Animacy,perceptual load,and inattentional blindness

Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice unexpected objects in a visual scene while engaging in an attention-demanding task. We examined the effects of animacy and perceptual load on inattentional blindness. Participants searched for a category exemplar under low or high perceptual load. On the last trial, the participants were exposed to an unexpected object that was either animate or inanimate. Unexpected objects were detected more frequently when they were animate rather than inanimate, and more frequently with low than with high perceptual loads. We also measured working memory capacity and found that it predicted the detection of unexpected objects, but only with high perceptual loads. The results are consistent with the animate-monitoring hypothesis, which suggests that animate objects capture attention because of the importance of the detection of animate objects in ancestral hunter–gatherer environments.     

Relational Diagnosis and Psychotherapy Treatment Cost Effectiveness

Despite a call by researchers for estimates of the treatment effectiveness and cost effectiveness for relational problems, very little has been done to answer this call. The present study is an examination of actual treatment costs and recidivism rates for patients treated for a relational problem (either in individual or conjoint therapy sessions) in the Cigna network. Policymakers and third-party payers may use such clinical-effectiveness and cost effectiveness data to make decisions regarding treatment of relational problems and funding allocation. The present study is also the first to compare the costs of couples therapy versus family therapy for relational problems.     

Establishing the Validity of the Spirituality in Clinical Training Scale: Measuring the Level of Integration of Spirituality and Religion in Family Therapy Training

The existing literature suggests that family therapy training programs are not adequately preparing students to address spiritual and/or religious beliefs as a resource for change in therapy. Therefore, this study sought to validate the Spirituality in Clinical Training Scale (SCTS) as a measure of the level of integration of spirituality and/or religion in family therapy training. Additionally, this study examined the latent associations among the subscales of the SCTS and measures of personal importance of spirituality, spiritual clinical competence, and spiritual self-exploration. Finally, given that the type of educational institution (i.e., religious compared to non-religious schools) may influence the extent to which spirituality is addressed in training, this study examined whether attending a religious or non-religious institution moderated the associations among the SCTS and constructs used to assess validity. A sample of 341 master’s and doctoral family therapy students completed an on-line survey for this study. The results suggest that the SCTS is a reliable and valid measure for assessing integration of spirituality into family therapy training. The establishment of this measure is important given that no previous scale measuring the integration of spirituality into therapy training exists. The results also suggest that spiritual self-exploration is associated with increased use of interventions that integrate spirituality into therapy. Implications for clinical training are discussed.     

Effects of a Perseverative Interest-Based Token Economy on Challenging and On-Task Behavior in a Child with Autism

We compared the effects of a token economy intervention that either did or did not include the perseverative interests of a 7-year-old boy with autism. An alternating treatment design revealed that the perseverative interest-based tokens were more effective at decreasing challenging behavior and increasing on-task behavior than tokens absent the perseverative interest during an early literacy activity. The beneficial effects were then replicated in the child’s classroom. The results suggest that perseverative interest-based tokens might enhance the effectiveness of interventions based on token economies.     

Normalizing the Use of Single-Item Measures: Validation of the Single-Item Compendium for Organizational Psychology

Journal of Business and Psychology - The application of single-item measures has the potential to help applied researchers address conceptual, methodological, and empirical challenges. Based on a...