Pro-criminal attitudes,intervention, and recidivism

We review the recent research literature on pro-criminal attitudes (PCAs) as a causal factor of recidivism with a focus on studies on the effectiveness of offender treatment programs targeting PCAs to prevent recidivism. The main conclusions that can be derived from the literature are: (1) the evidence supports the hypothesis that PCAs are related to reoffending; (2) most investigated offender treatment programs tend to reduce PCAs, although the general lack of adequate control group designs does not rule out alternative explanations for this reduction; and (3) there is no conclusive empirical evidence that intervention programs designed to reduce PCAs are effective in reducing recidivism. Empirical research in this area lacks the theoretical and methodological rigor to test causal models of the influence of treatment on reducing PCAs, and effects of PCAs on recidivism. Limitations of the empirical evidence are related to inadequate research designs and/or suboptimal data analysis strategies. Recommendations concerning optimized research designs and data analysis strategies that are likely to provide more conclusive evidence on the relation of PCAs, PCA treatment, and recidivism are given.     

Comments on 'the case of Melanie' and the reaction of Eduardo Gastelumendi

Following an attempt to connect the theory of archetypes with the theory of primal phantasies, the commentary refers to how moments of complexity may be differentiated in terms of 'now moments' and concludes with an amplification of the 'black woman' in Melanie's dream related to a black woman in an important Austrian fairy tale.     

Does temporal preparation increase the rate of sensory information accumulation?

Recent studies showed that temporal preparation, i.e., the ability to prepare for an upcoming stimulus, improves perceptual processing. The mechanisms underlying this benefit are still controversial. Based upon the theoretical framework of accumulation models, it has been proposed that the accumulation of sensory stimulus information begins earlier when participants are temporally prepared than when they are unprepared. Alternatively, however, temporal preparation might also affect the accumulation rate of sensory information. In the present study, we examined these possibilities. Specifically, in three experiments, we manipulated participants' decision criterion. This manipulation should interact with any experimental manipulation affecting the rate of information processing, but produce additive effects with any manipulation affecting the onset of information accumulation rather than its rate. We obtained additive effects on RT, irrespective of whether the decision criterion was manipulated by increasing catch trial proportion or nogo trial proportion. These results suggest that temporal preparation improves perceptual processing by operating on the onset of sensory information accumulation rather than the rate of sensory information accumulation.     

Parameter identification in multinomial processing tree models

Multinomial processing tree models form a popular class of statistical models for categorical data that have applications in various areas of psychological research. As in all statistical models, establishing which parameters are identified is necessary for model inference and selection on the basis of the likelihood function, and for the interpretation of the results. The required calculations to establish global identification can become intractable in complex models. We show how to establish local identification in multinomial processing tree models, based on formal methods independently proposed by Catchpole and Morgan (1997) and by Bekker, Merckens, and Wansbeek (1994). This approach is illustrated with multinomial processing tree models for the source-monitoring paradigm in memory research.     

RIASEC interest and confidence cutoff scores: Implications for career counseling

One strategy commonly used to simplify the joint interpretation of interest and confidence inventories is the use of cutoff scores to classify individuals dichotomously as having high or low levels of confidence and interest, respectively. The present study examined the adequacy of cutoff scores currently recommended for the joint interpretation of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII: Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005) and the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI: [Betz, Borgen et al., 1996] and [Betz et al., 2005]). Cutoff score criteria were evaluated based on a sample of college students and employed adults (n = 1000), and cross-validated with a second sample of college students (n = 1, 149) who completed an experimental measure of RIASEC interests and confidence. Results were interpreted in the context of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) by testing predictions regarding the relative frequency of individuals with either matched or mismatched levels of interest and confidence.     

Paying attention to each other. An essay on the transnational intersections of industrial economy,subjectivity, and governance in East Germany's social-psychological training

This article examines a little-known chapter both in the history of socialist labor relations and the history of psychology: Social Psychological Training (SPT) for industrial leaders in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Based on previously untapped archival sources, it uncovers the transnational genesis of SPT and its intricate relationships with Western “therapeutic culture” of the 1970s. Governmental perspectives are addressed, as well as the level of individual appropriation of SPT and possible unintended side effects of techniques that were drawn from the social psychological and therapeutical fields. This case study helps to explore the functions of psychological expertise in authoritarian political contexts, as well as the polyvalence of group methods of change, the effects of which could turn out repressive as well as liberating on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The history of SPT solicits a polycentric view on therapeutic culture, capturing its diverse manifestations and interconnections between different societies and political economies.     

From Gaming to Hating: Extreme-Right Ideological Indoctrination and Mobilization for Violence of Children on Online Gaming Platforms

As a consequence of numerous extreme-right terror attacks in which the perpetrators posted their manifestos and attack life streams on online platforms adjacent to the video gaming community, as well as radicalized within that environment to a significant degree (e.g., Christchurch, New Zealand; Halle, Germany), increasing scholarly and policymaker interest is focusing on far-right radicalization and recruitment within online video game environments. Yet little empirical insights exist about the specific engagement between right-wing extremists and their potential recruits on these platforms. This study presents findings from a qualitative exploration of German police-investigation files for two children who radicalized on gaming platforms to become involved in extreme-right criminal behavior, including the plotting of a terrorist attack. The study demonstrates the importance of online and offline factor interaction, especially regarding the role of familiar criminogenic factors, as well as the social–emotional bonding between potential recruits and extremist gamers created through shared gaming experiences that lead to high-intensity extremist radicalization aimed at offline behavioral changes. The study did not find evidence for strategic organizational far-right recruitment campaigns, but rather multidirectional social-networking processes which were also initiated by the potential recruits.     

Beziehung und Exposition

In the treatment of anxiety disorders both psychodynamic and behavioral therapeutic methods have proved successful. Linking the two methods in one treatment is usually avoided by therapists, although there is evidence for using such an approach. There is a lack of a regulatory framework for the integration of the various procedures. Taking anxiety treatment as an example, a contribution to such a regulatory framework is developed: the use of exposure (as a cognitive behavioral element) and the examination of the transference aspect of the therapeutic relationship by the therapist (as a psychodynamic element) are systematically placed in relation to each other, whereby the understanding of the therapeutic process is deepened.     

Do alerting signals increase the size of the attentional focus?

Previous research has shown that the presentation of an auditory alerting signal before a visual target increases the interference from flanking distractors. Recently, it has been suggested that this increase in interference may be due to an expansion of the spatial focus of attention. In five experiments, this hypothesis was tested by using a probe technique dedicated to measuring variations in the size of the attentional focus: In the majority of trials, participants performed a letter discrimination task in which their attention was focused on a central target letter. In a randomly intermixed probe task, the size of the attentional focus was measured by letting participants respond to a probe occurring at varying positions. In all experiments, reaction time (RT) to the probe increased from the most central to more lateral probe positions. This V-shaped probe-RT function, however, was not flattened by the presentation of an alerting signal. Overall, this pattern of results is inconsistent with the hypothesis that alerting signals increase the attentional focus. Instead, it is consistent with nonspatial accounts that attribute the increase in interference to an alerting effect on perceptual processing, which then leads to a detrimental effect at the level of response selection.