The Effects of Coaching and Speeding on Big Five and Impression Management Scale Scores

We examined the effects of coaching and speeding on personality scale scores in a faking context (N = 192). A completely crossed 2 × 2 experimental design was used in which instructions (no coaching or coaching) and speeding (with or without a time limit) were manipulated. No statistically significant effects on scale scores were evidenced for speeding. Coaching participants significantly elevated scores (average d = .76) for each of the Big Five personality factors but did not significantly elevate the scores on the Impression Management scale (d = .06). Cognitive ability was significantly positively related to impression management for uncoached participants but not for coached participants. An exploratory simulation suggests that coaching would have an effect on who would be selected for a job.     

SEQUENTIAL APPLICATION OF CAREGIVER TRAINING TO IMPLEMENT PEDIATRIC FEEDING PROTOCOLS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of current caregiver training practices by implementing training components sequentially, to teach parents mealtime protocols. A multiple baseline design was implemented across two caregiver dyads. Therapist‐fed meals were conducted prior to training to identify an effective intervention to increase food acceptance and decrease food refusal. The package consisted of seven components: observation, written and verbal protocol review, video review, structured observation, modeling, role play, and immediate feedback. Correct implementation of mealtime protocols, by caregivers, were evaluated throughout the training process by having caregivers conduct meal sessions following each training component to determine if additional training was necessary. Results showed that the training procedures were effective in teaching caregivers to implement mealtime protocols, and systematic introduction of the training components produced systematic and incremental changes in correct caregiver implementation. In addition, all participants completed training without requiring all seven training components. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aggression in the Laboratory: Problems with the Validity of the Modified Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test as a Measure of Aggression in Media Violence Studies

Many laboratory studies of aggression use a measure known as the modified Taylor Competitive Reaction Time Test (TCRTT), for which validation studies are lacking. Using sound blasts administered by the participant against a fictional human opponent, the TCRTT also allows for multiple methods of measuring aggression. The validity of the TCRTT was tested in 53 college student participants. Participants took a self-report measure of aggressiveness as well as neuropsychological measures of frontal lobe functioning predictive of aggression. Results were not supportive of the TCRTT's validity and indicated concerns regarding the use of the TCRTT as a measure of aggression. Results suggest that labaratory studies of media violence using the TCRTT are of questionable validity.     

Body size dissatisfaction and avoidance behavior: How gender,age, ethnicity,and relative clothing size predict what some won’t try

Sixty-eight percent of U.S. adults are overweight/obese, and this epidemic has physical, psychosocial, and behavioral consequences. An internet sample of adults (N = 2997) perceiving themselves as larger than ideal in clothing size reported their body mass index (BMI), relative clothing size (RS; discrepancy between current and ideal size), and avoidance behaviors. Exploratory factor analysis of 10 avoidance items produced social avoidance and body display avoidance factors. A relative importance analysis revealed RS as a better predictor than BMI for avoidance. A hierarchical multivariate analysis of covariance found RS to predict both avoidance constructs. The relationship between RS and both avoidance constructs was stronger for women than men, and for younger as compared to older participants. Caucasians reported more body display avoidance than African Americans. This suggests that personal dissatisfaction with body size may deter involvement in varied life events and that women are especially avoidant of activities that entail displaying their bodies.     

White Racism and Suboptimal Psychological Functioning Among White Americans: Implications for Counseling and Prejudice Prevention

This study examined the causal relationships between anxiety, racism, and self‐esteem in a sample of White graduate and undergraduate students (N = 169). The results indicated that level of anxiety had a direct effect on anti‐Black attitudes, which, in turn, had a direct effect on self‐esteem. Implications for counseling interventions aimed at preventing prejudice among Whites are discussed. Este estudio examinó las relaciones causales entre la ansiedad, el racismo, y el auto‐estima en un grupo de estudiantes graduados y estudiantes de bachillerato Blancos (N = 169). Los resultados indicaron que el nivel de ansiedad tuvo un efecto directo en las actitudes anti‐Negras, que en torno tuvo un efecto directo en el auto‐estima. Las implicaciones para las intervenciones de consejería dirigidas a prevenir el prejuicio entre los Blancos son discutidas.     

Evidence for Context Switching in the Effects of Average Item Length and Item-Length Variability on Internal Consistency

This investigation examined the effects of 3 item characteristics—the average number of words per item, within-scale variability in item length, and item “direction”—on internal consistency reliability and interitem correlation. In Study 1, we examined the effects of these variables on overall scale-level reliability using 444 subscales from 9 personality scales. In Study 2, we examined interitem correlation at the paired-item level using 477 nonredundant item pairs from 14 personality scales. Lower scale reliability was associated with more average words per item, greater within-scale variability in item length, and a greater percentage of reverse-keyed items. Similarly, smaller interitem correlations were associated with a greater degree of mismatch in item length between the paired items and with a mismatch (vs. match) in the items' respective “directions.” The pattern of results across both studies supports our notion that lower internal consistency results from increased context switching; that is, from the confusion that occurs when respondents must switch back and forth between the interpretive frames pertaining to short versus long items, or between items pertaining to one pole of a personality dimension and its “opposite” pole. Suggestions for maximizing the internal consistency of personality scales are proposed.     

Does Therapeutic Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Cause Cognitive Enhancing Effects in Patients with Neuropsychiatric Conditions? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is increasingly used as a therapeutic intervention for neuropsychiatric illnesses and has demonstrated efficacy for treatment of major depression. However, an unresolved question is whether a course of rTMS treatment results in effects on cognitive functioning. In this systematic review and meta-analysis we aimed to quantitatively determine whether a course of rTMS has cognitive enhancing effects. We examined cognitive outcomes from randomised, sham-controlled studies conducted in patients with neuropsychiatric conditions where rTMS was administered to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) across repeated sessions, searched from PubMed/MEDLINE and other databases up until October 2015. Thirty studies met our inclusion criteria. Cognitive outcomes were pooled and examined across the following domains: Global cognitive function, executive function, attention, working memory, processing speed, visual memory, verbal memory and visuospatial ability. Active rTMS treatment was unassociated with generalised gains across the majority of domains of cognitive functioning examined. Secondary analyses revealed a moderate sized positive effect for improved working memory in a small number of studies in patients with schizophrenia (k = 3, g = 0.507, 95 % CI = [0.183–0.831], p < .01). Therapeutic rTMS when administered to the DLPFC in patients with neuropsychiatric conditions does not result in robust cognitive enhancing effects.     

Racial–Ethnic Protective Factors and Mechanisms in Psychosocial Prevention and Intervention Programs for Black Youth

Extending previous reviews related to cultural responsiveness in the treatment of ethnic minority youth, the current review provides a critical assessment and synthesis of both basic and applied research on the integration of three racial–ethnic protective factors (racial identity, racial socialization, Africentric worldview) in psychosocial prevention and intervention programs for Black children and adolescents. Seventeen programs meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated for the extent to which racial–ethnic protective factors and related mechanisms were integrated, applied, and tested in such programs. A systematic assessment of these programs revealed that several prevention and intervention programs drew upon the three factors, particularly Africentric worldview. In addition, a number of studies hypothesized and assessed mechanisms, both those previously identified in conceptual literature and those that emerged from the interventions themselves. A set of recommendations encouraging the implementation of these factors into future prevention and intervention programs, examples of how clinicians can infuse these factors into psychotherapy, and areas for future research are discussed.