The way I make you feel: How relatedness and compassionate goals promote partner’s relationship satisfaction

Research has investigated the role of three basic psychological needs as proposed by Self-Determination Theory – autonomy, competence, and relatedness – in explaining relationship satisfaction. Research has also explored how relatedness specifically increases prosocial motivations in the individual but has not focused on the role of relatedness in shaping partners’ relationship functioning over time. This research takes a dyadic perspective that proposes that relatedness fulfillment fosters compassionate goals, which in turn predict increases in partner’s satisfaction. Forty-five heterosexual dating couples were asked about their relatedness need fulfillment, compassionate goals, and relationship satisfaction. Relationship satisfaction was assessed again four weeks later. Results showed that one’s own relatedness fulfillment, but not one’s partner’s relatedness fulfillment at Time 1 uniquely predicts partner’s increased satisfaction at Time 2, and that this is mediated by one’s own higher compassionate goals. These findings highlight the dyadic importance of having one’s needs met in promoting relationship functioning over time.     

Effects of psychological interventions for patients with osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of psychological interventions (e.g. cognitive restructuring, relaxation) on physiological and psychological health in osteoarthritis patients. A systematic literature search was done using PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Database through November 2016. Studies were included if they used a randomized controlled trial designed to explore the effects of psychological interventions in osteoarthritis patients. Two independent authors assessed the methodological quality of the trials using criteria outlined by Jadad et al. Meta-analysis was done with the Revman5.0. Twelve randomized controlled trials, including 1307 osteoarthritis patients, met the study inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that psychological interventions could reduce the levels of pain [standard mean difference (SMD) ?0.28, 95% CI ?0.48, ?0.08, P-value 0.005)] and fatigue (SMD ?0.18, 95% CI ?0.34, ?0.01, P-value 0.04). In addition, psychological interventions significantly improved osteoarthritis patients’ self-efficacy (SMD 0.58, 95% CI 0.40, 0.75, P-value 0.00) and pain coping (MD 1.64, 95% CI 0.03, 3.25, P-value 0.05). Although the effects on physical function, anxiety, depression, psychological disability were in the expected direction, they were not statistically significant. In conclusion, the role of psychological interventions in the management of osteoarthritis remains equivocal. Some encouraging results were seen with regard to pain, pain coping, self-efficacy, and fatigue. We believe that more methodologically rigorous large-scale randomized controlled trials are necessary to answer this study question.     

How socioemotional setting modulates late-stage conflict resolution processes in the lateral prefrontal cortex

The goal-directed control of behaviour critically depends on emotional regulation and constitutes the basis of mental well-being and social interactions. Within a socioemotional setting, it is necessary to prioritize effectively the relevant emotional information over interfering irrelevant emotional information to orchestrate cognitive resources and achieve appropriate behavior. Currently, it is elusive whether and how different socioemotional stimulus dimensions modulate cognitive control and conflict resolution. Theoretical considerations suggest that interference effects are less detrimental when conflicting emotional information is presented within a “positive socioemotional setting” compared with a “negative socioemotional setting.” Using event-related potentials (ERPs) and source localization methods, we examined the basic system neurophysiological mechanisms and functional neuroanatomical structures associated with interactive effects of different interfering facial, socioemotional stimulus dimensions on conflict resolution. We account for interactive effects of different interfering socioemotional stimulus dimensions on conflict resolution, i.e., we show how the socioemotional valence modulates cognitive control (conflict processing). The data show that conflicts are stronger and more difficult to resolve in a negative emotional task-relevant setting than in a positive emotional task-relevant setting, where incongruent information barely induced conflicts. The degree of emotional conflict critically depends on the contextual emotional valence (positive or negative) in which this conflict occurs. The neurophysiological data show that these modulations were only reflected by late-stage conflict resolution processes associated with the middle (MFG) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Attentional selection processes and early-stage conflict monitoring do not seem to be modulated by interactive effects of different interfering socioemotional stimulus dimensions on conflict resolution.     

Casino Gambling and the Family: Exploring the Connections and Identifying Consequences

Although sanctioned by state governments and widely popular across the United States, gambling remains a controversial activity. For example, casino gambling may be legal and popular, but many believe squandering money is harmful and deviant. People from all backgrounds visit casinos. However, older adults comprise a major portion of the gambling clientele. Along with this have come reports of a wide variety of negative outcomes. Yet, few studies have investigated the relationship between gambling and the family. We use a qualitative in-depth interview grounded theory approach with 34 adults aged 62–88 to investigate the relationship between gambling and family consequences. We explore the impact of gambling on the family with the active aging concept as well as the codependency and sociocultural models of addiction. They offer new ways to understand mild to serious deviance among older adults.     

Would disfluency by any other name still be disfluent? Examining the disfluency effect with cursive handwriting

When exposed to words presented under perceptually disfluent conditions (e.g., words written in Haettenschweiler font), participants have difficulty initially recognizing the words. Those same words, though, may be better remembered later than words presented in standard type font. This counterintuitive finding is referred to as the disfluency effect. Evidence for this disfluency effect, however, has been mixed, suggesting possible moderating factors. Using a recognition memory task, level of disfluency was examined as a moderating factor across three experiments using a novel cursive manipulation that varied on degree of legibility (easy-to-read cursive vs. hard-to-read cursive). In addition, list type and retention interval between study and test were manipulated. Across all three experiments, cursive words engendered better memory than type-print words. This memory effect persisted across varied list designs (blocked vs. mixed) and a longer (24-hour) retention interval. A small-scale meta-analysis across the three experiments suggested that the cursive disfluency effect is moderated by level of disfluency: easy-to-read cursive words tended to be better remembered than hard-to-read cursive words. Taken together, these results challenge extant accounts of the disfluency effect. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Discrimination threshold for haptic volume perception of fingers and phalanges

Humans exhibit a remarkable ability to discriminate variations in object volume based on natural haptic perception. The discrimination thresholds for the haptic volume perception of the whole hand are well known, but the discrimination thresholds for haptic volume perception of fingers and phalanges are still unknown. In the present study, two psychophysical experiments were performed to investigate haptic volume perception in various fingers and phalanges. The configurations of both experiments were completely dependent on haptic volume perception from the fingers and phalanges. The participants were asked to blindly discriminate the volume variation of regular solid objects in a random order by using the distal phalanx, medial phalanx, and proximal phalanx of their index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. The discrimination threshold of haptic volume perception gradually decreases from the little finger to the index finger as well as from the proximal phalanx to the distal phalanx. Overall, both the shape of the target and the part of the finger in contact with the target significantly influence the precision of haptic perception of volume. This substantial data set provides detailed and compelling perspectives on the haptic system, including for discrimination of the spatial size of objects and for performing more general perceptual processes.     

Naturally Occurring Mentorship in a National Sample of First‐Generation College Goers: A Promising Portal for Academic and Developmental Success

Attending college is increasingly important to compete in this global world; however, young people whose parents did not attend college are significantly less likely to enroll in and finish college. Formal programs to support first‐generation college goers are common, but not scalable to provide support to all young people who need it. Instead, mentoring that naturally occurs on these students’ journeys into and out of college may be a more practical avenue for supporting their success. This study investigated the role community members, relatives, and educators play in first‐generation college goers’ educational outcomes. Data from 4,181 participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health were used to test differences in supports received between first‐generation, continuing‐generation, and non‐college goers. Results demonstrated that mentorship in adolescence moderated the relationship between parental college attendance and educational attainment in adulthood. Next, findings suggested that first‐generation students received less support for identity development from their mentors than continuing‐generation students. This study has program implications for facilitating college attendance and fostering the development and success of first‐generation students. Moreover, this project continues to concretize an emerging taxonomy of mentoring functions for youth and emerging adults.     

3～6岁儿童人格发展的群组序列追踪研究

目的:运用自编幼儿人格发展教师评定问卷对幼儿人格进行追踪测量,探讨其年龄及性别发展特点。方法:用整群抽样法选取3~3.5岁、3.5~4岁、4~4.5岁3个年龄群组幼儿为被试,采用群组序列的追踪设计,进行为期1年半的追踪测量,结合潜变量增长曲线模型和多层线性模型处理数据,探讨幼儿在3~6岁间人格的发展特点。结果:(1)幼儿的智能特征、认真自控、外倾性、亲社会性、情绪稳定性5个人格维度在3~4岁发展最快,4~5岁持续增长但发展速度放缓,到5~6岁时趋于平稳;(2)女孩的认真自控和亲社会性在3岁时显著高于男孩,但在3~6岁间的增长率不存在差异,即女孩的认真自控和亲社会性在幼儿阶段发展水平始终高于男孩。结论:从家庭进入幼儿园的环境变迁促使了幼儿人格的进一步发展,5岁左右幼儿人格开始初步形成;女孩的认真自控和亲社会性水平在幼儿阶段始终高于男孩。     

Atomic imaging of the interface between M23C6-type carbide and matrix in a long-term ageing polycrystalline Ni-based superalloy

Besides the well-known cube-on-cube orientation relationship (OR) between M₂₃C₆ carbide and matrix, we have determined a new OR named as the twin-related OR in a long-term ageing Ni-based superalloy on the basis of the extensive and detailed electron diffraction analyses. Furthermore, by means of atomic-resolution high angle annular dark-field imaging technique which is implemented in the aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, we elucidated the interfacial characteristics between M₂₃C₆ and matrix for above two types of ORs. Taking into account of the interfacial characteristics, we propose that the twin-related OR possesses a higher total interfacial energy. Thus, its frequency of occurrence is lower than that of the cube-on-cube OR though both ORs are usually seen in the long-term ageing samples.