American base‐rate neglect: It is not the math,but the context

We investigate cross‐cultural disparities in focalism bias through two studies of probability estimation. Using 60 American and 60 Chinese participants, Experiment 1 yields the standard finding that Americans manifest greater focalism bias by tending to neglect background probability base‐rates and to rely more heavily on obtained samples in estimating true probabilities, whereas Chinese participants show little tendency to ignore base‐rates. In Experiment 2, the phrasing of the probability‐estimation task is changed to bring base‐rates into the focus of the problem statement, again using a sample of 60 Americans and 60 Chinese. This allows us to test whether cross‐cultural differences result from a tendency to focus on the sample, and ignore ‘context’ (i.e., the background base‐rates), rather than simply a discrepancy in mathematical facility between the two groups. The results show far less base‐rate neglect for Americans, but essentially no change for Chinese (who always use base‐rate information, regardless of how presented). This outcome argues against the explanation that Americans are poorer Bayesians simply because they are weaker mathematicians. Implications are discussed.     

Effects of attention during encoding on sex differences in object location memory

Attention plays a key role in memory processes and has been widely studied in various memory tasks. The role of attention in sex differences in object location memory is not clearly understood. In the present study, two experiments involving 186 participants and using an object array presented on paper were conducted to examine two encoding conditions: incidental and intentional. In each experiment, the participants were randomly assigned to divided versus full attention conditions. In the first experiment, which involved incidental encoding, women outperformed men in memorising location‐exchanged objects in both the full and in the divided attention condition. In the second experiment, which involved intentional encoding, women outperformed men in memorising location‐exchanged objects in the full attention condition, but not the divided attention condition. These findings deepen our knowledge regarding the role of attention in object location memory, specifically in terms of the conditions under which females have an advantage for detecting changes in an array of objects.     

Another way to think about psychological change: experiential vs. incremental

The traditional pre-post treatment difference reflects an incremental notion of change, where a quantity of some psychological function is added to (or subtracted from) a pretreatment quantity. This study presents a complementary, experiential notion of change. Rather than a difference, change is a feeling or experience of having changed, a feeling that one is different than before. Based on a post-treatment interview the Change after Psychotherapy (CHAP) is a method to quantify/rate such ‘differentness’ in terms of how extensively or radically the patient feels having changed. A pre-post quasi-experimental study (N = 49) comparing the CHAP with ratings on the Global Assessment of Functioning, the Karolinska Psychodynamic Profile and the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale-Self-Affective is reported. The results showed the CHAP to be a reliable, valid and sensitive way to assess an experiential kind of CHAP.     

Social Support and the Ability to Adapt to Life Among Brazilian Street Children and Non-Street Children

Abstract

Value priorities were analyzed as they relate to nationality (American vs. British) and gender in a study involving 207 university students from the 2 countries. Participants responded anonymously to S. H. Schwartz's Value Survey (1992, 1994), consisting of various individualistic and collectivistic values. American students assigned greater importance to the individualistic values of achievement, hedonism, self-direction, and stimulation than British students did; students from the 2 countries assigned equal importance to the power value type. Compared with men, women from both countries assigned greater value priorities to the collectivistic values of benevolence, universalism, security, and subordination of self to others. Women and men, however, did not differ on the individualistic values, and, in fact, women placed greater importance on achievement than men did. The results for the individualistic values are discussed primarily within the context of major changes in the career and work opportunities afforded women by society in the past 30 years.     

The Effect of Researchers' Focus on Interpretation of Diversity Data

Abstract

The tendency for intercultural researchers to focus primarily on cultural differences instead of both differences and similarities may reflect the emphasis of current statistical methodology toward cultural distance instead of cultural overlap. The authors proposed the cultural similarity index as a way of assessing the extent of communalities between 2 groups. The authors (a) analyzed research (T. Cox, S. Lobel, & P. L. McLeod, 1991; Y. F. Niemann & J. Dovidio, 1998) that placed a primary emphasis on differences, (b) presented alternative insights gained from a focus on similarities, and (c) explored the implications of a research focus on both cultural differences and similarities.     

Stressed and Helping: The Relations Among Acculturative Stress,Gender, and Prosocial Tendencies in Mexican Americans

ABSTRACT

Available evidence suggests that stress is not necessarily linked to negative outcomes and, in fact, may lead to increases in sympathy and helping. In this study, we examined whether acculturative stress was associated with prosocial tendencies in a sample of 148 Mexican American college students (M age = 23.05 years; 99 women). Participants completed measures of acculturative stress, sympathy, and prosocial tendencies. The relations between acculturative stress and prosocial tendencies were generally positive but varied by the type of helping and gender. Higher levels of acculturative stress were linked to greater emotional, dire, compliant, and anonymous prosocial tendencies, as well as with fewer costly (altruistic) prosocial tendencies. Sympathy mediated the relations between acculturative stress and prosocial tendencies for men only.     

Identifying the Distress Cues that Influence Support Provision: A Paired Comparison Approach

ABSTRACT

Just as chemistry has methods for determining the composition of unknown substances, psychology needs, but has lacked, effective methods for identifying the “active ingredients” of social stimuli. We describe such a method and apply it to identify the verbal and nonverbal distress cues that serve as signals prompting others to provide social support. This method allowed us to identify 55 such cues. Furthermore, the cues that were salient in the minds of potential support providers depended on their goals. For example, when deciding whether someone needed support, negative nonverbal cues (e.g., distressed persons' fidgeting) were more salient, but when deciding whether one was willing to provide support, cues that suggested a positive outcome for the support seeker (e.g., distressed persons' positive attitude and open-mindedness) were more salient.     

Assessing individual differences in the degree to which people are committed to following their beliefs

The authors developed a new dispositional measure of Commitment to Beliefs (CTB)—the degree to which people feel it is important to follow their value-expressive beliefs—across three phases of research. In Phases 1 and 2 (Studies 1-4), the CTB scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. Phase 3 demonstrated the scale’s predictive validity: high-CTB individuals were more likely to report engaging in activities during the past month and year that followed directly from their beliefs (Study 5), act on their beliefs when given the opportunity (Study 6), and show more polarized attitudes toward ideologically-relevant groups (Study 7). These findings illustrate the utility of a dispositional approach for examining the extent to which people follow their beliefs.     

Perceptions of Family Environment and Wraparound Processes: Associations with Age and Implications for Serving Transitioning Youth in Systems of Care

Addressing the unique needs of youth transitioning to adulthood has long been viewed as a priority in implementation of systems of care (SOCs) and wraparound. Developmental research and "practice-based evidence" suggest that there are differences between transitioning youth and their younger peers in family environment and wraparound team processes. Although these differences are thought to have significant implications for wraparound practice, few studies have examined them empirically. The present research involves two studies examining differences across several age cohorts (i.e., 10–12, 13, 14, 15, 16–17 year-olds) ranging from early adolescent to transitioning youth in: (1) caregiver perceptions of role-related strain and family environment quality, and (2) facilitator, caregiver, and youth perceptions of wraparound processes. In Study #1, older age was associated with higher levels of caregiver strain. In Study #2, age was associated with differences between youth and other team members' perceptions of wraparound processes, such that older youth perceived teams as less cohesive than others on their teams. These findings suggest that transitioning youth and their families merit special consideration in wraparound implementation and underscore the importance of considering the perceptions of transitioning youth in system change and practice improvement efforts (192 words).     

Sex and age-related anxiety in a community sample of Norwegian adolescents

The first aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and DSM-related anxiety symptom-clusters among adolescents (13-19 years of age) in middle Norway. A second aim was to examine the developmental trajectories of anxiety symptoms for boys and girls during adolescence. In a cross-sectional study, 1,802 students in junior high schools and high schools in the Mid-Norway Health Region filled out a questionnaire (a response-rate of 77%) including the SCARED self-report form (Birmaher et al., 1997) during one school hour. In line with findings of previous studies, girls reported higher anxiety-levels than did boys. A large gender-specific increase in anxiety in 14-15-year-old girls was also found. Apart from this age-specific effect, the results indicated a general reduction in anxiety during adolescence for all symptom groups except generalized anxiety and school phobia. The high anxiety levels in girls aged 13 to 14 years implicate a need for caution by clinicians because such high anxiety levels may be mistaken for the existence of an anxiety disorder. The rapid increase in anxiety symptoms among girls in early adolescence may reflect a heightened sensitivity in this age group, and may have implications for when to implement secondary prevention programs.