Emotional behavior as an agenda in neuropsychological evaluation

In an effort to objectify neuropsychologic evaluations, consideration of a patient's emotional behavior has often been neglected. An extensive literature review is undertaken in an effort to document lateralized emotional behaviors commonly found in brain injury populations. This evidence is contrasted with the psychiatric symptoms and lateralized neuropsychologic impairments seen in major depression and schizophrenia. A theoretical model is then proposed that attempts to integrate these functional vs. organic symptoms based upon reciprocal inhibition of lateralized emotional functioning in brain injury and psychiatric disorders. This opponent process model not only seems to account for some of the discrepant findings in the literature, but additionally provides a cogent and useful marker to neurophychologically differentiate neuronal vs. metabolic disorders. The model further suggests new ways of envisioning treatment and recovery from both psychiatric illness and brain injury.     

Serial Fluctuations in Exercise Behavior as a Function of Social Support and Efficacy Cognitions1

The present study investigated the role of social support provisions and efficacy cognitions in adherence to a prescribed exercise regimen. A generalized estimating equations approach was employed to estimate regression coefficients via an iterative weighted least squares algorithm. Findings indicated that when employed as time-varying covariates, the social provisions of reassurance of worth, attachment, and, to a lesser extent, guidance were significantly associated with intraindividual fluctuations in program adherence. Specifically, individuals with a greater sense of self-worth were more likely to adhere throughout the program, whereas the effects of subject's perceptions of greater attachment, although generally related to sustained adherence, fluctuated over time. Findings also suggest that individuals perceiving higher levels of guidance were less likely to adhere during the early and concluding stages of the exercise program. Although synchronous covariation existed between efficacy cognitions and attendance, self-efficacy was not predictive of intraindividual change in attendance over time. Results are discussed in regard to the importance of self-referent processes and social provisions in exercise adherence, and the utility of the proposed generalized estimating equations approach to the analysis of longitudinal data.     

Dimensions of Trait Attributions Associated with Eyeglasses,Men's Facial Hair,and Women's Hair Length1

This research investigated the effects of men's eyeglasses and facial hair and women's eyeglasses and hair length on the traits associated with facial schemata. One hundred and thirty-five introductory psychology students rated Photo-Ident^TM composites of stimulus persons on 20 adjectival continua. A factor analysis of the scores extracted three factors: Social Value, Social Forcefulness, and Mental Competence. Eyeglasses on both the men and women were associated with attributions of diminished forcefulness and heightened competence. Men's beards were associated with lessened competence. Women's long hair was associated with decreased forcefulness. The results were interpreted in terms of the effects of the independent variables on apparent facial maturity.     

How wearing eyeglasses affects facial recognition

Two studies examine the ability to recognize previously seen persons embedded among foils. Subjects in Study I tried to identify 20 persons among 20 foils (an easy task), whereas subjects in Study II tried to identify 50 persons among 50 foils (a difficult task). There were three independent variables: the stimulus person’s eyeglasses and sex, and the subject’s depth of processing. The first two independent variables were varied by photographs of males and females with or without glasses; depth of processing was manipulated by having subjects either judge traits (deep) or describe appearance (shallow) of the stimulus persons during the initial exposure phase. Responses were scored for “hits,” and “false alarms,” and these were transformed intod’ and β indices. Generally speaking, eyeglasses hindered facial recognition; deep processing facilitated the difficult recognition task more than the easy task; and there was a same-sex advantage in recognition. Analyses of subjects’ judgments suggest that glasses lessen attractiveness and discriminability. This project was partially supported by a grant from the Faculty Development Committee, Hanover College.     

Role dissatisfaction and the decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood

In the examination of role dissatisfaction and decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood, it is postulated that 1) there would be a decline in the mean level of marital quality particularly among females, and 2) that the level of perceived inequity in postpartum allocation of marital roles would moderate the effects of the transition. A background review of pertinent literature pertaining to role dissatisfaction is presented, and found to be complex. Role inequity was measured as the level of dissatisfaction with a partner's contribution to a range of different role activities postpartum. The Australian sample was comprised of 59 primiparous couples who reported levels of marital satisfaction during the last trimester of pregnancy (Time 1) and then 3 months after the birth of the baby (Time 2). Couples were recruited from a variety of sources: private physicians, childbirth classes, and public hospitals. Average marriage duration was 3.5 years. Mean female age was 23.85 years and mean male age was 26.71 years. Most had completed at least 12 years of formal education. Marital quality was measured by a 32 item Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) comprised of units on dyadic satisfaction, consensus, cohesion, and affectional expression. Time 1 mean correlation of subscales was .43, and Time 2, .36. Dissatisfaction with partner's role performance was measured with an instrument of 18 items developed by Noller and Callan. Alpha coefficients were .69 and .71 for males and females respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess marital quality scores by sex and time period and changes in marital quality due to level of postnatal role dissatisfaction by sex and time period. The Bonferronni procedure was used to control the Type 1 error rate for all analyses after the initial analysis of variance. The results revealed that the decline in marital quality reported in the literature may be a reflection of a decline in affectional expression. There was no support for the expectation that females experienced greater declines in marital quality than males, although it is possible that those experiencing greater dissatisfaction may not have provided followup data. There was support for the notion that females' levels of role dissatisfaction account for declines in marital quality; i.e., there was a decline in scores of affectional expression of women only who were also dissatisfied with a partner's role performance. When females perceived partner's performing a fair share in household tasks, marital quality increased. Future research on causation should explore the inequity model and use an objective measure of 1 or both variables. The link between role relations to the extent of change in new mothers' levels of marital quality suggests prenatal counseling on marital roles. Role inequity had no effect on male levels of decline in marital quality. Independent processes may account for these results, but there is a promising direction.     

The reentry female student in marriage and family training

The challenges of feminist family therapists of gender bias in family therapy training and practice models need to be considered in relation to the predominance of reentry women in masters degree programs in marriage and family therapy. This article describes a developmental training model that incorporates feminist-informed values into curriculum, program policies, instructional strategies, and program structure. The model builds on the assumption that gender-associated behaviors of both sexes have contextually determined value. Training for the appropriate application of gender-associated behaviors rather than for their inclusion or exclusion can increase female reentry student flexibility and self-confidence.     

Believing in change: The role of implicit theory on consumer's perception of the brand's corporate social responsibility message

With the sustainable consumption paradigms, corporate social responsibilities (CSR) across industries have been under scrutiny. However, little research exists on how brand's business model and consumers' characteristics are intertwined to influence CSR evaluation. Our study aims to examine how the brand type (e.g., fast vs. slow business model) influences the relationships among CSR-brand fit, authenticity, and skepticism, thus improving attitudes toward the brand. In addition, based on the implicit theory, how the consumer's incremental mindset (vs. entity) influences a brand's CSR evaluations are studied. Through two studies, our findings demonstrate consumers perceived a higher CSR-brand fit for the slow fashion/food brand than the fast fashion/food brand. A higher CSR-brand fit heightened the CSR authenticity and alleviated skepticism, which in turn resulted in positive brand evaluations. Importantly, incremental mindsets weakened the effect of brand type on CSR-brand fit. As one of the first studies to examine the relationship between consumers' implicit theory orientation and a brand's CSR message, our findings demonstrate that an incremental mindset is a powerful consumer characteristic in evaluating a brand's CSR activities that are less congruent with the brand's established business model.     

Where “culture wars” and therapy meet: Exploring the intersection between political issues and therapeutic practice

In the era of “culture wars,” instances where client and practitioner discuss political issues in therapy may become more frequent. This paper introduces the way in which “culture wars” manifest in today's societies and highlights the importance of therapeutic practitioners to engage with and explore their own views in relation to these polarising political debates. In doing so, this paper reflects upon the existing research focussing on the way in which “culture wars” enter the therapeutic encounter and highlights the feelings of anxiety and conflict that arise when practitioners are tasked with “talking politics” with clients. It considers the implications for practice and policy and concludes with recommendations for future scholarship, arguing for more culturally specific studies that examine how “culture wars” issues impact therapeutic work in a variety of international settings.     

A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach to Pooled Interrupted Time Series Analyses

This paper presents a latent variable approach for the estimation of treatment effects within a pooled interrupted time series (ITS) design. Although considered quasi-experimental, the ITS design has been noted as representing one of the strongest alternatives to the randomized experiment, making it highly appropriate for use in documenting the presence of effects that might warrant further evaluation in a large-scale randomized study. Results suggest that the latent variable growth modeling (LGM) is capable of detecting simultaneous differences in both level and slope, and provides tests of significance for these two necessary indicators of an ITS intervention effect. As shown in the analyses, the LGM framework provides a comprehensive and flexible approach to research design and data analysis, making available to a wide audience of researchers an analytical framework for a variety of analyses of growth and developmental processes.