Association of Interpersonal Cognitive Complexity with Communication Skill in Marriage: Moderating Effects of Marital Distress

Little research has examined the influence of social cognition on communicative behaviors that spouses exhibit in conversational interactions. The present study examined the associations between interpersonal cognitive complexity and three marital communication skills: communication effectiveness (generating messages that have the desired outcome), predictive accuracy (anticipating accurately the effects of a message on a receiver), and perceptual accuracy (correctly inferring the intent of a message source). The study also evaluated whether marital distress moderated associations between cognitive complexity and communication skills. Participants (60 couples) discussed a problem from their own marriage and a vignette from the Inventory of Marital Conflicts ( 32 ) using the communication box. Cognitive complexity was moderately associated with perceptual accuracy, weakly associated with communication effectiveness, and not associated with predictive accuracy. Subsidiary analyses revealed that associations between cognitive complexity and the communication skills were generally stronger in the sub-sample of distressed couples than in the subsample of nondistressed couples.     

Personality Characteristics of Innovative Physics Teachers

ABSTRACT Innovative physics teachers scored higher on theoretical and aesthetic values than other male high school teachers, but lower on economic, religious, and political values. The innovative teachers scored much higher on a physics achievement test than physics teachers in three summer institutes. While they are close to the norm for male secondary school teachers on teaching attitudes, they have a lower need for affiliation than this group. Compared with other male high-school science teachers, they are less abasing and affiliative, but more autonomous and heterosexual. Because of their relatively high intellectual and artistic values, and needs for autonomy and social independence, their profiles resemble those of creative scientists. Two personality variables suggesting a “warm, outgoing teaching attitude factor” are significantly correlated with the teachers' knowledge of physics. The teachers who have a firm grasp of their subject not only have more positive attitudes toward teaching, but appear to be less intraceptive.     

Bulimic Beliefs: Food for Thought

Individuals suffering from bulimia nervosa share a characteristic pattern of thinking which needs to be understood if effective treatment is to take place. This article presents these beliefs, gathered by clinical experience and a review of the literature, in a format which describes each belief, discusses the common causes for its development, and suggests therapeutic interventions.     

An Investigation Into the Cognitive Functioning of Bulimic Women

The present study examined differences in selected areas of cognitive functioning of 18 bulimic and 23 nonbulimic women. The participants were compared on variables related to cognitive and behavioral coping and self-efficacy. Our results indicated differences between bulimic and nonbulimic women on all measures. Bulimic women demonstrated higher levels of dietary restraint; lower self-appraised problem-solving ability; lower sense of personal efficacy with regard to successful performance in a variety of life tasks; and a tendency to attribute positive events to external, global, and unstable factors. The results are discussed in the context of previous research and also present implications for practicing counselors.