How we think and act together

In this paper, I examine the challenges socially extended minds pose for mainstream, individualistic accounts of social cognition. I argue that individualistic accounts of social cognition neglect phenomena important to social cognition that are properly emphasized by socially extended mind accounts. Although I do not think the evidence or arguments warrant replacing individualistic explanations of social cognition with socially extended explanations, I argue that we have good reason to supplement our individualistic accounts so as to include the ways in which situational context affects social interactions. The result, I hope, is a more sophisticated individualism that offers a more comprehensive account of how we think and act together.     

Physical and Sexual Victimization Predicts Suicidality among Women in Prison: Understanding Ethnic and Trauma-Specific Domains of Risk

Few studies have addressed the association between specific forms of trauma and suicidality among incarcerated women. This study examined domains of trauma as predictors of suicidality, and also evaluated ethnicity as a moderator of the association between physical and sexual victimization and suicidality. Participants were 224 treatment-seeking incarcerated women who completed self-report measures of trauma exposure, suicidal behavior, and ethnicity. Women in this sample reported significant histories of trauma exposure and suicidal behavior, and physical and sexual victimization significantly predicted suicidality. Ethnicity moderated this association such that there was a significant positive association between victimization and suicidality for European-American women; however, this association was not statistically significant for ethnic minority women. These findings demonstrate the specific risk conferred by physical and sexual victimization and European-American ethnicity among women in prison.     

Mothers’ Experiences of Parent-Reported and Video-Recorded Observational Assessments

Rigorous evaluation of early childhood interventions requires accurate and efficient measurement. Researchers commonly use parent-reported surveys or direct observations; both of which have inherent strengths and limitations. Existing attempts to understand the correspondence between these methods have been primarily quantitative in design. Little is known about parents’ unique, subjective experiences of parent-reported surveys and direct parent-child observations. In this paper, we describe the experiences of ten mothers of children aged 24 months, recruited from a randomised controlled trial of a nurse home visiting program for mothers at risk of experiencing social adversity. After completing both a survey and video-recorded parent-child observation, mothers participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews which were analysed thematically. Mothers voiced concerns about how researchers may view their parenting skills, and their child’s behaviour and development. Contrary to previous quantitative evidence, mothers reported parent and child behavioural change, which they attributed to the researcher’s presence. Mothers described how the structured requirements of the observation contributed to forced and unnatural interactions. The survey was viewed as a welcome opportunity to reflect on parenting skills, the parent-child relationship and the child’s development. Mothers identified practical strategies for minimising parent-child discomfort during video-recorded observations, such as the researcher averting their gaze or stepping out of the room. We highlight opportunities for enhanced data validity in research and clinical settings, strengthened participant engagement, and minimisation of participant discomfort. Given the exploratory nature of this study, we do not claim that results are necessarily generalisable to other parent or general populations. Further research is warranted to build the evidence regarding parent participation in early childhood research.     

Telling in-tune from out-of-tune: widespread evidence for implicit absolute intonation

Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name or produce an isolated musical note without the aid of a reference note. One skill thought to be unique to AP possessors is the ability to provide absolute intonation judgments (e.g., classifying an isolated note as “in-tune” or “out-of-tune”). Recent work has suggested that absolute intonation perception among AP possessors is not crystallized in a critical period of development, but is dynamically maintained by the listening environment, in which the vast majority of Western music is tuned to a specific cultural standard. Given that all listeners of Western music are constantly exposed to this specific cultural tuning standard, our experiments address whether absolute intonation perception extends beyond AP possessors. We demonstrate that non-AP listeners are able to accurately judge the intonation of completely isolated notes. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed evidence for absolute intonation recognition when listening to familiar timbres (piano and violin). When testing unfamiliar timbres (triangle and inverted sine waves), only musicians showed weak evidence of absolute intonation recognition (Experiment 2). Overall, these results highlight a previously unknown similarity between AP and non-AP possessors’ long-term musical note representations, including evidence of sensitivity to frequency.     

The Importance of Cognitive Dissonance in Understanding and Treating Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

External mechanisms and batterer behaviors have commonly been cited as to why women remain in intimate partner violence relationships. However, past research has generally minimized the focus on individual psychological elements of victims that perpetuate their commitments to abusers. The current review proposes the potential for cognitive dissonance resolution as an underlying mechanism to affect female victims’ stay/leave decisions while in domestically violent relationships. High and low levels of self-esteem differentially affect the resolution of cognitive dissonance as explained by self-consistency and self-affirmation theories. Theories of commitment including the foot-in-the-door principle, justification of effort, and the investment model are applied specifically to the arousal of dissonance in victims. The importance of taking into account the mechanisms of dissonance arousal and subsequent reduction techniques are proposed for treating this population and preventing similar relationships in the future.     

Participation bias among suicidal adults in a randomized controlled trial

Although individuals who attempt suicide have poor compliance rates with treatment recommendations, the nature and degree of participation bias in clinical treatment research among these individuals is virtually unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine participation bias by comparing the demographic and diagnostic characteristics of adult suicide attempters who participated in a randomized controlled trial to a sample of nonparticipants. Results indicated that males and individuals with a diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence were more likely to be participants in the randomized controlled trial. The implications of these findings for suicide intervention research are discussed.     

Attitude similarity and familiarity and their links to mental health: An examination of potential interpersonal mediators

Similarity and familiarity with partner’s attitudes are linked to positive relationship outcomes, while interpersonal variables have been linked to mental health. Using multilevel models (MLMs), we modeled the associations between these attitudinal variables and mental health outcomes in 74 married couples. We found that higher levels of attitude similarity in couples were linked to lower depression, while higher levels of attitude familiarity in couples were associated with greater satisfaction with life. Mediational analyses indicated marital satisfaction and interpersonal stress mediated the link between attitude similarity and depression. Marital satisfaction also mediated the link between familiarity and satisfaction with life. This study is the first linking attitude familiarity to mental health and provides evidence that familiarity and similarity have mental health effects partly due to their interpersonal consequences.     

Assisted versus asserted autonomy satisfaction: Their unique associations with wellbeing,integration of experience,and conflict negotiation

We investigate the possibility of two distinct approaches to autonomy satisfaction—one that is contextually “assisted” and one that is individually “asserted”. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (Pilot Study and Study 1; N = 449) develop and validate the two-factor structure. We then show that asserted and assisted autonomy orientations predict psychological wellbeing through distinct pathways (i.e., highly active/agentic vs. interdependent). In Study 2 (N = 206), we examine the sociodevelopmental antecedents of each type of autonomy satisfaction, revealing that assisted autonomy is associated with having had authoritiative parents, whereas asserted autonomy is associated with having had authoritarian parents. In Study 3 (N = 109) we show that asserted—but not assisted—autonomy predicts the integration of negative life experiences. Finally, in Study 4 (N = 202), we examine the degree to which assisted and asserted autonomy moderate responses to conflict in need-thwarting contexts, showing that assisted autonomy predicts an acquiescent coping style, whereas asserted autonomy predicts an assertive negotiation style.