Dietary restraint in college women: Fear of an imperfect fat self is stronger than hope of a perfect thin self

We predicted that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a hoped-for thin self would mediate perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the perceived likelihood of acquiring a feared fat self would mediate perfectionistic concerns on dietary restraint. We also predicted that the mediation pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint would have a greater impact than that from perfectionistic strivings. Participants were 222 female college students who reported their height and weight and completed measures of perfectionism, the likelihood of acquiring the feared fat and hoped-for thin selves, and dietary restraint. Statistical analyses revealed that the perceived likelihood of acquiring the feared fat self mediated both perfectionistic concerns and perfectionistic strivings on dietary restraint, and that the mediating pathway from perfectionistic concerns to dietary restraint was greater than that from perfectionistic strivings. Implications for future research and eating pathology interventions are discussed.     

Why is conversation so easy?

Traditional accounts of language processing suggest that monologue--presenting and listening to speeches--should be more straightforward than dialogue--holding a conversation. This is clearly not the case. We argue that conversation is easy because of an interactive processing mechanism that leads to the alignment of linguistic representations between partners. Interactive alignment occurs via automatic alignment channels that are functionally similar to the automatic links between perception and behaviour (the so-called perception-behaviour expressway) proposed in recent accounts of social interaction. We conclude that humans are "designed" for dialogue rather than monologue.     

FOXP2 in focus: what can genes tell us about speech and language?

The human capacity for acquiring speech and language must derive, at least in part, from the genome. In 2001, a study described the first case of a gene, FOXP2, which is thought to be implicated in our ability to acquire spoken language. In the present article, we discuss how this gene was discovered, what it might do, how it relates to other genes, and what it could tell us about the nature of speech and language development. We explain how FOXP2 could, without being specific to the brain or to our own species, still provide an invaluable entry-point into understanding the genetic cascades and neural pathways that contribute to our capacity for speech and language.     

Reflections from a damaged discipline: Adorno,religious radio,and the critique of historical reason

The Psychological Techniques of Martin Luther Thomas' Radio Addresses (Adorno, 2000) echoes Adorno's analogous critique of the culture industry by detecting an ideological effect, prior to any given content, intrinsic to the form of radio religion. Notwithstanding the text's narrowness, I argue that Adorno's analysis of Thomas' ‘fait accompli technique’—presenting claims as previously established certainties—was both typical of his work and insightful for issues in cultural criticism. First, it refused subjectivist reductions of sociological effects to false consciousness. Second, it warned that historicism runs the risk of repeating the fait accompli when it treats what exists empirically as the only possible reality, or when it treats empirical givens as representatives of a future redemption. I argue that Adorno's dismissal of religious radio was consistent with his critique of positivism, and that the Thomas study models an historicist methodology that refuses, against its own logic, to reduce otherness to its own categories.     

Academic Self-concept and Educational Attainment Level: A Ten-year Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to test children's academic self-concept, family socioeconomic status, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family) and academic achievement in elementary school as predictors of children's educational attainment level in young adulthood within a ten-year longitudinal design. Participants (254 girls, 211 boys) were three cohorts of students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 from ten elementary schools. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that academic self-concept predicted educational attainment level ten years later over and above prior achievement. Moreover, this pattern of results was invariant across cohorts. In addition, regression analyses based on a restricted sample (n?=?243) indicated that the academic self-concept/educational attainment level relation was still significant while controlling for family SES, family structure (single parent vs. two parent family), and academic achievement. Discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical implications of the results.     

Altruistic Discourse in the Informed Consent Process for Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials

Scholars have debated the role that altruistic considerations play—and should play—in recruitment and decision-making processes for clinical trials. Little empirical data are available to support their various perspectives. We analyzed 140 audiotaped pediatric informed consent sessions, of which 95 (68%) included at least one discussion of how participation in a cancer clinical trial might benefit: 1) the pursuit of scientific knowledge generally; 2) other children with cancer specifically; and 3) “the future” and other vaguely defined recipients. Clinicians initiated most (80%) of these discussions of altruism. The enrollment rate of children in the clinical trial was high (83%) overall, but not higher among children whose parents were involved in an altruism-oriented discussion. These findings suggest that: (1) clinicians invoke a spectrum of altruistic considerations rather than a single monothematic notion of altruism, and (2) the effect of altruistic considerations on subsequent enrollment decisions is marginal. While further research on this topic is warranted, bioethical debate should strive to reflect the diversity of altruistic discourse in clinical research encounters and to place this discourse in the context of other, including nonaltruistic, considerations.     

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Arab-American Women Regarding Inherited Cancer Risk

The increasing incidence of breast cancer in the Arab world, coupled with a relatively early age of onset, raises concern for the presence of hereditary risk factors in this population. However, due to potential structural and cultural barriers, Arab Americans make up the smallest percentage of individuals tested for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome in the United States. The objectives of this qualitative pilot focus group of 13 Arab-American women were to explore attitudes, knowledge and beliefs regarding hereditary breast cancer in the Arab-American community in metropolitan Detroit, identify barriers that would prevent women from seeking hereditary cancer screening/testing and determine who women would talk to about inherited cancer. Results indicated that cultural beliefs and personal experiences with cancer influenced the women’s perspectives on hereditary cancer risk. A high level of secrecy about cancer within Arab-American families was present, which may prevent accurate risk assessment and referral for genetic services. Other identified barriers that may influence hereditary risk assessment included stigma, fears and misconceptions of cancer. While these barriers were present, participants also expressed a strong need for education and tailored cancer risk information for their community.     

Relative Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Administered by Videoconference for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Six-Month Follow-Up

Until recently, only one study was published on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individual therapy via videoconference (Germain, Marchand, Bouchard, Drouin, & Guay, 2009 Germain, V., Marchand, A., Bouchard, S., Drouin, M. S. and Guay, S. 2009. Effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy administered by videoconference for posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 38: 42–53. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]); however, it only assessed the posttreatment effect. This study presents the follow-up of Germain et al.'s (2009 Germain, V., Marchand, A., Bouchard, S., Drouin, M. S. and Guay, S. 2009. Effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy administered by videoconference for posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 38: 42–53. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) study. The main goal was to compare the effectiveness after six months of CBT for PTSD either face-to-face (n = 24) or by videoconference (n = 12). Each participant received CBT for 16 to 25 weeks and completed various questionnaires before and after treatment and at a six-month follow-up. The two treatments had equivalent levels of symptom reduction (Modified PTSD Symptom Scale: η² < 0.01, p > .05) and proportion of patients with a clinically significant change in symptoms (42% for face-to-face vs. 38% for videoconferencing, p > .05). Thus, CBT for PTSD via videoconference seems to be a viable alternative when adequate face-to-face treatments are less available.     

Gaze Perception Triggers Reflexive Visuospatial Orienting

This paper seeks to bring together two previously separate research traditions: research on spatial orienting within the visual cueing paradigm and research into social cognition, addressing our tendency to attend in the direction that another person looks. Cueing methodologies from mainstream attention research were adapted to test the automaticity of orienting in the direction of seen gaze. Three studies manipulated the direction of gaze in a computerized face, which appeared centrally in a frontal view during a peripheral letter-discrimination task. Experiments 1 and 2 found faster discrimination of peripheral target letters on the side the computerized face gazed towards, even though the seen gaze did not predict target side, and despite participants being asked to ignore the face. This suggests reflexive covert and/or overt orienting in the direction of seen gaze, arising even when the observer has no motivation to orient in this way. Experiment 3 found faster letter discrimination on the side the computerized face gazed towards even when participants knew that target letters were four times as likely on the opposite side. This suggests that orienting can arise in the direction of seen gaze even when counter to intentions. The experiments illustrate that methods from mainstream attention research can be usefully applied to social cognition, and that studies of spatial attention may profit from considering its social function.