Relation of birth weight, maternal intelligence and mother–child interactions to cognitive and play competence of Jamaican two-year old children

The present study assessed whether birth weight, maternal child rearing behaviors, and maternal intelligence combine in an additive or in a non-linear interactive fashion to influence cognitive performance in a sample of 24-month old full-term appropriate and low birth weight Jamaican children. Child cognitive performance was measured using the Griffiths Scale and a laboratory based assessment of the amount of time the child utilized different levels of play behavior. Mothers were videotaped while playing with their children under different instructional conditions and videotapes were coded for 8 maternal interaction patterns. Maternal verbal intelligence was assessed using the PPVT. Results supported the operation of both additive co-action as well as non-linear interactive processes. Birth weight, maternal behaviors toward her child and maternal intelligence predicted child cognitive performance. In addition, low birth weight infants were either less sensitive to facilitative aspects of maternal behaviors and/or more sensitive to maternal inhibitory behaviors than were appropriate birth weight infants. Further, child rearing behaviors of more intelligent mothers were a stronger influence on their child's cognitive performance than those of less intelligent mothers, even when there were no differences in the level of behaviors of more or less intelligent mothers.     

Delay of gratification and delay maintenance by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

The authors tested the self-control of rhesus macaques by assessing if they could refrain from reaching into a food container to maximize the accumulation of sequentially delivered food items (a delay-maintenance task). Three different versions of the task varied the quantity and quality of available food items. In the first 2 versions, food items accumulated across the length of the trial until a monkey consumed the items. In the 3rd task, a single less-preferred food item preceded a single more-preferred food item. Some monkeys delayed gratification even with relatively long delays between deliveries of items. However, the data suggested that self-control, in the majority of tested individuals, was not significantly different across different task versions and that self-control by macaques was not as prevalent in these tasks as it is in chimpanzees and human children.     

Autonomic correlates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder in preschool children

Numerous studies have revealed autonomic underarousal in conduct-disordered adolescents and antisocial adults. It is unknown, however, whether similar autonomic markers are present in at-risk preschoolers. In this study, the authors compared autonomic profiles of 4- to 6-year-old children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD; n = 18) with those of age-matched controls (n = 20). Children with ADHD and ODD exhibited fewer electrodermal responses and lengthened cardiac preejection periods at baseline and during reward. Although group differences were not found in baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate changes among ADHD and ODD participants were mediated exclusively by parasympathetic withdrawal, with no independent sympathetic contribution. Heart rate changes among controls were mediated by both autonomic branches. These results suggest that at-risk preschoolers are autonomically similar to older externalizing children.     

Implementation intentions, perfectionism, and goal progress: perhaps the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Two studies explored whether perfectionism moderates the impact of implementation intentions on goal progress. Study 1 used an implementation intention manipulation to examine the effects of these plans in interaction with perfectionism on the progress of New Year's resolutions. Study 2 added a repeated implementation intention condition and monitored affect and monthly goal progress. The results of both studies revealed a significant backfire effect of the implementation intentions on goal progress for participants high on a particular dimension of perfectionism (socially prescribed perfectionism). These perfectionists reported doing significantly worse at reaching their personal goals when they were asked to formulate implementation intentions than when they completed a control exercise. There also was evidence that implementation planning aroused negative affect for socially prescribed perfectionists. These results are the first to suggest that implementation planning may be contra-indicated for individuals with self-critical tendencies.     

From monologue to dialogue: a transition in psychoanalytic practice

During the latter part of the twentieth century, psychoanalysts of various stripes espoused the move from free association and neutrality to various forms of intersubjectivity and dialogue. This shift is studied from the vantage point of conversational rules in terms of the shift from monologue to dialogue, using the concepts of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. Viewing the data of analysis in this manner offers a means of evaluating the contributions of both monologue and dialogue to our understanding of the conduct of an analysis and the kind of information that can be expected to emerge. Exclusive devotion to either stance, it is argued, renders less understanding than would emerge from a balanced use of both.     

Attaining personal goals: self-concordance plus implementation intentions equals success

The present article includes separate meta-analyses showing that self-concordance and implementation intentions are significantly positively associated with goal progress. Study 1 confirmed the positive relations of both self-concordance and implementation intentions to weekend goal progress. Study 2 confirmed the positive relation of self-concordance with monthly progress on New Year's resolutions but failed to find a direct benefit for implementation intentions. Both studies, however, obtained a significant interaction effect indicating that goal self-concordance and implementation intentions combined synergistically to facilitate goal progress. The article also reports a meta-analysis and results from the 2 studies that demonstrated that goal progress was associated with improved affect over time.