Vocational choice: A decision making perspective

We propose a model of vocational choice that can be used for analyzing and guiding the decision processes underlying career and job choices. Our model is based on research in behavioral decision making (BDM), in particular the choice goals framework developed by Bettman, Luce, and Payne (1998). The basic model involves two major processes. First, the selection of a decision strategy according to four choice goals: maximizing decision accuracy, minimizing cognitive effort, minimizing negative emotion, and maximizing justifiability of the decision. Second, the construction of situation-specific preferences, which can reflect irrelevant task and context factors such as the evaluation mode. This basic model is extended to account for social influences and the long decision time typical of most career and job decisions. We review research on vocational choice in light of this model, discuss normative implications for counseling, and outline a research agenda for studying vocational choice from a behavioral decision making perspective.     

Habit outweighs planning in grasp selection for object manipulation

Object-directed grasping movements are adapted to intended interactions with an object. We address whether adjusting the grasp for object manipulation is controlled habitually, based on past experiences, or by goal-directed planning, based on an evaluation of the expected action outcomes. Therefore, we asked participants to grasp and rotate a dial. In such tasks, participants typically grasp the dial with an excursed, uncomfortable arm posture, which then allows to complete the dial rotation in a comfortable end-state. We extended this task by manipulating the contingency between the orientation of the grasp and the resulting end-state of the arm. A one-step (control) group rotated the dial to a single target. A two-step group rotated the dial to an initial target and then in the opposite direction. A three-step group rotated the dial to the initial target, then in the opposite direction, and then back to the initial target. During practice, the two-step and three-step groups reduced the excursion of their grasps, thus avoiding overly excursed arm postures after the second rotation. When the two-step and three-step groups were asked to execute one-step rotations, their grasps resembled those that were acquired during the two-step and three-step rotations, respectively. However, the carry-over was not complete. This suggests that adjusting grasps for forthcoming object manipulations is controlled by a mixture of habitual and goal-directed processes. In the present experiment, the former contributed approximately twice as much to grasp selection than the latter.     

AFFECT,SYMPTOM, FANTASY,DREAM: CLINICAL AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

A symptom being studied in the process of analysis can be seen as not unlike the unconscious affect it sprang from. The author presents a case in which a symptom, premature ejaculation, was analogous to the unconscious affect of guilt, which itself seemed to be a premature defensive transformation of a deeper current of anger. Guilt was interpreted as if it were a psychic premature ejaculation, a defensive derailment of anger. Fantasy and dream seemed to be engaged in similar transformations, with a fantasy of “premature incarceration” not unlike the symptom itself in its analogous functioning. Analysis of affect, symptom, fantasy, and dream in complex, integrative analytic process led not only to resolution of the symptom itself, but also to a deeper understanding of the mind's complex functioning in general.     

Bending rules: the shape of the perceptual generalisation gradient is sensitive to inference rules

Generalising what is learned about one stimulus to other but perceptually related stimuli is a basic behavioural phenomenon. We evaluated whether a rule learning mechanism may serve to explain such generalisation. To this end, we assessed whether inference rules communicated through verbal instructions affect generalisation. Expectancy ratings, but not valence ratings, proved sensitive to this manipulation. In addition to revealing a role for inference rules in generalisation, our study has clinical implications as well. More specifically, we argue that targeting inference rules might prove to be an effective strategy to affect the excessive generalisation that is often observed in psychopathology.     

Postpartum depression and attachment: Is anybody here?

Abstract

The paper presents a developmental and dynamic multitheoretical overview of many dimensions of attachment-related processes activated under the conditions of maternal depression. The clinical vignette (from the analytic practice of Eva D. Papiasvili) of reconstructive anaytic work with an adult patient illustrates the profound impact of maternal depression on precocious early differentiation between the attachment styles, of the depressed parent and the substitute caregiver, at the root of early “counterdependent” self-sufficiency. Through reconstructive interpretive work, first with enactments and then dreams, pertaining to not-remembered, represented, or symbolized events of earliest infancy, the patient is able to make a series of developmentally transformative symbolic leaps, restoring the capacity for intimacy, hope, trust, and pleasure. This breaks the intergenerational mother–daughter transmission of postpartum depression and related problematic attachment.     

Implicit racial bias and epistemic pessimism

Implicit bias results from living in a society structured by race. Tamar Gendler has drawn attention to several epistemic costs of implicit bias and concludes that paying some costs is unavoidable. In this paper, we reconstruct Gendler’s argument and argue that the epistemic costs she highlights can be avoided. Though epistemic agents encode discriminatory information from the environment, not all encoded information is activated. Agents can construct local epistemic environments that do not activate biasing representations, effectively avoiding the consequences of activation. We conclude that changing our local environments provides a way to avoid paying implicit bias’s epistemic costs.     

Direct and generative retrieval of autobiographical memories: The roles of visual imagery and executive processes

Two experiments used a dual task methodology to investigate the role of visual imagery and executive resources in the retrieval of specific autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, dynamic visual noise led to a reduction in the number of specific memories retrieved in response to both high and low imageability cues, but did not affect retrieval times. In Experiment 2, irrelevant pictures reduced the number of specific memories but only in response to low imageability cues. Irrelevant pictures also increased response times to both high and low imageability cues. The findings are in line with previous work suggesting that disrupting executive resources may impair generative, but not direct, retrieval of autobiographical memories. In contrast, visual distractor tasks appear to impair access to specific autobiographical memories via both the direct and generative retrieval routes, thereby highlighting the potential role of visual imagery in both pathways.     

The adoption of physical activity and eating behaviors among persons with obesity and in the general population: the role of implicit attitudes within the Theory of Planned Behavior

Obesity can be prevented by the combined adoption of a regular physical activity (PA) and healthy eating behaviors (EB). Researchers mainly focused on socio-cognitive models, such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to identify the psychological antecedents of these behaviors. However, few studies were interested in testing the potential contribution of automatic processes in the prediction of PA and EB. Thus, the main objective of this study was to explore the specific role of implicit attitudes in the pattern of prediction of self-reported PA and EB in the TPB framework, among persons with obesity and in adults from the general population. One hundred and fifty-three adults participated to this cross-sectional study among which 59 obese persons (74% women, age: 50.6 ± 12.3 years, BMI: 36.8 ± 4.03 kg m^–²) and 94 people from the general population (51% women; age: 34.7 ± 8.9 years). Implicit attitudes toward PA and EB were estimated through two Implicit Association Tests. TPB variables, PA and EB were assessed by questionnaire. Regarding to the prediction of PA, a significant contribution of implicit attitudes emerged in obese people, β = .25; 95%[CI: .01, .50]; P = .044, beyond the TPB variables, contrary to participants from the general population. The present study suggests that implicit attitudes play a specific role among persons with obesity regarding PA. Other studies are needed to examine which kind of psychological processes are specifically associated with PA and EB among obese people.     

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.     

A person-oriented approach to sport and school burnout in adolescent student-athletes: The role of individual and parental expectations

ObjectivesThe present study aimed to examine what kind of burnout profiles exist among student-athletes based on their sport and school burnout symptoms. Moreover, it was investigated whether athletes' expectations of success in sport and school, on the one hand, and parental expectations, on the other hand, were predictors of the likelihood of the athlete to show a certain profile, after taking into account the effects of gender, grade point average, type of sport, and level of competition.Design and methodsThe participants were 391 student-athletes (51% females) from six different upper secondary sport schools in Finland, and 448 parents (58% mothers). The athletes filled in questionnaires about burnout and success expectations at the beginning of the first year of upper secondary school. At the same time point, parents were asked to answer a questionnaire on their success expectations for their child. Structural equation modeling and latent profile analysis were used to analyze the data.ResultsFour burnout profiles were identified: well-functioning, mild sport burnout, school burnout, and severe sport burnout. Athletes' and parents' expectations of success seemed to protect against burnout in the same domain, but this protection did not extend to the other domain. Moreover, high success expectations in one domain seemed to increase the risk for burnout in another domain.ConclusionsBurnout needs to be investigated within and across context in order to gain a holistic understanding of student-athletes' wellbeing.