Children's understanding of physical illnesses and psychological states

Abstract

The present study set out to compare 5.7, and 9-year-old children's understanding of a physical illness (chicken pox) with their understanding of a psychological state (depression). In addition, information about personal experience of the illnesses and external sources of information was elicited, in order to assess the effects of both age and experience. Children at all ages showed a basic intact knowledge of both chicken pox and depression, although older children had a more sophisticated understanding of depression, and had acquired this knowledge from a greater number of sources. The clinical implications of the findings, and their relationship to both neo-Piagetian and more recent theories of conceptual development in childhood are discussed.     

Influence of Demographics on Computerized Cognitive Testing in a Military Sample

Computerized cognitive testing with software programs such as the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) have long been used to assess cognition in military samples. This study describes demographic influences on computerized testing performance in a large active duty military sample (n = 2366). Performance differences between men and women were minimal on most ANAM subtests, but there was a clear speed/accuracy trade-off, with men favoring speed and women favoring accuracy on the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) subtest. As expected, reaction time increased with age on most subtests, with the exception of Mathematical Processing Test (MTH). Higher education resulted in significant but minimal performance increases on Code Substitution (CDS), Matching to Sample (MSP), and Memory Search (STN) subtests. In contrast, substantial performance differences were seen between education groups on the MTH subtest. These data reveal that it is important to consider demographic factors, particularly age, when using ANAM to draw conclusions about military samples. These results also point to the importance of exploring demographic influences for all reaction time–based computerized assessment batteries.     

Stress and Chronic Illness: the Case of Diabetes

Globally, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most prevalent chronic illnesses. Managing T2DM is a major challenge now affecting the lives of around 200 million people. Even when medication, diet, and physical activity regimens are maintained, blood sugar levels might not be effectively controlled because stress triggers the release of sugar into the blood. This makes the management of stress an important adjunct to the treatment of T2DM. Stress includes both life stress, the major issues that people face in their lives, such as job loss, divorce, or death of a loved one, and daily hassles, smaller everyday problems, such as deadlines for work, traffic hold-ups, or family disagreements. The stress levels created by these events are exacerbated by the stress created by the demands of managing diabetes. In this paper, we first examine the evidence for the relationship between stress and poor blood sugar control in people with T2DM. Then, we consider research that has examined the impact of various stress management strategies on blood sugar level. Finally, we discuss some promising psychological techniques for managing stress that could be helpful for people with diabetes or pre-diabetes. We note the double benefit of physical activity, which directly assists in the metabolism of sugar from the blood and indirectly reduces acute stress and chronic stress reactivity, thus providing a buffer against the effects of stress for people with T2DM.     

a review of career flow: a hope‐centered approach to career development

Spencer G. Niles, Norman E. Amundson, and Roberta A. Neault. (2011). Career Flow: A Hope‐Centered Approach to Career Development. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall. 264 pages, $32.00 List, ISBN 978–0132241908.     

IRIS MURDOCH AND THE BORDERS OF ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY

Iris Murdoch's philosophical texts depart significantly from familiar analytic discursive norms. (Such as the norms concerning argument structure and the minimization of rhetoric.) This may lead us to adopt one of two strategies. On the one hand an assimilation strategy that involves translation of Murdoch's claims into the more familiar terms of property‐realism (the terminology of ethical naturalism and non‐naturalism). On the other hand, there is the option of adopting a crossover strategy and reading Murdoch as (in some sense) a philosopher who belongs more properly to the continental tradition. The following article argues that if familiar Quinean claims about ontological commitment and Murdoch's account of metaphor are both broadly correct then the assimilation strategy must fail to produce a faithful translation. Nonetheless, Murdoch's connection to the analytic tradition is more than genealogical, it is more than a matter of her writing (initially) in response to analytic contemporaries before branching off in a more continental direction. While she departs from familiar analytic discursive norms, she continues to accept most of the epistemic values (such as clarity and simplicity) that the norms embody.     

Assessing Workgroup Norms for Civility: The Development of the Civility Norms Questionnaire-Brief

Purpose

This research describes the development and validation of the Civility Norms Questionnaire-Brief (CNQ-B), a 4-item measure designed to assess workgroup climate for civility. Climate for civility is defined as employee perceptions of norms supporting respectful treatment among workgroup members.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Five samples (N?=?2,711) of adult employees, including two from distinct organizations and three from multiple organizations, responded to the CNQ-B and additional measures.

Findings

Evidence for the internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity of the CNQ-B was observed. Additionally, evidence for the criterion-related and incremental validity of the CNQ-B was demonstrated as it was a significant predictor of later-assessed incivility experiences and accounted for significant variability in work attitudes beyond incivility experiences and related measures.

Implications

The CNQ-B is a psychometrically sound instrument despite being composed of only four items. The CNQ-B can be used by researchers and practitioners alike to assess climate for civility, to study climate for civility as a precursor to incivility experiences, and to target workgroups that could benefit from interventions (e.g., training) to enhance civility and reduce incivility.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to conduct a rigorous psychometric assessment of a measure of workgroup climate for civility that is grounded in theory and research on workplace civility and incivility. At four items, the CNQ-B is the shortest assessment tool currently available that is designed for this purpose.