We Are All Much More Simply Unsettled Than Otherwise: Reply to Commentaries by González,Rozmarin, and Tummala-Narra

In this paper I respond to the commentaries by González, Rozmarin, and Tummala-Narra and address some of the issues they raise. These are the themes of unsettledness, the anxiety of the immigrant as well as of the “native,” the experience of marginalization, and the topic of secrecy and privacy. I appreciate that I am included in this inspiring dialogue and have the opportunity to rethink my paper in the context of the current social and political frame.     

Maintaining Men's Dominance: Negotiating Identity and Power When She Earns More

This article examines the power dynamics in marriages where wives earn substantially more than their husbands based on in-depth interviews with husbands and wives in 30 couples. The results demonstrate how normative gender expectations constrain interactions between spouses and how spouses in these unconventional marriages struggle to construct appropriate gender identities that are more or less consistent with the conventional expectations that men should be breadwinners and women should be homemakers. These data represent an important counterpoint to the growing body of quantitative work that demonstrates that a woman's power diminishes as her income exceeds her husband's by illuminating how men's power is preserved within marriage, even in the absence of their traditional economic dominance.     

Associations between Maternal Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Parenting

Mothers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for an ADHD diagnosis themselves, which is likely associated with impairments in parenting. The present study utilized a multi-method assessment of maternal ADHD and parenting to examine the extent to which maternal ADHD symptoms are associated with maladaptive parenting. Participants included 70 6–10 year old children with DSM-IV ADHD and their biological mothers. Results suggested that mothers with higher levels of ADHD symptoms reported lower levels of involvement and positive parenting and higher levels of inconsistent discipline. During observed parent–child interactions, maternal ADHD symptoms were negatively associated with positive parenting, and positively associated with negative parenting and repeated commands before giving the child an opportunity to comply. Given prior research suggesting that maladaptive parenting behaviors are risk factors for the later development of conduct problems among children with ADHD, these findings have important clinical implications for family-based assessment and treatment of ADHD.     

Change detection evokes a Simon-like effect

The present experiment studied choice response context effects on the programming of response sequences using behavioural and electrophysiological methods. Participants were asked to produce responses differing in sequence length (1-key vs. 3-key responses) with either their left or right hand in a choice reaction time (RT) task. The choice response context was manipulated by a blocked or mixed execution of 1-key and 3-key responses. A sequence length effect on RT was observed in the blocked but not in the mixed condition. The time course of the lateralized readiness potential indicates a motoric locus of the sequence length effect, suggesting that the response hand is activated before the entire motor program is established.     

The turple effect is modulated by base word frequency: Implications for models of lexical and semantic access

People who are asked to classify whether words presented visually belong to the category of animals respond to nonwords derived from animal names more slowly than they do to nonwords derived from nonanimal names. This is known as the turple effect (Forster, 2006; Forster & Hector, 2002). In the present article, we show that the turple effect is modulated by the frequency of the animal names from which the nonwords are derived: In particular, we show that nonwords derived from high-frequency animal names are rejected faster than those derived from low-frequency animal names. We discuss the implications of this result for two approaches to lexical and semantic access modeling. 2008 Psychonomic Society, Inc.     

The association between parents' ethnic socialization and positive and negative interethnic contact among majority and minority groups in China and the moderating role of essentialism

In a multiethnic country like China, ethnic membership is an important dimension of social construction, and interethnic contact is a necessary component of social interactions. Family is the context where ethnic socialization takes place and where parents play a relevant role. The present study focused on the Hui-Han interethnic context. Measures of perceived parent's ethnic socialization, interethnic contact, and essentialism were administrated to Hui minority (N = 560) and Han majority (N = 954) secondary students. Results indicated that parents' positive ethnic socialization (cultural socialization/pluralism, promotion of harmony) was associated with greater positive and lower negative contact, while negative ethnic socialization (preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust) had opposite effects. Essentialist views of ethnicity moderated the associations of perceived parents' positive ethnic socialization with positive contact: the association between positive ethnic socialization and positive contact was stronger among individuals with lower (vs. higher) essentialist views. Results did not differ across the majority and the minority group. Implications for prompting positive interethnic interactions and preventing negative contact are discussed.     

Cognitive Theory and Phenomenology in Arendt’s and Nussbaum’s Work on Narrative

In this essay I compare Nussbaum’s and Arendt’s approach to narrativity. The point of the comparison is to find out which approach is more adequate for practical philosophy: the approach influenced by cognitive theory (Nussbaum) or the one influenced by hermeneutic phenomenology (Arendt). I conclude that Nussbaum’s approach is flawed by methodological solipsism, which is due to her application of cognitive theory.

Telepsychology and Self-help: The Treatment of Fear of Public Speaking

This work presents a self-help, Internet-based telepsychology program for the treatment of public speaking fears. The system is comprised of 3 parts: The assessment protocol gives the patient information about his or her problem (i.e., amount of interference it creates in his or her life, severity, degree of fear and avoidance). The system also includes a structured treatment protocol, organized into separate blocks, reflecting the patient’s progress. This ensures that the patient does not skip any steps in the treatment (something quite common in traditional self-help manuals), which provides more control over the process. The treatment protocol is a cognitive-behavioral program that provides exposure to the feared situation using videos of real audiences. Finally, the control protocol assesses treatment efficacy, not only at closure, but also at every intermediate step. Efficacy data from 12 social phobia patients are presented from pretreatment to posttreatment and at 1-month follow-up. These preliminary data support the efficacy of our telepsychology program for the treatment of fear of public speaking. This is a preliminary work in a promising research path that examines the possibility of using the Internet for the treatment of psychological disorders.     

Examining children's ability to delay reward: Is the delay discounting task a suitable measure?

Discounting the value of delayed rewards has primarily been measured in children with the delay of gratification task and in adolescents and adults with the delay discounting task. In the present study, we assessed the suitability of the delay discounting task as a measure of temporal discounting in children. A sample of 7- to 9-year-olds (N = 98) completed a delay discounting task, a delay of gratification task, a sensation seeking measure, and IQ measures. In addition, teacher-based assessments of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits were measured. The results indicated that the majority of children produced meaningful data on the discounting task and discounted rewards hyperbolically. Children with an elevated risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed a trend towards discounting future rewards on the delay discounting task more steeply than did those at low risk. However, delay discounting was unrelated to either delay of gratification or sensation seeking. We interpret these results as providing some support for the use of delay discounting as a measure of intertemporal choice in children, although the results also suggest that delay discounting and delay of gratification tasks may tap different processes in this population.     

Improving multiple behaviors for colorectal cancer prevention among african american church members.

The WATCH (Wellness for African Americans Through Churches) Project was a randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of 2 strategies to promote colorectal cancer preventive behaviors among 587 African American members of 12 rural North Carolina churches. Using a 2 X 2 factorial research design, the authors compared a tailored print and video (TPV) intervention, consisting of 4 individually tailored newsletters and targeted videotapes, with a lay health advisor (LHA) intervention. Results showed that the TPV intervention significantly improved (p <.05) fruit and vegetable consumption (0.6 servings) and recreational physical activity (2.5 metabolic task equivalents per hour) and, among those 50 and older (n = 287), achieved a 15% increase in fecal occult blood testing screening (p =.08). The LHA intervention did not prove effective, possibly because of suboptimal reach and diffusion.