Self-directed affiliation and autonomy across acute and continuation phase cognitive therapy for recurrent depression

Using Benjamin's (2000) Structural Analysis of Social Behavior, we evaluated change in "self-directed" affiliation and autonomy and prediction of treatment response and relapse/recurrence among adult outpatients with recurrent major depressive disorder consenting to acute phase cognitive therapy (A-CT; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; N=156); A-CT responders randomized (N=84) to 8 months of continuation phase cognitive therapy (C-CT; Jarrett, 1989; Jarrett et al., 1998; Jarrett & Kraft, 1997) or assessment-only control; and C-CT and control patients entering a 16-month, assessment-only follow-up (N=74). Self-directed affiliation and autonomy increased after A-CT, and C-CT further increased affiliation and autonomy. Affiliation and autonomy did not predict A-CT response, but lower affiliation and higher autonomy pre-A-CT predicted relapse/recurrence post-A-CT. We discuss potential clinical implications of these results and present case examples to illustrate patterns of change.     

Objectivity in the eye of the beholder: divergent perceptions of bias in self versus others

Important asymmetries between self-perception and social perception arise from the simple fact that other people's actions, judgments, and priorities sometimes differ from one's own. This leads people not only to make more dispositional inferences about others than about themselves (E. E. Jones & R. E. Nisbett, 1972) but also to see others as more susceptible to a host of cognitive and motivational biases. Although this blind spot regarding one's own biases may serve familiar self-enhancement motives, it is also a product of the phenomenological stance of naive realism. It is exacerbated, furthermore, by people's tendency to attach greater credence to their own introspections about potential influences on judgment and behavior than they attach to similar introspections by others. The authors review evidence, new and old, of this asymmetry and its underlying causes and discuss its relation to other psychological phenomena and to interpersonal and intergroup conflict.     

Detection of counter-changing contrast: second-order apparent motion without postrectification motion-energy analysis or salience mapping/feature tracking

The perception of 2nd-order, texture-contrast-defined motion was studied for apparent-motion stimuli composed of a pair of spatially displaced, simultaneously visible checkerboards. It was found that background-relative, counter-changing contrast provided the informational basis for the perception of 2nd-order apparent motion; motion began where contrast changed toward the contrast value of the background checkerboard and ended where contrast changed away from the background value. The perceived apparent motion was not attributable to either postrectification motion-energy analysis or salience-mapping/feature-tracking mechanisms. Parallel results for 1st-order, luminance-defined motion (H. S. Hock, L. A. Gilroy, & G. Harnett, 2002) suggest that counter-changing activation provides a common basis for the perception of both luminance- and texture-contrast-defined apparent motion.     

Challenge point: a framework for conceptualizing the effects of various practice conditions in motor learning

The authors describe the effects of practice conditions in motor learning (e.g., contextual interference, knowledge of results) within the constraints of 2 experimental variables: skill level and task difficulty. They use a research framework to conceptualize the interaction of those variables on the basis of concepts from information theory and information processing. The fundamental idea is that motor tasks represent different challenges for performers of different abilities. The authors propose that learning is related to the information arising from performance, which should be optimized along functions relating the difficulty of the task to the skill level of the performer. Specific testable hypotheses arising from the framework are also described.     

A six-factor structure of personality-descriptive adjectives: solutions from psycholexical studies in seven languages

Standard psycholexical studies of personality structure have produced a similar 6-factor solution in 7 languages (Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Polish). The authors report the content of these personality dimensions and interpret them as follows: (a) a variant of Extraversion, defined by sociability and liveliness (though not by bravery and toughness); (b) a variant of Agreeableness, defined by gentleness, patience, and agreeableness (but also including anger and ill temper at its negative pole); (c) Conscientiousness (emphasizing organization and discipline rather than moral conscience); (d) Emotionality (containing anxiety, vulnerability, sentimentality, lack of bravery, and lack of toughness, but not anger or ill temper); (e) Honesty-Humility; (f) Intellect/Imagination/Unconventionality. A potential reorganization of the Big Five factor structure is discussed.     

How are social identities linked to self-conception and intergroup orientation? The moderating effect of implicit theories

Social identity approaches assume that social identification affects both self-conception and intergroup orientation. The authors contend that such social identification effects are accentuated when people hold a fixed view of human character and attribute immutable dispositions to social groups. To these individuals, social identities are immutable, concrete entities capable of guiding self-conception and intergroup orientation. Social identification effects are attenuated when people hold a malleable view of human character and thus do not view social identities as fixed, concrete entities. The authors tested and found support for this contention in three studies that were conducted in the context of the Hong Kong 1997 political transition, and discussed the findings in terms of their implications for self-conceptions and the meaning of social identification.     

A methodology for describing and decomposing complex psychosocial and behavioral interventions

This article presents a comprehensive conceptual framework and methodology for characterizing multidimensional psychosocial and behavioral interventions for family caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease. The methodology involved conducting a detailed task analysis of the interventions, and the application of the analytical hierarchy process. The authors were able to achieve high levels of consistency and reliability using this methodology to decompose and describe the interventions according to a complex conceptual framework comprising 3 dimensions: target domain, functional domain, and delivery system characteristics. Application of this methodology will enhance the ability to describe and measure interventions consistently, make comparisons across studies, isolate causal factors that achieve desired outcomes, and more generally elevate the science of psychosocial intervention research.     

Effects of experience on fetal voice recognition

Abstract - The ability of human fetuses to recognize their own mother's voice was examined. Sixty term fetuses were assigned to one of two conditions during which they were exposed to a tape recording of their mother or a female stranger reading a passage. Voice stimuli were delivered through a loudspeaker held approximately 10 cm above the maternal abdomen and played at an average of 95 dB SPL. Each condition consisted of three 2-min periods: no stimulus, voice (mother or stranger), and no stimulus. Fetal heart rate increased in response to the mother's voice and decreased in response to the stranger's; both responses were sustained for 4 min. The finding of differential behavior in response to a familiar versus a novel voice provides evidence that experience influences fetal voice processing. It supports an epigenetic model of speech perception, presuming an interaction between genetic expression of neural development and species-specific experience.     

Interpersonal problems,personality pathology,and social adjustment after cognitive therapy for depression

The authors examined the level and structure of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex version (IIP-C; L. M. Horowitz, L. E. Alden, J. S. Wiggins, & A. L. Pincus, 2000) before and after 20 sessions of acute-phase cognitive therapy for depression (N = 118), as well as associations with the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (L. A. Clark, 1993b) and the Social Adjustment Scale--Self-Report version (M. M. Weissman & S. Bothwell, 1976). Interpersonal problems had a 3-factor structure (Interpersonal Distress, Love, and Dominance), with the latter 2 factors approximating a circumplex, both before and after therapy. Interpersonal Distress decreased and social adjustment increased with therapy, but the Love and Dominance dimensions were relatively stable, similar to personality constructs. Social adjustment related negatively to Interpersonal Distress but not to Love or Dominance. Personality pathology related broadly to Interpersonal Distress and discriminantly to Love and Dominance. These findings support the reliability and validity of the IIP-C and are discussed in the context of personality theory and measurement.