Enhancing Well‐being of Homeless Individuals by Building Group Memberships

There is growing recognition that social isolation and a lack of connectedness with social groups is one of the reasons why the subjective well‐being of homeless individuals is generally worse than the rest of the population. Past research amongst a range of populations suggests that the ability of an individual to take on new group memberships and/or their ability to maintain their memberships in meaningful groups is an important predictor of well‐being. In a mixed method study (N = 119), we examined the extent to which experiences at homeless accommodation form building blocks for the formation of multiple group memberships and to what extent this predicts positive well‐being. Qualitative analysis reveals the importance of feeling connected to the homeless service and supported by homeless accommodation staff. Linking these data to quantitative data from a second wave, we found that these experiences predicted well‐being. These findings provide further support for a strength‐based approach to homelessness, by providing insights into the ways that experiences at homeless accommodation can contribute to the development of multiple group memberships (i.e. social capital), and enhance the well‐being of those experiencing, and exiting, homelessness. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Test–retest reliability and task order effects of emotional cognitive tests in healthy subjects

Little is known of the retest reliability of emotional cognitive tasks or the impact of using different tasks employing similar emotional stimuli within a battery. We investigated this in healthy subjects. We found improved overall performance in an emotional attentional blink task (EABT) with repeat testing at one hour and one week compared to baseline, but the impact of an emotional stimulus on performance was unchanged. Similarly, performance on a facial expression recognition task (FERT) was better one week after a baseline test, though the relative effect of specific emotions was unaltered. There was no effect of repeat testing on an emotional word categorising, recall and recognition task. We found no difference in performance in the FERT and EABT irrespective of task order. We concluded that it is possible to use emotional cognitive tasks in longitudinal studies and combine tasks using emotional facial stimuli in a single battery.     

The wellness behavior interaction model

A cognitive-behavioral model for conceptualizing wellness is proposed consisting of situational/antecedent variables, person variables, and consequence variables which, taken individually or together, may serve to describe and explain wellness behavior. The model also is interactional in the sense that different categories of variables or factors within a category may impact on each other in a multidirectional fashion. A selective review of research relating to each variable is provided to demonstrate the need for such a multidimensional conceptual scheme for wellness.     

THE EFFECT OF A TOKEN ECONOMY ON DIETARY COMPLIANCE FOR CHILDREN ON HEMODIALYSIS

Adherence to dietary restrictions is a recurring problem for children on hemodialysis. The effect of behavior modification in maintaining dietary control is reported for four patients aged 11 to 18 years. Weight gain, potassium level, and blood urea nitrogen were utilized as criteria measures. A token reinforcement program implemented by the hemodialysis team resulted in significant changes in the dietary pattern of the children. The average weight gain between dialysis sessions for the four subjects during treatment was reduced by 45% and the degree of weight fluctuation was lessened. Potassium levels and BUN were controlled to their appropriate level for subjects who initially exceeded the criterion level. With the withdrawal of weight gain from the contingency system, increase of weight gain between dialysis sessions was noted for all subjects.     

Mismatching the opponent's offers in negotiation

Mismatching in negotiation involves responding with high demands to the opponent's low demands and with low demands to the opponent's high demands. Prior research has shown that the opponent's demands are often mismatched but that this effect is attenuated when information is available about the outcomes achieved by the opponent from the available alternatives. The present research showed that mismatching was also attenuated when the negotiator knew the location of the opponent's limit (the alternative beyond which the opponent would not concede). Two new interpretations of the attenuation effect were suggested on the basis of this finding. In addition, women were found to engage in more mismatching than men, being particularly likely to exploit a soft opponent.     

Moral judgment and antisocial behavior in early adolescence

This project was designed to assess the relationship of moral judgment to a naturalistic measure of antisocial behavior—delinquent and predelinquent behavior. As a prelude, observations were made which confirmed that delinquents not only have low scores on the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Interview, but also that Rest's Defining Issues Test distinguishes incarcerated delinquent from nondelinquent groups. In the present study, each of a group of boys with disruptive and antisocial behavior was matched with a counterpart on 14 variables so designed as to minimize the effect of factors other than the stage of development of moral judgment in members of the two groups on the outcome of the testing procedures. When the impact of these extraneous factors was so minimized, results of Rest's Defining Issues Test revealed significant differences between the groups, while Kohlberg's interview did not. Clinical implications of this project are discussed.     

Direct perception and the predictive mind

Predictive approaches to the mind claim that perception, cognition, and action can be understood in terms of a single framework: a hierarchy of Bayesian models employing the computational strategy of predictive coding. Proponents of this view disagree, however, over the extent to which perception is direct on the predictive approach. I argue that we can resolve these disagreements by identifying three distinct notions of perceptual directness: psychological, metaphysical, and epistemological. I propose that perception is plausibly construed as psychologically indirect on the predictive approach, in the sense of being constructivist or inferential. It would be wrong to conclude from this, however, that perception is therefore indirect in a metaphysical or epistemological sense on the predictive approach. In the metaphysical case, claims about the inferential properties of constructivist perceptual mechanisms are consistent with both direct and indirect solutions to the metaphysical problem of perception (e.g. naïve realism, representationalism, sense datum theory). In the epistemological case, claims about the inferential properties of constructivist perceptual mechanisms are consistent with both direct and indirect approaches to the justification of perceptual belief. In this paper, I demonstrate how proponents of the predictive approach have conflated these distinct notions of perceptual directness and indirectness, and I propose alternative strategies for developing the philosophical consequences of the approach.     

Increased experience amplifies the activation of task-irrelevant category representations

Prior research has demonstrated the benefits (i.e., task-relevant attentional selection) and costs (i.e., task-irrelevant attentional capture) of prior knowledge on search for an individual target or multiple targets from a category. This study investigated whether the level of experience with particular categories predicts the degree of task-relevant and task-irrelevant activation of item and category representations. Adults with varying levels of dieting experience (measured via 3 subscales of Disinhibition, Restraint, Hunger; Stunkard & Messick, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29(1), 71–83, 1985) searched for targets defined as either a specific food item (e.g., carrots), or a category (i.e., any healthy or unhealthy food item). Apart from the target-present trials, in the target-absent “foil” trials, when searching for a specific item (e.g., carrots), irrelevant items from the target’s category (e.g., squash) were presented. The ERP (N2pc) results revealed that the activation of task-relevant representations (measured via Exemplar and Category N2pc amplitudes) did not differ based on the degree of experience. Critically, however, increased dieting experience, as revealed by lower Disinhibition scores, predicted activation of task-irrelevant representations (i.e., attentional capture of foils from the target item category). Our results suggest that increased experience with particular categories encourages the rapid activation of category representations even when category information is task irrelevant, and that the N2pc in foil trials could potentially serve as an indication of experience level in future studies on categorization.     

The evolutionary role of self-deceptive enhancement as a protective factor against antisocial cognitions

This study investigates the relationship between self-deception and variables associated with antisociality in the general population (i.e., mating effort, antisocial thinking, psychopathy, and personality), seeking to provide an evolutionary explanation for how self-deception might influence antisocial thinking. The Mating Effort Scale (MES); an adjusted version of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS); the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP); the NEO-Five Factor Inventory-Revised (NEO-FFI-R), and the Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS) were administered to 95 participants (33 males, 62 females, mean age = 36.4 years). Self-deceptive enhancement correlated significantly and negatively with Neuroticism (r = −.30, p < 0.01), and positively with Openness (r = .27, p < 0.05) and Conscientiousness (r = .43, p < 0.01). Mating effort related primarily to the PICTS and self-reported psychopathy. Factor analysis of the scales produced two underlying components; ‘careless non-cooperation’ (defined by impulsive antisociality) and ‘careful cooperation’ (reflecting dutifulness, emotional stability, and social desirability). Our results suggest self-deceptive enhancement may be a protective factor against antisocial thinking and behaviour, and that this is impeded by high neuroticism and impulsive thinking.     

Identifying and understanding gaps in services for adults experiencing homelessness

Gaps between service needs and availability often prevent individuals with a history of homelessness from accessing services and reestablishing permanent housing. This paper examines self‐identified service utilization and service needs based on data collected from an urban sample (N = 577) of adults experiencing homelessness. This study found that individuals differ in their use and continued need of services depending on the reasons they identified as contributing to their homelessness. The majority reported that they learned of services through word of mouth, had difficulty accessing services due to limited transportation options, and were most likely to use services that were in convenient locations that fulfilled their needs and where they were treated with respect. These findings have implications for developing coordinated intakes and the development and dissemination of services aimed at assisting individuals experiencing homelessness.