Causal attributions, perceived consequences of unemployment, and perceptions of employment prospects among adolescents in New Zealand

The present study investigated the causal attributions and perceived consequences of unemployment, as well as perceptions of employment prospects, among high school students in New Zealand. A sample of Form 4 (Grade 9) boys (M age 14.3 years) and girls (14.4 years) and a sample of Form 6 and 7 (Grades 11 and 12) boys (16.9 years) and girls (16.6 years) were tested. No sex or age differences were found in students' causal attributions about unemployment. Societal factors were judged as the most important cause for unemployment. Luck was considered the least important reason. Form 4 students placed a greater emphasis on economic consequences, whereas Form 6 and 7 students regarded social consequences as more important. The consistency in the present findings and those from studies in other countries suggests that cross-cultural similarities do exist in adolescents' perceptions of unemployment.     

The negativity bias is eliminated in older adults: age-related reduction in event-related brain potentials associated with evaluative categorization

Studies of younger adults have found that negative information has a stronger influence than positive information across a wide range of domains. T. A. Ito, J. T. Larsen, N. K. Smith, and J. T. Cacioppo (1998) reported that during evaluative categorization, extreme negative images produced greater brain activity than did equally extreme positive images in younger adults. Older adults have been reported to optimize affect and attend less to negative information. In this article, the negativity bias was examined in 20 older versus 20 younger adults during evaluative categorization, with a focus on brain activity occurring roughly 500 ms after presentation of visual stimuli. Results demonstrated a significant decrease in brain activity to both positive and negative stimuli (p < .05) and an elimination of the negativity bias in older adults.     

Predicting improvement after first-grade reading difficulties: the effects of oral language, emergent literacy, and behavior skills

This study investigated the role of early literacy and behavioral skills in predicting the improvement of children who have experienced reading difficulties in 1st grade. The progress of 146 low-income children whose reading scores in 1st grade were below the 30th percentile was examined to determine (a) how the poorest readers in 1st grade progressed in reading achievement through 4th grade and (b) which emergent literacy and behavioral skills measured in kindergarten predicted differential 4th grade outcomes. Results indicated that the divergence between children who improved and those who did not was established by the end of 2nd grade. Further, individual linguistic skills and behavioral attributes measured in kindergarten contributed substantively to this difference. Implications for intervention timing and educational policy are discussed.     

Social tuning of the self: consequences for the self-evaluations of stereotype targets

These experiments examined how social interactions with individuals who ostensibly have stereotype-relevant views affect the self-evaluations of stereotype targets. Participants believed they were going to interact, or actually interacted, with a person who ostensibly had stereotype-consistent or stereotype-inconsistent views about their social group. Consistent with shared reality theory, participants' self-evaluations (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) and behavior (Experiment 2) corresponded with the ostensible views of the other person when affiliative motivation was high. This occurred even when it was likely to be detrimental to participants' nonaffiliative outcomes (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that self-evaluative shift away from the ostensible views of another person was a function of social distance motives, also consistent with shared reality theory.     

Social tuning of automatic racial attitudes: the role of affiliative motivation

Consistent with the affiliative social tuning hypothesis, this study showed that the desire to get along with another person shifted participants' automatic attitudes toward the ostensible attitudes of that person. In Experiment 1, the automatic racial attitudes of women but not men emulated those of an experimenter displaying race-egalitarian attitudes or attitudes neutral with respect to race. Mediational analysis revealed that the gender difference in social tuning was mediated by liking for the experimenter. In Experiment 2, the likability of the experimenter was manipulated. Individuals who interacted with a likable experimenter exhibited social tuning more so than did those who interacted with a rude experimenter. These findings suggest that affiliative motives may elicit malleability of automatic attitudes independent of manipulations of social group exemplars.     

The use of the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme method in describing and comparing gestalt and rational emotive behavior therapy with adolescents

The Core Conflitual Relationship Theme (CCRT) method (Luborsky, 1977) is used to study recurrent relationship patterns in therapy and may be employed as a measure of transference as well. We found only one article in the literature in which it was applied to a mode of psychotherapy, other than psychodynamic (Turner, 1992). In addition, there are only a few articles in the literature that refer to the CCRT method with children and adolescents. In this paper, we applied the CCRT method to two videotaped individual sessions of young adolescent boys, one in gestalt therapy and the other in rational emotive behavior therapy. Results showed that both boys revealed similar core relational theme profiles, but that their respective therapists each dealt differently with these relationship conflicts. In this pilot use of the CCRT with adolescent therapy, we were able to describe relationship patterns and delineate key differences between the two treatment modalities.Stacey Agin, a gradduate student in School Psychology at New York University, submitted this paper for partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate of Psychology. Iris E. Fodor is a professor of Applied Psychology at New York University and is director of the School Psychology program. She is known for her work on integrating cognitive and gestalt therapies. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Raymond DiGiuseppe, Ph.D. Violet Oaklander, Ph.D. and Michael Bernard, Ph.D. in allowing us to utilize their videotaped psychotherapy sessions for the purposes of this study.     

An economical,humane, and effective method for short—term suppression of hand mouthing

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) is a serious health hazard, especially among individuals with severe and profound mental retardation, sometimes leading to drastic therapeutic measures. Environments in which there are long periods with minimal opportunities for constructive activity are conducive to the development of SIB, but even highly motivated, hard-working caregivers sometimes have difficulty providing sufficient personal interactions to prevent it. In this case study, one person's self-injurious hand mouthing was significantly reduced by analyzing her toy play and consistently providing her with preferred toys. The results showed that careful and consistent attention to assuring that preferred materials are available for self-entertainment may be an effective and efficient method for managing some cases of SIB during times when other activities and treatments are unavailable.