Sentences with Strong Psychological Impact in Psychotherapy: Research in Progress

After a brief exposition of Elementary Pragmatic Model about changes in dyadic interactions, the validity and clinical usefulness of the model was evaluated with a newly created test, called SISCI-Sentences. This test is composed of 90 Sentences with strong psychological impact. Administration of this test to non-clinical and clinical participants produced statistically significant differences between the choices of participants in the two groups. Implications of these results for the use of these Sentences in the course of psychotherapy are discussed.

Are some negotiators better than others? Individual differences in bargaining outcomes

The authors address the long-standing mystery of stable individual differences in negotiation performance, on which intuition and conventional wisdom have clashed with inconsistent empirical findings. The present study used the Social Relations Model to examine individual differences directly via consistency in performance across multiple negotiations and to disentangle the roles of both parties within these inherently dyadic interactions. Individual differences explained a substantial 46% of objective performance and 19% of subjective performance in a mixed-motive bargaining exercise. Previous work may have understated the influence of individual differences because conventional research designs require specific traits to be identified and measured. Exploratory analyses of a battery of traits revealed few reliable associations with consistent individual differences in objective performance-except for positive beliefs about negotiation, positive affect, and concern for one's outcome, each of which predicted better performance. Findings suggest that the field has large untapped potential to explain substantial individual differences. Limitations, areas for future research, and practical implications are discussed.     

Doing as if: The histrionic self-presentation style

The histrionic self-presentation style is introduced as a concept that describes specific individual differences in self-presentation, namely, performing explicit As-If-behaviors in everyday interactions. The As-If-Scale (AIS), a trait measure of histrionic self-presentation, shows good internal consistency and test–retest reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity in several samples. Construct validation involved determining relations between the AIS and the Big Five, histrionic role concepts, motives, competencies, humor and ambivalence. Furthermore, the AIS yielded incremental validity in predicting behaviors related to histrionic self-presentation over and above the self-monitoring construct. The possible impact of the histrionic style for research on self-presentation and other fields is discussed. It is argued that histrionic phenomena are pervasive within many facets of our western culture and therefore deserve further examination.     

Beyond the average: walking infants take steps longer than their leg length

Traditionally, infant walking is characterized by small steps, attributed to limited balance control and strength. However, analyses of individual steps revealed that infants occasionally take large steps exceeding their leg length. These large steps provide evidence of advanced balance control and strength.     

The predictive value of numerical magnitude comparison for individual differences in mathematics achievement

Although it has been proposed that the ability to compare numerical magnitudes is related to mathematics achievement, it is not clear whether this ability predicts individual differences in later mathematics achievement. The current study addressed this question in typically developing children by means of a longitudinal design that examined the relationship between a number comparison task assessed at the start of formal schooling (mean age = 6 years 4 months) and a general mathematics achievement test administered 1 year later. Our findings provide longitudinal evidence that the size of the individual’s distance effect, calculated on the basis of reaction times, was predictively related to mathematics achievement. Regression analyses showed that this association was independent of age, intellectual ability, and speed of number identification.     

Influence of emotional expression on the processing of gaze direction

Research demonstrates an influence of gaze direction in emotion recognition. Here we examined whether facial affect similarly influences recognition of gaze direction. Across two studies we found that averted relative to direct gaze was processed more quickly and accurately when coupled with fear, and direct relative to averted gaze with anger. Also evident was that slower overall gaze processing was associated with increased interaction effects between emotion and gaze. Examining individual differences, therefore, enabled us to extend previous research examining speed of processing as a moderator of the interaction effect, while holding constant task demands and stimulus features. Unexpectedly, a main effect emerged such that averted relative to direct gaze was found to be processed more quickly and accurately overall. This effect was not moderated by processing speed and is discussed as a potential stimulus-driven effect that may help explain discrepant findings in the literature.

Temperamental profiles and linguistic development: Differences in the quality of linguistic production in relation to temperament in children of 28 months

The temperamental constellations that can be found in the infant population may influence the development trajectories of single domains of knowledge, such as that relative to language. The main objective of this study is to identify temperamental profiles to which one associates different levels of linguistic competence and to identify the profile associated with the highest risk for language acquisition. The temperamental characteristics of a sample of 106 children of 28 months attending day-care centres were surveyed and three temperamental profiles were highlighted: a profile typical of the Italian population which grouped most of the children; another made up of easily distractible and not very persistent children, who show a poor capacity to modulate motor activity and finally, the third with children inhibited in new situations. A comparison of the three groups on the basis of the level of linguistic competence revealed important differences regarding certain indices such as the vocabulary size and composition: in particular, the group of “inattentive” children has a more “immature” vocabulary composition, characterised by the presence of more primitive components of the lexical repertory.     

Cyclic variations in sustained human performance

Biological rhythms play a prominent role in the modulation of human physiology and behavior. [Smith, K., Valentino, D., & Arruda, J. (2003). Rhythmic oscillations in the performance of a sustained attention task. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 561-570] suggested that sustained human performance may systematically fluctuate in a cyclic manner with periods of 1.5 min and 5.2 min. The current series of investigations sought to manipulate those periodicities by altering task difficulty, administering caffeine, and testing on a more ecologically valid task. Strong evidence of a 1.5 min periodicity was found across studies. Most participants did not demonstrate the 5.2 min periodicity. Moreover, the 1.5 min periodicity was resistant to task manipulations and appeared in similar levels across conditions in all three experiments. These rhythms may be indicative of an endogenous system that modulates sustained attention in humans. Evidence supporting this idea and implications of the research are discussed.