Tele-counselling for Problem Gambling: A Case Study

Innovative approaches to the treatment of pathological gambling are required since the number of individuals who seek treatment tend to be fewer than the prevalence studies would indicate. In this study, an innovative approach to the treatment of pathological gambling was used in order to address the common hindrances to treatment-seeking these patients face. One such approach is to offer the option of manual-guided tele-counselling. This case study reports on the progress of one individual who was treated using this modality. For reasons of privacy and anonymity, the individual in this case report preferred to address her problem gambling with the assistance of a therapist whom she never met. The client was provided with 10 weeks of tele-counselling treatment during which six treatment modules were delivered. Problems of access, privacy and anonymity were overcome with this method and the client was able to reduce their gambling behavior significantly with the therapeutic gains being maintained at the 6-month follow-up. The implications for the treatment of problem gambling using a non-traditional approach are discussed.     

Individual Differences in Decision Making Depend on Cognitive Abilities,Monitoring and Control

Decision making is the process by which actions are constructed and initiated. Across many research streams, this can be explained in terms of three broad cognitive processes: cognitive abilities that construct judgements and potential courses of action, and interacting monitoring and control processes that determine when to initiate them as behaviour. The aim of this research was to investigate the generality of individual differences in these processes, and their power to predict patterns of decision behaviour identified in our previous research. Undergraduate participants (N = 364) completed nine tests assessing cognitive abilities, monitoring confidence, control thresholds and various patterns of decision behaviour. The tests differed in their cognitive ability requirements and the nature of the payoffs associated with decisions. Cognitive abilities were a strong predictor of individuals' decision competence and optimality, while monitoring confidence and control thresholds were strong and unique predictors of their overall decisiveness, and reckless and hesitant errors. These results were strongest when the measures of cognitive abilities and monitoring confidence were derived from tests with the same cognitive requirements as the tests used to derive the decision behaviours and when the control threshold measure was derived from tests with the same decision payoffs as the test used to derive the decision behaviours. This effect was particularly pronounced for control thresholds, highlighting the domain‐specific nature of cognitive control processes. These findings demonstrate how cognitive abilities, monitoring output and control thresholds interact with cognitive requirements and context‐specific payoffs to drive individual differences in decision‐making behaviour. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affirmation, acknowledgment of in-group responsibility, group-based guilt, and support for reparative measures

Three studies, 2 conducted in Israel and 1 conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, demonstrated that affirming a positive aspect of the self can increase one's willingness to acknowledge in-group responsibility for wrongdoing against others, express feelings of group-based guilt, and consequently provide greater support for reparation policies. By contrast, affirming one's group, although similarly boosting feelings of pride, failed to increase willingness to acknowledge and redress in-group wrongdoing. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated the mediating role of group-based guilt. That is, increased acknowledgment of in-group responsibility for out-group victimization produced increased feelings of guilt, which in turn increased support for reparation policies to the victimized group. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

The impact of brief teacher training on classroom management and child behavior in at-risk preschool settings: Mediators and treatment utility

Teachers from fourteen classrooms were randomly assigned to an adaptation of Incredible Years (IY) teacher training or to teacher training-as-usual. Observations were made of the behavior of 136 target preschool boys and girls nominated by teachers as having many or few conduct problems. Peer and teacher behavior were observed at baseline and post training. IY training resulted in increases in teachers' positive and reductions in teachers' negative behavior relative to training as usual, in decreased peer negative behavior toward target children, and in decreased negative behavior of target children high on conduct problems. The impact of IY training on the behavior of target children was mediated by changes in peers' behavior with no direct effects of teacher behavior and differential effects for high and low conduct problem children. Teacher training focused on altering the whole classroom environment may be an effective strategy, even for children with significant conduct problems.     

Social and hormonal bases of individual differences in the parental behaviour of birds and mammals.

We present an overview of research on how social experiences and hormonal responses affect individual variation in parental care of birds and mammals. The parental roles of prolactin and glucorticoids (corticosterone or cortisol) have many similarities in birds and in mammals. Prolactin may be involved in the initiation of parental interactions, with prolactin variation possibly explaining individual differences in parental decision-making. Glucocorticoid levels increase when parents have to work harder, with some individuals showing greater hormonal and behavioural responses than others. Testosterone interferes with paternal behaviour in birds, but its role is more complex and species-specific in male mammals. We examine these differences in an adaptive framework, where retaining flexibility of response has allowed individuals to respond differentially to social opportunities and environmental change.     

Ecological and person‐oriented aspects of metacognitive processes in test‐taking

This study examines critical aspects of both the ecological and the person‐oriented accounts of observed biases in confidence judgements on tests of cognitive abilities. These biases reflect metacognitive processes involved in test‐taking. According to the ecological approach, poor realism of confidence judgements is due to the nature of the items included in general knowledge tests (test‐driven biases). The person‐oriented approach, however, argues that biases in confidence judgements may be due to a general self‐monitoring trait. The present study employed the ‘de‐biasing’ procedure proposed by Juslin ( 1994 ) for the selection of general knowledge test items, and used a newly developed geographical knowledge test suitable for the Australian population. Two other cognitive tests (Raven's Progressive Matrices and Line Length) were administered in order to determine whether there is a consistency in confidence ratings across diverse tasks. Statistical procedures traditional to both approaches‐calibration curves and factor analysis ‐ were employed. The results, with minor qualifications, support both perspectives. The study found a separate confidence factor, indicative of a self‐monitoring trait. Two other potential metacognitive factors (i.e. ‘expectation’ and ‘evaluation’, corresponding to self‐assessment/planning and self‐evaluation) could not be separated from accuracy and speed measures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is negative the new positive? Secondary transfer effect of exposure to LGBT portrayals in TV entertainment programs

This study investigates the primary effect of positive, neutral, and negative exposure to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) TV portrayals in entertainment programs on attitudes toward the LGBT community and the Secondary Transfer Effect (STE) of such exposure on attitudes toward people with Asperger's Disorder (the secondary out-group), controlling for face-to-face and online contacts with both out-groups. Research was conducted using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative Study 1 used an online survey of 716 Israeli Jews, to investigate primary and secondary effects of TV exposure to LGBT portrayals. The positive primary effect of TV exposure was shown—regardless of LGBT portrayals perceived as positive, neutral, or negative. STE of TV exposure to neutral and negative LGBT portrayals is likely to diminish social distance to people with Asperger's Disorder, while no STE was found with positive LGBT portrayals. Full mediation effect of attitudes toward the LGBT community was found. Qualitative Study 2, based on 52 in-depth interviews, was conducted in order to reveal the hidden mechanisms of these effects, examining the parasocial experience and its interpretations by the viewers. According to qualitative findings, the positive primary and secondary effects of negative exposure may be explained by varied interpretations of gay portrayals on TV by different people depending on social background and life experience, opposite reaction on stereotypical gay portrayals on TV, and asymmetrical negative-positive heuristic. Given the important role of TV in fostering more positive intergroup relations, this research revealed sources of prejudice reduction and increase in tolerance toward “others” for society at large.