Tradeoffs and theory: the double-mediation model

Most theories of decision making suggest that, when options imply tradeoffs between their attributes, conflict increases as tradeoff size increases, because greater sacrifices are to be incurred in choosing one option instead of another. An alternative view is that conflict decreases as tradeoff size increases, because stronger arguments can be made for any decision. The authors propose a unified model, the double-mediation model, which combines the mediating effects of sacrifice and argumentation. Our model generally predicts an inverse U-shaped relation between tradeoff size and conflict. Results support this prediction. Also, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of sacrifice relative to that of argumentation, the relation between tradeoff size and conflict changes in an upward direction; conversely, when the decision situation increases the mediating effect of argumentation relative to that of sacrifice, the relation changes in a downward direction. Results support these predictions as well. Commonalities and differences between our model and other formulations are discussed.     

Approach/avoidance motivation, message framing, and health behavior: understanding the congruency effect

Health messages framed to be congruent with individuals’ approach/avoidance motivations have been found to be more effective in promoting health behaviors than health messages incongruent with approach/avoidance motivations. This study examines the processes underlying this congruency effect. Participants (undergraduate students, N=67) completed a measure of approach/avoidance orientation (the BIS/BAS scales) and read either a gain- or loss-framed message promoting dental flossing. Results demonstrated a congruency effect: Participants who read a congruently framed message had greater flossing efficacy, intended to floss more, and used more dental flosses than did the participants who read an incongruent message. Moreover, intention to perform the behavior predicted the congruency effect and self-efficacy mediated participants’ intentions to perform the health behavior. Discussion centers on the role of personality factors and situational factors in models of behavior change.

Effects of neocortical ectopias and environmental enrichment on Hebb-Williams maze learning in BXSB mice

Approximately 40-60% of BXSB mice have neocortical ectopias, a developmental anomaly characterized by migration of neurons into the neuron-sparse layer I of cortex. Previous studies have shown that ectopic BXSB mice have superior reference, but inferior working, memory on spatial tasks. Female BXSB mice were housed either in an enriched environment or in standard cages at weaning. Subsequently, these animals were tested on four of the Hebb-Williams mazes in a water-based version of this maze. Theoretically, two of the maze configurations placed greater emphasis on reference memory to find the goal, whereas the other two favored working memory. Ectopics reared in standard housing conditions were better than nonectopics on mazes that favored the use of reference memory, but poorer on mazes that favored working memory. In contrast, subjects raised in the enriched environment showed no ectopia differences. A comparison of enriched and standard housing conditions found that the enriched animals had better reference memory but poorer working memory. The latter effect may be because the enriched environment, although more stimulating, did not change in time or space; and other researchers have shown that daily replacement of stimuli in complex environments is correlated with better working memory.     

The effects of message quality and congruency on perceptions of tailored health communications

Recent research has documented the effectiveness of tailoring health behavior change messages to characteristics of the recipients, but little is known about the processes underlying these effects. Drawing from the elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), we examined the role of message scrutiny in moderating the congruency effect (Mann, Sherman, & Updegraff, 2004). One hundred and thirty-six undergraduate participants read either a strong or weak message promoting regular dental flossing with a frame (gain vs. loss) that either matched or mismatched their motivational orientation (approach vs. avoidance). Results showed that participants were sensitive to argument quality in the matched but not mismatched conditions. Further, argument quality moderated the effect of congruency on participants’ attitudes and perceived norms regarding flossing, as well as their subsequent self-reported flossing behavior. Results suggest that increased message scrutiny underlies message tailoring effects.     

“Boys Can Be Anything”: Effect of Barbie Play on Girls’ Career Cognitions

Play with Barbie dolls is an understudied source of gendered socialization that may convey a sexualized adult world to young girls. Early exposure to sexualized images may have unintended consequences in the form of perceived limitations on future selves. We investigated perceptions of careers girls felt they could do in the future as compared to the number of careers they felt boys could do as a function of condition (playing with a Barbie or Mrs. Potato Head doll) and type of career (male dominated or female dominated) in a sample of 37 U.S. girls aged 4–7 years old residing in the Pacific Northwest. After a randomly assigned 5-min exposure to condition, children were asked how many of ten different occupations they themselves could do in the future and how many of those occupations a boy could do. Data were analyzed with a 2?×?2?×?2 mixed factorial ANOVA. Averaged across condition, girls reported that boys could do significantly more occupations than they could themselves, especially when considering male-dominated careers. In addition, girls’ ideas about careers for themselves compared to careers for boys interacted with condition, such that girls who played with Barbie indicated that they had fewer future career options than boys, whereas girls who played with Mrs. Potato Head reported a smaller difference between future possible careers for themselves as compared to boys. Results support predictions from gender socialization and objectification theories.     

From Dead to Alive: Desire,Dissociation and Passion in the Analytic Dyad

When patients present in a deadened state, the analyst may feel a sense of futility and shame in his efforts to have impact. This may cause him to withdraw and contribute to an enactment in which both participants purge themselves of wanting anything from the other, sapping the treatment of purpose and aliveness. The author presents a model in which the analyst can reawaken his desire for recognition and connection and utilize it to introduce the patient to his or her own dissociated longings. This involves fortitude on the therapist’s part, since he must withstand the rejection that had caused him to withdraw in the first place, and also be sensitive to the patient’s fear of retraumatization. But if the analyst can do this, he can not only break through the impasse, but enliven the patient and infuse the treatment with a sense of purpose and hope.     

Service Learning in Light of Emmanuel Levinas

Emmanuel Levinas, a twentieth century French Continental philosopher, proposed an original understanding of ethics which has serious implications for the particular activities within higher education designated as service learning and community service. First I will define service learning and community service and briefly review the theoretical and philosophical justifications typically employed to substantiate and ground these activities within higher education. Next, I will explicate key aspects from Levinas’ ethical philosophy important for reconceptualizing service learning, and discuss their significance for related concerns in higher education about language and justice. Finally, in light of these considerations, I will suggest the profound implications of a Levinasian conception of service for higher education.     

Religion and pet loss: afterlife beliefs,religious coping,prayer and their associations with sorrow

This study examined the relationship between religion and sorrow among a sample of 219 owners of deceased pets (the sample was predominantly comprised of white, female, educated Christians). The results indicated that the vast majority of the participants believed that their pets’ souls reside in a better place and that they will reunite with them in the afterlife. A sizeable percentage also engaged in positive religious coping and afterlife prayers to deal with their loss. A smaller, but significant percentage engaged in negative forms of religious coping. The results also showed that sorrow was correlated with education, gender, attachment, afterlife prayers and negative religious coping. However, gender and prayer did not predict sorrow when the other variables were taken into account. Implications for counsellors are discussed.     

Differential Effects of Self-graphing on Self-monitoring of Early Literacy Outcomes in Kindergarten Students

The purpose of this study was to examine how an early literacy intervention, Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS; Mathes et al. Kindergarten peer-assisted literacy strategies (K-PALS): Sopris West, 2001), can be intensified to extend the positive outcomes to students who do not initially demonstrate an adequate response to intervention. K-PALS was intensified by incorporating a self-monitoring package that included self-graphing. An alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of K-PALS with self-graphing alone and K-PALS with a self-monitoring package to baseline/K-PALS for the purpose of increasing student performance on the early literacy measure of phonemic awareness. The results of the study indicate that while the self-monitoring package was the more effective intervention for two of the three student participants, the self-graphing alone intervention also resulted in positive outcomes for both of these participants. There was no change in the phonemic awareness performance for the third participant throughout the alternating treatment phase. Implications for intensifying academic interventions within the context of a Response to Intervention framework are discussed.