Recall of semantic domains

The order of recall of lists of words learned incidentally was analyzed by multidimensional scaling similarity matrices based on the number of times words were retrieved next to each other. For the semantic domains of mammals, birds, and kinship terms, retrieval from very long-term memory, both for groups and individuals, and recall of recently learned lists produced multidimensional solutions similar to published solutions based on judged relatedness and associative overlap. For the squares of the Monopoly board and the names of the members of the Lawrence University faculty, for which clear a priori category structures exist, the form of clustering in the order and timing of recall that is commonly found in recall of lists learned recently in the laboratory was also found in the retrieval of lists learned incidentally through multiple exposures over long periods of time in the real world.     

The distribution of early childhood memories

The quantitative distribution of autobiographical memories for the first decade of life is described. The distribution, based on over 11,000 autobiographical memories from age 10 and younger from published studies, is nearly identical for males and females, for participants of different ages, and for different methods of collecting data, including using words to cue memories from anywhere in the lifespan or from just the childhood years, exhaustive listing of all early memories, and interviews.     

Factor analysis of the 122 item fear survey schedule

The 122 item fear survey schedule was factor analyzed in an attempt to discover whether various stimuli cluster together in their capacity to evoke anxiety. The method of factor analysis involved a rotation to an oblique structure with the result that 5 conceptually pure factors emerged accounting for at least 90 per cent of the variance. The factors were named as follows: (1) fears related to small animals, (2) fears of the precipitators and manifestations of hostility, (3) moralistically related fears and sexual fears, (4) fears of isolation and loneliness, and (5) fears of anatomical destruction and physical pain. Using the items that correlated 0.35 or better with factors, a 40 item fear survey schedule emerged. Suggestions for clinical use of this fear survey schedule were made.     

Youth Negative Affect Attenuates Associations Between Compromise and Mother–Adolescent Conflict Outcomes

The study of conflict processes often focuses on the manner in which disagreements are resolved, such that relationship deterioration is a product of the failure to negotiate. However, conflict management tactics may not be the most salient feature of parent–adolescent conflicts because these relationships are obligatory, with power unevenly distributed, and negotiated resolutions unanticipated. Instead, parent–adolescent relationships may be more sensitive to the affective tenor of the interchange than the manner in which the dispute is resolved. In two studies, we examined the premise that relationship damage arising from disagreements between mothers and adolescent children is a product of negative affect and failure to compromise. Concurrent analyses involved reports from 101 (33 boys, 68 girls) adolescents (M = 13.89 years old) about conflict with mothers. Longitudinal analyses involved reports from 271 (112 boys, 159 girls) adolescents (M = 11.6 years old at the outset) about conflict with mothers at two time points 1 year apart. Compromise and youth negative affect were moderately correlated; when both were included as predictors of adverse relationship consequences arising from conflict, negative affect accounted for almost all of the variance, concurrently and prospectively. Scholars and practitioners who advise families that negotiated resolutions to disagreements help to avoid relationship disruption may be discouraged in their efforts unless a similar emphasis is placed on minimizing negative affect.     

Uncovering the diverse cultural bases of social identity: Ingroup ties predict self‐stereotyping among individualists but not among collectivists

On what basis do people form their social identities? To investigate this issue, the present research investigates cross‐cultural differences in self‐stereotyping, a key outcome of social identification. In particular, the research tests the hypothesis that ingroup ties are a stronger predictor of self‐stereotyping among people from individualist cultures than among people from collectivist cultures. In Study 1, university students (N = 117) completed measures of ingroup ties and self‐stereotyping with respect to an intimacy group (family and friends). Consistent with predictions, ingroup ties significantly predicted self‐stereotyping among individualists but not among collectivists. Study 2 (N = 104) found a similar pattern of results among members of the global internet community who considered either an intimacy group (their friends), a task group (their work group) or a social category (their gender). These results indicate that people in individualist cultures are more likely than those in collectivist cultures to base their social identities on ingroup ties. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to self‐categorization theory's depersonalization account of social identification.     

Book Review: The Therapeutic Process; Essays and Lectures,edited and with an introduction by Bernard J. Paris,Yale University Press, 1999, 266 ps

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

I can see it both ways: First- and third-person visual perspectives at retrieval

The number of studies examining visual perspective during retrieval has recently grown. However, the way in which perspective has been conceptualized differs across studies. Some studies have suggested perspective is experienced as either a first-person or a third-person perspective, whereas others have suggested both perspectives can be experienced during a single retrieval attempt. This aspect of perspective was examined across three studies, which used different measurement techniques commonly used in studies of perspective. Results suggest that individuals can experience more than one perspective when recalling events. Furthermore, the experience of the two perspectives correlated differentially with ratings of vividness, suggesting that the two perspectives should not be considered in opposition of one another. We also found evidence of a gender effect in the experience of perspective, with females experiencing third-person perspectives more often than males. Future studies should allow for the experience of more than one perspective during retrieval.     

Response: Most people who think that they are likely to enter psychotherapy also think it is plausible that they could have forgotten their own memories of childhood sexual abuse

Pezdek and Blandon‐Gitlin ( 2008 ) found that 25% of their participants reported as plausible or very plausible that they themselves could have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse without being able to remember it. In addition, they found that the 25% figure increased to 61% for participants who reported that they were likely at some point in their life to seek psychotherapy. Given past work showing that it is easier to implant a false memory for plausible events, and counter to Pezdek and Blandon‐Gitlin's conclusions, these data point to a substantial danger of implanting false memories of childhood sexual abuse during therapy in many people and in most people who are likely to go into therapy. Theoretical issues regarding plausibility are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Behavioral Inhibition and Parenting Style on Internalizing and Externalizing Problems from Early Childhood through Adolescence

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is characterized by a pattern of extreme social reticence, risk for internalizing behavior problems, and possible protection against externalizing behavior problems. Parenting style may also contribute to these associations between BI and behavior problems (BP). A sample of 113 children was assessed for BI in the laboratory at 14 and 24 months of age, self-report of maternal parenting style at 7 years of age, and maternal report of child internalizing and externalizing BP at 4, 7, and 15 years. Internalizing problems at age 4 were greatest among behaviorally inhibited children who also were exposed to permissive parenting. Furthermore, greater authoritative parenting was associated with less of an increase in internalizing behavior problems over time and greater authoritarian parenting was associated with a steeper decline in externalizing problems. Results highlight the importance of considering child and environmental factors in longitudinal patterns of BP across childhood and adolescence.     

American Indian Youth: Personal,Familial, and Environmental Strengths

We present data from interviews with 401 youths on the relationship of personal, familial, and environmental strengths to the outcomes of urban and reservation American Indian youths. Urban youths consistently nominated more strengths than tribal youths, except in the area of tribal strengths. Quantitative data show how those strengths relate to their school success, daily functioning, mental health, and ethnic identity. Personal and familial strengths are related to positive school success and functioning. Environmental strengths demonstrate complex relationships in which tribal strengths are related to increased mental health problems and school strengths are related to fewer problems. The results of our study speak to the need to include multiple categories of different strengths in research and to focus on strengths as well as problems in clinical interventions.