Contextual Variation in Automatic Evaluative Bias to Racially-Ambiguous Faces

Three studies examined the implicit evaluative associations activated by racially-ambiguous Black-White faces. In the context of both Black and White faces, Study 1 revealed a graded pattern of bias against racially-ambiguous faces that was weaker than the bias to Black faces but stronger than that to White faces. Study 2 showed that significant bias was present when racially-ambiguous faces appeared in the context of only White faces, but not in the context of only Black faces. Study 3 demonstrated that context produces perceptual contrast effects on racial-prototypicality judgments. Racially-ambiguous faces were perceived as more prototypically Black in a White-only than mixed-race context, and less prototypically Black in a Black-only context. Conversely, they were seen as more prototypically White in a Black-only than mixed context, and less prototypically White in a White-only context. The studies suggest that both race-related featural properties within a face (i.e., racial ambiguity) and external contextual factors affect automatic evaluative associations.     

Cross-language intrusion errors in aging bilinguals reveal the link between executive control and language selection

Bilinguals outperform monolinguals on measures of executive control, but it is not known how bilingualism introduces these advantages. To address this question, we investigated whether language-control failures increase with aging-related declines in executive control. Eighteen younger and 18 older Spanish-English bilinguals completed a verbal-fluency task, in which they produced words in 18 categories (9 in each language), and a flanker task. Performance on both tasks exhibited robust effects of aging, but cross-language and within-language errors on the verbal-fluency task differed in a number of ways. Within-language errors occurred relatively often and decreased with higher levels of education in both younger and older bilinguals. In contrast, cross-language intrusions (e.g., inadvertently saying an English word on a Spanish-language trial) were rarely produced, were not associated with education level, and were strongly associated with flanker-task errors in older but not younger bilinguals. These results imply that executive control plays a role in maintaining language selection, but they also suggest the presence of independent forces that prevent language-selection errors.     

Further evaluation of response interruption and redirection as treatment for stereotypy

The effects of 2 forms of response interruption and redirection (RIRD)-motor RIRD and vocal RIRD-were examined with 4 boys with autism to evaluate further the effects of this intervention and its potential underlying mechanisms. In Experiment 1, the effects of motor RIRD and vocal RIRD on vocal stereotypy and appropriate vocalizations were compared for 2 participants. In Experiment 2, the effects of both RIRD procedures on both vocal and motor stereotypy and appropriate vocalizations were compared with 2 additional participants. Results suggested that RIRD was effective regardless of the procedural variation or topography of stereotypy and that vocal RIRD functioned as a punisher. This mechanism was further explored with 1 participant by manipulating the schedule of RIRD in Experiment 3. Results were consistent with the punishment interpretation.     

A review of recent studies on differential reinforcement during skill acquisition in early intervention

Although the use of differential reinforcement has been recommended in previous investigations and in early intervention curriculum manuals, few studies have evaluated the best method for providing differential reinforcement to maximize independent responding. This paper reviews previous research on the effectiveness of differential reinforcement as treatment and describes important areas of future research.     

Recent research on emergent verbal behavior: clinical applications and future directions

This paper describes recent studies that have evaluated the functional independence of verbal operants. Procedures that facilitate the emergence of untrained verbal operants and important areas of future research to increase efficiency of language programs for children diagnosed with developmental disabilities are discussed.     

Comparison of task interspersal ratios on efficiency of learning and problem behavior for children with autism spectrum disorder

The current study extends the literature on task interspersal (TI) by comparing the effects of four different TI ratios on the efficiency of skill acquisition and on levels of problem behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder and related disorders. The four ratios of TI were 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 0:1 mastered‐to‐acquisition tasks. An adapted alternating treatments design was implemented to compare the cumulative number of stimuli mastered, mean training time to mastery, rate of acquisition, and the level of problem behavior. The results showed that the 0:1 condition was the most efficient intervention procedure for all four participants. In addition, TI did not lead to a greater reduction in levels of problem behavior.     

Reducing contingent self-worth: A defensive response to self-threats

Previous research shows that people with high self-esteem cope with threats to the self by reducing the extent to which their self-worth is contingent on the threatened domain (Buckingham, Weber, & Sypher, 2012). The present studies tested the hypothesis that this is a defensive process. In support of this hypothesis, Study 1 (N = 160), showed that self-affirmation attenuates the tendency for people with high self-esteem to reduce their contingencies of self-worth following self-threat. Furthermore, Study 2 (N = 286), showed that this tendency was more prevalent among people with defensive self-esteem than among those with secure self-esteem. The present studies imply that reducing contingent self-worth after self-threat is a defensive process. We discuss implications for theories of contingent self-worth.     

Exercise modulates the interaction between cognition and anxiety in humans

Despite interest in exercise as a treatment for anxiety disorders the mechanism behind the anxiolytic effects of exercise is unclear. Two observations motivate the present work. First, engagement of attention control during increased working memory (WM) load can decrease anxiety. Second, exercise can improve attention control. Therefore, exercise could boost the anxiolytic effects of increased WM load via its strengthening of attention control. Anxiety was induced by threat of shock and was quantified with anxiety-potentiated startle (APS). Thirty-five healthy volunteers (19 male, age M?=?26.11, SD ?=?5.52) participated in two types of activity, exercise (biking at 60–70% of heart rate reserve) and control-activity (biking at 10–20% of heart rate reserve). After each activity, participants completed a WM task (n-back) at low- and high-load during safe and threat. Results were not consistent with the hypothesis: exercise vs. control-activity increased APS in high-load (p?=?.03). However, this increased APS was not accompanied with threat-induced impairment in WM performance (p?=?.37). Facilitation of both task-relevant stimulus processing and task-irrelevant threat processing, concurrent with prevention of threat interference on cognition, suggests that exercise increases cognitive ability. Future studies should explore how exercise affects the interplay of cognition and anxiety in patients with anxiety disorders.     

Multicultural Counseling: A 10‐Year Content Analysis of the Journal of Counseling & Development

The emphasis on multicultural counseling during the past 20 years has influenced the increase in scholarly publications on this topic. The authors report the findings of a content analysis of 102 multicultural‐centered articles. Journal of Counseling & Development issues spanning 1990–2001 were evaluated. Findings are reported for methodology, populations discussed, applied settings, and authors' roles and institutional affiliations. Findings indicate that there has been an increase of multicultural‐focused publications since 1990 and that publications are more exploratory and developmental rather than pathology‐oriented.