The Mediation Effect of Ethical Leadership and Creative Performance: A Social Information Processing Perspective

Drawing upon social information processing theory, the study examined how ethical leadership shapes creative performance. Specifically, we tested a theoretical model integrating the sequential roles of psychological safety and creative self‐efficacy. A two‐waved sample of 512 supervisor‐subordinate dyads from frontline employees of three service industries located in Ghana was administered. The results of the hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that there is a positive relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance and that psychological safety positively and significantly mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. Similarly, creative self‐efficacy significantly and positively mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. Moreover, both psychological safety and creative self‐efficacy sequentially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and creative performance. We discuss the implications of these results for research and practice.     

Mental Health Identification Practices of Jails: The Unmet Needs of the “Silent” Population

The overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in the criminal/legal system is well documented. While professional associations urge diversion towards treatment, little is known about the practices these institutions use to identify this population. One understudied space in the criminal/legal continuum is jails. This exploratory study compares two types of mental health identification at jail booking to assess jail‐ and community‐based service outcomes by identification type (N = 2956): (a) staff observation and (b) a standardized screening instrument. Individuals identified through staff observation were significantly more likely to receive jail‐ and community‐based services, even though current symptomology and substance misuse were both significantly higher for individuals identified only by the screening instrument. These findings point to the importance of jails in providing stabilizing services during incarceration, but further, show the impact that identification practices have on individuals as they transition to the community. Community context showed varied rates of jail staff observations of mental illness, showing greater risks for individuals in rural communities. Implications include a need for system‐level changes by instituting evidence‐based identification practices in jails, and improving professional collaboration practices between mental health and criminal/legal practitioners as individuals enter and exit jails.     

虚拟学习环境下图形加工的认知负荷研究

基于单探测变化觉察和双任务范式,采用项目数量（3）×呈现时间（2）×文字线索（2）混合实验设计,对沉浸式虚拟学习环境图形加工特征和认知负荷进行探讨,以任务绩效法与主观测量法评定认知负荷。44名大学生的实验结果显示：（1）项目数量对虚拟空间图形识记主任务绩效和主观认知负荷有显著影响,项目数量越多,主任务正确率越低,反应时越长,主观评定认知负荷越高,同时加工刺激数量以4个为宜;（2）呈现时间对虚拟空间图形识记次任务绩效有显著影响,呈现时间越长,次任务正确率越高,呈现时间超过0.5s有利于次任务加工;（3）文字线索对虚拟图形识记认知负荷有显著影响,重复性文字线索会增加认知负荷。结果表明,在沉浸式虚拟环境中,图形加工的认知负荷特点与平面和三维图形基本一致,项目数量多、呈现时间短以及有重复性文字线索时,认知负荷更高;任务绩效和主观测量评定指标在反映认知负荷强度上不完全一致。     

大脑电刺激在听觉语言加工研究中的应用

大脑电刺激是历史悠久但近年来才广泛应用在人类被试上的实验技术。通过对颅内刺激位点进行电刺激, 并分析引发的暂时性行为功能变化和记录位点的电位活动, 大脑电刺激技术可以揭示认知加工过程中脑区内的功能作用与脑区间的有效连接。通过对听觉语言加工过程相关的丘脑、听觉皮层、高级语言皮层进行电刺激, 现有研究发现了各个脑区的不同功能特点以及不同脑区间的信息传递机制, 为进一步探索听觉语言加工的神经机制提供了新的视角。     

Psychometric properties of Spanish version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale

Background/ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (Mini-MAC) in a large sample of patients with non-metastatic, resected cancer.MethodsProspective, observational, multicenter study for which 914 patients were recruited from 15 Spanish hospitals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, validity and reliability analyses were conducted.ResultsFactor-analytic results indicated a 4-factor structure of the Spanish version of the Mini-MAC. Three subscales have psychometric properties similar to those of Helplessness, Anxious preoccupation, and Cognitive avoidance of the original the Mini-MAC. The Fighting spirit and the Fatalism subscales were combined on the Positive attitude scale. The four factor-derived scale scores exhibited acceptable accuracy for individual measurement purposes, as well as stability over time in test-retest assessments at 6 months. Validity assessments found meaningful relations between the derived scale scores, and Brief Symptom Inventory depression and anxiety scores and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy spiritual well-being scores.ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the Mini-MAC provides reliable and valid measures for patients with non-metastatic, resected cancer, and results corroborate the instrument’s cross-cultural validity.     

Motor processing modulates word comprehension

We evaluated whether movement modulates the semantic processing of words. To this end, we used homograph words with two meanings, one associated with hand movements (e.g., ‘abanico’, ‘fan’ in Spanish) or foot movements (‘bota’, ‘boot’ in Spanish), and the other not associated with movement (‘abanico’, ‘range’ in Spanish; ‘bota’, ‘wineskin’ in Spanish). After the homograph, three words were presented, and participants were asked to choose the word related to one of the two homograph meanings. The words could be either related to the motor meaning of the homograph (‘fan-heat’), to the non-motor meaning of the homograph (‘range-possibility’) or unrelated (‘fan-phone’). The task was performed without movement (simple condition) or by performing hand (Experiment 1) and foot (Experiment 2) movements. Compared with the simple condition, the performance of movement oriented the preference towards the motor meaning of the homograph. This pattern of results confirms that movement modulates word comprehension.     

Identification Reduces Stigma of Mental Ill‐Health: A Community‐Based Study

The stigma surrounding mental ill‐health is an important issue that affects likelihood of diagnosis and uptake of services, as those affected may work to avoid exposure, judgment, or any perceived loss in status associated with their mental ill‐health. In this study, we drew upon social identity theory to examine how social group membership might influence the stigma surrounding mental ill‐health. Participants from two urban centers in Ireland (N = 626) completed a survey measuring stigma of mental health, perceived social support as well as identification with two different social groups (community and religion). Mediation analysis showed that subjective identification with religious and community groups led to greater perceived social support and consequently lower perceived stigma of mental ill‐health. Furthermore, findings indicated that high identification with more than one social group can lead to enhanced social resources, and that identification with a religious group was associated with greater community identification. This study thus extends the evidence base of group identification by demonstrating its relationship with stigma of mental ill‐health, while also reinforcing how multiple identities can interact to enhance social resources crucial for well‐being.     

Influence of breastfeeding and iron status on mental and psychomotor development during the first year of life.

Breastfeeding (BF) confers numerous benefits on the developing infant in both the short and the long term including psychological development, but there are multiple other factors that must be taken into account when these relationships are studied. To analyse how breastfeeding during the first 4 months of life affects infant mental and psychomotor development (MPD) at 6 and 12 months in a group of healthy infants from a Mediterranean Spanish city considering many important potential confounds. This is a longitudinal study conducted on infants from birth until the age of 12 months. A total of 154 healthy infants were evaluated by Paediatric Unit of Sant Joan University Hospital in Reus, Spain. Type of feeding, clinical history, anthropometry, iron status and mental and psychomotor development were assessed and analysed. At 4 months, 24% of infants received BF and 26% received mixed feeding (MF). Multiple Linear Regression models were applied adjusting for potential prenatal, perinatal and postnatal confounds showing that infants who received BF for at least four months presented higher psychomotor development index (PDI) at 6 and at 12 months of age. Also, gestational age and BMI at 6 m were associated positively with PDI at 6 m, and haemoglobin levels at 12 m and birth height were associated with PDI and MDI at 12 m (respectively).In conclusion, after the adjustment of important potential confounds, BF during at least four months and adequate infant iron status are related to better psychomotor development during the first year. No associations were found between BF and mental development.     

Development of visuo-haptic transfer for object recognition in typical preschool and school-aged children

Object recognition is a long and complex adaptive process and its full maturation requires combination of many different sensory experiences as well as cognitive abilities to manipulate previous experiences in order to develop new percepts and subsequently to learn from the environment. It is well recognized that the transfer of visual and haptic information facilitates object recognition in adults, but less is known about development of this ability. In this study, we explored the developmental course of object recognition capacity in children using unimodal visual information, unimodal haptic information, and visuo-haptic information transfer in children from 4 years to 10 years and 11 months of age. Participants were tested through a clinical protocol, involving visual exploration of black-and-white photographs of common objects, haptic exploration of real objects, and visuo-haptic transfer of these two types of information. Results show an age-dependent development of object recognition abilities for visual, haptic, and visuo-haptic modalities. A significant effect of time on development of unimodal and crossmodal recognition skills was found. Moreover, our data suggest that multisensory processes for common object recognition are active at 4 years of age. They facilitate recognition of common objects, and, although not fully mature, are significant in adaptive behavior from the first years of age. The study of typical development of visuo-haptic processes in childhood is a starting point for future studies regarding object recognition in impaired populations.     

Can self-affirmation exacerbate adverse reactions to stress under certain conditions?

Objective: Self-affirmation has repeatedly been shown to reduce adverse psychological and physiological responses to stress. However, it is plausible that self-affirmation could exacerbate negative reactions to stress under certain conditions. The current research explored whether self-affirmation would increase negative psychological responses to a stressor occurring in a central life domain characterised by low levels of control.

Design: Female participants (Study 1 N = 132; Study 2 N = 141) completed baseline measures of anxiety and mood. They were then randomly allocated to complete a self-affirmation or control task, before reading a narrative documenting a stressful birth and imagining themselves in the place of the woman giving birth. After completing this task, participants again reported their levels of anxiety and positive mood.

Main outcome measures: Anxiety and positive mood assessed at follow-up.

Results: Study 1 demonstrated that self-affirmed women experienced increased anxiety and less positive mood at follow-up, compared both to baseline and to women in the control condition. Study 2 revealed that the effect of self-affirmation on outcomes was moderated by fear of childbirth.

Conclusion: These results provide preliminary evidence that self-affirmation may worsen negative responses to stressors under certain conditions and for certain individuals.