and one’s partner’s values. To this end, the intervention also included exercises aimed at applying psychological flexibility skills to social interactions as well as emotional disclosure and empathic responding exercises to enhance relational flexibility. The case presented demonstrates that healthy coping with pain and stress may be most successful and sustainable when one is involved in a supportive relationship with someone who also practices psychological flexibility skills and when both partners use relational flexibility skills during their interactions.     

Teachers’ reactions to experiences of violence: an attributional analysis

Violence perpetrated against teachers is prevalent and has the potential to adversely affect teachers’ well-being, efficacy, and longevity in the profession. In this study, we examined teachers’ reactions after having experienced violence, specifically examining the roles of attributional processes. In collaboration with the American Psychological Association, National Education Association, and American Federation of Teachers, data were collected via a survey instrument from teachers across the United States. We examined responses from 2505 participants who described the most upsetting incident of violence that had been perpetrated against them in their roles as teachers. We examined predictors of (1) communicating with others after the incident and (2) implementing intervention strategies with the perpetrators of violence. Emotions were tested as mediators of the relations between attributions and outcomes. Results indicated that characterological and behavioral self-blame were predictive of negative affect, which in turn predicted the majority of outcomes. Study limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.