Developmental Differences in the Ability to Provide Temporal Information About Repeated Events

Children (n = 372) aged 4–8 years participated in one or four occurrences of a similar event and were interviewed 1 week later. Compared with 85% of children who participated once, less than 25% with repeated experience gave the exact number of times they participated, although all knew they participated more than once. Children with repeated experience were asked additional temporal questions, and there were clear developmental differences. Older children were more able than younger children to judge relative order and temporal position of the four occurrences. They also demonstrated improved temporal memory for the first and last relative to the middle occurrences, while younger children did so only for the first. This is the first systematic demonstration of children's memory for temporal information after a repeated event. We discuss implications for theories of temporal memory development and the practical implications of asking children to provide temporal information. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religious Orientation and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Religious Coping Among Bereaved Individuals

Religious orientation and ethnic identity inform the religious coping process, but research on this topic is scarce. The authors collected data on these constructs from a sample (N = 319) of bereaved adults. A canonical correlation analysis showed that individuals who engage in traditional spiritual practices and strive to achieve ordinary and transcendental spiritual goals are more likely to engage in positive religious coping (Wilks's Λ = .36, R_c² = .62, p < .001). Also, a multiple regression analysis revealed that individuals with higher levels of ethnic identity development are more likely to engage in positive religious coping (β = .12, t < .05). Finally, a discriminant analysis indicated that ethnic identity and a conservative religious orientation discriminated between Whites and ethnic minority individuals, Wilks's Λ = .71, χ²(4, N = 204) = 70.10, p < .001, R_c² = .26. The authors encourage counselors to strengthen their multicultural and spiritual competencies to provide effective services to a culturally and religiously diverse clientele.     

The late positive potential predicts emotion regulation strategy use in school‐aged children concurrently and two years later

The ability to use cognitive emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal may be a core component of emotional competence across development, but due to methodological challenges in measuring such strategies, they are rarely studied in young children. One neurophysiological measure, the late positive potential (LPP), has been examined in response to reappraisal as a potential neurosignature for emotion regulatory capacity in adults. The association between the LPP and emotion regulatory capacity in children is unknown. The present study examined whether the LPP during reappraisal could predict greater observed adaptive emotion regulation strategy use in school‐aged children over a two‐year period. Thirty‐two 5‐ to 7‐year‐olds participated in two identical lab visits spaced two years apart. EEG was continuously recorded during a computerized reappraisal task in which children viewed unpleasant images paired with either reappraisal or negative stories. Next they completed a disappointing and a frustrating task during which emotion regulation strategies were observed. As predicted, children who showed reappraisal‐induced reductions in the LPP at the first assessment used significantly more adaptive ER strategies concurrently and two years later. These findings provide observation‐based evidence that the LPP may be a viable neurosignature for emotion regulatory capacity in children.     

Recalling Positive Events at Work Makes Employees Feel Happier,Move More,but Interact Less: A 6-Week Randomized Controlled Intervention at a Japanese Workplace

Simple self-administered activities, such as practicing gratitude or kindness, have been shown to increase happiness, yet only self-report measures have been used so far. Our study, conducted with a Japanese workplace sample, incorporated a novel technology to gather precise behavioral data reflecting participant movement and social interactions. Employees were randomly assigned to either recount three positive events at work (a positive activity) or list work tasks they completed (control) weekly for 6 weeks; furthermore, they reported their happiness levels and wore sociometric badges that recorded their behavior. Relative to controls, participants who considered good things at work not only reported relatively greater happiness over time but moved more upon arriving to work, engaged in less social interaction, and left the office earlier. Most of the findings were moderated by participant effort, such that those who put more effort into the positive activity also showed greater changes.     

Online Module for Carrier Screening in Ashkenazi Jewish Individuals Compared with In-Person Genetics Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

To increase accessibility to genetics services for low-urgency patients seeking Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) carrier screening, we designed an interactive computer (IC) module that provides pre-test genetics education and allows genetics professionals to order the test without meeting the patients beforehand. We compared this module with in-person genetic counseling (GC) using a randomized trial. AJ individuals were randomized to undergo genetics education via the IC module (n = 26) or GC (n = 28). We compared post-interventional genetics knowledge, perceived genetic risk, and anxiety between the two groups, after accounting for pre-interventional scores, using ANCOVA. Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test was used to compare post-interventional satisfaction. Post-interventional genetics knowledge, risk perception, or anxiety were not significantly different between the two groups after accounting for baseline scores (p = 0.50–0.54), although the data are inconclusive regarding the module’s non-inferiority at a 5% margin. Post-intervention satisfaction scores were generally higher in the GC group than the IC module group. Our IC module has the potential to improve access to clinical genetics services for patients and staff, but it is not suitable for all AJ patients and cannot completely replace the benefits of in-person consultations.     

Digital disruption? Maternal mobile device use is related to infant social‐emotional functioning

Mobile device use has become increasingly prevalent, yet its impact on infant development remains largely unknown. When parents use mobile devices in front of infants, the parent is physically present but most likely distracted and unresponsive. Research using the classic Still Face Paradigm (SFP) suggests that parental withdrawal and unresponsiveness may have negative consequences for children's social‐emotional development. In the present study, 50 infants aged 7.20 to 23.60 months (M = 15.40, SD = 4.74) and their mothers completed a modified SFP. The SFP consisted of three phases: free play (FP; parent and infant play and interact), still face (SF; parent withdraws attention and becomes unresponsive), and reunion (RU; parent resumes normal interaction). The modified SFP incorporated mobile device use in the SF phase. Parents reported on their typical mobile device use and infant temperament. Consistent with the standard SFP, infants showed more negative affect and less positive affect during SF versus FP. Infants also showed more toy engagement and more engagement with mother during FP versus SF and RU. Infants showed the most social bids during SF and more room exploration in SF than RU. More frequent reported mobile device use was associated with less room exploration and positive affect during SF, and less recovery (i.e., engagement with mother, room exploration positive affect) during RU, even when controlling for individual differences in temperament. Findings suggest that the SFP represents a promising theoretical framework for understanding the impact of parent's mobile device use on infant social‐emotional functioning and parent–infant interactions.     

Mindful and Resilient? Incremental Validity of Sense of Coherence Over Mindfulness and Big Five Personality Factors for Quality of Life Outcomes

Though conceptually distinct, mindfulness and sense of coherence (SOC) are empirically related aspects that promote health and wellbeing. The present research explored uniqueness by investigating criterion validity and incremental validity beyond the Big Five personality traits when predicting psychological distress, life satisfaction, and burnout. N = 1033 participated in a cross-sectional study. We used multiple regression analysis to examine the incremental validity of mindfulness (CHIME) and SOC (SOC-13) for psychological distress (SCL-K-9), life satisfaction (SWLS), and burnout (MBI-GS scales: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, personal accomplishment). Mindfulness and SOC had incremental validity over the Big Five traits. Despite a strong overlap (45% shared variance) between mindfulness and SOC, SOC was always the stronger predictor: psychological distress (β = ?.52), life satisfaction (β = .57), emotional exhaustion (β = ?.23), cynicism (β = ?.40), and personal accomplishment (β = ?.30). For psychological distress, life satisfaction, and cynicism, SOC statistically explained almost all the criterion validity of mindfulness. The clinical utility of mindfulness for predicting psychological health appears to be of minor importance relative to SOC, regardless whether meditators or non-meditators, who differed in mindfulness, were analyzed. Western approaches to assessing mindfulness may lack crucial social and existential dimensions.     

Comparing Business School Faculty Classification for Perceptions of Student Cheating

Faculty continue to address academic dishonesty in their classes. In this follow-up to an earlier study on general perceived faculty student cheating, using a sample of business school faculty, we compared three levels of faculty classification: full-time non-tenure track (NTT, n?=?86), full-time tenured/tenure-track (TT, n?=?66), and part-time adjuncts (A, n?=?71). Results showed that NTTs perceived higher levels for three different types of student cheating, i.e., paper-based, forbidden teamwork, and hiring someone to take an exam. In addition, NTTs were more likely to report a student for cheating. NTTs reported a higher course load and average class size, and average class size was positively related to all five types of cheating measured. Given the predicted increase in NTTs across all disciplines, making sure that all faculty, (but especially NTTs), have the resources needed to deter student cheating is important. All faculty have an obligation to hold students accountable for their behavior. Individual integrity is paramount; and it is what employers expect. Regardless of the chosen field or discipline, an employer’s expectations, in terms of character, is to hire individuals who possess a level of honesty that is above reproach. Addressing cheating is an obligation that all faculty need to address purposefully. Providing resources to help faculty address cheating is critical. Resources might include conflict resolution training to provide instructors with the necessary guidance so that they can better handle these difficult situations. This is important not only for the student while in school, but also for a university/college’s reputation.