Expectancy bias mediates the link between social anxiety and memory bias for social evaluation

Social anxiety (SA) involves a multitude of cognitive symptoms related to fear of evaluation, including expectancy and memory biases. We examined whether memory biases are influenced by expectancy biases for social feedback in SA. We hypothesised that, faced with a socially evaluative event, people with higher SA would show a negative expectancy bias for future feedback. Furthermore, we predicted that memory bias for feedback in SA would be mediated by expectancy bias. Ninety-four undergraduate students (55 women, mean age = 19.76 years) underwent a two-visit task that measured expectations about (Visit 1) and memory of (Visit 2) feedback from unknown peers. Results showed that higher levels of SA were associated with negative expectancy bias. An indirect relationship was found between SA and memory bias that was mediated by expectancy bias. The results suggest that expectancy biases are in the causal path from SA to negative memory biases for social evaluation.     

Outcome expectations and work design characteristics in post-retirement work planning

Today, a growing number of individuals decide to work beyond normal retirement age (Eurofound, 2012). Research has revealed influencing factors for post-retirement work at the individual, job and organizational, family, and socioeconomic levels. However, not much is known about post-retirement work planning and its antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of outcome expectations regarding post-retirement work and two work design characteristics (i.e., physical demands and social support at work) on post-retirement work planning by applying the framework of social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). Data from 1065 employees of a German logistics company were used in this study. Results provide support for SCCT to be a suitable theoretical framework for understanding post-retirement career planning and thereby expand the application of SCCT to a new field. Furthermore, multilevel analysis revealed that physical demands were negatively related to the intention to continue to work for the pre-retirement employer after retirement entry, whereas social support at work strengthened the relationship between outcome expectations and same-employer-post-retirement work intention. Organizations who want their retired employees to continue to work in retirement should develop interventions to strengthen post-retirement work outcome expectations. An increase in social support at work as well as a reduction in physical demands may also contribute to increased participation in continued work with the same employer in retirement.     

Measuring psychotherapy outcomes in routine practice: Examining Slovak versions of three commonly used outcome instruments

This study examined the Slovak mutations of three outcome measures for routine practice i.e. the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure (CORE-OM), the Outcome Questionnaire – 45 (OQ-45), the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), and one control measure the Symptom Checklist 10 Revised (SCL-10R), with regard to their concordance or differences in outcome classification of pre-post change, when used by the same patients and when the criteria used for establishing recovery and improvement status are based on the same sample. Method: Non-clinical (252) and clinical (202) samples were used for the standardisation of all instruments. A portion of the clinical participants (N?=?140) completed all measures at the end of their treatment. Results: The CORE-OM, and the SCL-10R indicated a higher number of recovered and improved clients. With regard to the pre-post differences as expressed in the effect size, the CORE-OM showed the highest pre-post difference (pre-post effect size .98), followed by the ORS (.87), the SCL-10R (.83) and finally with the OQ-45 (.69). Conclusion: Even very similar instruments developed on the basis of similar theoretical conceptualisations and empirical findings may report different pre-post outcomes.     

Priming of actions increases sense of control over unexpected outcomes

Sense of agency (SoA) refers to the feeling that we are in control of our own actions and, through them, events in the outside world. SoA depends partly on retrospectively matching outcomes to expectations, and partly on prospective processes occurring prior to action, notably action selection.To assess the relative contribution of these processes, we factorially varied subliminal priming of action selection and expectation of action outcomes. Both factors affected SoA, and there was also a significant interaction. Compatible action primes increased SoA more strongly for unexpected than expected outcomes. Outcome expectation had strong effects on SoA following incompatible action priming, but only weak effects following compatible action priming. Prospective and retrospective SoA may have distinct and complementary functions.     

Do in-vivo behaviors predict early response in family-based treatment for anorexia nervosa?

The aim of the study is to explore whether identified parental and patient behaviors observed in the first few sessions of family-based treatment (FBT) predict early response (weight gain of 1.8 kg by session four) to treatment. Therapy film recordings from 21 adolescent participants recruited into the FBT arm of a multi-site randomized clinical trial were coded for the presence of behaviors (length of observed behavior divided by length of session recording) in the first, second and fourth sessions. Behaviors that differed between early responders and non-early responders on univariate analysis were entered into discriminant class analyses. Participants with fewer negative verbal behaviors in the first session and were away from table during the meal session less had the greatest rates of early response. Parents who made fewer critical statements and who did not repeatedly present food during the meal session had children who had the greatest rates of early response. In-vivo behaviors in early sessions of FBT may predict early response to FBT. Adaptations to address participant resistance and to decrease the numbers of critical comments made by parents while encouraging their children to eat might improve early response to FBT.     

Does young adults’ preferred role in decision making about health,money, and career depend on their advisors’ leadership skills?

Few empirical data exist on how decision making about health differs from that in other crucial life domains with less threatening consequences. To shed light on this issue we conducted a study with 175 young adults (average age 19 years). We presented the participants with scenarios involving advisors who provided assistance in making decisions about health, money, and career. For each scenario, participants were asked to what extent they wanted the advisor to exhibit several leadership styles and competencies and what role (active, collaborative, or passive) they preferred to play when making decisions. Results show that decision making about health is distinct from that in the other domains in three ways. First, most of the participants preferred to delegate decision making about their health to their physician, whereas they were willing to collaborate or play an active role in decision making about their career or money. Second, the competencies and leadership style preferred for the physician differed substantially from those desired for advisors in the other two domains: Participants expected physicians to show more transformational leadership—the style that is most effective in a wide range of environments—than those who provide advice about financial investments or career. Finally, participants’ willingness to share medical decision making with their physician was tied to how strongly they preferred that the physician shows an effective leadership style. In contrast, motivation to participate in decision making in the other domains was not related to preferences regarding advisors’ leadership style or competencies. Our results have implications for medical practice as they suggest that physicians are expected to have superior leadership skills compared to those who provide assistance in other important areas of life.     

基于个体的退休心理模型

退休是个体在特定年龄领取养老金的行为及动态过程。退休模型包括退休的影响因素模型、退休过程模型和退休结果模型三类。其中,退休的影响因素模型包括前因变量模型和退休多水平模型,分别从个人-环境和宏观角度提出了影响退休的各类因素;退休过程模型包括退休决策三阶段模型、退休时间过程模型和退休适应动态模型,分别从阶段性、个体差异性和动态性的角度揭示了退休过程的心理特点;退休结果模型分析了退休对个人和组织的影响。退休四阶段模型是在西方模型的基础上结合中国国情提出的一个整合模型。未来研究应丰富研究对象的类型、揭示影响退休的心理学变量的作用机制、加强应用性并进行本土化研究。     

Developing an outcome-based assessment for family therapy training: the Rochester Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (ROSCE)

This paper addresses a growing need for cost-effective, outcome-based assessment in family therapy training. We describe the ROSCE, a structured, evidence-informed, learner-centered approach to the assessment of clinical skills developed at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The ROSCE emphasizes direct observation of trainees demonstrating clinical competencies. The format integrates both formative and summative assessment methods. It can readily be adapted to a wide variety of educational and training settings.     

The role of intelligence and feedback in children’s strategy competence

A test-intervention-test study was conducted investigating the role of intelligence on four parameters of strategy competence in the context of a numerosity judgment task. Moreover, the effectiveness of two feedback types on these four parameters was tested. In the two test sessions, the choice/no-choice method was used to assess the strategy repertoire, frequency, efficiency, and adaptivity of a group of low-, average-, and high-intelligence children. During the intervention, half of the participants from each intelligence group were given outcome feedback (OFB), whereas the other half received strategy feedback (SFB). The pretest data showed large differences among the three intelligence groups on all four strategy parameters. These differences had disappeared at the posttest due to a particularly strong improvement on all strategy parameters in the low-intelligence group. Furthermore, it was found that SFB was more beneficial than OFB for all parameters involving strategy selection. These results indicate that intelligence plays an important role in children’s strategy use and suggest that strategy feedback can be a powerful instructional tool, especially for low-intelligence children.