Marital group metaphors: Significance in the life stages of group development

Metaphorical content is abundant in the therapeutic process and has been noted and utilized in a variety of ways and settings by clinicians in the field. This paper focuses on metaphorical content in a marital therapy group and relates group metaphors to the life stages of group development. The co-authors illustrate the use of metaphors to assess the developmental stage of the group and to assist the therapist(s) in leading the group toward further growth and development. Figures are utilized to display the occurrence of metaphors by group stage, and a case example of a frequently stated group metaphor is offered to illustrate this process.     

Knowing that I didn't know: preschoolers' understanding of their own false belief is a predictor of assents to fictitious events

The present study examines the relation between children's theory of mind abilities and their tendency to assent to fictitious events when questioned repeatedly across interviews. Children between the ages of 3 and 6 years were interviewed individually either four or seven times about a fictitious and a real staged event, and in addition given a false belief test as well as a fantasy‐reality distinction test. Children's performance on the false belief task addressing the understanding of their own false belief was a better predictor for assents to false events than was understanding the false belief of another person, age, number of interviews and performance on a fantasy‐reality distinction task. Children's memory for a staged event showed that repeated questions across interviews was related to a decrease in correct assents to having experienced a staged event, an increase in wrong yes‐responses about touch and erroneously mentioning names of children who had not been present during the staged event. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children with developmental coordination disorder are equally able to generate force but show more variability than typically developing children

Several studies have suggested that children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have difficulties in the fine-tuning of manual force. However, parameterization of the generated force per se is hard to test under normal circumstances as movement planning and execution are also involved. In the present study, an isometric force production task was used to test the hypothesis that children with DCD have a decreased ability to scale force to a required force level and to maintain steady low to submaximal forces. We also tested if the developmental trends were different between the children with DCD and typically developing (TD) children. Twenty-four children with DCD and 24 matched TD children, divided over three age groups (7-9-11 years) participated in this study. Analysis of the data showed that DCD and TD children are equally able to adapt their generated force to the required levels, however DCD children produced a less steady force, even more variable than in the youngest TD children. These results suggest that problems in force control in children with DCD are caused by a higher level of inherent noise of the output system. Since younger DCD children are much more affected than older ones it is suggested that these children are able to learn a strategy to cope with their increased stochastic variability, especially at higher force levels.     

Experiential avoidance and aversive visual images: response delays and event-related potentials on a simple matching task

In Experiment 1, participants high (n=15) or low in avoidance (n=14), as measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, completed a simple matching task that required them to choose whether or not to look at an aversive visual image. Only the high-avoidance participants took longer to emit a correct response that produced an aversive rather than a neutral picture. Additionally, the high-avoiders reported greater levels of anxiety following the experiment even though they rated the aversive images as less unpleasant and less emotionally arousing than their low-avoidant counterparts. In Experiment 2, three groups, representing high-, mid- and low-avoidance (n=6 in each) repeated the matching task with the additional recording of event-related potentials (ERPs). The findings of Experiment 1 were replicated in terms of reaction times and subjective ratings. The ERPs confirmed that the participants attended to the content of the images and differentiated between the aversive and neutral image types. The ERPs also showed significantly greater negativity for electrodes over the left hemisphere relative to the midline for only the high-experiential avoidance (EA) group. Given the left hemisphere dominance for language, the data suggest that the high-EA group engaged in verbal strategies to regulate their emotional responses.     

The effect of similarities in skin texture and hand shape on perceived ownership of a fake limb

In the rubber-hand illusion (RHI), people attribute an artificial object to their own body. In the present study, we investigate the extent to which RHI is affected by visual discrepancies between the artificial object and a human hand. We tested Armel and Ramachandran's (2003) hypothesis that people will experience a stronger RHI when the artificial object is a skin-like textured sheet instead of a tabletop. We did not find support for their hypothesis, but the strength of the RHI diminished when the texture of a hand-shaped object did not resemble the human skin (manipulated by putting a white glove over the cosmetic prosthesis). We provide an alternative explanation for this finding, based on a skill-based sensorimotor account of perceived body ownership. Such an explanation supports Armel and Ramachandran's more general claim that discrepancies in the nature of expected and felt touch diminish the RHI.     

Examining Parents’ Preferences for Group Parent Training for ADHD When Individual Parent Training is Unavailable

Parent training programs are considered well-established interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children as they reduce behavioral impairment, but limited parent engagement decreases service effectiveness. We used a discrete choice experiment to examine how parent preferences for group vs. individual format might influence their participation in Parent training. Parents (N?=?260) seeking mental health services for children with elevated symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Ontario, Canada were participants. They preferred Individual parent training in another study and completed a discrete choice experiment composed of 30 choice tasks measuring Parent training format preference. In this paper, parents’ preferences for alternatives to Individual Parent training, specifically Group Parent training and Minimal Information options, were estimated. Specifically, this study asked “if first choice is unavailable, what is the second choice?” This question is important as many clinics may not be able to offer both group and individual therapy given state funding cuts for youth mental health services. Simulations predicted that 85.8?% of parents who initially preferred Individual Parent training would switch to Group Parent training that included step-by-step solutions to children’s emotional and behavior problems, and the possibility of feeling informed and confident. The remaining 14.2?% of parents preferred Minimal Information; these parents preferred internet services offered conveniently and timely. Findings highlight consideration of less appealing factors that families might trade for more desirable service elements in a cost-restrictive environment.     

Development and validation of the REMINT: a reflection measure for individuals and teams

A growing number of studies have investigated the role of team reflexivity, the extent to which teams reflect on and adapt their functioning. However, the way team reflexivity has been conceptualized and operationalized reveals several weaknesses, in particular the conception as a unidimensional construct. To provide greater conceptual clarity, we therefore propose a team reflexivity framework that integrates four interacting but distinct reflexive processes. In four studies, we focus on reflection as a fundamental reflexive process, and develop and validate an extended multidimensional reflection measure that captures the relevant dimensions of quality and quantity of reflection and the key transition processes of information seeking and information evaluation. Moreover, in order to delineate two common composition methods, we develop and validate a direct consensus and a referent-shift consensus version of the reflection measure. Data collected from a total of 803 students and employees in four studies revealed excellent construct validity, as well as good nomological validity (Studies 1 and 2). Furthermore, we found evidence of the criterion-related validity at the team level (Study 3) and the individual level (Study 4). Together, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of our measure, revealing consistent relations with outcome measures and diverse behavioural indicators across different contexts.     

Joint attention and children with autism: a review of the literature

Preverbal communication and joint attention have long been of interest to researchers and practitioners. Both attending to social partners and sharing attentional focus between objects or events and others precede the onset of a child's first lexicon. In addition, these prelinguistic acts also appear to have important implications with regard to learning to socialize. The construct of joint attention has been noted as an early developing area prior to the transition to symbolic communication. Thus, the importance of joint attention in typically developing children, and the lack thereof in children with autism, has interested researchers for use in diagnosis and intervention for autism. That is, joint attention has been gaining momentum as an area that not only helps characterize children with autism, but also as a prognostic indicator and a potential intervention goal. In this paper, the status of the literature about initiation of joint attention by young typically developing children and young children with autism was examined. Empirical studies regarding joint attention behaviors, including eye gaze alternation, the use of protodeclaratives and protoimperatives, and studies that investigated joint attention as a predictor of language acquisition were reviewed. Possible areas for future research for children with autism are discussed.