A questionnaire to assess school social climate

A questionnaire to assess the school social climate (CECSCE) made from items of The California School Climate and Safety Survey is presented. The CECSCE displays a stable factorial Oblimin structure in two social climate factors: 1) relative to the school and 2) relative to the teaching staff. Both factors present a correlation that oscillates between 0.42 and 0.48; and they explain 54,2% and 45,6% of the variance, respectively. Its reliability test-retest is acceptable (r= 0.61) after 9 months. Both factors present gender differences in favour of girls. They also differentiate at the educational level, displaying in 2 masculine course higher means in both factors than in 3 masculine course. The second factor correlates positively with the factors that measure social competence in the Merrell School Social Behaviour Scales and negatively with those that measure antisocial and non adapted behaviour.     

Lateralized repetition priming for familiar faces: Evidence for asymmetric interhemispheric cooperation

Repetition priming refers to facilitated recognition of stimuli that have been seen previously. Although a great deal of work has examined the properties of repetition priming for familiar faces, little has examined the neuroanatomical basis of the effect. Two experiments are presented in this paper that combine the repetition priming paradigm with a divided visual field methodology to examine lateralized recognition of familiar faces. In the first experiment participants were presented with prime faces unilaterally to each visual field and target faces foveally. A significant priming effect was found for prime faces presented to the right hemisphere, but not for prime faces presented to the left hemisphere. In Experiment 2, prime and target faces were presented unilaterally, either to the same visual field or to the opposite visual field (i.e., either within hemisphere or across hemispheres). A significant priming effect was found for the within right hemisphere condition, but not for the within left hemisphere condition, replicating the findings of the first experiment. Priming was also found in both of the across hemispheres conditions, suggesting that interhemispheric cooperation occurs to aid recognition. Taken in combination these experiments provide two main findings. First, an asymmetric repetition priming effect was found, possibly as a result of asymmetric levels of activation following recognition of a prime face, with greater priming occurring within the right hemisphere. Second, there is evidence for asymmetric interhemispheric cooperation with transfer of information from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere to facilitate recognition.     

Bryant's Empathy Index for children and adolescents: psychometric properties in the Spanish language

The present study investigated the following issues: (1) the structure of Bryant's Empathy Index for children and adolescents in a Spanish sample of 408 boys and 424 girls (M age=14.4 yr.), and (2) sex differences, including effect sizes and internal consistency of the scale. A principal components factor analysis with oblimin rotation showed that 20 of the index's 22 items load on three robust factors, related to Feelings of Sadness, Understanding Feelings, and Tearful Reaction with regard to the emotions of others. The 3-factor structure obtained an adequate fit to the data in the confirmatory factor analysis. Coefficients alpha ranged between .72 and .78. The 3 factors accounted for 42% of variance. As expected, girls scored higher than boys. It was concluded that the Spanish version of Bryant's Empathy Index has an acceptable reliability and construct validity, making it useful for research.     

Mother-infant relationships in baboons (Papio hamadryas): predictors of differences and discontinuities in developmental pathways

This study uses hierarchical linear regression modeling to analyze sources of variation in the developmental pathways of mother-infant relationships and to search for behavioral discontinuities. The data come from 23 mother-infant dyads of baboons (Papio hamadryas), whose interactions were recorded longitudinally during the infants' 1st year of life. The infant's sex and the mother's age and reproductive experience accounted for part of the variation observed in the developmental pathways of 11 of 20 behavioral measures analyzed; however, some of them did so only in some periods but not in others. The authors proposed that this can reflect the occurrence of reorganizations or discontinuities in the mother-infant relationship that can be related to important life events such as the mother's resumption of sexual activity.     

ERP and behavioral evidence of individual differences in metaphor comprehension

In two experiments, we examined individual differences in metaphor processing. In Experiment 1, the subjects judged the literal truth of literal, metaphorical, and scrambled sentences. Overall, metaphors were more difficult to judge as false, in comparison with scrambled controls, suggesting that the metaphorical meaning was being processed automatically. However, there were individual differences in that high-IQ subjects showed more interference. These effects were reflected in ERP amplitude differences at the onset of N400 and after the response. In Experiment 2, the subjects completed IQ tests and a series of working memory tests and then rated and interpreted the same set of metaphors. The results showed that IQ was correlated with working memory capacity and that low-IQ subjects had similar ratings but poorer quality interpretations than did high-IQ subjects. The results were most consistent with a constraint satisfaction approach to metaphor comprehension.     

Is the conflict model of decision making applicable to the decision to be screened for cervical cancer? A field study

The present study examined aspects of the conflict model of decision making (Janis and Mann, 1977) in the context of attending for a screening test for cervical cancer. In addition, the ability of decision coping styles as measured by Mann's (1982) Decision Making Questionnaire II (DMQ II) to predict screening status was examined. Three hundred and two women answered a questionnaire operationalizing the constructs in the conflict model about their beliefs and knowledge of cervical cancer and the Pap smear test. Four screening categories were identified: never screened, not screened in the last two years (overdue), screened in last two years and initiated the test, and screened in last two years and recruited to have the test. Differences in the decision processes of these groups were examined. Women who were overdue for their Pap test showed greater decisional conflict and were more likely to adopt a defensive avoidance coping pattern than those who had been screened in the last two years. Regression analyses exploring predictors of decisional stress and defensive avoidance for each group, except the never screen, showed that the model's suggested pathways were evidenced among the Overdue Group. Results failed to find any association between coping styles as measured by the DMQ II and screening status. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Art and Healing for Native American Indians

This article discusses elements of the Native American Indian healing process and the significance of the arts in therapy. Until recently, most traditional healing practices were illegal in the United States. It is now imperative that counselors and educators of all ethnic backgrounds become aware of the role of the arts in Native healing. Implications for counselors and educators are highlighted.     

Bias in Counselor Hypothesis Testing: Testing the Robustness of Counselor Confirmatory Bias

Explored the issue of confirmatory bias in counselors' clinical hypothesis testing. Recent research suggests that counselors are subject to a confirmatory bias when using information to test a client hypothesis. The current research tested the robustness of this finding by adding realism and accountability to the experimental situation. Two experiments examined the facts that experienced counselors recalled (a) about a coached client in a naturalistic situation, and (b) when they selected information from a client narrative when told that they would later be held accountable for their selection. In Experiment I, experienced counselors recalled more confirmatory than disconfirmatory information from a coached client's live presentation of factors. In Experiment 2, counselors-in-training selected more confirmatoty than disconfirmatory information from a case history despite the accountability implied by the experimental instructions. The authors concluded (a) that the confirmatory bias is a robust one that may be a natural part of any judgment situation and (b) that counselor education should explicitly train counselors to avoid this confirmatory bias.     

Apology mismatch: An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.     

Risks and Benefits of Pediatric Bone Marrow Donation: A Critical Need for Research

Healthcare providers assume that there are minimal risks and potential psychosocial benefits for children who undergo a bone marrow harvest for the benefit of their critically ill siblings. Ethical justifications for the use of children as donors rely on there being minimal risks since donors receive no direct medical benefits from the intervention. There is little empirical research regarding psychosocial consequences. This article reviews relevant research in three contexts: a) psychosocial outcomes for adults and children who donate tissue and organs; b) psychosocial impacts on a sibling of a pediatric cancer patient; and c) children's decision-making regarding medical decisions. The relevant research literature supports the belief that the psychosocial impact on a child bone marrow donor will be influenced by the survival of the recipient, the age of the donor, and the donor's participation in the decision to donate. In order to empirically validate the actual psychosocial risks (and benefits) for donors, it is argued that direct research is needed so that a donor's well-being can be protected.