How many infants are temperamentally difficult? Comparing norms from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to a population sample of UK infants

The original norms for the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ) were published in 1978 and were based on a small sample from the US. The aim of this study is to compare temperament scores from the original RITQ against scores from a large population-based cohort of infants from the UK. This study consists of 10,937 infants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) born between April 1991 and December 1992 in the southwest of England. Infant temperament at 6 months of age was reported by parents using the adapted RITQ. Responses were scored according to the RITQ manual and then categorized into temperament groups (easy, intermediate low, intermediate high, and difficult) using either the RITQ norms or norms derived from the data. The scores for each temperament subscale and the proportion of children in each temperament group were compared across the two methods. Subscale scores for the ALSPAC sample were higher (more “difficult”) than the RITQ norms for rhythmicity, approach, adaptability, intensity, and distractibility. When RITQ norms were applied, 24% infants were categorized as difficult and 25% as easy, compared with 15% difficult and 38% easy when ALSPAC norms were used. There are discrepancies between RITQ norms and the ALSPAC norms which resulted in differences in the distribution of temperament groups. There is a need to re-examine RITQ norms and categorization for use in primary care practice and contemporary population-based studies.     

Throwing more light on the dark side of psychopathy: An extension of previous findings for the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory

Despite previous studies of psychopathy and the motivational systems of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality, few have examined psychopathy in light of the revised RST model. In a large sample (N = 779) of young adults, we expand on Hughes, Moore, Morris, and Corr’s (2012) preliminary findings relating primary/secondary psychopathy to revised RST’s three systems: Flight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS), Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS), and Behavioral Approach System (BAS). Converging results between Hughes et al. and the current study emphasize three major findings: (1) primary psychopathy is negatively related to the BIS as well as the FFFS; (2) primary psychopathy is positively related to goal-driven behavior of the BAS; and, (3) secondary psychopathy is positively related to impulsivity reflected in the BAS. The FFFS was incrementally predictive of primary but not secondary psychopathy. No evidence for a BAS × BIS interaction in psychopathy was found. Results are discussed in terms of future research directions.     

Muting,filtering and transforming space: Autistic children's sensory ‘tactics’ for navigating mainstream school space following transition to secondary school

Mainstream school spaces provide significant sensory challenges to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this paper, we provide in-depth qualitative insight of the ‘sensory tactics’ developed by children to navigate neurotypical spaces following transition to secondary school. Informed by work in sensory geography, and de Certeau's ‘strategies’ and ‘tactics’ concepts, we demonstrate that through muting, filtering and transforming space, children find ways to navigate the sensorially demanding environments of mainstream secondary school, e.g. finding quiet, orderly spaces - albeit in ways that do not entirely negate the sensory challenges the school environment presents. The paper concludes with several recommendations regarding ways that mainstream school spaces can be designed and/or existing spaces altered so as to be more sensitive to the sensory diversity of children with ASD.     

Distraction while driving: The case of older drivers

As the impairment of older drivers is especially found in perception and attention, one could assume that they are especially prone to distraction effects of secondary tasks performed while driving. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of age on driving performance as well as the compensation strategies of older drivers under distraction. 10 middle-aged and 10 older drivers drove in a simulator with and without a secondary task. To assess driving performance the Lane Change Task (Mattes, 2003) was used. This method aims at estimating driver demand while a secondary task is being performed, by measuring performance degradation on a primary driving-like task in a standardized manner. The secondary task – a self-developed computer-based version of “d2 Test of Attention” was presented both with and without time pressure. The results show that older participants’ overall driving performance (mean deviation from an ideal path) was worse in all conditions as compared to the younger ones. With regard to lane change reaction time both age groups were influenced by distraction in a comparable manner. However, when the lane keeping performance (standard deviation of the lateral position) was examined, the older participants were more affected than the younger ones. This pattern could be explained by compensation strategies of the older drivers. They focused on the most relevant part of the driving task, the lane change manoeuvres and were able to maintain their performance level in a similar way as did younger drivers. The driving performance of the older participants was not additionally impaired when the secondary task imposed time pressure. Overall, subjective rating of driving performance, perceived workload and perceived distraction was found to be similar for both age groups. The observed trends and patterns associated with distraction while driving should contribute to the further research or practical work regarding in-vehicle technologies and older drivers.     

Young adults talk about their problems

This study aims to explore how young adults in psychotherapy and young adults in general describe their problems and how their problem formulations change over time. Two matched samples from longitudinal prospective studies were compared using thematic analysis. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted at baseline, 1.5 years after termination of psychotherapy (N=12) in the clinical sample and 3 years after baseline in the non clinical sample (N=12). Inductive thematic analysis revealed six themes: problems associated with oneself, family, intimate relationships, sense of belonging, occupation, and social roles. The psychotherapy sample was characterized by problems with oneself closely related to other problematic areas, at both pre-treatment and at follow-up 1.5 years after termination, while problematic sense of belonging was a general theme only prior to psychotherapy. However, they were less troubled by their problems after psychotherapy. Problems with oneself decreased considerably in the non-clinical sample, while problems with intimate relationships were twice as frequent at follow-up. In the psychotherapy sample, the initial experience of being passively trapped within their problems was transformed into an experience of being an active agent in their own life. However, considerable differences between the psychotherapy sample and non-clinical sample still persisted at follow-up.     

不合规任务与工作拖延行为的关系：自我损耗和主动性人格的作用

工作拖延行为是当今职场人士面临的普遍困扰之一。基于资源保存理论,本研究从不合规任务视角探究工作拖延行为的成因。对196位员工的两时点调查数据进行层次回归分析,结果表明：不合规任务正向预测员工工作拖延行为,自我损耗在不合规任务与工作拖延行为之间起着中介作用,主动性人格负向调节不合规任务与自我损耗的正向关系以及自我损耗的中介效应。以上结果对预防或降低工作拖延行为具有启发意义。     

Learning from experience in nonlinear environments: Evidence from a competition scenario

We test people’s ability to learn to estimate a criterion (probability of success in a competition scenario) that requires aggregating information in a nonlinear manner. The learning environments faced by experimental participants are kind in that they are characterized by immediate, accurate feedback involving either naturalistic outcomes (information on winning and/or ranking) or the normatively correct probabilities. We find no evidence of learning from the former and modest learning from the latter, except that a group of participants endowed with a memory aid performed substantially better. However, when the task is restructured such that information should be aggregated in a linear fashion, participants learn to make more accurate assessments. Our experiments highlight the important role played by prior beliefs in learning tasks, the default status of linear aggregation in many inferential judgments, and the difficulty of learning in nonlinear environments even in the presence of veridical feedback.     

Testing attitudes,social desirability and behavioral regulations as moderators of implicit-explicit exercise discrepancies: A replication study in Iranian students

IntroductionThere is mixed evidence regarding moderators of the relationship between implicitly and explicitly measured constructs. This study examined this issue with evaluations of exercise relative to health or appearance in a sample of Iranian adolescents. Investigaing automatic associations and reflective constructs might provide important implications for developing interventions targeting exercise behavior in a population with different cultural, social, and economic barriers to exercise than European or North American adolescents.MethodsParticipants were 471 students enrolled in grades 9 to 12, of whom 269 (54.9%) were female. Behavioral regulations, explicit attitudes, and social desirability were investigated as possible moderators. All students completed questionnaire measures of physical activity behavior, attitudes, social desieality and behavioral regulation. They also completed two Go/No Go Association tasks to measure automatic associations of exercise with health and apperarance.ResultsAttitude was a significant moderator of discrepancies between automatic associations of exercise with health and health motives. Interjected regulation moderated implicit-explicit appearance discrepancies. Participants with low social desirability and negative automatic appearance associations had the highest appearance motivation.ConclusionsParticipants focused on the potential of achieving positive health outcomes of exercise rather than physical appearance outcomes, which differs from research from other countries. It is possible that, health was strongly linked with exercise by the pervasive societal pressures in Iran to have a healthy body.