Effects of guided immune-imagery: The moderating influence of openness to experience

It is widely believed that personality has an important role in determining the effectiveness of guided imagery (GI) interventions. The primary aim of the current study was to examine whether the effect of GI on several outcome measures was dependent upon openness to experience, a theoretically relevant variable previously unexplored as a potential moderator. Thirty-five healthy participants were randomised to an animated imagery, verbal imagery or no-intervention control group, with imagery groups receiving 10 × 20 min sessions. Pre/post-assessments of cortisol, sleep, stress and creativity were administered along with the openness to experience scale. Regression analysis indicated a significant increase in cortisol and decrease in tiredness following verbal GI, but only for those high in openness. The efficacy of GI interventions may be dependent upon openness to experience and this variable should be accounted for in future studies.     

'Experiencing' Alpha: Finding and Embodying the Spirit and Being Transformed--Empowerment and Control in a ('Charismatic') Christian Worldview

This article analyses the Alpha Course, the 15-session evangelising programme designed by Holy Trinity Brompton. It argues that it is a popular form of evangelism influenced by the 'charismatic' movement, which aims to initiate participants into a particular religious 'experience'. It further argues that the course aims to stimulate participants to locate themselves, psychologically and socially, within a 'charismatic' worldview. The article aims to examine, phenomenologically, the Alpha 'experience', through an ethnographic analysis of the course and in particular its Holy Spirit weekend. The article relates Alpha to the wider beliefs and practices of the 'charismatic' movement and religious experience and assesses what it means for contemporary Christianity. It seeks to show that the initial 'experience' gained on the Alpha Course is continued within 'charismatic' experience in church meetings and services and looks at the personal empowerment and social control that may be at work.     

Sojourners’ Ineffective Sociocultural Adaptation: Paranoia as a Joint Function of Distrust toward Host Nationals and Neuroticism

The present study examines how sojourners’ paranoia mediates the negative relationship between their distrust toward host nationals and sociocultural adaptation, and how sojourners’ neuroticism moderates this mediated relationship. By conducting a two-part survey study with U.S. undergraduate students who traveled abroad for academic programs, I found that only among neurotic sojourners, distrust toward host nationals was negatively related to sociocultural adaptation, mediated by paranoia. These findings suggest that distrust-related cognition and emotion as well as neuroticism are all important predictors of sociocultural adaptation, and shed light on the inquiry regarding sojourners’ adaptation and distrust/trust.     

The Representation of Arithmetic Facts in Memory: Results from Retraining a Brain-Damaged Patient

This single case study was designed to gather evidence regarding whether the mental representations mediating multiplication fact retrieval make use of single or multiple codes. MC is a brain-damaged volunteer whose numerical processing impairments were limited to multiplication fact retrieval. He relearned three sets of multiplication facts. Each set was relearned in one of three input formats: Arabic, written verbal, or spoken verbal. Following training all facts were tested in all input formats. MC's posttraining performance was virtually error free and showed no effects of input format. However, reaction-time data showed fact retrieval was fastest when the training format matched the test format. Results are discussed in relation to single- and multiple-code models of multiplication fact retrieval.     

Coping and Psychological Distress as a Function of the Bully Victim Dichotomy in Older Children

While it has been well established that bullying and being bullied have negative psychological consequences for children, the more recent literature has suggested a more complex relationship based on social cognition. A debate has arisen as to whether bullies have deficits or strengths in social cognition. In a study of 236 children (112 males and 124 females) aged between 12 and 15 years the current research explored three main aspects of social cognition, problem-solving style, perceived control and optimism in both bullies and victims. The findings suggest that the debate may hinge on whether the bullies are also victims. In this study bullies had higher scores on problem-solving control while bully victims had the lowest scores. These variations corresponded to differences in psychological distress suggesting that bullies may have developed more effective coping strategies with the reverse being true for bully victims